Avoid the post Valentine’s
food coma (bloat) and hangover this Valentine’s day.
Kay Spears and Nutritious Meets Delicious are here
to make sure you have great food, great drinks and that you feel great
this Valentine’s without missing any of the indulgence!
Heart made by hands

Dining in

If you are staying in this Valentine’s Day here are some ideas for a great Valentine’s dinner. Our cookbook Nutritious Meets Delicious: Texas Farm to Table has the recipes.

For your appetizer, we recommend:

• Rosemary Shrimp
• Winter Vegetable Salad
• Grilled Quail

For your main dish try any of the following:

• The perfect steak is always a great way to go, especially a NY strip or porterhouse that you can share for 2.
• If you are going for seafood,the easiest Gulf Coast seafood to cook is flounder and shrimp. Both sautéed quickly with a little bit of salt and pepper, olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, and a sprinkle of fresh chopped parsley.

Side dishes

For simple side dishes try cauliflower mash, Brussels sprouts with bacon, roasted winter vegetables or any of our winter vegetable dishes available in our cookbook.
Whatever you do don’t forget the fluffy cheesy rolls. Make sure you make extra. You will want them later!

Dessert

For dessert, definitely go with the almond flour chocolate chip walnut cookies or the fudgy brownies. Both decadent, both gluten free. If you are going to top it with some ice cream, try cashew milk ice cream, frozen yogurt or just make sure your good quality ice cream has no corn syrup.

What to drink

If sparkling wine is your elixir, go with an Italian Prosecco or French champagne. Remember, champagne only comes from Champagne, France and can usually be expensive. Most sparkling wines are full of sugar and are very poorly made.
For wine, as much as we love to promote Texas, European and South American wines are just far superior without pesticides. Look for a Malbec from Argentina or a Pinot Noir or Beaujolais from France. These are lighter red wines that are a little bit lower in alcohol but definitely lower in residual sugar.
Also, try our homemade cocktail recipes with Texas spirits!

If you are Dining out

This is not as challenging if you are mentally prepared to refuse the included “offerings.” If you are being really good tell the server not to bring bread just so you won’t be tempted. Avoid complimentary sugary “free champagne” which is probably cheap sparkling wine.

For your appetizers

• Avoid anything fried, breaded, on toast or crostini
• Avoid anything that is Asian themed as it is usually sugar based
• Note: Meatballs are full of bread crumbs

For your salad course

The reason why “skinny chicks don’t eat salad” is because dressings are usually full of sugar. Avoid any sweet based dressings such as raspberry vinaigrette or honey mustard. Ranch and Thousand Island should also be avoided unless it’s homemade, which I don’t know of anybody that makes their own “either of those.”

For your entrée

• Avoid pasta, unless gluten free is available
• Avoid tilapia and catfish, they are just very low-quality fish
• Stick with beef, chicken, pork, lamb, salmon, halibut, cod, shellfish, tuna and shrimp
• Ask for extra vegetables instead of rice or potatoes

Finally

You have made it this far, so don’t sabotage yourself by splurging on dessert and sugary coffee drinks.
Try to avoid restaurant desserts as they are usually not made in house and they can be full of corn syrup or they’re full of gluten and sugar. A great dessert alternative is fresh fruit and cheese.