We had a rather fantastic Valentine’s Day last week. I know I have said this before (so humor me), but Valentine’s Day is so much more fun for me now that we celebrate it as a fun family day.
We woke up the kids a little earlier than normal (just a little, as we knew they were in for a long day of sugar and excitement as were we) and had a special breakfast.
Banana muffins (this recipe baked into heart shaped muffin tins), heart pancakes and strawberries.
We made pancake batter using our usual C00king Light recipe (click for recipe) and I used fresh beet juice to color half the batter. As a unintended bonus, I forgot to half the recipe like I normally do and we ended up with ample pancakes which the kids ate for breakfast for the next two days. It was the gift that kept on giving.
A comedian that the husband and I both love, Demetri Martin, made a joke once about pancakes pulling a parachute on your day. I find that to be so true, even though the same ingredients baked into, say, a muffin, have no impact. If I eat pancakes I immediately want to sit on the couch and do nothing. Which wasn’t exactly in the cards for the rest of the day, so I skipped the pancakes and had a green juice. Interestingly enough, pancakes do nothing to damper my kid’s energy levels.
I packed the kid’s lunches while they ate breakfast.
The girl got heart shaped PB&J, heart shaped apples, a tube yogurt, some pretzels (including a few with white chocolate and sprinkles) and heart shaped cucumbers and bell peppers.
The boy got a sugar cookie (that he decorated the night before with our special beet colored frosting and, yes, I am aware that is a wee bit hippie), cheese tortilla roll up, strawberries, pirate’s booty and heart shaped apples and cucumbers.
After depositing two very excited kids at their respective schools, I ate my breakfast in the car on the way to yoga.
green jasmine tea, banana muffin and almonds
I had a post-yoga snack of beet + carrot+ apple + ginger juice and a raw brownie (this recipe from VegNews). It was savored after a challenging class. Can I also say again how much I love yoga?
I am sure I had some lunch, but I don’t have any pictures nor any recollection of what it was I ate. Guess it wasn’t that memorable.
Both kids left school seriously hyped up on sugar. As in alternating between bouncing off walls and talking a mile a minute. They had apples and almonds for a snack, making me the mean mom that didn’t let them dip into their Valentine’s Day candy just yet. It was quite fun to look through their loot and cards. There are some kids with uber-talented Pinterest-loving crafty moms in their classes. I am emphatically not one of them. But I love seeing their handiwork!
We had a family in our neighborhood over for our annual Valentine’s Day pasta dinner. It got a bit chaotic with 4 kids in the house so I didn’t get a picture of our main course, but you can check out previous Valentine’s Day posts if you’d like to see tomato cream sauce over penne pasta. We also had an unpictured salad with my favorite pink dressing, Oh She Glows Cranberry Vinaigrette.
The rest of our dinner spread:
Heart shaped pineapple and cantaloupe (which turned out to be a great task for my 7 year old) and strawberries
Chocolate covered strawberries, ‘pie crust + either chocolate chips or strawberry jam as filling’ tarts and sugar cookies that the kids and I did the night before.
Veggies + hummus (in a heart tin, of course)
Our traditional heart-shaped foccacia bread (pardon the lighting as neither the bread or I are as anemic as the picture suggests)
There was also red wine, sparkling pink lemonade + sparkling water drinks for the kids and lots of noise.
It was a great day to celebrate love and eat good food!
linking up (for the first time in ages!) with the WIAW at Peas and Crayons
What an adorable vday celebration! You think you aren’t pinterest-worthy but….I beg to differ!
I love that you made Valentines Day so special for your family–especially your kids. Those memories last forever. I know, b/c my Mom did very similar things, and I loved it!
Hi! I am a new follower of your website and Iove all the great recipes you have (along with witty commentary that makes me smile!) how do you stay organized with your online recipes? I see some and then forget where I found them later in. Any advice would be so appreciated.
Also, I meant to add that your way of celebrating Valentine’s Day is wonderful and inspiring! I look forward to starting simething similar when my daughter is a little older – maybe next year!
Ooh, I love this! I almost did a Valentine’s day wiaw today, but forgot most of the photos last Thursday… and ours wasn’t nearly as cute.
I loved sorting through L’s cards and goodies, too (she has “school” for a few hours that morning). And wow, I’m impressed with the amount of things you turned into hearts… how did you do the pineapple and melon, do you have some sort of mini heart cut out for them? So cute!
I love all of the heart-shaped foods! So cute and creative. It really makes food fun!
awww this is unbelievably cute!
those pancakes look adorable and i love how you made everything so festive for the holiday. i look forward to seeing more of your posts (:
i love that you did this. Growing up, my mom did the same. I always remember it!!
What a fun day you created! I love all the little touches that often make me wonder if kids really notice, but am learning that yes, they really do. And they will always remember them. Plus, it is fun to do something a little special to break up the monotony of the every day routine. Good job, mama!