A Taste of Autumn *At Home Date!*

Spice up the night with a cozy, romantic date at home- focused on the wonderful flavors and colors of fall.

Image courtesy of patrisyu at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Location: Your home!

Cost: You should only need to buy ingredients for your meal. J

Activities (do them in whatever order you want):

-Wear your favorite fall outfit.

-Make a fall-inspired meal together. Some ideas are below.*

-Play your favorite board game together.

-Take pictures outside in the leaves.

*Recipe Ideas:

The Perfect Apple Crisp (The Girl Who Ate Everything)

 “Ingredients

-10 cups all-purpose apples, peeled, cored and sliced (I used about 6 Granny Smith apples)

-3/4 cup white sugar

-1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

-1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

-1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

“Topping:

-2 cups quick-cooking oats

-2 cups all-purpose flour

-2 cups packed brown sugar

-1/2 teaspoon baking powder

-1/2 teaspoon baking soda

-1 cup butter, melted

-1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

“Instructions

1.      Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.      Place the sliced apples in a 9x13 inch pan. Mix the white sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, nutmeg, and ground cinnamon together, and sprinkle over apples.

3.      For the Topping: Combine the oats, 2 cups flour, brown sugar, pecans, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together. Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.

4.      Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.

5.      Serve with vanilla ice cream.”

Nuts About Berries Salad (I Heart Naptime)

“Ingredients:

·         Fresh spinach

·         Fresh strawberries (cut)

·         Fresh blackberries

·         Fresh raspberries

*Cinnamon sugared almonds:*

·         ½ cup sliced almonds

·         2 TB sugar

·         2 TB brown sugar

·         1 tsp cinnamon

*Poppyseed dressing:*

·         1 1/8 cup olive oil

·         1/3 cup red wine vinegar

·         ½ cup sugar

·         ¾ tsp dry mustard

·         ¾ tsp salt

·         1 tsp poppyseed

“Directions:

Wash your salad and berries and set aside.

*Almonds:*

In a small frying pan, combine your almonds and sugar. Cook on medium/low heat and watch closely. Keep stirring as the sugar begins to melt, to keep it from burning. Once sugar has coated the nuts, sprinkle with cinnamon and remove from heat and place on foil to cool.

*Dressing:*

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender or mason jar and mix until combined. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Shake just before serving. For the salad, layer the spinach, berries and nuts and top with dressing.”

Skinny Spaghetti and Meatballs (Pinch of Yum)

“INGREDIENTS

·         1 1/3 lbs. lean ground turkey

·         2 cups minced bell peppers (about 15 mini peppers)

·         2 large eggs

·         ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

·         ¾ cup Italian seasoned whole wheat breadcrumbs

·         ½ teaspoon salt, plus extra salt and pepper

·         35 ounces super smooth spaghetti sauce

·         16 ounces uncooked spaghetti

·         Fresh minced parsley and additional cheese for topping

“INSTRUCTIONS:

1.      Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prep the peppers. Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add the Parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs and stir until thick and sticky. Add the bell peppers, turkey and salt. Mix with your hands to really get the mixture incorporated.

2.      Roll the mixture into meatballs…and place on a greased baking sheet. They WILL stick and brown on the bottom as they bake. Sprinkle the meatballs generously with salt and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the baking sheet and set aside.

3.      Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Heat the spaghetti sauce in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the meatballs and some fresh parsley; stir gently and cover. Let the mixture simmer until the noodles are done cooking and the sauce is warmed through. Combine the sauce and noodles directly in the pan, or just scoop the sauce on top. Sprinkle with a little cheese for good luck. ;)”

Take some time to spoil yourself and your partner by focusing on each other without distractions for a few hours. If you have children, do this date while they are in bed for the night. Try to accomplish everything on the list and take your time doing all of it!

Reconnection Emphasis/Idea:

Spending time alone, talking together about the things that make you YOU, completing specific tasks, getting in the cozy Autumn mood.

~TRY:

While on this special date, talk to each other about your favorite things- your favorite seasons, favorite foods, favorite hobbies, etc.

***Relationship skill:

---Sometimes married couples feel that they know everything there is to know about each other, but in reality, there is always something new to learn about your spouse! And with the hustle and bustle of life, it can be easy to forget that we need to keep DATING our spouse. Remember when you were dating you wanted to know everything about your boyfriend/girlfriend? Back then, dates were probably focused on talking and having fun. Well, we should not lose this desire and motivation when we get married! Actually, it’s even more important to know the “little” things about your spouse AFTER you marry them! And also remember: Your spouse is still your boyfriend/girlfriend!