How to Spend Valentine’s Day on a Budget

With Valentine’s Day looming around the corner and dinner reservations already booking up the stress of the new year can make Valentine’s Day come at an unfortunate financial time. You shouldn’t have to celebrate with a fancy dinner at a nice restaurant and can still show those you love them through other fun and affordable ways! My birthday and Pierce’s both fall on the opposite sides of Valentine’s Day. Not to mention we just had Christmas and then my birthday now Valentines Day and then Pierce’s birthday its just a lot all right next to each other and of course we still want to celebrate each other, but we shouldn’t feel pressured to have three fancy expensive dinners all in one month (that’s just crazy!) So I wanted to roundup a few ways you could spend Valentine’s Day on a budget if you are struggling to find ways to show some love without breaking the bank!

Why I ALSO love this idea is because going out on Valentine’s Day is overrated anyway! You go to your favorite restaurant only to find out you only have the table for 2 hours and there’s a set menu without your favorite dish on it! Finding ways to avoid the masses and focus on each other is what this holiday should really be about!

Go on a Picnic

This is such a fun idea and can easily be planned last minute no dinner reservations required! Grab some blankets and cozy up on a romantic rooftop! You can drive your car to the top of a parking garage with a view and enjoy a bite to eat in the back of your trunk. A lot of apartments have nice amenity areas like this rooftop at an apartment in Dallas. The best part about this is that you can decide exactly what food you want in any location you want! Too cold to go outside? Order in and cozy up at home! Throw some blankets on the floor, light some candles and have an indoor picnic. Or go all out and set a fancy table for two! Want to have dinner on us this year? Pierce and I worked with i Fratelli to give y’all the chance to win 2 pizzas, 2 salads and 2 desserts! Head my Instagram account @styledzebra where all the details are on this photo above. Pizza is the perfect meal to share over Valentine’s Day and i Fratelli is both of our favorite!

Make Dinner Together

Cooking is one of my favorite things to do together as a couple! When Pierce and I have the chance to cook dinner together it is always so much fun. We turn some music on, get a nice glass of wine and just catch up while we cook! Some of my favorite romantic recipes we make together is chicken fettuccine Alfredo. I’ll leave the recipe here for you guys because we made this up together!

Chicken & Mushroom Fettuccine Alfredo

What You’ll Need

• ½ box of fettuccine
• 1 container of mushrooms cut into slices (we love mushrooms so always add more! Half this if mushrooms aren’t your thing!)
• 2 cups of spinach
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 stick of butter (Kerrygold butter makes this!)
• 3 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts
• Italian seasoning
• Garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• Salt
• Red pepper flakes (optional)  

How to Prepare

1. In a large pot, bring water to a boil and cook pasta to package directions. Save ½ cup of pasta water. Rinse pasta with cold water to help stop cooking and set aside.
2. Season the chicken with garlic powder and Italian seasoning and a touch of red pepper flakes. Cook on the stove top with olive oil. Cut into pieces and set aside.
3. In a sauce pan, toss the mushrooms with a ¼ of the butter. Let mushrooms cook for about 8-10 minutes or until they are golden brown.
4. Pour the heavy cream and the rest of the butter into the saucepan with the mushrooms and let come to a boil.
5. In the pot you boiled the pasta in, cook the spinach on low heat with a toss of olive oil and salt, stirring occasionally.
6. Add the fettuccine back to the pot with the spinach. Pour the mushroom sauce over the pasta and stir thoroughly.
7. Add the chicken in with the pasta and stir in the Parmesan cheese.
8. Season with salt and add a dash of red pepper flakes.
9. Optional: Put the pasta into a baking dish and heat in the oven at 355 for 10-15 minutes until top is golden.

Movie Night!

Head to the movies and share a night together or watch something at home! There are all these special kind of movie theaters now where you can order dinner and see a movie. Or if you are really trying to be cash conscious, pack some snacks in your bag!

Bike Ride

If the weather is nice, take a bike ride to a casual taco dinner Dallas has the best way to do this over by Trinity Groves. Bike rentals are only $10! This is also such a fun after Valentine’s Day activity and could be done during the day on Saturday.