Happy Friday Reader!

Valentine's Day is a tricky one at our house. We aren't gushy about it, but we usually do enjoy a special meal together. The foods we love best aren't necessarily "fancy" or "elegant", but they do express love and attention to what the other most enjoys. Some of our favorites might be perfect for your Valentine, too.

​Creamy Chicken Tortellini with Broccoli​

My Creamy Chicken Tortellini with Broccoli dinner would be a perfect Valentine's Day option served with a Crunchy Bell Pepper Salad or even a simple House Salad and some garlic bread.

​Easy Cornish Hens with Roasted Vegetables​

This specific Cornish Hen recipe is on David's list of the Top 5 favorite dinners. He swoons whenever I make it. This is one of MY favorite "want to impress" dinners that, in truth, is one of the easiest things I make. It's savory, succulent, delicious chicken, and the vegetables roast right on the rack below it, catching all those fabulous drippings. Mouthwatering and easy! Be sure to check it out.

​Mississippi Pot Roast​

It always feels like a special occasion when we serve this delicious fork-tender Mississippi Pot Roast with mashed potatoes and roast beef gravy. Add a side of my Air Fryer Green Beans and the meal will be complete.

And if the tangy spicy heat of pepperoncini is not your style, make this delicious all-in-one Slow Cooker Chuck Roast with Potatoes and Carrots. It's just as easy and crazy delicious.

​Best Easy 5-Ingredient Meatloaf -or -

​Stove Top Stuffing Meatloaf​ and Sweet Potatoes​

No matter how often he's eaten it, meatloaf is still one of the meals that makes David's heart go pitty-pat when he knows I'm making it. So for us it's a great Valentine's Day option. There are tons of recipes for meatloaf, but these are two of our personal favorites.

That easy 5-ingredient one pops with flavor and is so easy to make. It's the one I've made since we were married 42 years ago.

And the slow cooker meatloaf is a new favorite. I'm always a sucker for a meal that cooks all together and the sweet potatoes are a perfect complement to this delicious mealoaf.

​Chicken Cordon Bleu​

I used to think Chicken Cordon Bleu was very fancy and must be too hard to make. Now that I've had the opportunity to make it, I know how silly that really was. This is another dish that seems very impressive, but you'll be able to pull it off with ease. And boy, is it delicious! Serve it with your favorite salad recipes and side dishes for a meal to remember.

Easy and Simple Valentines Day Desserts

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• ​Costco Raspberry Crumble Cookies {COPYCAT}​
• ​Oreo Cookie Recipe | Valentine Love Bugs​
• ​Homemade Chocolate Pudding​
• ​Chocolate Cake​
• ​Easy Cheesecake Recipe​

I hope you'll be able to use some of these recipes and make great memories with all your Valentines this year! Enjoy!

Have a wonderfully blessed week!

I hope you get to share a meal with the people you love most (and that someone else does the dishes!) Hugs friend!

What's For Dinner?

This is the part of the newsletter where I share recipe ideas from some of my best blogging friends and myself to inspire you with what's for dinner at our houses this week. That gives you seven days worth of new recipes to inspire you for your own delicious meal plan. Enjoy!

• ​Taco Rice from Laura at Little House Big Alaska
• ​Instant Pot Tortellini Soup from Gen at Two Cloves Kitchen
• ​Sheet Pan Honey Mustard Pork Chops from Glenda​
• ​Spaghetti Alla Bolognese from Rupali at Caramel and Spice
• ​Sloppy Joe Sliders from Sue at Sula and Spice
• ​Big Mac in a Bowl from Lori at A Reinvented Mom
• ​Healthy Chicken Pitas with Homemade Yogurt Sauce from Kristin at Dizzy Busy and Hungry

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These are Amazon affiliate links to some of my favorite kitchen tools for making quick and easy family meals. I may earn commissions on qualifying purchases. You can read my affiliate disclosure here.

• ​18x13 Half-Sheet Rimmed Baking Sheets: I have six of these cookie sheets and I bought them 13 years ago. I LOVE them! They are stainless steel professional grade sheets that are warp resistant. I use them for cookies, brownies, sheet pan dinners and baking bacon. They're an essential tool in my kitchen.​
• I absolutely love these Oven-Safe Cooling Racks. Obviously they're great for cooling hot things on the counter. But these also fit inside the baking sheets I listed, above. I love being able to roast things in the oven with that little bit of hot air being able to circulate even to the bottom of what I'm cooking.
• These gorgeous Clear Glass Casserole Dishes with Lids were a Christmas gift I have fallen in love with! They come as a set of two oval baking dishes and I have already used them so many times. I love that the small one is perfect for cutting a recipe in half when it's just the two of us eating.
• ​7 qt. Crock Pot - I have multiple slow cookers, but my reach-for-it-first favorite gets used at least once a week and usually more. It's the most basic manual Crock Pot available, and I love it the most. It's the easiest way to cook Mississippi Pot Roast, delectable Ham, loaded Potato Soup, comforting and satisfying Beef Stew, easy Meatloaf and more.
• ​Staub Braiser with Glass Lid: This is the pot you see in the pictures in my Creamy Chicken Tortellini post. I love it for recipes that are going from the stovetop to the oven to the table. Because it’s enameled, I don’t have to worry about rust or seasoning the cast iron, so this often comes out in place of my cast iron skillet. It's 3.5 quarts. And it is pricey, but I find that my favorite hard-working kitchen tools often are. And since this sturdy pot will easily be handed down for generations after I’m gone, the cost broken over its years of service will be minimal. My next link will be for a less expensive and still fabulous alternative for casseroles, soups and stews.
• ​Lodge Dutch Oven: This is a workhorse in my kitchen. I use it on the stove top and in the oven. It's great for soups and stews, roasts and even one-pan meals. There's just something about cooking with cast iron. I love the way they heat and distribute heat. This one is beautifully enameled, so I don't have to worry about rust or seasoning the cast iron.

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