This month, many are planning the perfect date to make valentines day special. But there’s one problem most teens are facing: money. The traditional date requires a fancy dinner and lots of gifts. Without expenses for five-star restaurants and giant teddy bears, coming up with other ways to show your partner you love them is hard. While fancy restaurants and big gestures are nice, there are plenty of ways to show you care. Both quality time and memorable moments can be more meaningful than the money spent. Here are activities, places, and meals that you can use to win over your partner this Valentine’s Day.
Dates shouldn’t have to break the bank. There are many activities that save money and make memories at the same time.
Activities:
- Have a picnic! Find somewhere you like, bring some snacks, and set up a blanket to sit on. You can talk, people watch, or just sit in silence surrounded by the beautiful nature in Humboldt.
- Art! There are many art activities for couples. Making portraits of each other and revealing them when completed, switching art pieces every 5 minutes to make collaborative art. Making clay figures of each other is fun, and you end up with a cute trinket to keep.
- Baking! You can bake cookies, make a cake together, or make cupcakes and share them with friends or family. You get a treat out of it, and working in a kitchen together is intimate and builds trust and teamwork, not to mention the memories you will make and keep forever.
- You can go on a walk in a scenic place, collect little pieces of nature, and build fairy houses.
- If you want to attend an event, you can look at the lost coast outpost and check the “lowdown” to see if there’s anything interesting going on; they almost always have something free to go to.
Places:
We live in a beautiful area, and there are wonderful places everywhere that cost nothing. The beach, the forest, and the marsh are all amazing spots for walks, picnics, and getting to know each other. After a fun day in the wilderness, you might build up an appetite, so consider these easy and delicious recipes for an at-home dinner date that won’t leave your wallet empty.
Cooking with and for a loved one makes the meal more meaningful, and plenty of simple recipes don’t cost much and could be fun to try if you haven’t before. If you or your partner likes spam musub, this recipe is perfect for you. Spam musubi consists of spam, rice, and seaweed. In this dish, you get all of those components but in a rounder, more filling meal.
Spam Musubi Recipe:
Ingredients: 2 cans of spam, 2 cups of rice, 2 seaweed snack packets, an avocado, Kewpie mayonnaise, and sriracha. Of course, all the ingredients are customizable; you can add or subtract anything from this dish to fit your preferences. I like pickled ginger, so I add that to mine.
Instructions: first make your rice, while it’s cooking, cut your spam into small pieces, it can be cubed or cut into small fries. Fry the spam in a pan until it starts to brown. You can taste them occasionally and cook to your liking-I also like some cayenne pepper on mine, but it’s optional. Once your rice and spam are both done, you can assemble the dish. Start with rice in the bowl, then the spam on top, and finally add your toppings like avocado, mayo, sriracha, and seaweed. With the seaweed, you can either crumble it up and sprinkle it on top, or you can use the seaweed to pinch bites of your spam bowl. I like both ways.
You can also flavor the rice in a few different ways. You could go savory and add some sauce of your choice into it, or sweet and add a little bit of rice vinegar (most white vinegars will work as a substitute) and a little bit of sugar. This recipe is easy to customize to your own taste, and is a very simple, cheap dish.
Another fun and completely customizable dish is personal pizzas. These are so easy to make, and you can choose whatever toppings you want.
Personal Pizzas Recipe:
Ingredients: You can get pre-made pizza dough, make your own, or use a bagel or bread. You will need a sauce of your choice, cheese, and any toppings you’d like. I would suggest meat, like pepperoni or sausage, mushrooms, olives, onions, basil, and pineapple as some options, but you can use anything.
Instructions: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. If you’re using pizza dough, roll it out into a circle, and with the bagel, cut it in half. Spread your sauce on the surface of whatever you are using, sprinkle cheese on top, and then add all of your toppings however you want. Bake the pizzas at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 7-20 minutes, depending on what you used (dough, bagel, bread), around 5-10 minutes for a bagel or bread and 20 minutes for dough, or until golden brown.
This Valentine’s Day, you don’t have to break the bank on the perfect date because it shouldn’t be about the money you spend, but the memories you make. Try some of these ideas together if you are inspired to, and put your all into the date you take your loved one on this year.
