Being seven months pregnant I have to admit I don’t have a ton of energy to spend on planning, or going out on, elaborate dates. However, I know how important it is to make sure my husband and I spend time together especially before the craziness of the fourth trimester! This year, we planned a simple (but super fun) Valentines date. We toured a chocolate “factory” followed by dinner and a movie at home — picnic style. The best part of this particular date is that it can be an at-home date, or you can incorporate going out for a few hours one afternoon.
A Simple Valentines Date Idea:
In the DC area, there are a ton of unique small businesses. I recently learned about River Sea Chocolates, a local craft bean-to-bar chocolate factory. They make chocolate on-site using beans world-class single-origin cacao paired with organic and ethically sourced ingredients, less sugar than most other bar chocolates, and no emulsifiers or flavorings. They have a small factory that you can actually visit and tour to see how the chocolate is made, and then try it out. We decided a tour of a chocolate factory was the perfect afternoon activity so we dropped in, (note: appointments are recommended). Chocolate is always romantic and again, my seven-month pregnant belly was not complaining 😉
Gourmet Hot Chocolate Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups Almond Milk
- 1/4 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Nutmeg
- 1 tbsp Coconut Sugar
- 1 oz River Sea Chocolate
- 1 dollop Whipped Cream to Top (optional)
Instructions
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Put the milk in a stovetop hot chocolate pot and frother.
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Add cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar.
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Bring milk to a gentle boil.
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Add chocolate pieces and heat for one minute.
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Froth until you get the consistency you like.
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Pour hot chocolate and top with a dollop of whipped cream if desired.
After tasting the chocolate and talking to the owner a little bit we asked for her recommendation on good chocolate for a really great cup of hot chocolate. She recommended any of the 70% bars so we bought the Peru 70% that had flavors of mocha, cedar, and raspberries (plus a few others) and went home to get ready for part two of our Valentines date.
Part two was dinner and a movie after Aiden went to bed. It may not sound all that original but we decided to change it up and do a picnic style! We used a blanket and pillows to set up a comfy viewing area for the movie.
Dan cooked barbecue pizza using Simple Mills almond flour pizza crust and topped with this BBQ sauce recipe, mozzarella cheese, gouda cheese, thinly sliced onion, roasted chicken, and parsley.
My sister in law gave us the book Date Night In which has some great date night ideas and recipes to go along with them including a Salted Peanut Toffee Popcorn for movie night. As Dan cooked the pizza I prepped the Salted Peanut Toffee popcorn for dessert. It cooked while we ate dinner so when it was time for dessert we had gourmet popcorn and of course the hot chocolate.
This Valentines date night was super simple and I love that it can be tailored to be an at-home date. You can order the chocolate online in advance for the hot chocolate and skip the chocolate factory tour.
Do you have any fun at-home Valentines date night ideas? I would love to hear about them in the comments!
If you liked this post check out Coffee & Farmer’s Market Day Date & Latte Recipe and How To Make Dinner Time Simple with Meal Prep Sous Vide Meatballs.
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