Now that we have a wedding to save for, date nights out at restaurants won’t occur that often. Entrees at chain restaurants cost at least $10-15 and fancier restaurants can be up to $40 plus! However, that doesn’t mean that we can’t do date night in!
Some of my favorite memories with Bryan have been nights when we just relax at home, cook a nice meal and watch Netflix. I don’t get home from work until 6pm each night so I don’t like complicated recipes after a long day.
If you feel the same way, these options allow you to decrease time in the kitchen and increase time spent with your loved ones.
Appetizer
The appetizer we chose was VERY easy to make. In fact, there was no cooking at all – cheese and crackers! The cheese we picked out was Emmi’s Kaltbach Le Gruyere Switzerland. This block of cheese is a true Swiss with a crumbly body. It has a salty taste at first, but then ends with a lingering sweet finish. It’s great with a bold red wine!
Entrée
Usually I wouldn’t grab a frozen dinner at the grocery store. I haven’t found one that really wowed me. However, the Contessa World Cuisine brand offers many options and they are pretty amazing. Our grocery store didn’t have much variety to choose from, but the brand does make them!
I picked out the Shrimp Primavera and Bryan got the Beef Mongolian. Let’s take a look at the ingredients.
The Shrimp Primavera has linguini pasta, veggies (broccoli, carrots, green beans, red bell peppers and garlic), shrimp and a light butter sauce. The Beef Mongolian contains veggies (green beans, onions, water chestnuts and garlic), cooked long grain white rice, seasoned beef sirloin and a soy sauce marinade.
The sodium content is high on these, so I wouldn’t eat these meals everyday. We did enjoy them though, and plan to keep these in our freezer for a quick meal.
Contessa World Cuisine products are minimally processed and contain:
- No msg
- No trans-fat
- No artificial colors or flavors
- No preservatives
Dessert
What better way to end your date night in than with fondue?! We picked the Swiss Fondue from Emmi. Fondue is perfect because you don’t need a fondue pot – just use your stove top! This version is a traditional Swiss chocolate and contains bittersweet chocolate, natural flavor, white chocolate and sunflower oil.
FTC: I received the above items for review. No compensation was provided. All opinions are my own.
Talk to Me
- What’s your favorite appetizer for a date night in?
- Have you tried Contessa World Cuisine? What did you think?
- What is your favorite flavor of chocolate fondue? I’m a milk chocolate gal.
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Ohh I love fondue! And date nights in! I’m glad you enjoyed yourself!
Thanks Erin! I love date nights in b.c. i can wear my pjs!
omg!! congrats congrats congrats!!! i haven’t been on the comp for a couple days so i missed that post, but was extremely excited for you when i read it.
never tried it, but it sounds really good!! and is a plus since there is no preservatives!
i usually don’t do full course meals, so i’ll have to try that 🙂
Thanks Chelsea! Still getting used to it 🙂
I have never tried Contessa. My favorite date night meal is making tacos (vegetarian)! The rice cooker does the work for the rice and then I will grill up some veggies and top with avocado, plain Chobani and salsa! For an app: chips and salsa!
oo I love chips and salsa, especially spicy ones 🙂
I’ve never tried Contessa products, but I’ll have to look for them. I love keeping stuff like that on hand!
Yeah not the best for everyday, obviously… but great to keep in the freezer!