Valentine’s Day With Whole Foods Market

Disclaimer: We were invited to attend this blogger event by Whole Foods Market. All opinions contained herein are my own. All items shown are subject to change and may not be available in your area.

We don’t usually dine out on Valentine’s Day. It’s always so crowded. I’d much rather stay home and cook, or order in, and just spend some quality quiet time with my better half.

If staying in sounds like a good plan to you too, well, Whole Foods Market Danbury gave us the hook up on how they can make staying in on Valentine’s Day easy and delicious.

Something Savory

If you want to cook but with minimal prep, you could go with these adorable and delicious Nuovo Heart Shaped Crab and Lobster Ravioli ($5.99/package) along with a container of vodka sauce.

You’ll find both the ravioli and the sauce in the refrigerated section. These ravioli are seriously stuffed with crabmeat and lobster.

Or, do a bit more work and cook up some Surf and Turf. From Feb. 12th through Feb. 15th, you can pick up two 8oz. sirloin steaks along with two 3 oz. lobster tails for $19.99. We did this exact combo for New Years Eve and it was perfect.

If you want to take the night off from cooking, Whole Foods has you covered there too. In the prepared foods section they did all the work, all you’ll have to do is reheat. For a main course, there’s Coffee and Vanilla Rubbed Pork or Sole with Caper Lemon Butter Sauce.

I loved the seasoning on the pork – espresso, cumin, coriander, vanilla a hint of cayenne. It had a nice balance of hot and sweet.

For side dishes, there’s Herb Truffled Fingerling Potatoes with Crispy Shallots as well as a Seasonal Vegetable Medley with steamed tri-color carrots and Brussels sprouts in a herb butter sauce. Seriously, if you brought me those truffled potatoes I would totally be your Valentine.

And, what would a special meal be without dessert.

Something Sweet

The Tiered “Naked” Cake (get your mind out of the gutter, naked means it’s not frosted) was SO good. Our sample was dark chocolate cake with raspberry buttercream. For me, the naked cake was perfect since I don’t like desserts that are too sweet. It was just the right amount of sweetness and looked gorgeous too.

You can also go with the diner style cake which is sold by the slice. I’d consider buying a slice just for myself.

You can also get cupcakes as well as chocolate covered strawberries. The cupcakes can be pre-ordered and customized (along with all the other housemade cakes). They just need at least 48 hours notice.

Extras

We also were introduced to some fun products currently on the shelves.

Just Mayo – looks like regular mayo, tastes like regular mayo, but it’s anything but regular mayo. It’s non-gmo, gluten-free, egg-free, cholesterol-free, soy-free, dairy-free, lactose-free, and kosher. For people with food allergies or diabetes, this product is made for you. Now, I’m not a mayo fan but I have to admit it tastes pretty good. Here’s the wild thing, they gave us a strawberry with chocolate frosting that was made with Just Mayo. It totally tasted like frosting, you wouldn’t know there was mayo in it. Crazy, but it worked.

Severino Pasta – dried pasta made out of south New Jersey by a family owned company. This is old-school Italian pasta made with just 100% semolina flour, eggs, and water. You can get traditional shapes like Rigatoni, but I loved the wacky shapes like Apastasaurus (dinosaurs) and Amore (hearts).

Ripe Bar Juice – cold pressed unpasteurized bar juice mixers made in New Haven, CT. Unlike other mixers, Ripe does not use preservatives. Interestingly enough, the Ripe Margarita mixer has fewer calories than that “skinny” brand.

I say pick up some of these goodies and enjoy a quiet evening at home with friends or with someone special.

Photos by Renato Ghio