One of my favorite things to do with my husband is have a date night at home with him. We try to do it at least once a weekend and it is something we both value and look forward to. It’s a time that allows us to give each other our undivided attention, bonds us as we work together to prepare a meal, and saves money that we’d be spending on babysitters and restaurants! Life with children can get crazy busy, and it’s important to make an effort to find time to focus on each other. Our typical date night at home follows these steps:
Plan Your Meal
Make sure you have picked out your meal and have the ingredients on hand in advance of your date night. You don’t have to be a gourmet chef or even enjoy cooking to have a date night at home. It’s not cheating if you just want to keep it easy and order a pizza or pick up a pre-made meal for two from Central Market! But whatever it is you decide to eat, try to have it picked out and all the ingredients on hand before your date night begins.
Links to the meal pictured throughout this post can be found at the end – a simple, delicious, and relatively healthy dinner we enjoyed during one of our date nights at home over the holidays.
Put the Kids to Bed Early
This step is key! To really soak up your time together, wear those kiddos out during the day and try to get them down at a decent hour. On our date nights at home we try to have them down no later than 7:30. Remember, you need this time with your significant other and it’s important for your kids to see you put each other first.
Set the Mood
Once your children are down, your night can begin! Your evening will be much more relaxing in a clean space, so try to pick up the living room and kitchen, and any other spaces in your home that you’ll be using. Turn on whatever music you’re in the mood for, light a candle, and start up the fire if it’s cold outside, or consider sitting outside if the weather is nice with some festive string lights and outdoor candles.
Cocktails and Appetizers
This step is
my favorite! We enjoy unwinding with a drink and some nibbles while having an uninterrupted, quality conversation together. My husband and I are both fans of martinis and that’s our go-to drink for happy hour during our date nights at home, but we also love trying new drinks or sipping on something seasonal, so have fun with this! An easy appetizer to set out is cheese and/or a dip with water crackers. Some of our other favorites include shrimp cocktail, bacon wrapped jalepenos, sushi (Kroger and Market Street have great sushi for this setting), and crab cakes.
Main Course
Some meals are more involved than others, and some require just pre-heating the oven and warming up your food. My husband is the better chef between the two of us so after our happy hour I accompany him in the kitchen and help him prepare the sides, measure out the ingredients, and clean up as we go while he cooks the main dish. Then I set the table and pour some wine while he plates the food. It’s fun to create a meal together and so lovely to enjoy it with no distractions!
Clean Up/Walk the Dog
Nobody enjoys waking up to a dirty kitchen so either work together to clean up your dinner, or do what we do and have one person clean up while the other walks the dog. I have found that I can relax more the rest of my evening if I’m not worrying about a mess or trying to entertain an energetic pup!
Movie and Dessert
We rarely have room for dessert at this point in the evening but if we do, it’s usually something easy like a scoop of ice cream or a dark chocolate sea salt caramel. If you have a sweet tooth and are a chocolate fan, this Molten Chocolate Cake is to die for! While we enjoy our dessert (or sometimes stovetop popcorn), we start up a movie on iTunes or Netflix and settle in for the night. Sometimes we opt for a nightcap and more time outside in lieu of a movie. If you have a fire pit or chimenea it is so peaceful to sit around it and gaze at the stars on a clear night!
If you’re not already having regular date nights at home, I encourage you to give it a try! And if this is something you’re already doing, please share your date night at home ideas below!
Happy dating!
Recipes pictured above:
