Before we start cooking chicken breast, let me ask you this: What’s your plan this Valentine’s day? I’m making a suggestion here.

For some people, going out on Valentine’s day may not be in the budget, and honestly, that’s okay. Most of the dates Jay and I have happen right here in our home.

Why? Well, sometimes, it’s just  too pricey.

Before you start DM-ing me affordable romantic places to go to, let me assure you, I have already bookmarked them all. You have to understand, we don’t have a full time nanny so we either go on our dates with three junior chaperones that eat like grownups, or pay a babysitter to look after our kids.

That’s right, babysitter costs, too.

Don’t get me wrong, we still love going out on dates especially when our trusted babysitter is available.

It’s just that we’ve also learned to adjust when situations call for it. After all, romance doesn’t always have to happen outside our home. As a matter of fact…..

I’m sure you get the picture.

This is how our home dinner dates look like:

Anyway, I love cooking for my husband. I love surprising him with nicely plated dishes in our home dates.

How do we do it? Well, by the time my husband gets home, the kids have eaten ahead and are busy doing something else in the room, leaving me and Jay dining by ourselves. This is a good excuse to let the kids play with devices.

Is that a gasp I hear? You can give them books, if you want, or pen and paper, if that suits you better. The point is, get them busy so you can have your dinner date in peace.

Most requested cheese sauce recipe

I served this earlier this week and posted the picture on Facebook. I got tons of requests for the recipe of the cheese sauce, but I thought I’d share the whole dish anyway.

Before I forget, the cheese sauce recipe is not mine to take credit for. I got the recipe from my good friend, Michelle Remulla.

What you need:

Chicken breasts (boneless)

Broccoli (roughly chopped)
snow peas (chop off the ends)
Sayote or Chayote (peeled and sliced thinly)

olive oil
salt and pepper

For the cheese sauce:

1 pack quick melt cheese (grated)
2 regular packs of all purpose cream
Spanish paprika

How to prepare:

1. Generously coat the chicken breast with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2. Pre-heat oven for 10 minutes.
3. Put the chicken breasts on a tray and bake for 20 minutes (or until it browns a little). Set aside.

4. Blanch vegetables: Put in a pot of water, bring to boil.  With a slotted spoon, scoop the veggies and quickly dip into a bowl of iced water. Set aside.

5. In a pan, melt the cheese with the all purpose cream and sprinkle with spanish paprika.  Stir continuously until you have achieved consistency.

6. Put your baked chicken breasts on a plate with the blanched vegetables on the side. Pour the cheesy sauce on top, then serve.

Super easy is my cheesy, right?

Tag me!

So if you’re planning on a home date this Valentine’s day, you might want to consider serving my baked chicken breast recipe. My husband, of course, loves it, but just so you won’t think it’s a biased opinion, I had my cousin over last week and she seemed to have liked it, too!

I love being tagged when someone tries on the recipes I blog about. I’ve been tagged a few times and I’m really happy to see different versions of the recipes I feature here.

Tag me (@fullyhousewifed) if you plan to do this, okay? Valentine’s or no Valentine’s, it doesn’t matter, just tag me.

Enjoy your meal and enjoy your weekend. Happy Valentine’s day, everyone! Love and be loved.

Learn to make popular food from this recipe book: