Happy Valentine’s to me! I bought three new books at Barnes + Noble with giftcards from Matt’s dad for Xmas. Well, technically Matt and I bought each other the gifts 
This 150 Healthiest Foods book is awesome!!! I just picked it off the shelf and really liked what he had to say. I’ve been reading Nicholas Sparks since The Notebook so I got the new one on that (although his first 2 books were by far the best). And Michael Pollan rules and so does food!! (I like to think the title means Food Rules and Dogs Drool and not so much ‘rules’ as in commands 
)
While we were in B + N we ran into Diana and Dan!!!!!!!!
And then we followed each other over to EarthFare and got to chat up food talk while we kept crossing paths when we shopped.
I’m trying a new milk – a local creamery. It was less expensive than the EarthFare Organic milk, and while this milk isn’t organic, it is local and if EarthFare sells it it’s bound to be good.
I also found two new yogurts to cheer up my 5-days-a-week lunchbox!
And two baby squashies!
We almost got EarthFare soup + salad bar for dinner….but Diana convinced me my original Valentine’s idea was worth doing. And I’m so glad I did it!!
Baked tofu hearts!!
Cut dried block into slabs
Matt cut one big heart by hand, but we decided the cookie cutter was a much better tool and size
How much would kids love this!?
We baked them at 375* for about 20-25 minutes (after spraying with cooking spray) and made the BBQ sauce in this recipe. We baked them dry though and added the sauce as a dipper.
We also roasted the squashes for lunches
And sweet potato cubes for dinner!
Lots of pans!
I made the night special with a POMpagne – POM and seltzer.
Matt loved it!! Haha
Dinner turned out so great!!!!
Tofu with BBQ sauce dipper
Sweet potatoes with maple syrup dipper. These were the BEST sweet potatoes we have ever cooked!! 400* tossed in a little canola oil and roasted for about 30 minutes. They were perfect pillows of marshmallow!! These were also organic sweet potatoes, so maybe they had more flavor than the ones I’ve been used to?
The last menu item was some steamed napa cabbage with mustard, cidar vinegar and pecans
Gotta have a little sumptin’ for dessert on Valentine’s!
We did a chocolate tasting complemented with some Sandeman Port that I was sent to review (still loving my wine review job, but only had a thimble size due to last night’s overdose!)
Matt and I both LOVE port! This one was beautifully thick, rich and sweet and did not have much of that nutty taste that often accompanies ports. I really loved it – it was very much like a dessert wine. Matt missed the nut a little, but his palate isn’t as important 
The featured chocolates included….
VeggieGirl Vosges Peanut Butter Bonbon, VeggieGirl Futter Butter Organic Vegan Caramel Confections. Liz is too generous and obviously loves to fill me with chocolates!!!! And lastly some Gail Ambrosius Dark Chocolates filled with Wisconsin Crave Brothers Mascarpone that I was sent from Cheese Cupid for Valentine’s! These have the creamiest chocolate filling – must be that cheese. And the dark chocolate was awesome. I heart dark chocolate!!
They were each sooooo good for different reasons. If I had to pick a favorite though, the Vosges combo of sea salt and peanut butter with dark chocolate was just deeeee-vine!!!
Going to snuggle on the couch before bedtime <3
{ 72 comments… read them below or add one }
Dinner and dessert look so delish! I hope you like the skyr. I fell in love with that type of yogurt in Iceland. It’s got a real tang to it.
I love dipping kinds of dinner. Yours looks perfect for the holiday.
That Siggi’s yogurt is my favorite yogurt I’ve ever had. It’s obscenely expensive (at least around me) so I don’t buy it often, but the texture is so think and creamy. Mmmm.
Kath, I am so glad that you appreciate local foods/items and don’t just focus on organic. I’m not a “milk person” but I hope your enjoy the milk you picked up. Can’t wait to read your thoughts and see the comparison between the local and the organic you normally buy.
Happy Valentine’s Day!!!
What a great dinner! Sometimes I wonder whether it’s “better” to buy organic, or buy local. It’s not always possible to have both, so which do you choose?
I think local wins, so long as you don’t live next to a pesticide field or cow factory
i’m sitting here pondering what to have for dinner and i think i’m going to steal your idea of tofu hearts! (of course i’ll give you credit!!) what a fun day, you got some great books. and such a romantic evening!
Absolutely love the heart tofu. I just polished off my dinner with a couple pieces of dark chocolate too – mmm!
Oh my god, that tofu is too freaking cute!
And I never even heard of that book on the left; I’m going to look it up!
aww, what cute tofu hearts! happy valentines day! my boy and I did a fancy dinner out last night so we are staying in too
So nice running into you randomly! Let’s do earthfare dinner soon! Oh and let me know how you like the milk. I have that on my must-try list, so I’m very curious.
Oh and your tofu hearts are adorable! I’m so glad you decided to make them – they made for a great post and an awesome meal!
I just bought The Last Song today! Can’t wait to start reading it.
You are so right… That would be the perfect meal for kids!
I just started to like port. I never did, but then I had a taste of the good stuff and was a changed woman
Happy V Day
I love the tofu hearts! I’ve never thought of making tofu into any shapes besides boring rectangles…
I’ve never thought of using a cookie cutter to cut tofu! What a great idea. So cute!
I KID YOU NOT….I was gonna make tofu hearts for my stir fry tonight!!! But I wanted eggs instead. I also didn’t have a cookie cutter so it would have been awkward with my less than stella knife skills.
Let us know how The Last Song is–I wanna see that movie!
Very cute idea with the tofu!!!
Do you often prep foods for the week over the weekend? When I’ve seen roasted veggies with your lunches, I’ve often wondered if you were taking the time to roast them mid-day, or if they had been made beforehand.
I’m trying to get more into the habit of preparing food for the week over the weekend, so I appreciate when you share your strategies in that regard! Thanks!
Yep! I try to prep at least some form of veggies to use for the week since they are hardest to prep in a rush
The Last Song is amazing…I read the whole thing in one night, BUT I have to tell you that I have personally read all of his books and I HIGHLY recommed you read The Guardian….It is by far the best second comes The Rescue…
not a Sparks fan at all…can you tell…
enjoy
I’ve read them all!
Ohh all of those books look so interesting! The 150 healthiest foods looks the most intriguing, but I do love Michael Pollan too! And I saw that Siggi yogurt in the store today, but was hesitant to buy it. I know you didn’t like the Yoplait Greek, but I had to try it for myself, so I picked up one of those. I’d be interested to hear your opinion of the Siggi, though. the tofu hearts are so cute! happy valentine’s day!!
If that’s the same Homestead Creamery milk I’m familiar with, it’s located in Wirtz, Virginia–which won’t be too awful far from you in Charlottesville. They’re famous locally for the ice cream they sell at their store, too–it’s supposed to be quite the treat.
I love all the veggies in your dinner! Looks amazing and delish… Plus the tofu hearts are just so adorable. Your book store trip ended with books I would totally pick up too! Plus I’ve read the 150 foods book and really enjoyed it. Hope you do too!
Awww silly cheesy tofu but great!
ahh- i JUST bought (and ate!) the maple vanilla stonyfield today! it was good, just a hint of maple, but i tasted more vanilla than maple. still enjoyable, and not too sugary tasting.
how are the siggis? I have to try them soon!
Looks like a lovely meal
Pun intended there…
happy v-day!
Buying local is typically more important to me than organic. And, in many situations local companies do things organically but simply don’t have the means to get organic certifications. The carbon footprint is smaller and your money is going back into the community. Win-win situation.
I love the tofu heart bites- so cute. Happy Valentine’s Day Kath!
I love to dip roasted sweet potatoes in honey but I want to give maple syrup a try!
Cute diner but I hope you didn’t waste the rest of the tofu!
Of course not!!! It was all on Matt’s plate
Perfect valentine’s day Kath! Yay! I love local milk more than anything in the world. It always tastes so fresh and clean. I’m a wee bit jealous of your stoneyfield maple vanilla yogurt — haven’t seen it in stores in nyc yet! And the tofu hearts? Absolutely wonderful.
yum! what a cute idea! what did you do with the tofu pieces AROUND the hearts though?…lol
and the organic/ local produce goods are so expensive…gah…><
Matt ate them!
Cutest dinner I have ever seen, Kath. Seriously. Between the baby squash, hearts, and sweet potatoes…. I’m smitten!
what a cute dinner! happy valentine’s day!
Oh So cute! I really want to read those books. Keep us updated!
You got a kabocha!!! I just ate roasted kabocha for dinner, and I AM STUFFED!!! I went to college in Madison, but Gail Ambrosia was not there then….sigh.
What a great way to spend the evening Kath! Those tofu hearts are so adorable!
I sort of love Nicholas Sparks books!
Your tofu hearts are just too cute!!
Love the heart-shaped tofu! So cute. I made a heart-shaped dinner tonight that I will reveal later today.
Jenn
What a perfect valentine’s dinner! I love the heart shaped tofu, what a great idea!
What a fun dinner! The chocolates look SO good! I am a big fan of dark chocolate too
Oh wooww, there is SO much incredible food in this post! Squash, sweet potoato, bbq sauce, maple syrup, pecans, mustard vinegar thing, PB dark chocolate….you literally could not have included any more of my favourite foods in this post
What a great day!!
Off topic here-sorry- but I can’t find, in your OpenSky store, the amount of wheatberries (pounds) that come for the $8.79 price given.
I don’t know – try calling Open Sky customer service or emailing them. They’ll usually reply in a heartbeat and I’ll have that fixed.
That looks just like the Homestead Creamery milk from the dairy in VA, I didn’t know they had a dairy in NC, too! When I “did” dairy, I used to buy their milk all the time at Kroger and Whole Foods and we even visited their ice cream shop a couple of times when we visited smith mountain lake a couple of summers ago. Even though it isn’t organic, they don’t use antibiotics or hormones so you are all good there.
That’s the one!
What a perfect day of food! I love the Vosges Peanut Butter Bonbon bar (and even reviewed it on my blog
) but haven’t tried the truffle-like version. Your dinner looks so wonderful, and let us know what you think of the Siggi’s! It’s super, super, SUPER thick and filling – I love the acai one!
OMG I just got that healthy foods book from the library! I actually squealed a little when I saw it on the page.
I love Micheal Pollan! I had no idea about that book though
Glad your Valentines Day turned out great!
Love the Tofu hearts idea!! Is the milk you bought from EF pasteurized? Hope you guys had a LOVELY V-DAY!!
Those tofu hearts are way too cute. I love the dipper selection you’ve got going on with dinner. Also, sea salt peanut butter filled dark chocolate just sounds dangerous to have off-hand.
I bought “Food Rules” yesterday as well. Michael Pollan had some good earnings yesterday!
I never would have thought of making tofu hearts! So clever! Although, in my case, it would not have been romantic at all. My husband would find it to be torture to eat tofu…in any form.
I was wondering what I should do with some tofu I purchased…now you gave me an idea. I have never put it in the oven before ( i am new to using tofu)
I love your tofu hearts! My hubby and I drink seltzer out of wine, champagne, or martini glasses almost every night. Half the fun of drinking is the glassware right?
another great book to recommend (I finished it yesterday and was disappointed only that I finished it)…Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman. It’s 2/3 Secret Life of Bees and 1/3 Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil, and 100% delightful!
TOFU HEARTS!
So adorable!
I love getting new books!! Um tofu hearts? HOW CUTE!!!
That’s the same milk we buy and we love it!
I LOVE the tofu hearts!
Food Rules does indeed rule! Love it. And heart shaped tofu makes me happy.
I’ve gotten kind of into dessert wine recently. I tried a medium-dry sherry recently that was great with creme brulee! I also like muscato d’asti, which is like a thicker, sweeter champagne almost!
In Australia, we called dessert wines “stickies”, which is such a perfect descriptor!
you guys are so cute…i love the tofu hearts and the POM spritzers! sounds like a fabulous evening
LOVE the tofu hearts!!!!
Awesome, awesome looking vegan dinner. YUM! Happy belated V Day to you and Matt, and big hug from NYC!
Awesome dinner, so festive!!
Food Rules is on my list of books to buy. I love Michael Pollan books and this should be in every home in America. So simple, but so often overlooked!
Sounds like a great day!
Cute idea with the tofu!
I have that 150 Healthiest Foods book. LOVE IT! Jonny Bowden is one of my favorites. I trust his nutrition advice over any other author I can think of. Enjoy!
When you roast squash in slices like that, do you eat the skin too? I’ve always wondered if that was ok to do.
The tofu was adorable and dinner looked amazing!
Great idea for the tofu cutting it into heart shapes, nice bite size.
darling dinner idea!
Homestead Creamery is awesome! I live maybe 20 minutes from that farm – the people are so nice. If Earthfare has it, you should definitely try their ice cream.
The juxtaposition of the Pollan book and tofu is interesting, as one of his main rules is to eat Real food.
I’m reading a book by an M.D. exhaustion expert called Spent. It’s an amazing work. His sources are all impeccable. You might be interested in his page or so on tofu and how utterly horrible it is for us. The way it’s processed makes the protein practically unavailable but releases carcinogens.
We should really only eat fermented soy, and further, Asian cultures, use soy only as a tiny condiment — not as a protein source.