Strawberries with Homemade Chocolate Frosting

Brent and I do not put a lot of stock in Valentine’s Day. We usually surprise each other with random acts of kindness year round, rather than saving them for a calendar occasion. That said, we still celebrate a little on Valentine’s Day just for fun. We usually stick to a silly Valentine’s Day card, and leave it at that.

This year I decided to try my hand at a fun dessert with strawberries and homemade chocolate frosting. (Honestly, when I saw the strawberries at Wegmans this morning, I had to have them for our date-night-at-home tonight. We’re going to enjoy shrimp, steak, and roasted root veggies. Why not treat ourselves to a little something sweet, too, on this sweetest of holidays?) Strawberries alone would be great, but I’ve been itching for an excuse to make frosting. So, now I’ve done it!

We hope you enjoy this simple, and super fast, sweet treat tonight or anytime you want to sit back and savor life’s goodness.

The Couple That Cooks Together

This is a guest post we did for Matt & Stacy at the Paleo Parents.  If you aren’t already aware of the amazing things that they are putting out, go ahead and check out their website, podcast, and books.  I’m sure I’m already preaching to the choir here, but if not–go check it out and thank me later.

Quality time is a big part of any relationship–without it, it’s easy for little things to get in the way of the bigger picture and sit under the surface until you end up in a huge fight about not looking both ways before crossing the street (true story).  When Heather and I first met, we were both in grad school and working full time. Since, we’ve
managed to move twice and work more than when we were managing school.  Working 60+ hours a week each makes it difficult to carve out time with and for each other, especially because my second job occurs on evenings and weekends.

We just celebrated our 3-year anniversary, and I’ve taken time to really reflect on the things that make us work as a team. One of the things that has really helped us grow is our time in the kitchen.  We, like others, once made the argument that, “Cooking takes too long–let’s just order in.”  I learned the hard way that is hard on both the waist and the wallet, packing on 50+ pounds in the first year we were together.  So, about a year and a half ago, I decided to make the switch, and made a little website as an accountability measure.  Heather will admit, she was hesitant at first; but she supported me and eventually realized the dietary changes were good for her too (her allergies are more manageable now).

Below is a distillation of some of the life lessons that we’ve learned in the kitchen.  Not only do we get to spend time
together, it is making the choice to better our health and wellness, and hopefully reduce stress.  Our diet and fitness can only do so much if we’re stressed out of our minds.