Can You Have A Date Night And Stay In?

Stay Home Date Night Idea - Mystery Meal Surprise

By Lorraine Hawley

My husband and I are in the third chapter in our lives. With our daughter off to college, out-of-state, and our out-of-control wild and crazy days a fun memory about which we still like to reminisce, we often find ourselves climbing into our comfortable clothes on Friday and Saturday nights and sitting in our predesignated spots on the couch. The conversation sounds something like this, "What do you want to watch tonight? I don't think The Big Bang Theory is on." and, his typical reply, "Well what do we have on Tivo? I think most of these are reruns".

Sitting around staring at each other on Friday and Saturday nights has become pretty commonplace for my husband and I in the last few years. With our crazy schedules and lack of energy after dealing with problems all week, we both agree (most of the time) that the last thing we want to do is get all dressed up and go out. Now, just because we are in our third chapter does not mean we don't enjoy each others company and like to have fun. Quality time is still very important to us, so we try to find ways not to fall into the what's-on-TV-tonight humdrum existence. If we sound a lot like you and you are planning on staying in this weekend and need a quick and easy, unplanned date-night or are a newly dating couple and looking for a creative idea, you might consider making a Mystery Meal.

A Mystery Meal is pretty easy to prepare for and you will have absolutely no idea how it will turn out! The game is set when both people individually pick up five items to be used in preparing what's for a dinner. No cheating and telling each other what you are buying. You can go together to the grocery store, but use separate check out lanes and no peeking into each other's baskets! Then, the object is to get together and prepare a meal out of the ingredients you buy and ONLY what you buy. Sure, you can use your spices and condiments, but nothing else.

Don't set boundaries like, "you get the vegetables or let's make a chicken dish" each person picks 5 random items they want and that way you never can tell what you will end up with. Make sure you take plenty of fun pictures as you build your creation. So, you end up with only enough ingredients to make two desserts? Oh well, that would work in my house.

I hope you enjoyed our spin on cooking together and your recipe turns out amazing! For more creative activity tips, unique travel ideas, family fun, or if you would like to just share your photo of the meal you created with us, please visit us at http://www.themetrip.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lorraine_Hawley