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Valentine’s day has become so commercialised that it’s easy to forget the basic celebration of being in love with someone. All girls know that it’s the small things that count in life, so we’ve found some ideas that will let her know you’re really a thoughtful kind of guy.

For girls, these ideas work based on the premise that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Oh and for both sexes- these ideas are inexpensive, so you don’t need to take out a loan to let your partner know that you love them!

Breakfast

Why not start the day on the right foot by making a special breakfast for your loved one. This sounds like a very uninspired idea, so to keep it in theme, we’ve found some helping tools to make this breakfast a memorable one.

Mood Message Toast from findmeagift.com allows you to imprint her toast with a love message which is bound to make her smile. To accompany the toast, a heart-shaped fried egg will complete the Valentine’s breakfast, and if your partner is the type to like tomato sauce with eggs (a phenomenon that I am yet to understand) the red colour scheme will also fit in nicely!

If your partner has more of a sweet tooth, the heart shaped frying pan is also perfect for making pancakes. The necessary pan can be found at Amazon.

If you’re looking for a unique way to present a small gift like a piece of jewelery, buy a small box of cereal. How is this better than an old-fashioned ring box? Well open the cereal box from the bottom end and place your gift in amongst the cereal like a free toy you used to get as a kid. Remember how excited you were to be the first one to open the packet? If your partner is a romantic at heart, they’ll love this little bit of detail.

Go with any of these ideas and by 9am you’ll be in their good books for months!

Dinner

The traditional Valentines celebration is going out for a nice dinner, but that gets expensive and if you’ve left it a bit late (which I suspect you have if you’re reading an article on Valentines gift ideas so close to the big day) you won’t get a reservation anywhere- including your local pub.

If you’re facing this dilemma why not make a nice dinner at home? This is also a good idea if you’ve got kids, so they don’t feel left out of the celebration. You don’t need to be Gordon Ramsay to do this, and no doubt she’ll be touched at the idea that you’re going to do the cooking tonight.

To make dinner “Valentined”, a quick google search will find you some heart shaped pasta to serve. You can either make a delicious creamy sauce or serve it as a side to grilled chicken and salad. The Pasta Shoppe has some white and pink dyed heart shaped pasta that would be fantastic with a basic tomato and basil sauce. For some interesting pasta recipes check out If I Had To Pick Five and My Famous Recipe.

For desert, why not roll  up your sleeves in the kitchen for 15 minutes and make some heart shaped cookies? Once they’re in the oven, you can relax with a glass of wine and spend the next 30 minutes reminding her that the delicious baking smell in the house is a result of your handiwork. Popular home made cookie recipes can be found on Erin Cooks and The Cookie Blog.

These simple home cooking ideas will make Valentine’s Day special without having to bend to the will of the media and fork out for expensive jewelery or a trip to Paris. And really, what better way to spend the day of love than by eating wonderful food with your loved one?