What are some good ideas for a practical and affordable starter home?

3 course meal for 2 ideas for an anniversary?

• Ok, im 19, i don't have much experience with cooking i have only started since moving to university, but it seems im quite good at it so far there's been no disasters. I can't find a nice restaurant for my bf and i to go to on our anniversary so i have decided to cook at home a 3 course meal, but i dont have a clue what!! I've looked on websites but the stuff on there, although nice i think requires more skill in the kitchen than i currently have! :) so i need simple ideas for starter, main and desert that arent so simple it looks like a shoddy effort but not so hard that i can't make it at all. Just to add with any ideas, i cannot eat fish of any kind, and i can't eat anything with fish in it like a stock with fish so no fish ideas fish makes me really ill. Also i can't eat fried egg or boiled egg but i can eat it in things like omlette and scrambled egg so bear that in mind :) Any ideas other than what i have mentioned i cant eat? i am really stuck! also my uni oven is tiny so i have only 2 shelves, 3 if i use bottom of oven but thats pushing it for space as the shelves are close together. Thanks for any help :)

• Answer:

  You can't go wrong with italian! First course: Salad Have lettuce, spinach, onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, croutons, a dressing of your choice, and sprinkle either Parmesan or Colby jack cheese (shredded). Super easy! Main (second) course: Spaghetti, Breadsticks/Garlic Bread, and a steamed veggie (you could even buy this in a bag :)) Cook your noodles. For the sauce (this makes a lot, so you can either cut it in half or have leftovers), brown one lbs of hamburger. Drain. Chop up some green onions and mix in with hamburger. Add mushrooms, 2 cans of diced tomatoes, and two small cans of tomato paste. You can either buy a package of McCormick's spaghetti spices in a little pack (if you don't have a lot of herbs and spices at college), or just add garlic, salt, pepper, basil, cilantro, parsley and oregano to your liking. Super easy also! For the bread sticks you can buy these, pop them in the oven, and when you take them out, load them with butter and garlic salt or garlic powder. For the garlic bread, you can just cover the top of the bread with butter and sprinkle with garlic salt and parsley and broil until golden brown. With my garlic bread I bake it a bit first and it turns out great. You could even add shredded cheese! (that's how my bf likes mine) If you like broccoli, I would steam some of that, or make some fresh green beans. Add something green to the main course. For the last/dessert/third course: Chocolate Trifle This is also easy. Take a pound cake and cube the entire thing. Make chocolate pudding (one box). In a bowl (see through bowls looks great!) put down 1/2 the cubed cake, drizzle a little chocolate syrup/sauce, spoon 1/2 pudding over that, put 1/2 container of whipped cream over that and repeat. Save a few cubes to add to the middle on top and drizzle with chocolate to look pretty. YUM! Then just chill. (You could make this earlier in the day and not feel crunched on time :)) I know non of these have measurements, but they are all easy and to your taste. Good luck! Hope this helped.