Some people seriously detest Valentine's Day. They think it is mushy, stupid and pointless, but I beg to differ. I find that many of our likes, dislikes and opinions stem from our positive and negative experiences. Early on, I have had some pretty nifty Valentine's Days. My parents made Valentine's Day a family event. I do not remember them going out and leaving us kids at home, or ever being made to feel that the day had to be about romance. My dad left for work in the wee hours of the morning. Every Valentine's Day, my brother, sister and I would find presents from my dad on our pillows, somewhere in our rooms or on the dining room table. You NEVER knew what he was going to have for you. My sister used to be in LOVE with Kern's Apricot juice. So for Valentine's Day one year, he got her a flat of it! My mom would also get us cards and gifts just from her. She would get our favorite candy and write love notes for us. When we would get home from school, she would make steak and lobster for dinner with some type of fabulous dessert. Even when my husband and I were dating, we would still have our family Valentine's Day dinners. I love wrapping things up and giving  things to show people how much I care. I do not think that there needs to be a day just for this. This should happen all of the time, but sometimes its fun to do this with a theme, Here are a few last minute gift ideas that I have given in the past. I even have some great and inexpensive Valentine's Day baking tool ideas below to make things easier.

Last year, I made brownies for my co-workers. I baked them in cute liners and place them in these little containers. I used foam heart stickers to decorate them. You can make regular, gluten/dairy free or paleo brownies. I have also made heart shaped cookies. Whatever works best for you!

Even thought this is Christmas themed, I have made these for Valentines day. Soda drinkers love these. All I did was place sodas on a square shaped paper plate. The flower, is actually a pen I made using a silk flower and green floral tape. Quick, easy and fun to give. 

I purchased these heart shaped bags from Dollar Tree last year. Forty of them for $1. You just can't beat that. I placed cookies in them for my students.

Cooking for a loved one is also a great treat. For breakfast you may want to try making these little crust-less  spinach, sausage egg muffins. These a terrific served with fruit and placing it on something heart shaped can make someone feel even more special. I placed these berries in a heart shaped ramekin that I got from target for $1. This also can be a little appetizer/

Heart shaped things really make things festive. You can really clean up at Target and dollar stores. Have a fantastic, relaxing day! I'm off to watch some 80's movies :).

Last year, I put together a few gluten and dairy free menu ideas. You can see that post here. But what if you are avoiding gluten, dairy, legumes, grains, nuts and refined sugar? Hmmm, sounds kind of tricky, but here are few suggestions:

A very fun appetizer, is tuna stuffed deviled eggs. I used the recipe from the Everyday Paleo Family Cookbook, but added more garlic and onion powder and smoked paprika and chipotle powder. These are a big hit. Regular deviled eggs are also a crowd pleaser as long as no one is allergic to eggs.

These little bacon meatloaf muffins from Paleo Girls Kitchen are delish! I like this recipe because it is great as is, or with a few changes.This time, I did everything the recipe calls for, but I also added 4 cloves of minced garlic, 10 sun-dried tomatoes, and garlic and onion powder. The ones pictured are made with ground turkey and turkey bacon. These are not only easy to make, but they move quickly because they are tasty and easy to eat!

Pulled pork is a great football food. If you are keeping it paleo though, ditch the bun even if it is gluten free and use homemade BBQ sauce. There are tons of recipes on line. These were served with some very tasty kale collard greens.

These Lemon Blueberry Muffins from Diane Sanfillipo's Practical Paleo are really good. I mean, really, really, good. I really like that they are made with coconut flour instead of almond meal. I call these paleo-ish since they are a treat that shouldn't be consumed all of the time. I like having fun treats from time to time.

As always, it is a great idea to have plenty for fruits and veggies on hand. Kale chips, sweet potato chips or fries, zucchini fries are some great game day snack foods.  I hope these few suggestions help you. Tomorrow we will be having some chicken wings! Have a fantastic day!