Valentine’s Day Shocker: Dinner, Date & Gift For Under $15

There are just a few weeks left until Valentine’s Day, which is more than enough time for even the stingiest man to get it together.

Our resident MacGuyver, Andrew Ramos managed to put together a dinner, date and gift all for under 15 bucks! With a little help from a local 99 cents store, a culinary genius and of course some creativity – celebrating Valentine’s Day was just another effortless day.

While visiting Jack’s 99 Cents Store in Midtown, three slick and cheap gift ideas managed to materialize. Of them included the classic coupon book, where anyone could just pick up a book of index cards and fill them out with some funny and clever coupons for their partner to cash any time of the year. With options like “Shut your mouth up and leave me alone” — everyone wins.

Another idea: Write an original piece of poetry for your loved one and frame it in one of the many variety of frames available at the 99 cents store. The poem will surely get you points on the big day.

Picking up an over-sized folder and using it as your cover for a story – your love story is not only sweet but cheap. Write the story of your romance. Add a few photos and throw in a splash of humor and she’ll almost definitely melt in your arms.

So now that we figured out our gifts, the question is: where are you going to go? To help us out with that is Jon Shannon, Senior Editor of Time Out New York.

If your an outdoorsy couple, or just want an excuse to cuddle Jon suggests taking your other half to Bryant Park skating rink where they will be showing an outdoor screening of the romantic film, “The Cutting Edge.” If you bring your own skates, you skate for free.

Now comes the part where you’re going to have to get your hands dirty. Cooking an affordable tasty meal isn’t always as easy as it looks. Michael Ferraro, Executive Chef at Delicatessen in SoHo promises his stuffed crab meat ham isn’t only simple to make, but will cost only $8* to make.

The ingredients* we provided to Chef Ferraro to whip up his spectacular dish included:
• frozen peas
• cooked ham
• imitation crab meat
• loaf of challah bread
• can of chicken broth
• bottle horseradish
• spices (cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise, peppercorns)
• white vinegar
• can of sliced pears
• sugar
• salt
• olive oil

Watch the complete video tutorial to create the dish that will have you asking for more:

*ALL INGREDIENTS WERE PURCHASED AT JACK’S 99 CENTS STORE IN MIDTOWN WHICH MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR THE OVERALL COST OF CHEF FERRARO’S DISH TO TOTAL $8.00.