February is all about Hearts! It's American Heart Health Month. It's Valentine's Day. Show your valentine you really care about his/her heart with meals that make the heart stronger and healthier...All the better for love. It's amazing what the right food will do for hearts...health...and LOVE!
Start your Valentine celebration with a tomato/basil treat from Italy called Bruschetta and a glass of red wine. Only one glass, please! Red wine has compounds associated with reducing the risk of heart disease! Tomatoes and olive oil give you lycopene a natural antioxidant that reduces inflammation and healthy fat that helps lower cholesterol. Healthy is wonderful, but delicious and quick is even better!
For the main course serve chicken or fish with heart healthy green vegetables like spinach or broccoli. Skip the red meat. Broil, bake or steam the chicken or fish.
It's Valentine's Day. Chocolate is a must-have! Of course. Impress your loved one with mouth-watering combinations, so delicious it's hard to believe they're loaded with healthy antioxidants that help prevent damage to blood vessels. Moist Chocolate Cake with less than 200 calories or make-ahead Chocolate Bark Candy or Dark Chocolate Raspberry Brownies. (See Recipe section)
Happy Valentine's Day from Harvest Home: Wishing you love and hoping you enjoy getting healthier hearts for longer loving.
For more great tips, follow HHFM on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. Make sure to tag @HarvestHomeMkts in your posts!
Chocolate Cake
Recipe from Apple-of-my-Eye.com
These muffins are only 160 calories and loaded with energy!
Ingredients
- 3 very ripe bananas
- 1/3 cup light sour cream
- 1/3 cup nonfat Greek vanilla yogurt
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup dark semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cream together the bananas. Add in the sour cream, Greek yogurt, honey, vanilla and egg. Mix until smooth.
- Add in the cocoa powder, flour and baking soda. Mix until just combined.
- Stir in 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips
- Pour the batter into a parchment paper-lined 8 x 8 baking dish. Sprinkle with more chocolate chips if desired.
- Bake for 30 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean.
More Chocolate Delights from EatingWell.com
Tips for Better Health
Tips
- Keep portions moderate. There's nothing romantic about feeling over stuffed after a meal!
- Use olive oil instead of butter. The fat in olive oil is actually good for you
- Cut visible fat off meat and chicken. An easy way to cut down on unnecessary fat.
- Avoid frying when possible. Broil, steam or bake meat and veggies. Not just better for you, they will taste better.
- Reduce the red meat you eat. Chicken and fish have less cholesterol and saturated fat that is bad for your heart.
- Increase your leafy greens like kale, spinach and broccoli. They are loaded with B vitamins that help maintain our cardiovascular system.
- Eat Healthy Chocolate: Skip the milk chocolate which is mostly sugar. Look for chocolate that is 70% cocoa.
Thinking seriously about your heart?
Why not participate in American Heart Health month? Take a look at the simple steps for better heart health that are recommended by the Center for Disease Control.
Click HERE to learn more. You may be surprised by how little effort it takes to get healthier!
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