Valentine's Day: Heart Healthy Meals

For a holiday that is represented by hearts and showing the love to those around you, Valentine's Day is the perfect time to start showing your own heart a little bit of love this season.

As most of us know by now exercise is critical to keeping your heart in shape, but also the food that you put in your body has just as large of an influence on the health of your most talked about organ. So, why not this Valentine's Day, take some time to think about the impact of your food choices on your heart and follow some of the below tips and advice to ensure a happy and healthy heart. Share these tips with the ones you love over a heart-healthy meal.

• Substitute high-fat foods for lower-fat counterparts. Use liquid oils when cooking like olive and canola oil instead of solid fats like butter and margarine.

• Reduce fat and keep an eye on salt consumption by trying out a variety of spices and seasonings. Bouillons are a great way to add seasonings without adding fat. Try beef flavored Herb-Ox bouillon sodium-free granules that are perfect to add a unique flavor to gravies, marinades, soups, stews, rice dishes, pasta dishes and stir-fries.

• Most fruits and vegetables are low in calories and high in fiber, which is great for your heart. Grabbing a handful of vegetables is a quick, perfect, heart-healthy snack during the day. Use the leftovers to throw into a pasta dish later in the evening. If you're on the go, try the small, compact, and delicious CHI-CHI's Snackers with carrots or celery.

• Consume at least 4 servings of nuts, legumes, and seeds each week and avoid more then 36 ounces of sugar-sweetened beverages each week.

• Lean proteins help to provide you with a sense of fullness and keep hunger at bay in between meals. Try a Hormel Always Tender pork roast for dinner, packed with 18 g of protein, in either a roast flavor or onion and garlic roast.

What are you doing to celebrate this Valentine's Day? Do you make heart themed meals?

" I am currently a member of the Hormel Foods Extended Blogger Program and this post is part of my involvement in the Group. While Hormel Foods provides me material and necessary resources to complete various activites, all statements and sentiment in Adventures of the Domesticated Mama are my own."