Like Halloween and Easter, Valentine’s Day is a mecca of treats and chocolates. While a box of candy or truffles might make a nice gift for a sweetheart, they’re not necessarily the best choice for your heart – or your waistline. Valentine’s Day is typically a day where you show your love through traditional gifts of candy and sweets, but why not share the gift of a healthy heart with your loved one instead?

Cook a Healthy Meal at Home

There’s nothing that says “romance” like taking the time out to cook your significant others’ favorite meal at home. Valentine’s Day is typically one of the busiest days for restaurants, so skip the reservations and spend time alone without all the chaos of a crowded restaurant. Because you’re not paying for an expensive dinner date, splurge on finer ingredients to make fresh, healthy dishes like Pomegranate Duck, Mussels, Roasted Rack of Lamb, or Filet Mignon with Mushroom-Wine Sauce.

Get Active

Who says you have to go to dinner and a movie? Think outside the box and plan a Valentine’s Day date that’s both romantic, and active. What not try skating? Many community centers across Winnipeg have outdoor skating rinks, and The Forks offers both a skating rink and skating trails, as well as rentals. There’s also the Assiniboine Credit Union River Trail on the Assiniboine River.

Dance lessons at one of Winnipeg’s dance studios, bowling, or even a romantic walk with hot chocolate along the Assiniboine River in St. Boniface are all great active date ideas.

 Make Healthy Valentine’s Day Treats

Eating some sweets on Valentine’s Day is almost inevitable. It would be cruel to deny yourself a treat or two, but at least you can have some control over what you’re consuming if you make them yourself. Whether it’s for the office, around the house, or for your child’s elementary school Valentine’s Day party, try these simple tricks and recipes to make this year’s Valentine’s Day treats a little bit more health-conscious.

• Dark Chocolate – Substitute milk or white chocolate for dark chocolate (choose 70% coco or higher) in your recipes to maximize your health benefits, while still retaining that chocolate-y flavor. Dark chocolate has been proven to help lower blood pressure, curb cravings for sweet and healthy foods, and even help lower cholesterol.
• Fruits – Strawberries, raspberries, and cherries are all romantic fruits, so why not try and build a tasty dessert around them? Dip berries in (dark) chocolate for a fondue, use them to make a fruit sorbet instead of ice cream, or top vanilla frozen yoghurt with berries and chocolate sauce for a sundae.

• Triple Chocolate Black Bean Brownies – Cut out the fat and pump up the protein with this healthier version of the usually rich and buttery triple chocolate brownie. http://joythebaker.com/2012/01/triple-chocolate-black-bean-brownies/
  
• Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies – Decorate these high-fiber cookies with low-fat cream cheese icing, and colour and flavor them with pomegranate juice for extra calcium and antioxidants. http://www.food.com/recipe/whole-wheat-sugar-cookies-63179

Submitted by Hayley Brigg, Creative Communications Student

In anticipation of the Heart Smart Potluck Challenge, here’s a tasty and “heart smart” orange glazed salmon recipe from the Manitoba Heart and Stroke Foundation website.  The site is loaded with recipes, so have a look and begin planning your February potluck.  

Orange Glazed Salmon

Makes 4 servings

Cutting down salt by using simple ingredient of orange zest and orange juice to enhance flavour, heart healthy salmon has never tasted this good. Enjoy the benefit of omega-3 without giving up on taste.

Ingredients:

• 12 oz (360 g) salmon fillet (without skin)
• 1 tsp (5 mL) orange zest
• 1 whole (4.5 oz/131 g) fresh orange (juiced)
• 1 tsp (5 mL) honey
• ½ tsp (2 mL) salt
• ½ tsp (2 mL) pepper
• 2 tsp (10 mL) olive oil

Directions:

1. Thoroughly wash and dry orange before zesting.
2. Use a medium-fine grater, grate the orange until only the white pith remains over the fruit. The orange zest will be used to flavour the salmon. Be careful not to use any white pith as it is bitter in taste.
3. Cut orange in half and squeeze out all the juice.
4. Mix orange juice, honey, salt, pepper and orange zest together to make marinade for the salmon.
5. Pour marinade over salmon and marinate salmon for 15 minutes.
6. Remove salmon from marinade. Save marinade to make the glaze for the salmon later on.
7. Brush salmon with olive oil before placing them on the heated grill. Cook until fish turn opaque and turn the salmon over once during cooking. It will take approximately 7-9 minutes altogether pending on the thickness of the salmon.
8. In a small pot using high heat, reduce the leftover marinade to a glaze.
9. Drizzle the glaze over salmon before serving.

Nutritional information per serving
(3 oz/85 g)

• Calories: 194
• Protein: 17 g
• Fat: 12 g

• Saturated Fat: 2 g
• Dietary cholesterol: 48 mg
• Carbohydrate: 4 g
• Dietary fibre: 0 g
• Sodium: 339 mg
• Potassium: 312 mg

Developed by Sosan Hua, RD. ©The Heart & Stroke Foundation.

Making the time to put together a healthy lunch before you head out the door for work or school can be a challenge. A lot of the time we end up grabbing an unhealthy frozen dinner from the freezer, or we suck it up and buy something to eat on campus or nearby the office. Before you even realize it, these last-minute meals can end up packing on the pounds.

Weight loss has been identified as the number one goal of Red River College staff members who have signed up for a Personal Wellness Plan as part of the “One” initiative, and a big part of trimming pounds includes a healthy diet. If we put in the effort to make our own lunches, it’s easier to control what types of foods we’re eating rather than being motivated by hunger into choosing less-healthier options just to satisfy our hunger.

The simplest lunches are meals that can be made the night before and packed up in a container, which is easy to grab and go in the morning – like this easy salad from Best Health Magazine:

Tangy Noodle Salad

1/2 1-lb (454-g) package broad rice noodles
2 baby carrots, finely sliced
Small handful broccoli florets, blanched until tender (about 2 minutes)
1-in. (2.5-cm) length English cucumber, finely sliced
1/2 yellow pepper, finely sliced
5 cherry tomatoes, quartered
Large handful fresh coriander, minced
Small handful crushed peanuts

Dressing: Combine 1 Tbsp (15 mL) mango chutney, 2 Tbsp (30 mL) soy sauce, 2 tsp (10 mL) sesame oil and 1 Tbsp (15 mL) orange juice.

Directions: boil the noodles until cooked and then drain, and let cool. Add noodles to chopped vegetables and toss with half the dressing. Pack the remaining dressing (and peanuts) with your lunch to add when you sit down to eat. 

This salad is great because it can be switched up based on what types of foods you have already at home. Don’t have rice noodles? You can substitute vermicelli noodles, or whole wheat angel hair pasta instead. If you want to increase protein, add sliced cooked chicken or tofu.

Want more great healthy lunch ideas? Check out more recipes from Best Health Magazine and Eating Well. If you have any great mid-day meals that have worked for you in the past, let us know on the blog by sharing your recipes with us!

Submitted by Hayley Brigg, Creative Communications student