The month that’s become synonymous with love and chocolate has also been designated as American Heart Month by the American Heart Association. While the candy bars and truffles that crowd store shelves each February are sure to make your loved ones smile, so will healthier alternatives.
If you’d like to encourage better eating habits for your family this year, consider these fun and heart-healthy options.
Watermelon Hearts
Satisfy the sweet tooth with watermelon’s natural sugar. Mini watermelons are available off-season in many grocery stores. To turn this summer staple into a sweet Valentine’s snack, cut a melon into slices about an inch thick, and then use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to make smaller treats. Older children will love the novelty of eating watermelon in February, and the heart shapes will make it something special and amuse loved ones of
any age.
“All Shook Up” Smoothie
Can the soda this year. Instead, mix up a fruit smoothie by blending fruit and ice with milk or yogurt. To create a sweeter taste without the spoonfuls of sugar, add juice that’s labeled “100% fruit juice.” Pour the smoothie into a tall milkshake glass and top it with a cherry or slice of strawberry. If you have a true chocoholic at home, dip the cherry or strawberry slice in chocolate; it’s just enough to take the treat from tempting to irresistible.
Choose red fruits like strawberries and cherries to keep the drink’s color in theme with the day. Younger children will love finishing off their “All Shook Up Smoothie” with a dance to Presley’s upbeat tune.
Fruit Love Pop
Instead of pouring melted chocolate into those heart-shaped lollipop trays, fill them with 100% fruit juice. Add lollipop sticks to create a healthy snack or leave out the sticks and use the colored ice cubes to cool their drinks throughout the week.
A Heart-y Breakfast
Start their Valentine’s Day off with a bang, in the form of heart-shaped buckwheat pancakes. This alternative to buttermilk pancakes contains higher-quality protein and more calcium and vitamins than bleached white flour. Add an extra shot of love with strawberries and a sprinkle of cinnamon on top. If you’re really feeling the love, include a few drops of pink food coloring for a meal that sings of love and Valentines.
Bushel of Love
Put a new twist on the old standard by giving a bouquet of flowers that looks good enough to eat — and is. Create a fruit bouquet by placing whole strawberries and melon balls onto wood grilling skewers. Limit the fruit to the top half of the skewers, so that the sparse bottoms resemble stems and the fruit tops look like flowers. To add more color and variety to the bushel, use twist ties to attach small bunches of red grapes to the skewers. Make sure the bunches are small, and the twist ties wrap snugly around both the skewer and grape stems. Fill in empty space by adding real mint leaves still attached to their stems, or another edible herb that looks like petals. Place the whole creation in a red vase.
A Touch of Chocolate
For true chocoholics, think size. A chocolate bar or small package of four quality chocolates will satisfy their craving and expectation for chocolate but won’t overwhelm them with the amount of sugar in a large box of assorted candy. Make your gift extra special by wrapping it with a bow. These Valentine’s treats are so fun that you may find yourself finding ways to celebrate other holidays with healthier food. Shamrock spinach, anyone?
Colleen Wright is a freelance writer and mom to a son with more than one sweet tooth.
This article appears in BendNest Spring 2024.
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