Putting Love & Passion in Your Valentine's Day Meals

It’s Valentine’s Day, so I thought it would be timely to share a few fun ways to put some Love & Passion into your meals.

Homemade Heart Shaped Pizza
I love homemade pizza!! My favorite crust is a honey whole grain crust that I make in the bread machine.

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups warm water, 110 – 115 F
¼ tsp sea salt (optional)
2 Tbsp honey
2 to 2 ½ cups whole spelt flour *
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp active dry yeast
1 Tbsp cornmeal

Directions: Put ingredients into the bread machine pan in the following order: 1. warm water, honey, flour. 2. make a small well in the flour, and pour yeast into the well, then cover over with flour. 3. sprinkle salt right along the wall of the bread pan, so it is as far from the yeast as possible. Now place the bread pan into the bread machine and select dough setting, press start. When dough is finished, remove dough from bread pan, let rest 2 or 3 minutes. Pat and genltly stretch dough into ~ 14 inch heart. Spray a large cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray then sprinkle with cornmeal. Press dough onto cookie sheet.
Preheat oven to 500F. Put pizza dough into oven for 5-10 minutes until dough is starting to firm up and lightly golden. Remove dough from oven and top with your favorite pizza toppings. Return pizza to oven and bake until cheese is melted and crust in golden brown.
*Note: spelt flour is a whole grain, highly nutritious flour that can be found in the health food section of your grocery store. If you do not have spelt flour, then I recommend using 1 ½ c whole wheat flour and 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour.
** If you prefer a thin crust pizza, then divide the dough into two and make 2 smaller, thinner pizzas.

HEART-y Pancakes
My favorite pancake recipes are actually already posted here in the archives (see International Pancake Day post 02.16.07)
Pancakes can easily be made in the shape of a heart or in the shape of letters to spell a Valentine message like LOVE, LUV, KISS, I (heart-shape) U, etc.
You can also do some creative mix-ins like chopped strawberries, raspberries, or dried cranberries. You can put pureed strawberries, raspberries, or beets into the batter to create perfectly pink pancakes. Top pancakes with light whipped cream and berries for an extra lucious flair.


Luscious Love Muffins
Strawberries have long been associated with love and passion. They are heart shaped for heaven’s sake! These Strawberry Almond muffins will steal your heart at first bite. Using heart-shaped muffin tins will make these delights even more LOVELY.

Strawberry Almond Muffins
½ cup applesauce, unsweetened
¾ cup honey
2 eggs (or 1 whole egg + 2 egg whites)
1/3 cup skim milk*
1 ½ tsp pure almond extract
1 cup whole spelt flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
¼ tsp sea salt
2 cups strawberries, chopped
¾ cups slivered almonds**

Preheat oven to 375F. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine the applesauce and honey. Add the eggs and blend until fluffy. Mix in the milk and almond extract. In a separate bowl, sift the flours, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and blend until just combined. Fold in the strawberries and almonds. Fill muffin cups to the top and bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. You can test to see if muffins are done by inserting a toothpick into the center, if it comes out clean their done. Yields: approx. 12 muffins
*non-dairy milk such as soymilk can be substituted
**if you do not have almonds or are allergic, any other nut or grapenuts cereal can be substituted.


Heart-Throb Eggs & Toast
1 slice whole grain bread
1 egg
Salt & Pepper to taste
Use a 3-inch heart shaped cookie cutter to cut a heart shape out of the center of the bread. Spray a griddle or frying pan with non-stick cooking spray. Place the bread in the pan and break the egg into the cutout of the bread. Lay the heart shaped bread on the pan and toast it on both sides until golden brown. When the egg is cooked on the bottom and before the bread becomes too brown, flip the egg/bread to toast the other side and finish cooking the egg, about 1 minute. Yield: 1 serving


Strawberry Crush
6 ice cubes
16 fresh or frozen strawberries
½ cup frozen limeade concentrate
½ cup water
Place ice cubes into blender and pulse until crushed. Add the remaining ingredients and puree until smooth and thick. Pour into tall glasses with a long straw (if you find valentine straws – even better) Yield: 2 servings


Purple Passion Shake
1 cup grape juice
1/3 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt
1 cup fresh or frozen blackberries
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup crushed ice
Place all ingredients in blender and puree until smooth.


Love Potion
½ cup frozen or fresh strawberries
½ cup frozen or fresh raspberries
1 cup white grape juice or apple juice
Place all ingredients into blender and blend until uniform in color. For thicker potion, add more fruit. For thinner potion, use more juice. Garnish with cherries. Sip with the one you love.



I hope this gives you some ideas to make your meals extra special on this Valentine's weekend. Remember healthy cooking = healthy eating and even on holidays there are fun, creative ways to have fabulous food in a healthy way.


To Your Best Health,

Melissa Guthrie

BSc Nutritional Science

BSc Exercise Physiology

ACE Certified Personal Trainer/Group Fitness Instructor

New Leaf Certified Metabolic Technician

Triathlete/Runner

Healthy Cooking Enthusiast