5 Delicious Ways to Treat Your Heart Right (Including 3 With Chocolate)

It might seem like Heart Health Awareness Month might not fit well with the big game or Valentine's Day, but United Supermarkets' Corporate Dietician Brenda Garcia has a few ideas on treating both your taste buds and your cardiovascular system.

We're going to have to explain this first one a bit: chocolate avocado pudding. You might not think about mixing these two main ingredients, but chocolate remains the dominant flavor while the avocado brings a creaminess to the recipe — all without any added sugar. Check out that and these other recipes on Happy + Nourished, a blog from Garcia's team:

• Chocolate Avocado Pudding
• Chocolate Truffles with Strawberries and Freeze-Dried Raspberries
• Sweet & Savory Chocolate Fondue
• Heart-Smart Pizza
• Quick No Prep Salmon ReadyMeal

They also have some great tips for improving your cholesterol.

If you know you need to make eating better a priority, Garcia really encourages people to adopt a mindset that leads to making healthy choices but allows for a few treats, too.

"What you're eating is your foundation for everything else around you, but it shouldn't be hard, and it shouldn't be tasteless," Garcia said. "It shouldn't be too expensive. It shouldn't be too extensive to prepare."

United Supermarkets tries to make it easier to consistently make healthy choices in a few different ways:

• United Supermarkets health tags. Products throughout the store are tagged as great options for a variety of careful shoppers, such as those searching for organic, dairy free, vegan, carb aware and more.
• ReadyMeals. United Supermarkets' ReadyMeals include several options labeled as Dieticians Top Picks, which means they have lower sodium and less than 25 grams of carbs per serving. They are great as a full meal or paired with other quick options, such as fresh veggies or a bagged salad kit.

To ensure you don't miss out on any great tips from Garcia and her team, scroll down to the bottom of the Happy + Nourished website and sign up for their newsletter. You'll get the latest right in your inbox!