It’s a common misconception that in order to be healthier, you have to give up a significant portion of the things you like to eat. This simply isn’t true at all! Oftentimes, great results can be achieved by making fairly simple adjustments to your favorite recipes… and these changes don’t have to come at the expense of taste, either. Here are just a few quick substitutions you can make to improve the “heart healthiness” of your meals:

• Making some baked goods with chocolate in them? Swap out the customary baking chocolate for a few tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder or carob powder, plus a tablespoon of vegetable oil.
• Does your recipe call for sour cream? Heart healthier alternatives you can use instead include low-fat, unsalted cottage cheese, low-fat yogurt or just fat-free sour cream.
• Trade in the cream cheese in your recipe for a cup of low-fat cottage cheese (unsalted being highly preferable to the salted variety, and add a small amount of fat-free milk if needed.

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