Eating Healthy on a Budget

As a single parent money is tight about 99.9% of the time, ok let’s face it, it’s more like 100%. While eating healthy may be important to you, you may think you simply cannot afford it. Don’t worry, most of us feel that way from time to time. Money is scarce and junk food is cheaper. But there are some tricks to make eating healthy affordable, even on a single parent budget. Next time you are at the grocery store try stopping by the deli. Believe it or not, a half pound of cheddar freshly sliced at the deli will … Continue reading

Healthy Valentine’s Day Party for Kids

The words “healthy” and “Valentine’s Day party” don’t typically go hand in hand. No doubt, hosting a healthy Valentine’s Day party for kids can be a challenge given that the holiday is basically a day set aside to gorge on chocolate. While it’s fine to serve up a few sweet treats (everything in moderation), healthy parties focus on offering nutritious dishes to kids without compromising the Love Day theme. An equally sweet alternative to mountains of Valentine’s Day candy and cupcakes is fruit. Consider setting up an entire table featuring red fruits. Apples, strawberries, raspberries, red grapes, and watermelon are … Continue reading

Tips On Healthy Eating

Fitness is about more than just exercise. After all, for several months I was exercising on a fairly regular basis; however I wasn’t seeing any real results. This was because I hadn’t made any changes to my diet. Once I began working on that, I started to get somewhere. There can be a lot of confusion about the proper diet to eat. One week you hear something is great for you and then the next you are told it’s harmful. Low-fat, no-fat, carbohydrates, proteins…it can all become overwhelming. Eating healthy can also become monotonous if you are selecting the same … Continue reading

Kids in the Kitchen: Sweet and Simple Strawberry Treats

Thank goodness for strawberries. When she was a baby the sweet red fruit was one of the only all-natural snacks my young daughter would willingly devour. Three years later strawberries are still on the top of her “Favorite Foods” list and being able to pick our own at a local farm has become an annual family tradition. We headed out on our latest strawberry picking adventure a couple of weeks ago and per usual it was… well, eventful (as are most outings with a preschooler). This year the crop was plumper and juicer than ever. We picked 10 pounds worth … Continue reading

Frozen Treats Galore: A Berry Yummy Dessert

There’s something about summer that simply demands you eat a fair share of berries. It’s more than the fact that they’re in season and consequently cheaper–it’s that they’re simply beckoning with their juiciness. (Really–can’t you hear the strawberries beckoning now?) Okay, so maybe I’m a little obsessed. But obsession lead to the delicious re-creation of this creamy strawberry frozen dessert. If you think blueberry sauce is odd with the frozen strawberries and cream, you can go ahead and substitute more strawberries for the sauce. However, dare I say, you don’t dismiss it until you try it! You will need: 2 … Continue reading

Aimee’s Healthy Vegetarian Chili

Beans are an amazing food — and not just because of their “magical” powers! Beans have more antioxidants than superfoods like blueberries and cranberries. They’re also full of fiber; a one cup serving can give you half of the daily recommended amount of fiber. I love beans, and here’s one of my favorite bean-laden recipes: vegetarian chili. What you’ll need: 2 15 ounce cans of black beans (they’re rich in antioxidants that fight heart disease and cancer) 2 15 ounce cans of kidney beans (they’re full of thiamin, a vitamin that protects memory) 2 15 ounce cans of garbanzo beans … Continue reading

What to Eat for Healthy Teeth

You can help keep your teeth healthy from the inside out — certain diet choices can help keep your choppers strong and shiny. Here are some tips to help protect your mouth against decay, disease, and more! Sugar isn’t the only thing that’s bad for your teeth — carbs can be just as damaging. After all, carbohydrates break down into simple sugars in your body. In your mouth, sugars are converted into plaque. That doesn’t mean you have to give up carbs! Just try to eat them only at mealtimes. Carbs are kind of sticky, so they tend to adhere … Continue reading

Spicing Up the Holidays with Healthy Spices

My daughter and I spent the better part of last week in the kitchen trying to get our holiday baking done. We’ve got a few more batches of cookies to go before I can collapse under the Christmas tree and start enjoying the fruits of our labor. It’s been hectic, but there’s nothing better than having your home smell like the inside of a spice factory. The mouth-watering aroma of warm spices got me thinking about the nutritional value of some of the ingredients we’ve been adding to our recipes—-namely the spices. Obviously spices make a dish taste good, but … Continue reading

Making Healthy Choices at the Thanksgiving Dinner Table

For many people who watch what they eat on a daily basis Thanksgiving is the one day of the year that they throw caution to the wind and devour whatever their stomachs desire. Not my sister-in-law. In fact, she won’t eat a bite of turkey (or ham) today. Rather, she’ll fill her plate with samples of all of the fabulous side dishes that surround the sliced up bird. It’s not because she’s a vegetarian; rather she believes that she’s doing her body good by skipping the meat dishes and eating the lower calorie menu options. (To each her own I … Continue reading

Is Pasta Really Healthy?

This Sunday more than 35,000 runners will take to the streets of the Big Apple for the 2007 New York City Marathon. Prior to making their way along the 26.2-mile route runners have the opportunity to participate in the traditional night-before pasta dinner. Carb loading before a big race is part of the training process. At least it was for me. I pigged out on pasta before I ran the Chicago Marathon. I gorged on ziti at the Olive Garden before I ran the Madison Marathon and I had two plates of spaghetti plus four pieces of garlic bread the … Continue reading