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Teach Your Preschooler What Foods are Healthy

This week in school, my daughter is learning all about being healthy. She got a healthy snack at school of carrots and apples. She came home with an adorable picture of a girl sneezing with a tissue between her face and hand. The picture said “Cover your mouth when you sneeze. Please.” They also learned about germs. Last night at dinner, my husband was talking to our daughter about food. He is a health nut and a preventive medicine Physician Assistant. He spends his days talking about how to eat healthy, exercise, etc. etc. He was teaching her about what … Continue reading →

Tips for Healthy Eating While Pregnant

Half the battle of eating healthy while you are expecting is figuring out what to buy and what to cook. Many of us are all too familiar with the interior of the grocery store: skillet meals, frozen dinners, boxed meals, canned lunch, cereal, pasta mixes and other prepackaged foods make up a large part of our American diet. We may take a detour through the produce section for onions or a head of iceberg lettuce, but most of us wouldn’t know where to begin if we were restricted to the perimeter of the store; and yet that is where healthy … Continue reading →

How Much Are Food Prices Really Rising?

If you are wondering exactly how much food prices have been rising, let me share with you some U.S. federal date. Compared to last year, wholesale egg prices have risen 60 percent, pasta has risen 30 percent and fresh produce has risen by 20 percent. Unfortunately, this data is a little old. It doesn’t take into consideration recent months when food prices have really been soaring. Overall, prices for food have risen by 5.8 percent above last year. And, they are expected to increase by 7.5 percent every year for the next five years. Other resources report that baby formula, … Continue reading →

How to Afford a Healthy Diet

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Dieting right isn’t easy when you’re on a tight budget. Unless you are a full time gardener and have your own greenhouse, fresh fruits and vegetables cost money and shopping for them takes time. Let’s not forget the difference in prices between healthy whole grain breads and pastas and those made from refined white flour. If you’ve done any comparison shopping lately, you know that healthy doesn’t come cheap. According to the Center for Disease Control, two-thirds of Americans are either overweight or obese. Consider also that American schools are seeing a growing trend in obese students and you’ll soon … 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 →

How To Get Your Kids To Eat Healthy

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Okay, there probably isn’t one answer to the question: How do I get my kids to want to eat healthy foods? Different strokes for different folks, and all that. What works for one kid may not work for another — even in the same family. But here are some tricks to try to get your kids to love the foods that are good for them! Talk to your kids about what each food does for them. I’ll always remember that “carrots make your eyes sparkle” (in other words, are good for vision) and pizza crusts would make my hair curly. … Continue reading →

Dinner for a Buck or Two: Pasta

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This recipe is for an awesome vegetarian pasta, Rotini with Chunky Vegetable Sauce. The sauce is filled with various vegetables that give it a rich, savory flavor. Leaving out the meat makes this dish very healthy and very inexpensive. Add some bread and a simple salad to complete the meal. Each serving should cost you less than two dollars. Rotini with Chunky Vegetable Sauce Serves 6 16 oz rotini noodles 3 Tablespoons olive or vegetable oil 1 medium onion, diced 1/2 bell pepper (any color) diced 1 medium zucchini, diced 6-8 mushrooms, diced 2 (15 oz) cans diced tomatoes, undrained … Continue reading →

Baked Ziti

This version uses ground turkey instead of ground beef, but it has all of the flavor. Since full-fat cheese is used, I wouldn’t exactly call it healthy, but the milder taste of the meat really lets the other ingredients come through for a very tasty dish. This baked ziti is very kid friendly too and leaves over well. I usually make it up to a day in advance and then just pop it in the oven at dinnertime. It makes that crazy witching hour with the kids much easier, since I can give them all of my attention. Ingredients 16 … Continue reading →

Spending Time With My Sister Part I

I recently spent a week visiting my sister, brother-in-law, and four week old niece. I made the ten hour drive with my two year old son and my unborn daughter. Pregnancy really has an impact on everything I do and being away from home did not change the fact that I still have to take my prenatal vitamins, eat healthy, and exercise regularly. My dear sister made all those things possible during my stay. As soon as my son and I arrived, we were greeted with a warm homemade meal of free range chicken seasoned and tossed with pesto and … Continue reading →