The sweet potato . . . how sweet it is!

Anyone who looks at a sweet potato and sees a funny-looking regular old potato has a lot to learn about this nutritional powerhouse that tastes like dessert! Sweet potatoes are amazing tubers that provide us with a tremendous amount of nutrition. And they really are delicious, to boot! Most of us are familiar with the […]

Poolside snacks for the kids

You get the towels ready, the sunscreen applied, and settle down to enjoy a few minutes of sun while the kids play in the pool only to hear, seconds later, the familiar refrain, “Can I have a snack?” Swimming seems to make children hungrier than anything else, and you can be almost guaranteed that if […]

Diet-friendly snack ideas and restaurant tips

If you’re traveling or vacationing, as many people are this time of year, there are easy ways to “stay on plan” without feeling deprived. Nature has provided us with plenty of healthy grab-and-go options, though we seem programmed to think that suitable food for traveling involves a plastic wrapper! Here are some of my favorite […]

Tip, Trick & a Recipe: Sweet, sweet nectarines!

There’s really no way to describe the experience of biting into a ripe nectarine. The way the flesh gives under your teeth, releasing the sweet juice into your mouth . . . well, it’s one of life’s great indulgences! Peaches and nectarines—both delicious stone fruits—are often used interchangeably in the kitchen, but these two orange […]

Healthy Foods: The Pineapple of my eye

Pineapples were first discovered on a Caribbean island (which we know now as Guadalupe). Imagine the surprise and delight of Columbus and his friends when they first opened up one of those prickly brown fruits and tasted the sweet juicy goodness inside. As we all know, pineapples are rather perishable so it wasn’t easy to […]

Food For Thought: 40 healthy snacks for kids

I can’t tell you how much I detest those 100-calorie snack packs you find in grocery stores nowadays. Those packages are full of highly processed foods—heavy on sugar and chemicals. I know you would rather feed your child something nutritious, so I’m going to give you a list of easy snack ideas! Every one of […]

Healthy Foods: Lions and tigers and . . . pears? Oh my!

Pears are a wonderful food to add to your fruit repertoire. A perfectly ripe pear is heavenly. So juicy and sweet. Yum! I enjoy pears occasionally in my daily juicing regime . . . I toss them into soups . . . I enjoy them sliced into salads . . . poached as dessert for […]

Eat Brazil nuts . . . but not too many!

Brazil nuts grow on trees in many parts of the Amazon, not just in Brazil as the name of this nut might suggest. Brazil nuts are much larger than hazelnuts and almonds, and they are chock full of nutrients. In fact, a one-ounce serving of Brazil nuts provides 4% of your daily recommended dose of […]

Tip, Trick & a Recipe: A healthy sweet snack
. . . go fig-ure!

There’s nothing quite like a fresh fig, but they’re not easy to find this time of year. Luckily, dried figs are readily available and almost as tasty as the right-off-the-ficus-tree form of the fruit. Ancient writings mention figs being harvested way back in the 9th century B.C., where, in Greece, figs were a staple. The […]