Food labels: What means healthy and what doesn’t?

My kids hate grocery shopping with me. Why? Because I can’t just walk through the isles and pick up a bottle of mayonnaise or a box of cereal and be on my merry way. I have to thoroughly read the labels and ingredients before picking. I like to think I’m being a good example to…

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No Sugar Chocolate Banana Muffins

Every morning my son’s breakfast includes a mini muffin. This is my way of cramming a bit more protein and nutrients into him in an unprocessed way before sending him off to second grade to solve the world’s great problems. I always look for muffin recipes heavy on nuts and/or eggs and low on sugar.…

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10 Sugar-Craving Cures

  When people ask me the number one thing I’ve done to make myself healthier I always respond with, “give up sugar.” The automatic response is, “I could NEVER do that. You just don’t understand how much I love sugar.” Oh believe me. I get it! I get it more than most people. I LOVE…

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My Favorite Healthy Subsititutions

This weekend we made some delicious pulled pork for a luncheon after my son’s baptism. The next day after everyone left, I was craving comfort food. In the past, that meant crappy, processed food that made me feel guilty and emotional for eating. Food shouldn’t do that to people. We should feel happy after we…

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My Favorite Healthy Christmas Cookies

Last week, I desparately needed to unwind. Between back-to-back birthdays, sick kids and trying to get ready for Christmas, I realized I hadn’t had a conversation that didn’t involve Batman or Elsa in far too long. My amazing friend suggested we get together and do some baking. Sweet treats and adult conversation were exactly what…

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Perfect Mashed Sweet Potatoes

When I was a little girl, my mom tried to give me a sweet potato for dinner. After tears, screaming and a fair amount of pouting, it was accepted in our house that I did not like sweet potatoes. I lived for years thinking this to be true until one day I decided to be…

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11 Non-treat Christmas Gifts for Neighbors

I realize Christmas is going to have its unhealthy splurges, but I can alleviate some of them for myself and my friends and neighbors by delivering non-treat Christmas gifts to my friends and neighbors. Here are 11 ideas for non-treat gifts for neighbors.

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No Sugar Hot Apple Cider

Apple cider is fabulous for many reasons. I love to use it in bbq recipes, it makes the house smell great while it’s cooking and it’s so fun to drink on a cold day. Sadly, most apple ciders, homemade or bottled are packed with sugar. This is one of my pet peeves [Warning: Rant ahead].…

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Healthy Pico Frittata

Eggs are packed with protein, vitamins, minerals and iron. It’s hard to beat the nutrients of an egg. Plus, turning it into a frittata makes it seem more fun and elegant. If I were Fancy Nancy I’d say, “We’re eating frittata. That’s a fancy word for eggs.” Can you tell I spend a lot of time with a 4-year-old girl?

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Leftover Round Steak Salad

Even though I enjoy making dinner for my family, there are nights I’m tired, cranky, hungry NOW, or would rather sit on my tuckus and not make dinner. That’s when I love “2-for-1” dinners. That’s when I make dinner one night and can use the leftovers to make dinner the next night. That’s what I do when I make Grilled Round Steak. The night after we have this delicious steak, we have Steak Salad.

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