Healthy Cooking

Healthy choices: Operation Dinner

Calie Shackleford — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 00:36:00 -0700

Getting dinner on the table and the family around it can be a miraculous feat all on its own. But turning out a healthy meal that everyone will eat without having to spend hours in the kitchen — is that even possible?

Herbed quinoa salad with toasted pine nuts and lemon

Carolyn Stalnaker — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 10:30:00 -0700

This quinoa salad mixed with fresh herbs makes a beautiful side dish or vegetarian main course!

How to cook delicious Brussels sprouts

Maris Callahan — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:30:00 -0800

Brussels sprouts are notorious for being the most disliked vegetable on the market. But the cruciferous vegetable with numerous health benefits can be prepared in a variety of ways that make it not only palatable, but drool-worthy, even for the most stubborn dissenter.

Cookbook review: Vegan Cooking for Carnivores by Roberto Martin

Patricia Conte — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 12:30:00 -0800

Chef Roberto Martin shares more than 125 delicious vegan recipes that make healthy vegan cooking accessible for everyone. In his cookbook, Vegan Cooking for Carnivores, you’ll find recipes you’ll want to make and eat, no matter what your lifestyle.

Cookbook review: Small Changes, Big Results by Ellie Krieger

Patricia Conte — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 10:00:00 -0800

Everyone has good intentions when they make New Year’s resolutions to eat better, exercise more and lose weight. Sometimes resolutions are hard to keep. But in Ellie Krieger's updated and revised cookbook "Small Changes, Big Results," you get more than just great recipes.

Oven-baked eggplant fries

Carolyn Stalnaker — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 05:30:00 -0800

A healthier version of fried eggplant. Be sure to slice your eggplant thinly to ensure a delicious crunch.

Meatless Monday: Mushroom and walnut risotto

Patricia Conte — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 08:15:00 -0800

Make something special for your Meatless Monday meal. This recipe for mushroom and walnut risotto is creamy and rich with added crunch thanks to the addition of walnuts.

Vegan apple quinoa cake

Kortney Tenaglia — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 10:30:00 -0700

Beyond the health benefits of apples , these amazing fruits add a welcoming kick to our favorite dishes. With more than 7,000 different types, apples effortlessly transition every taste palate into the warm and cozy fall months. We decided to combine our favorite apple-derived ingredient, applesauce, with quinoa, earth's favorite grain. The result was a perfectly moist and incredibly tasty cake — perfect to satisfy our vegan taste buds this fall.

Alison Sweeney talks about healthy eating habits for kids

Christina Haller — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 07:00:00 -0700

Whether you know her as Sami Brady from Days of Our Lives or the host of The Biggest Loser, you're probably just as smitten with Alison Sweeney as we are. She tells us how she balances family and a career, and how she makes sure her kids eat healthy every day.

Easy ways to sub yogurt in recipes

Christy Pogorelac — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 01:34:00 -0700

Yogurt is a versatile ingredient that can cut the fat and calories in many of your favorite recipes. Use it to increase the nutritious nature of your food without taking away from the taste and texture of the dishes you love.

Popular ways to substitute yogurt

Christy Pogorelac — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 01:14:00 -0700

Greek yogurt's reputation as a healthy snack and recipe component is growing. Thick, creamy and packed with protein, it is a delicious substitution in most dishes.

What you should know about substituting yogurt in your favorite recipes

Christy Pogorelac — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 01:01:00 -0700

Using yogurt as a healthy substitution in your cooking is a wonderful way to boost the protein and calcium in your foods while limiting fat and calories. Before you begin switching out ingredients, check out these crucial tips for cooking with yogurt.

Low-fat snowflake cookie recipe

Claire Gallam — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:23:00 -0800

Each Christmas, my mother makes hundreds of amazingly delicious cookies. My favorite batch is always the sugar cookies because growing up, these were the cookies she always allowed my brothers and me to decorate. We'd dump sprinkles and squeeze gobs of frosting onto each cookie, carefully swiping a finger full of decadent icing each time. Luckily, like my hair styles and fashion sense, my decorating skills have vastly improved over the years, and the batch I made this year is almost too pretty to eat!

5 Low-fat cookies for a cookie exchange

Claire Gallam — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 07:57:00 -0800

Cookie exchanges have quickly become one of the most popular holiday traditions. I was recently a part of a huge cookie swap that involved hundreds of food bloggers all across the world and their cookie recipes, and resulted in me getting to try three unique and delicious batches of cookies! As fun as it was taste testing a few dozen cookies, I can't say my waistline or skinny jeans were quite as enthusiastic. Instead of ruining your diet and gaining a few extra pounds of holiday jiggle, suggest a skinny swap with these low-fat cookies! Your friends will thank you!

Ask a healthy chef: Easiest ways to cut calories

Michele Borboa, MS — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 13:50:00 -0800

Do you ever wish you could spend time with a health-conscious chef to find out the easiest ways to cut calories without feeling deprived and dissatisfied? If you answered yes, we’ve got great news. We sat down with world master chef Meg Galvin, healthy cooking expert at SparkPeople.com and author of The SparkPeople Cookbook: Love Your Food, Lose the Weight, and asked her to give us the delicious skinny on diet-friendly cooking.

Top 10 tips to eat like The Biggest Loser

Whitney English — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 06:00:00 -0800

With the release of her third book in The Biggest Loser series, The Biggest Loser Quick & Easy Cookbook, best-selling author Devin Alexander shares her tips for a healthy kitchen.

How to steam your favorite vegetables

Christy Pogorelac — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 07:35:00 -0700

Steaming is one of the healthiest ways to prepare vegetables. It helps keep them fresh-tasting and crisp -- plus, steaming makes vegetables easier to digest than when served raw. Steaming also helps lock in nutrients rather than cooking them away during longer and more intense preparation methods such as boiling or roasting.

Moms’ meal planner: A week of healthy meals

Stephanie Taylor Christensen — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 06:59:00 -0700

Serving healthy meals each day isn’t hard to do; it just takes a little planning and a kitchen stocked with nutritious and versatile options. Try these easy tips for a week of healthy meals that even the busiest of moms can manage -- and that the whole family will enjoy.

Healthy cooking tips from chef athlete Meg Galvin

Michele Borboa, MS — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 13:12:00 -0700

Can you really be an athlete and a Cordon Bleu-trained chef? You can if you’re chef Meg Galvin, a marathon runner and one of only 20 female World Master Chefs. And, no, Chef Meg doesn’t run marathons just to burn off all the calories she consumes from the traditional French recipes under her belt. She has dedicated her career to creating healthy – and great-tasting – recipes, and is the healthy chef for SparkPeople.com, America’s largest weight-loss website. Here’s more on the chef athlete and her healthy cooking tips.

Diet-friendly summer party survival guide

Tracy E. Hopkins — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 01:39:00 -0700

With so many cookouts, barbecues and outdoor parties to attend, it’s challenging to stick to our healthy eating habits during the salad days of summer. So SheKnows enlisted the advice of several nutrition experts to give us tips on how to skip calorie-packed temptations and make tasty and wise food choices.

Egg recipes: Healthy ways to crack an egg

Michele Borboa, MS — Thu, 26 May 2011 16:12:00 -0700

Eggs are not only nature’s perfect protein, they are ultra-versatile in the kitchen and can be served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Sink your teeth into these healthy egg recipes when you need a quick and nutritious meal.