I love the holidays, and I love playing hostess. But one place where my enthusiasm wanes is the kitchen. I don't know about you, but sweating off my makeup over a pan of gravy or spending the next day scrubbing turkey gizzard out from under my nails does not say "fun" to me. Course, that doesn't mean the holidays have to be a total party bust.
Even if you try to eat as healthy as possible, unless you do all of your shopping at a farmer's market and have a butcher and a dairy farmer you trust and rely on, chances are you're eating packaged foods to round out your meals. Unfortunately, there are a ton of ingredients in packaged foods to help make them look appealing, taste better, and withstand travel and shelf life. While the FDA has approved the foods on this list as "safe," some of them may make you think twice before you eat them again.
Ready to rearrange your grocery list? We've put together 12 recipes, organized by month, so you can get the most flavor, nutrition, beauty benefits and value out of your food.
Ah, the summer potluck. This time-honored tradition is the perfect way to bond with your pals over delicious summer eats and a few cold drinks. However, even though potlucks are typically casual affairs, you still want to prepare accordingly to make the best impression, whether you're the host or the guest.
Sweet potatoes are, well, pretty sweet -- and we're not just talking about how they taste. One of these vibrant root vegetables packs more than three times your recommended daily intake of skin- and vision-enhancing vitamin A. To boot, sweet potatoes serve up a healthy dose of fiber, as well as potassium and B vitamins.
Nothing says "summer" like an ice-cold glass of lemonade. But even if you have your sugar-to-lemon ratio just right, traditional lemonade recipes get old after a few pitchers.
So goes the all-too-common refrain, often overheard in dressing rooms, ladies restrooms, and spin classes galore — or, let's face it, anywhere there's a mirror and a captive female listener who'll pretend to care.
You work hard. In fact, you often pull late nights at the office because you're a boss babe who gets the job done. When it comes to your day off -- in particular, your coveted Sunday Funday -- you also log long hours because, hey, you deserve to make the most of your precious time off. And just like you wouldn't kick off the workday without your trusty cup of coffee, there are a few key items that you should reach for in order to ensure your Sunday Funday is a success (and that you get to keep that job you work so at hard at come Monday).
For some people, Sunday is a day of rest. But for you and your squad, it's about making the most of every single minute of freedom you have before returning to the office on Monday. To the uninformed that may just sound like hanging out, but those in the know refer to this blessed day as Sunday Funday.
As soon as April showers disappear and the temperature begins to climb, the grill has almost a gravitational pull. After all, there's nothing quite like the smell of sizzling meats while eating al fresco.
Healthy avocado recipes are at the top of our list for must-try dishes, because as far as we're concerned, the avocado is the Beatles of produce. The buttery fruit is a larger-than-life superstar, timeless and an inevitable crowd pleaser. (And, yes, rumors of a looming avocado shortage were throwing us into a panic -- until we realized we can freeze avocados.)
As I sit down for lunch in the company kitchen, I'm distracted. The sweet fragrance of grease and fried batter tickles my nostrils -- and I start to salivate. Not over the 300-calorie frozen meal I'm about to eat, but for the spread two tables over, where several of my male colleagues have congregated.
It's common knowledge that the more delicious a snack is, the more terrible it is for you. Case in point: junk food. We all know it's bad news. Heck, the name itself implies that there's unnecessary stuff hanging around. And in this case, that unnecessary stuff is extra fat, sugar, salt and calories.
Mason jars salads are the perfect way to pack healthy, leafy green lunches every day. "The jars offer built in portion control, which is a critical part of weight loss and weight maintenance," says registered dietician and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Torey Jones.
Unless you work at Google, I'm going to guess that your office snack situation is far from ideal, from a health standpoint. After all, bags on bags of chips, candy and cookies do not a healthy body make.
When we think of hot chocolate, we picture our eight-year-old selves in footie pajamas, crowded around a microwave, waiting for that sacred ding telling us to snatch our Swiss Miss and load it up with marshmallows. Oh, childhood. All it took was a little hot chocolate mix and some milk to make our entire night.
Holiday desserts are arguably one of the best parts of the holiday season. As much as we'd love to gorge on all our favorite treats until New Year's, it's not exactly the best idea for your waistline.
We've all been there: You get home from a long day of work or chasing around the kids (or both), and you feel as though you can barely muster the energy to scan your Seamless app, let alone turn on the oven.
The Purium 10 Day Transformation claims it will detoxify your body and help you lose five to ten pounds in 10 days. We tested the cleanse to find out if it really works.
