What is essential in your life? How about the love of your family and friends, or a certain hobby that you just can’t live without? There are many things that people may consider essential. There are also things that are essential to our bodies. With...

Nancy Walker, a VegKitchen contributor, asked me to review her weight loss program, which is completely vegan, though it's not pitched that way. How great is it to have weekly lessons that incorporate all the healthful ideas that are intrinsic to the p...

If you’re feeding teenagers, especially the male variety, you know that they go through mountains of food, and your grocery bill mounts alarmingly. Here are a handful of hearty, filling dishes that won’t break the bank. Now I'm not saying that youn...

I gush. It’s true. If I love something I can’t help myself. This book was in my mailbox on Thursday. I finished it by noon on Friday. It’s that good. Jack Norris, RD and Ginny Messina, MPH, RD have teamed up for what I now consider the ...

Some time ago, I polled readers to find out what are some favorite kitchen gadgets. It turned out to be a treasury of great ideas. One of my personal favorites is an immersion blender. We're not huge fruit eaters in my family (we prefer our veggies!),...

Have you been looking for a good, easy, nearly raw macaroni and cheez recipe? As with a lot of fancier raw recipes, I regret that this one needs machines—a high speed blender to make the sauce, and a spiral slicer (I love the World Cuisine Spiral Sli...

As the popularity of cooking healthy, ethnic specialties at home grows, our pantries will invariably expand to accommodate the seasonings that go into giving these various dishes their unique characters. The natural and ethnic food markets offer a mult...

After a busy week, few but the most diehard foodies enjoy the added stress of planning, cooking, and serving a grand meal to a small crowd, especially if it's not any special occasion or holiday. Still, dinner parties are fun, and the desire to host a...

[caption id="attachment_17594" align="alignleft" width="209" caption="Hamilton Beach slow cooker"][/caption] One of the things I'm frequently asked is how to choose a slow cooker. I have favorites that I’m happy to recommend, but there are a few q...