Sweeteners can be found in surprising foods, in surprising quantities

By Chris Xaver

What we don’t know can hurt us. We know soda is “bad” for us and our kids. But what about those foods touted as “healthy”? So many parents think giving their kids yogurt and juice is giving them “healthy” food.

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Start with cooked chicken, and the possibilities unfold

I am sharing with you my absolute bestest time-saving idea in the kitchen. Cook once and eat multiple times. It’s the way I get in and out of the kitchen on those busy days.

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Find fun exercise, eat bean soup, be heart-healthy

By Chris Xaver

So, how’s that New Year’s resolution going? Losing weight? Less stress in your life? Are you dieting? If so, what kind of diet are you on?

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The nut spread can help you get healthy this year

By Chris Xaver

Have you made a New Year’s resolution yet? Forty percent of Americans do. But most of them don’t keep their resolutions.

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Make treats filled with fond feelings—not sugar

By Chris Xaver

A whiff of cookies baking in the oven takes me back in time. Pure joy. Typically, it was Christmas and I was visiting my grandmother. While she wasn’t a very good cook, she sure knew how to bake! Cookies were a specialty and we kids did more than enough “taste testing.”

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Have a little fun with your hors d’oeuvres

By Chris Xaver

I’d like to know when I went from sitting at the kids’ table to running the whole Thanksgiving show. I have the fondest memories of Thanksgiving, and all of them come complete with an aroma! Cinnamon and pumpkin are pervasive in my memories—as I’m guessing they might be in yours. I also remember hanging out in the kitchen helping to prepare the big meal.

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Bake a healthier apple treat that takes less than an hour

By Chris Xaver

One of my favorite memories from the childhood of my son (who’s now 24) was wandering the apple orchards of LaFayette with our apple pickers in hand. We’d reach as high as we could to pick the most perfect fruit. My son “made” us go to the orchards every week during harvest time. We would wander, pick and plan. Each time we came home, we’d make something different with our prize.

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Homemade ‘pizza’ is easy, and healthful

By Chris Xaver

Wow. School lunches are no longer simple. When I was a kid, school lunches in the cafeteria consisted of a scoop of something we couldn’t quite define: canned vegetables and fruit, a piece of bread and some sort of main dish, often macaroni and cheese or goulash. (I seem to remember a lot of goulash in my youth. Does anyone eat goulash anymore?) Today we hear about pink slime and fatty processed foods. And the first lady is tackling childhood obesity, starting with our kids’ school lunches.

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Preparing your baby’s first solid foods yourself offers benefits

By Chris Xaver

One of my favorite moments was when my dear friend, Karen, was preparing to have twins. I knew when she arrived home, she’d soon be overwhelmed with feeding, changing diapers, and simply trying to catch a few minutes of sleep. Who on earth would have time to cook? And once the twins were done breastfeeding, she would then spend a lot of her time making their meals. So, a freezer was a gift I knew would keep on giving.

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Wraps make perfect picnic food

By Chris Xaver

Nothing says summer like a pic-a-nic, Boo Boo! July is the perfect time to pack a meal and enjoy the outdoors with your children. While my little ones love peanut butter and jelly, we also like something a little bit more sophisticated.

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Skinned chicken drumsticks give you more flavor for your money

Finger licking good. There’s no doubt I loved fried chicken when I was a kid, because I could grab a leg and eat it with my fingers. Comes with a built-in handle, can’t get much easier for a kid to eat. But now that I no longer sit at the kids’ table, I still favor drumsticks—more for their economy than their ergonomics. In my neighborhood, I can typically find either fresh or frozen chicken legs for about .89 cents a pound. That compares with $1.35 for thighs, and $1.96 for chicken breasts.

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Whip up some mac and cheese for the gluten-intolerant

By Chris Xaver

Gluten free. It’s everywhere. Even foods that would never have had gluten in them are proclaiming themselves “gluten-free.” But for the folks who have a real gluten issue, this new “fad” doesn’t help their cause. However, all the new products in the stores have. Gluten is generally found in products containing wheat, barley and rye. And it’s something I’ve been dealing with in my household for a time now.

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Prepare St. Patrick’s-themed foods to get kids cooking

By Chris Xaver

Everyone’s Irish in March. There are many fun ways to make a St. Patrick’s Day-themed recipe with your child. And who says it has to be on the 17th? What I hate about a holiday is that it’s over in 24 hours. With so many ideas, you can make something every week this month.

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The perfect Winter Break activity puts dinner on the table

By Chris Xaver

I was the fat kid in school. Managing my weight is something I’ve worked on my entire life. I am the queen of doctoring traditional recipes to manage carbs, fats, sugars, etc. Better doesn’t mean bad. At least, not if you do it right. And this recipe is a great example of how I do it. Simple substitutions: Instead of white flour, I use half all purpose and half whole wheat. Instead of pork sausage, I use turkey sausage. These are small changes that add up to a big difference. And I promise, if you don’t kiss and tell, no one, not even the kids, will know the difference.

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