By now, you’ve likely heard of the somewhat peculiar fruit, the pomegranate. It’s beautiful red color, round shape and distinctive crown make an attractive display in the grocery store. Pomegranates are only in season during the early winter months, which means you’d better grab them now before...

This blog post was written by Illinois State University graduate student and dietetic intern, Kristi Brougher.  Have you ever heard the saying, “you are what you eat”? Well, this can be true. What you eat can play a role in the health of your body. Now more than ever, we are all...

What’s a non-coffee drinker to drink from the local café? Chai has become a popular beverage for those looking for an alternative to coffee. While our western culture refers to it as “chai tea,” in India we are drinking masala chai. “Chai” is the Hindi word for tea, while “masala” refers to spice....

While oranges are a citrus fruit that can be found all year long, they peak over the winter months. This is a time where you can usually find more variety of oranges and at a lower cost than in off season months. Navel oranges are the most popular, likely due to their sweetness and their being...

The holiday season carries many traditions, and for some, the tradition of baking cookies is on the to-do list. Maybe your tradition is to gather the kids to bake a plate of sugar cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. Perhaps its baking up rugelach or hamantaschen for Hanukkah. Maybe you even hold a...

There are many things to be thankful for this time of year, and one of them is having enough food to nourish our bodies and fill our appetites. However, the harsh reality is that nearly 20 million U.S. adults reported that in the last seven days, their household sometimes or often didn’t have...

You may remember learning about the Maillard reaction in science class at school. You probably didn’t know it then, but the Maillard reaction is something you see or use every day. It’s what makes food so delicious, turning bread into toast, giving broccoli a sweeter flavor when roasted, producing...

It’s all the rage right now. Charcuterie (pronounced shar-koo-tuh-ree) boards are the latest conversational piece at the holiday party. In the simplest terms, it’s a tray loaded with all sorts of finger foods, commonly eaten as an appetizer. Think cured meats, cheeses, crackers, nuts, veggies,...

At the first hint of cooler weather, there will be those (me included) running to the kitchen to make a pot of chili. It can be made a thousand different ways, each person claiming they have the secret ingredient that makes their chili win the beloved chili cookoff. There’s no right or wrong way to...

When I was growing up, we had an old black walnut tree next to our driveway that would drop walnuts causing me to trip over them while chasing my brother. I loathed this tree, especially when it was my turn to mow the grass, as I had to first rake the walnuts, wasting more of my precious time....