Live Well. Eat Well. 2017

Is PB&J still one of the great sandwiches of youth? November celebrates peanut butter with Peanut Butter Lovers Month. Along with spreading on bread, let's explore other ways to eat with peanut butter. Peanut Butter Sauce. Try recipes for peanut butter in sauces for...

  Heart healthy cooking starts at the grocery store. Our environment plays a key role in our food choices! We tend to eat what is convenient and what is in our presence. So, what do you think your chances of eating healthy are if your counter tops and refrigerator are full of unhealthy foods?...

Next time you fire up the grill think about grilling some fresh vegetables to complement your burgers or chicken. Grilling vegetables really intensifies their flavor and provides more opportunities to make sure you are eating your daily vegetable quota. Always start with a clean grill, heated to...

The holidays probably bring to mind other foods besides cranberries. While they will not take center stage to classics like turkey or mashed potatoes or pie, add cranberries to your meals for a pop of color, a unique taste, and added nutrition. Some research suggests drinking cranberry juice...

Time to bring in some green for spring! With the white of winter, I enjoy talking about green produce this time of year. Celery is up for the role this month. (It helps, of course, that April is also National Fresh Celery Month.) Nutritionally, a large stalk of celery contains 10 calories, 2g...

Welcome to spring! This time of year is great as the sun feels warmer, and the trees and grass start to turn green once again. It is also the time of year when we start to see another bit of green. Who guessed asparagus!? Yes, asparagus! It is one of those classically spring vegetables in...

Enjoy delicious crepes for your next breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert! Crepes are a delicious vehicle for appetizers, side dishes, main entrées and desserts. The French version of pancakes, you can find crepes served in restaurants around the globe. ...

Tis the season for pears. This versatile fruit is a great one for your winter plates. Nutrition Pears are a classic fruit in terms of nutrition. A medium fresh pear has around 100 calories, 27g carbohydrates, 6g fiber, and is a source of vitamins and minerals including folate,...

Are you looking for something new for dinner? Try hominy! Hominy is a food produced from dried corn kernels that have been treated with an alkali solution in a process called nixtamalization. During this process, the corn hulls are removed and the kernel is softened. The result is a plump, chewy...

Happy New Year from University of Illinois Extension and Illinois Nutrition Edition! Welcome to 2017! This is the time of year many gym memberships get purchased, inspired men and women make decisions to eat healthier, smokers set goals to stop smoking, along with other intentions. In 2017, I...

My birthday was last week and let's just say that I am now listed as "older". A friend sent me a picture of a tshirt that said "I thought getting older would take longer", yes, me too. But here we are. The good news is that the choices we make now, whether you are in your 20s, 30s, 40s or like me...

From teaching a sauce-making class in 2016, I was pleased to hear that participants did not find sauces that intimidating and fairly simple to make. (And they all had ideas how to make the recipe theirs, which was great.) Think about the sauces you use in...

  Just how important are family meals? Is it worth the time and effort? The answer is a resounding yes! In fact, research has shown that the more often that families eat together the less likely teenagers are to engage in risky behavior. Eating and talking together can help children be happier...

It's dad's turn to celebrate the joys of fatherhood. And what better way to thank him for all the whisker rubbing hugs and hours spent teaching us how to ride a bike, than with food? But not just any food: Dad food. Dad food is quite simply food that your dad loves. For many dads, that includes "...

With the blustery winter weather, a hot cup of tea, coffee, or cocoa is a favorite way to stay warm. America's second favorite beverage, aside from water is tea. January is also hot tea month. Tea whether it is black, green, white, or oolong, is a low calorie beverage choice with potential health...

Waking up on a beautiful March day, you stretch, get out of bed, and start making your bed, when suddenly you feel a dull pain in your lower back. You simply shrug off the pain, associating it with the wrong sleeping position. The lower back pain becomes progressively sharper; eventually leading to...

When preparing for the holidays, the focus is often on cleaning the house, scheduling airport pick-ups and drop-offs, decorating, and purchasing gifts. For the host one of the most significant stressors can be making sure there is enough food, everyone enjoys the meal, and the food is prepared...

October is National Pumpkin Month and a great time to celebrate this versatile fruit that grows close to home. Did you know that Illinois produces more than 90% of the processed pumpkins in the United States? This may seem surprising but 80% of all the pumpkins produced...

Boosting physical activity is a great way to improve health long-term. The recommended amount is 150 minutes per week of moderate to vigorous activity which includes things like brisk walking (4 mph), jogging (6 mph), hiking, mowing th

How often do you, as a consumer, pay attention to the variety of nutrient content claims and labels on your food packages? It seems like there are more now than ever before. Food manufacturers recognize consumer interest in on-farm practices, production and processing methods and they use it to...