Retirement Gift Ideas - Food Gifts That Help A Healthy Diet And Healthy Lifestyle For The Retiree

Choosing from the large selection of retirement gifts can be difficult. Many of us when we think of a retirement gift, we think a photo of the group, or a watch, or something to do with golf, or travel. Which these are great gifts. I am thinking a little closer to home.

What is one of the most important concerns of retirees after their retirement? It would be concerns about their health. They want to stay healthy. They want to enjoy a long healthy life with family and friends. To be healthy enough to travel, play golf and more generally, be able to enjoy life.

As folks are usually older when they are ready for retirement, you may find them already choosing a healthy diet. They are already watching more carefully what they eat, how many calories, how much fat and how much sodium. Many are already on a high blood pressure medication or have had heart problems in the past or may be diabetic. So they need to choose a healthy lifestyle and eat healthy.

Here are some retirement gift ideas focused around food gifts: Note: It is helpful if you know some of their interests, hobbies, foods they like and don't like for these gift ideas.

They may have always wanted to learn to cook, to be a better cook, or wanted to learn to cook a different way or style. The Mediterranean Diet has been touted as one of the most healthy diets. Perhaps if they enjoy cooking, maybe they would enjoy some cooking classes. Local cooking classes or send them to take cooking classes in Italy or Greece would be great gift ideas.
A set of cookware from a small set to a large set. A very basic set to a gourmet set of cookware. This would let them cook just about anything. As we get older sometimes our cookware has seen better days. Or give cookware that makes their cooking easier like a crock pot, (you will be surprised at the price range of $30 to several hundred dollars), or a pressure cooker, a Dutch oven or a pan or skillet with a lid. Good cookware makes cooking easier and more enjoyable.
A barbeque is a great gift. Cooking outdoors. No messing-up the kitchen. They can cook fish (which is good for their heart) without smelling up the kitchen. There are all types, sizes and prices.
Food items unless it's wine or champagne are not as common for retirement gifts as they are here today and gone tomorrow. Retirement gifts are usually gifts that last and are remembered. If the person loves good food or has gourmet tastes, there are nice food options. Balsamic vinegar, (the best is around $175), is very expensive and unforgettable. There are collections of olive oils (olive oil is good for the heart) from around the world and some come in beautiful wood or olive wood cases. Truffles or truffle oil would be an expensive and unique food gift, (black truffles around $300-$600 or white truffles $2000 - $3000 per pound). There are chocolates in all different price ranges and qualities from all around the world and dark chocolate is good for the heart.
Herbs, spices and salt free seasonings are key to a flavorful healthy diet. Herbs and spices can be quite expensive depending on what you select, the amount and the quality. For instance, some of the best and most flavorful spices like Tellicherry peppercorns sell around $15.00 a pound and some of the best quality ground cinnamon sells for around $30 per pound, 1 ounce of Saffron is around $150 (the most expensive spice), but these flavors are amazing. If they are cooking healthy they need to increase and learn how to season their food without the usual salt, sugar and Msg. Salt free seasonings are important and make cooking easier and more flavorful, especially when trying to prepare a more healthy diet and/or a low sodium diet. Seasonings could be also be added to any of the gifts listed.

You want to give a gift that will be used, remembered and enjoyed. Hopefully you found retirement gift ideas focusing on food gifts that will help them follow a healthy diet, live a more healthy lifestyle and enjoy their retirement.

And now for more low sodium tips and information I invite you to sign up for our FREE Season It Newsletter when you visit Benson's Gourmet Seasonings at http://BensonsGourmetSeasonings.com

Click here to get more free information about low sodium, including a low sodium diet, low sodium cooking tips, salt free seasonings, salt substitutes and low sodium recipes. You'll learn how you can use seasonings, fresh herbs, fresh fruits & vegetables, olive oil, nuts, vinegars, wine and different cooking techniques to flavor your food without adding salt and sugar. You'll find out how to get more flavor than you ever thought possible.

From Debbie Benson owner of Benson's Gourmet Seasonings with over 30 years experience promoting salt free seasonings. Loving to cook and being salt free most of my life by choice, I have learned a lot of tips and tricks to create flavor without salt and sugar that seems to be in everything these days.

Healthy Gourmet Cookware - How to Choose the Right Healthy Cookware For Your Kitchen

When people think of healthy gourmet cookware the first thing that comes to mine is it has to be nonstick, which does drastically cut down on the amount of oil and fat that you need to use when cooking.

But how the food is being cooked is only one aspect of what is classified as healthy cookware. Other factors that need to be considered that are also within your control is the quality of the pots and pans you choose.

Also choosing the right cookware for the job is important to. For instance a cast iron skillet is a great choice when browning meats, but is a poor choice when cooking with acidic foods like tomatoes. Cast iron and also carbon steel will react to these types of acidic foods and will definitely alter the taste of the food you are preparing.

This does not mean that other types of cookware could not be classified as healthy cookware. Some good choices to consider would be stainless steel, glass and even enamel coated cast iron. Healthy Gourmet Cookware is made to be durable. It is constructed out of the finest materials. You don't need to spend a lot of money when looking for this type of cookware.

However what makes it healthy is not necessarily just the cookware you chose but also the cooking process and controlling the amount of fat that goes into the dish.

So if you want to prepare healthy meals for yourself and family it really comes down to two important points to remember. Choosing the right type of cookware and controlling the quality of ingredients and amount of fat.

You will find more information about the healthy gourmet cookware here. Or visit http://cookware.resourcesandinfo.net a web site dedicated to all types of cookware.

Gourmet Chocolate - Luxurious and Decadent Or Wholesome and Healthy?

Not long ago I read an article which started "Gourmet Chocolate is an unparalleled pleasure", I could not agree more. Good quality chocolate has a richness and sensuality that is not matched by any other food in my opinion. All the senses are stimulated by this luscious treat. The whole experience of eating a good chocolate starts with the crisp snapping sound as you break a piece from the bar which tells you that the amount of rich cocoa solids far outweighs the sugar. The rich, glossy colour with a shine that comes from deep within the bar is a delight to the eyes, the smell is a tantalising forerunner to the wonderful taste stimulating the appetite even before the chocolate reaches your mouth. Then comes the smooth silky feel as the chocolate starts to melt on your tongue and gently bathes your taste buds as it slowly releases the deep, warm flavors that are almost decadent in their luxury and richness.

The source material for any chocolate is cocoa beans, it is in the manufacturing process that the gourmet chocolatier demonstrates the skill that raises his product out of the ordinary. The skills involved in the making of good chocolate are little different from those required in the making of fine wine - the subtleties of blending and maturing are just as important, even down to judging the amount of fermentation that takes place. Most cocoa beans are fermented slightly before shipping to the chocolate manufacturing site for further processing and the amount of time spent in this state is critical to the development of the final flavors in the chocolate.

Once the fermented beans arrive at their destination they are roasted and crushed to release the full flavors before being mixed with the bare minimum of ingredients. In the finest chocolates only a very small amount of sugar and a hint of vanilla are added, just enough to open the taste buds for the fuller flavors of the cocoa. Most gourmet chocolates stand alone without the need for additional ingredients but they do lend themselves to the more exotic combinations which delight our minds with their complexity, such as the truffles flavored with Sloes soaked in Gin that I recently had the pleasure of eating. Most chocolate of this quality is produced by artisan chocolatiers who produce small batches of exquisite handmade delights, however there are some larger manufacturers who produce their chocolates in this way, Hotel Chocolat for example.

The cocoa beans used in quality chocolate are finely ground before being mixed with the other ingredients and the length of the cooking time is critical to the development of the flavors as well as the consistency of the finished product - and most important, how smoothly it melts. Chocolate should never be chewed, but rather allowed to gently wrap itself around your tongue before melting away leaving the memory of its flavor lingering in the mouth and the mind.

Good quality chocolate is not only a pleasure to eat but also has considerable health benefits over the rather more unpleasant 'candy' style products which are laden with sugars and additives. The high quality of the ingredients ensures that the vitamins and minerals which are essential to good health are present in a form which is easily accessible to the body providing nutrition and allowing the release of endorphins within the brain that raise your mood and make you feel better.

At one time gourmet chocolate was considered to be a luxury and was both difficult to obtain and expensive. However, with the growing awareness of the damage that poor quality foods can do to us, more and more people are appreciating the pleasure of good food - and good chocolate is no exception to this rule. It's beauty lies in it's simplicity, just a few, high quality ingredients blended to create a harmonious whole. What better choice of gift could there be than something that seems so luxurious and decadent and is at the same time so very wholesome and healthy.

Cherrie Carew has a passion - Chocolate. It is a passion made for sharing and The Chocolate Casket is a box of chocolate lore, recipes, news and more that you won't be able to resist diving into. There is absolutely everything the chocoholic could desire....

Gourmet Mushroom Recipes - Healthy Dishes for the Whole Family

Mushrooms are not only tasty, but it is a wholesome food that is rich in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. The spicy taste of mushroom dishes can even make kids enjoy their breakfast. Mushrooms can be prepared in different ways, however here are a few different ways to prepare gourmet mushrooms.

Mushrooms La Creme

Ingredients

- 1 lb. mushrooms

- Pepper

- 1 tablespoon cream

- Salt

- Yolk of 1 egg

- Butter

Directions

Wash mushrooms and then chop into fine pieces. Heat the pan and add butter, fry the chopped mushrooms for 5 minutes. Once they get cold, mix in egg yolk and cream and bake in oven until brown. Grated cheese can be sprinkled over the top before serving.

Gourmet Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients

- Mushroom 1 pound finely sliced

- Chicken broth 6 cups

- Olive oil 3 tablespoon

- Arborio rice 1 1/2 cup

- 2 Shallots

- White wine (dry) 1 ½

- Chopped Chives 3 tablespoon

- Pepper to taste

- Butter 4 tablespoon

- Parmesan Cheese 1/3 cup

- Salt to taste

Directions:

Warm broth in a saucepan at low temperature, next add two tablespoon of olive oil in the saucepan and heat it until it reaches a medium heat. Slowly stir the mushrooms along with oil until cooked, about 3 to 6 minutes. Remove mushrooms and broth and put them aside.

Next add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to saucepan and stir in shallots for 1 minute. Add rice and oil, and then stir continuously for 2 minutes or until the rice turns into a golden color. Pour the wine into the rice. Keep stirring until it's absorbed completely. Then add the broth to the rice and stir until it is fully absorbed. Don not add all the broth at once, add it slowly but stir continuously for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the rice from heat and stir in mushrooms along with butter, chives, etc. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

This dish is rich in amino acids, glutamates, and has a high amount of vitamin B and D. Regularly taking mushrooms can help you to avoid various diseases including colon cancer, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and many others.

Commercially grown gourmet mushrooms are cleaner and you can simply rinse them before you cook. A high level of patience is needed to make fantastic gourmet foods. Exotic mushroom recipes are not only eye appealing but also adds more flavor to your taste buds.

Oregon mushrooms present fresh lobster mushrooms that are white in color with bright red skin having dense flesh and tastes like seafood. Hence, it's a great substitute for meat with vegetarians. To learn more about it, check out this link.

A Healthy Blogger's Whole-Grain Dishes

Sara Forte’s delicious recipes satisfy big appetites—even her husband’s.

“I love whole grains. They make it easier to create healthy dishes that can fill up a man,” jokes blogger Sara Forte of SproutedKitchen.com. While she’s happy with just tofu or fish and vegetables, her husband, Hugh—who photographs all the dishes on her blog and in her forthcoming cookbook, The Sprouted Kitchen—craves cheeseburgers and desserts. To make dishes that are satisfying for both of them, she might cook tofu in bold-flavored five-spice powder to serve over a chewy barley-and-kale stir-fry. “I try to cram as many vegetables as I can into a dish,” she says of her earthy buckwheat crêpes, which she loves to wrap around a sauté of corn, leek and tomatoes. “Plus, there’s always a crêpe or two leftover for Hugh to spread with Nutella.”

View the original article here

Healthy Salads for Hedonists

Crunchy, crispy, chewy, tender: A Baltimore chef’s main-course salads satisfy the senses.

“Eating salad shouldn’t feel like a punishment,” says chef Spike Gjerde of Woodberry Kitchen in Baltimore. At his new coffee shop, Artifact, he brings his hyper-locavore sensibility to more casual food, like sandwiches and main-course salads. “The best salads for me are the ones where you get the crunchy, the crisp, the chewy and the tender,” Gjerde says. To add crunch, he throws in croutons made from leftover bread (“Pretzels also work well”); he also likes tossing in pickles (“As a bonus, use some brine in the dressing”). Whether it’s a salad with smoked fish and potatoes or noodles with pork tenderloin, Gjerde varies the greens depending on the season. “These salads have enough heft. After you eat them, you won’t be looking around to see what’s on everyone else’s plate.”

View the original article here

Dark Gourmet Chocolate is Healthy - Is it Really?

There are a lot of "dark gourmet chocolate" companies entering the wellness industry over the last year. The claim is that the product is "healthy." We've seen the commercials, ads and the media feature it. So I decided to look in to this myself from a health and nutrition perspective.

I am personally not a chocolate eater so I've never had any interest except that I find it intriguing from a marketing perspective. How can a "chocolate product" be marketed as healthy?

I selected one of the Direct Selling "healthy gourmet chocolate" companies and reviewed its marketing materials and ingredients.

Ingredients & Marketing

The main source of the product is dark chocolate, with each of the packaged varieties having added nutritional elements including sweeteners, berry powders, vitamins, minerals, probiotics, and omegas.

While the story of the "healthy chocolate" makes for great marketing and lends itself to a greater interest from the poor dietary habits of people today; after further reading it appears this requires further investigation (even more than what I will provide here). Besides the antioxidant story the main selling feature in the product is the natural sweetener called agave.

The dark gourmet chocolate product I reviewed lists these key selling features:

It is diabetic friendly due to the sweetener from agave, which comes from a cactus like plant. The literature claims the agave is very safe.
The product itself has a low glycemic index and will not cause increases in blood sugar, and that the antioxidants found in this gourmet chocolate, helps promote cardiovascular health.
The literature says that it may help with weight loss as it provides natural energy and increases your sense of well-being.

Agave Sweetener - what is it?

The Agave syrup found in "healthy chocolate" was originally used to make tequila. When Agave syrup ferments it turns to tequila. The enzymes activity must be stopped so that the syrup will not turn into tequila for use in healthy chocolate.

Agave Syrup is advertised as low glycemic and marketed safe for diabetics. According to my reading, it is true that agave itself is low glycemic but we have to consider why. The reason is due to the unusually high concentration of fructose (90%) compared to the small amount of glucose (10%).

Even though fructose is low on the glycemic index, there are numerous problems associated with the consumption of fructose in such high concentrations, the same as found in other sweeteners.

High Amounts of Fructose

High amounts of concentrated fructose may cause health problems ranging from mineral depletion, to insulin resistance, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and it even causes miscarriages in pregnant women.

Whole foods such as fruits contain a much smaller amount of fructose compared to sucrose and glucose, as well as a full spectrum of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, fiber, enzymes and other nutrients. These are the nutritional needs of the body. Concentrated sweeteners from food sources such as the agave plant contain no fiber and have much greater concentrations of simple sugars than are found in fresh foods.

Fructose also appears to interfere with copper metabolism. This causes collagen and elastin being unable to form. Collagen and elastin are connective tissue which essentially hold the body together. A deficiency in copper can also lead to bone fragility, anemia, defects of the arteries and bone, infertility, high cholesterol levels, heart attacks and ironically enough an inability to control blood sugar levels.

The Research

Research suggests that fructose actually promotes disease more readily than glucose. This is because glucose is metabolized by every cell in the body, and fructose must be metabolized by the liver.

Tests on animals show that the livers of animals fed large amounts of fructose develop fatty deposits and cirrhosis of the liver. This is similar to the livers of alcoholics.

Very few agave studies have been documented, and most involved rats. There have been no clinical studies done on its safety for diabetics.

Fructose - Blood Glucose, Leptin

It is important to understand that the glucose in other sugars are converted to blood glucose, fructose is a relatively unregulated source of fuel that your liver converts to fat and cholesterol.

A significant danger here is that fructose does not stimulate your insulin secretion or enhance leptin production, which is involved in appetite regulation.

Because insulin and leptin act as key signals in regulating how much food you eat, as well as your body weight, dietary fructose can also contribute to increased food intake and weight gain.

Weight Loss

Fructose is one type of sugar you'll definitely want to avoid, no matter what the source is. Therefore, "healthy chocolate" does not have any weight loss benefits.

We now understand that chocolate has no weight loss benefits, we also know that it provides a feeling of well being through a sense of euphoria. The coca solids in dark chocolate contain alkaloids such as theobromine and phenethylamine, which have physiological effects on the body. It has been linked to serotonin levels in the brain.

In Summary

My recommendation is that if you are going to eat this gourmet chocolate it would be better than eating chocolate bars (albeit more expensive). I would not suggest consuming a lot of it on a regular basis and don't expect it will offer you any real medicinal benefits.

For more information on chocolate and other nutrition topics visit my Blog or contact me.

Doug Collins, C.N.C.
Certified Nutrition Consultant
Riverview, New Brunswick

Doug is a Certified Nutrition Consultant and experienced entrepreneur living in New Brunswick, Canada. He is a 'Difference Maker' building a global networking health & wellness business; as well as writing about many Health, Nutrition and Business related articles.

Chocolate As a Healthy Alternative to Harmful Foods

Today we face a singular crisis that will point the way toward our own end or our beginning. Of course, that sounds foolish. But the important matter is that we now accept the fact that good nutrition is what matters in keeping our health in shape.

It is important to eat good, healthy, well-prepared food. It tastes better and it seems to appeal to most. All well and good.

Well, good healthy chocolate is one thing that will provide lots of good nutrition. In fact, good healthy chocolate that is not cooked at all is tasty and full of vitamins that are removed during the regular chocolate process. Good raw chocolate that is free of additives like sugar and other chemicals is, in fact, loaded with vitamins and nutrients that keep us in good health.

This healthy chocolate is easily available now.

The truth is that healthy chocolate is not processed but is made available in delicious form to all. We can all enjoy good chocolate now. The important matter is that nutrition means vitamins and enzymes and antioxidants that complete our daily intake of food get used by the body more readily.

Years ago it was discovered that free radicals caused disease and aging on the cellular level and that doses of vitamins and antioxidants do slow the process of cell damage and thereby the aging that takes place over the years. Cellular damage occurs all the time because of free radicals that interlink with our cells but which have no nutritional value. The use of vitamins can limit the damage; however vitamins that come in a bottle are not good tasting and only a small amount of the actual vitamin is actually used. The rest is simply lost in the process.

Studies in Europe have shown that those who consume chocolate on a daily basis can avoid by 80% the harm that comes along in aging. In fact, stroke and heart attacks and other life-threatening events are seen only rarely in those who ate chocolate every day. And this is for chocolate that is for the most part considered candy. Real chocolate that is natural and raw has very high content of nutrients and antioxidants that protect the body from cellular damage.

These antioxidants can prevent and even reverse damage that occurs over time. And unlike the vitamins that come in a bottle, the nutrients found in natural chocolate taste great and are absorbed by the body. Pills and other forms of nutrients do not get absorbed easily by the body. Those nutrients are in pill form and are made to be easy to swallow and to have a long shelf life. But they are not a good form of nutrition.

It is better to take high concentrations of antioxidants in forms that the body can use. The uncooked chocolate is very high is nutrients and antioxidants. It is a real food that is much higher in nutritional value than other fruits and vegetables. And the digestive process makes the nutrition available all day long.

Because of the high content of nutrition, raw chocolate is excellent for dieting. The body gets its necessary nutrition but the calories are less. It is easy to diet using raw chocolate.

Finally, raw chocolate is delicious and will satisfy the palette of any chocolate lover. Good healthy, raw chocolate can be a real gourmet food.

I want to bring the facts of raw chocolate to the public at large. People generally do not see chocolate as a real food; understandably they think it is candy. But I ask that we all do our own research and learn.

My site is [http://www.YourHealthyChocolateShop.com] where much information is available. There are links at the site where one can explore more. Go to http://www.MyDrChocolate.com and see other links there.

Thank you,

Warner

Nutritious Dog Food - Getting Your Dog on a Healthy Diet

If a pet owner has a dog that is a finicky eater, finding food for him or her can be quite troublesome. The other problem in finding food is it healthy for them? A person might finally find something the dog will eat, but it will not be healthy for them. Most finicky eaters eat canned pet food. For a dog needing holistic canned dog food, there now is a solution.

Holistic canned dog food will be all natural but feeds not just the dog's body but also their mind and spirit. A company that claims this must have the pet food certified under rigorous inspections. Every single ingredient that is used to make the food and even packaging is considered.

A vet named Dr. Jane Bicks created holistic canned dog food with the belief the food's ingredients need to serve a purpose along with using only natural ingredients makes the dog's food more healthy and if advanced nutrition is used, a dog will be healthier and have a longer life expectancy.

Because of this belief, now a dog will feel full when fed, satisfied and content, and will overcome being a finicky eater. They will want to eat their food, love their food, and even want more. They will become healthier in body, mind, and spirit.

There actually is a breakfast for the dog along with dinner. Instead of just picking a flavor for a meal, this holistic canned dog food is actually gourmet food that will rival humans. The meals are designed to be twice a day instead of one large meal. The food can be used as toppers for those finicky eaters.

The Turkey and Shrimp Breakfast in Broth has actual ingredients that are used in an omelet. There are red skinned potatoes, eggs, cheddar cheese, red bell peppers, turkey, and shrimp. When its dinner time, how about Chicken and Crab Dinner in Sauce? There is sweet apples complementing peas, carrots, red skinned potatoes, and eggs, along with crab and chicken that is organic. This means the chicken is hormone free and raised and fed naturally.

This holistic canned dog food comes also with antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, and omega fatty acids. There will not be one drop or trace of artificial colors or flavors, corn or corn gluten, and wheat or wheat gluten.

The beauty about this holistic dog food is it can be fed to puppies that are ready for some real food. It will depend on the breed and age of the puppy. The recommendation is to feed about twice the amount to the puppies than the adult dog. The dog should eat between three to four cans a day based on their body weight. So, every fifteen pounds, a dog should have one can for breakfast and one for dinner. The dog or puppy should of course have plenty of water to drink when eating.

If you have a finicky pet or have a friend or family member that does, there now is help available. To check out this awesome holistic canned dog food and other items for your pet, visit Life's Abundance.

Josh Wallach, owner of HealthyPetsLife.com and National Field Representative for Life's Abundance offers Life's Abundance Premium Pet Food that is veterinarian-formulated to cater to your pets' needs, puppies or kittens, adult and even senior pets alike. Visit us at http://www.healthypetslife.com or call 800-699-0870.

Healthy Food Intake - Nutritious and Delicious Foods for Your Health

Eating healthily doesn't have to mean eating tastelessly. To the contrary, gourmet food has now taken on a whole new meaning in delicious health. It is no secret that the American diet is lacking in quality nutrients. Obesity levels continue to climb to levels unforeseen. 100% preventable diseases take their toll on progressively more and more people every year. There has been a terrible shift from the household kitchen to the local fast food "restaurant" as the primary source of our dietary intake. It is time to break the habit! It's time to take back our health.

Many people erroneously consider healthy food to be bland food. We have good news! Healthy eating doesn't have to mean sitting in front of a plate full of raw vegetables and munching away until your teeth hurt; there is a better way! Because of the epidemic of malnutrition and food intake patterns loaded with saturated fats, there has been an amazing demand for the development of dietary choices that are not only delectable, but packed full of high-quality nutrients, omega-3 fatty acids, essential amino acids and other life-enhancing elements.

You need to know what to cut out and what to make sure to include in your food intake regimen. You have to understand why "diets" fail. You need to embrace a shift in the way that you look at food. Let's examine some of the foods that we need to avoid and some alternatives for them. When you think about each of the following foods, really consider how it feels to eat them. Think about how your body feels after you eat them. Here we go:

- Deep Fried Foods

Consider this: fried foods are placed in a cooking dish filled with artery-clogging fats. Your meal-to-be bathes in these oils - soaking them in deeply. The probabilities for contracting heart disease and cancer are both highly accentuated by the ingestion of deep fried foods. The human body is not meant to have to constantly endeavor to detoxify and metabolize such outrageous amounts of fats. Steam, boil, broil, bake or grill your foods instead.

- Processed Foods

Our marvelous human bodies are designed to benefit from the foods that nature provides us - not what a laboratory does. Processed foods contain very little to no actual nutritional matter. Chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, fillers and fats are what you eat when you eat processed foods. Besides starving the body of what it requires for health, you are loading it with more elements to detoxify. Just because we have livers and kidneys to purify ourselves doesn't mean that we have to work them to death! Concentrate on consuming the limitless food choices that have no labels. Food that is good for you is just being itself!

- White Sugar, White Flour - Anything Bleached

It has been known (and overlooked) for decades that bleached foods are not only emptied of nutrients, they are detrimental to our systems. They also lack flavor. They are void of nutrients and filled (again) with elements for your body to have to fight to assimilate. Consider raw sugar - sweet and wonderful. Opt for whole grain flour and breads. They are loaded with amino acids and other very necessary nutrients that our bodies have to have in order to function, heal, repair, grow and sustain our lives. Choose long grain, wild rice. There are endless, delicious varieties from all over the planet!

Your health is only for you to protect. As much as anyone may love you, they are helpless to ensure your health. Embrace a mental change in the way that you perceive food. Change the ways that you prepare your food. Get back into the kitchen of your home and stay away from the fast food restaurants. Ingest food sources that are water-rich (like fruits and vegetables). Avoid high-fat foods like bacon and lasagna. Teach yourself to modify your favorite dishes to be healthful instead of hurtful.

Healthy eating doesn't just taste better; it is so much better for you.

Begin to enjoy and elongate your life through healthy food intake choices today and remember what it is to feel vibrant!

M Alan Roberts is a fulltime freelance writer and web developer.

Naomi Duguid's Healthy Asian Cooking

Author Naomi Duguid explores the bright flavors of Burma, Bangladesh and Thailand.

Just as Americans have learned to distinguish a Sicilian dish from a Venetian one, we’re learning more about the differences between regional Asian cuisines. Writer and photographer Naomi Duguid has always been at the forefront of exploring Asian food and bringing it to the US through her cookbooks. After investigating southeast Asian food for her 2000 book, Hot Sour Salty Sweet, she started researching the Indian subcontinent, even traveling to Bangladesh, a destination so rarely visited by tourists that the embassy didn’t know how to categorize her visa. Her forthcoming book, Burma: The Cookbook, focuses on a country where a new president is promoting cultural openness. The recipes here are favorites from her intrepid travels.

Naomi Duguid creates healthy Asian dishes inspired by the flavors of Burma, Bangladesh and Thailand. Photo © John Kernick.

View the original article here

Healthy holiday food gift baskets-delicious and good for you, too

Now in the new year, it is a long holiday season. As a thank-you, sharing and caring, also means food and more food. Groan ...

Is not the best time for a food gift basket, you say? Well, if you have someone on your list who need special dietary foods or is, is the perfect time. From ' heart healthy ' sugar-free and organic or kosher, there are many healthy choices out there. Your reflection would be even more appreciated at a time when they are tempted by so many foods ' no-no '.

Myself, manipulates the dietary requirements for several health problems, including diabetes. For the diabetic on your list, there is sugar free smiles: diet & health Gift Basket, an assortment of sugar free cheese, crackers, biscuits, sweets and snacks. For the gourmet Sugar Free diabetic Gourmet Gift Basket sounds particularly appetizing. A willow basket, natural and blue rectangular with wooden handles is filled with goodies like sugar free Go lightly Lemon Ice Tea sugar free Candy, jelly beans, sugar free truffle Bars peanut butter, Lazzaroni classic Italian Cookies, sugar Free Sugar Free Petite Beurre Biscuits, Pretzels, corn tortilla blue stone ground mustard, Grissini breadsticks, chip original, mini corn chips, cheese Zesty Verduijn Waifferse White Cheddar Popcorn. A ceramic mug is included.

Know a diabetic who also eats kosher? Check out the Kosher Gourmet sugar free gift baskets. Chatila branded products are certified Kosher. These custom gift baskets are wrapped and include a holiday card with a personal message.

If you are generally a little health conscious, the heart healthy Gourmet Food Gift Basket with smoked salmon sounds delicious and it's a sweet deal at 11% off. This basket is decorated with Ivy and ribbons and includes a personalized gift message from you. [As I am on a diet low in sodium, I noticed that foodstuffs contain sodium.]

Want to treat your college student a few healthy choices in snacks while they study for exams before the holiday break? Discount of 15%, "for the health of It" Care Package is not only good for them but also well on your budget. Glossy white gift box is full of baked lays Potato Chips, Rold gold pretzels, Sun Chips, Toasted wheat big Thins 100 Calories, 2 packs of 40 calorie gold fish cracker, chocolate drizzle Quaker Oats rice snacks and yogurt covered raisins Sun Maid.

Or for something different, we recommend that you study Buddy healthy College Student Care Package that combines classical music CDs and healthy snacks to nourish the mind and body. You have a choice of ' motivation ' or "Concentration". Motivation study Buddy Care Package, packaged in a hand-basket contains a CD of classical music to inspire maximum performance and instill enthusiasm your college student needs to complete tasks. Snacks are energizing and improve mental focus. "

If recipients have special dietary needs, or you just want to promote healthy eating, the holiday gift basket choices are numerous. They are not just ' good for you ' but tempting yummy, too.

Barb L Collins is a researcher of the gift shopping sites and regularly includes specific products in its review of hampers. She thoroughly enjoys the gift of correspondence with the interests and the personality of the recipient. She feels that the choice reflected the personality of the donor. A former owner of a gift shop online that featured gift baskets for all occasions, she continues to be amazed at the variety available. She also loves a good bargain. Among his favorite gift baskets are those created by Art of appreciation and sold through Amazon.com, with frequent discounts offered.

You visit http://giftbasketsreview.blogspot.com for more unique gift basket ideas.

The Dancing Gourmet: A Ballerina's Healthy Recipes for Fitness

Linda Hymes shares a full repertory of delicious, healthy recipes that are fit for dancers and non-dancers alike in The Dancing Gourmet: Recipes To Keep You on Your Toes. Heck, these are recipes to keep you fit. Hymes knows the secrets of preparing tantalizing dishes that won't add to your waistline- she trained at the prestigious School of American Ballet in New York City before becoming a professional ballerina for fifteen years. After retiring, she pursued her greatest passion- food- and attended the world-renowned Le Cordon Bleu in London.

The Dancing Gourmet is a perfect marriage of gourmet food and elegant aesthetic. Anyone who loves ballet or who wishes to look like a dancer by eating right will enjoy the mouth-watering, colorful photos of food and Hymes during some of her finest dancing moments- both seem to jump right off the page. The Dancing Gourmet is flavored with humor throughout it pages: the recipes are categorized by ballet's positions of the feet, from first position (appetizers and small plates) through fifth position(entrees). The final section involves the prerequisite visit to the Land Of the Sweets (a reference from the second act of the much-beloved Nutcracker) which no ballet career or gourmet dining experience should be without.

Eating right doesn't have to be a punishment. In fact, it can be quite pleasurable. Choices from the third category of salads (not just rabbit food!, according to Hymes) such as the grilled chicken salad with spicy blackberry dressing, thai eggplant salad with pickled garlic, and sole and salmon twirls with maple glaze are appealing, or curried banana balls with masoor daal and cold sesame soba with tofu for the vegetarian crowd. Top it all off with a cup of fresh-brewed chai and a slice of pavlova cake. Brava!

Grier Cooper is a California-based writer, photographer and dancer. She draws on over twenty years of experience as a dancer, teacher and performer to create fiction and non-fiction for children and adults. For more information and tips about dance, sign up for a weekly free newsletter @ http://www.griercooper.com and receive a free E-book, "The Dancer's Guide To Life".

The Svelte Gourmet - A Discovery of Healthy Food That is Delicious - And You Can Make it Too

To me, the best solutions to anything in life are the simplest solutions. I recently discovered Jennifer Fox, also known as 'The Svelte Gourmet'. She's fairly new to the weight loss game yet she has already built a following that many long standing players would dream of having.

She's not a chef. She's not a dietician. In fact, she's just like many of us in that she has been a yo-yo dieter for years. She loves to cook and that has led her to her passion: to help people shed pounds by eating healthfully.

She believes that eating healthy does NOT mean that you have to sacrifice flavor. Well, for any of you who have suffered over salad after salad or endless dry chicken breast, she is a refreshing solution that is going to make your taste buds sing and dance.

According to Ms. Fox: "The problem is, most diet food doesn't taste that great. I created healthy recipes that taste fantastic! Most people can't believe they're eating diet food." And it's true. I checked her out and people are raving about her approach of simple 'food swaps' and how her recipes provide gourmet meals that are healthy and calorie conscious. Gourmet food! Can you imagine that? It really is amazing and guess what? Like I said, the best solutions in life are the simplest solutions.

Her recipes will have you feeding your friends and family with flair and you'll have a hard time convincing them that they are not over-indulging. And at the core are basic ideas like swapping yogurt for mayonnaise and sour cream, unsweetened apple sauce for oil, honey instead of sugar, herbs and spices instead of butter or fat and using onions as a sweetener. But more than that, she'll show you hot to do it so that you get the best results - healthy food should taste great.

As she says on her website: "She wants to help you and your families learn to make healthy food taste good, enjoy cooking while staying fit, and realize how easy it can be to make gourmet meals every day of the week."

And to help, they offer a variety of customizable services, such as: The Svelte Gourmet "Personal Training" Sessions, "Cooking Svelte" Dinner Parties, Pizza & A Movie, The Svelte Gourmet Classes & Seminars and more.

They give you the recipes and inspiration for a lifestyle built on eating healthfully. If you choose to, you can follow her cookbook from start to finish, enjoying a different, flavorful and exciting meal everyday for a month! Imagine that. No more dried up chicken and the same old, same old you've been suffering with night after night.

You'd do well to check her out. And your family will love you for it. Who cares if your friends become jealous. Losing weight does not have to be so doom and gloom. Have fun.

And while you are at it, grab a compelling vision of your future self. And Let The Vision Empower You!

Kevin Graham serves as the Managing Director at Empower Me Photo. Empower Me Photo provides tools to help those seeking to stay on their diet or exercise program over the long run - by showing how you are going to look AFTER you lose the weight.

You will be amazed at how you are going to look - and your empowering photo can be in your hand as quickly as tomorrow. And you will be inspired, motivated, and yes, EMPOWERED, to stay on your program over the long run.

You are welcome to download our free 7 Secrets to Visualize Your Future using the world's best weight loss tool.

Our Weight Loss Success Stories [http://www.empowermephoto.com/success-stories] are impressive.

Let The Vision Empower You!

Healthy Snack Recipes

F&W’s Grace Parisi offers six good-for-you recipes that satisfy a craving for something crispy and salty.

F&W’s annual healthy issue can’t come too soon for me. Like 401(k) savings deducted automatically from my paycheck, it forces me to do something virtuous—not fiscally, but physically. This year, I’ve been thinking about snacking and trying to figure out how to satisfy my cravings and get something nutritious into my body at the same time. The six recipes here do both. The black pepper kettle corn, for instance, is low in fat and sugar and high in fiber. The Japanese-inspired snack mix delivers lots of iodine, iron and protein. And the smoked-almond butter (delicious on apples or fennel) is an amazing source of fiber, healthy fats and vitamin E. Even better, most of these snacks take no more than 15 minutes to prepare, so they can satisfy a craving almost as soon as it hits.

Rice Chex cereal makes a good substitute for the rice flakes in the crunchy Asian snack mix (right).

Instead of pecans, try tossing slivered almonds with the mix before baking.

Add 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds before baking for more Asian flavor.

Healthy snack recipes, like a tasty, Asian-inspired riff on Chex Mix. Photo © Quentin Bacon.

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Gourmet Diet Delivery Service - How to Get Healthy - Low Calorie Meals Delivered to Your Doorstep

When it comes to eating, most people would say that they enjoy it and that they crave food. But just how many of those who love food also love the process of making and preparing it? And just how many of those self- professed food lovers even know the simplest way of preparing the food, especially their favorites?

Many would say that they do not know such. It's a shame just how many of us love food in general but have less of an inkling on how to prepare it.

But how about those people who are on a diet? There are some people who love to eat but have to keep their weight in balance and make sure that they won't gain, nor lose, a single pound. Good for people who are like these for they have no problem at all in keeping and committing their goal.

However, there are many people who have to watch their diet in an exactly opposite way. They have to gain weight and keep it on a certain level. Most of the time, these kind of people are the ones whom a lot would say picky eaters.

They don't like to eat much and when they do, they prefer to eat really special foods such as gourmet. Preparing gourmet food is a bit difficult and hiring a gourmet chef is equally expensive.

The perfect solution to this would be getting a gourmet diet delivery service. In this way, you get to have gourmet food delivered to your home anytime of the day and at a much cheaper price too.

It is especially convenient for busy working professionals who have no time to cook, let alone cook a diet gourmet meal for themselves or their families. Online gourmet diet food delivery services such as Bistromd offers healthy gourmet meals that are delivered to your doorstep each day saving you the trouble of cooking and buying groceries.

If you are looking for the best gourmet diet food delivery service [http://www.bistromd.info], I recommend BistroMD. Check out my Bistro MD review [http://www.bistromd.info] for more information.

Gail Simmons's Favorite Healthy Recipes

When she’s not eating crazily on the set, the Top Chef star makes healthy dishes at home.

My new book, Talking with My Mouth Full, is about my life as a professional eater: growing up in a food-obsessed family, working for star chef Daniel Boulud, getting a dream job at Food & Wine—all of it leading to my role as a Top Chef judge and Top Chef Just Desserts host. What I don’t reveal in the book is how I balance all of the extreme eating. (Once, during a Willy Wonka–themed challenge, we literally had to chew the scenery.) At home, I prepare healthy meals—my mother-in-law’s chicken-and-barley stew, say, or a rice bowl with lemony tahini sauce. The recipes here are my favorites.

Gail Simmons on Balance: “When I’m taping a season of Top Chef Just Desserts, I eat dishes like this rice bowl early in the day, so at least I know I’ve gotten my veggies.” Photo © Quentin Bacon.

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A Hedonist's Guide to Healthy Vacations

Las Vegas, Honolulu and New Orleans are among America’s most indulgent destinations. Here, three travelers explore healthy itineraries in these hedonist hubs.

By Michael Endelman, Christine Quinlan, Brett Anderson

No booze, no gambling, no late-night clubs: Can a sin-free weekend in Sin City satisfy? F&W’s Michael Endelman investigates.

On the flight from New York to Las Vegas, there is no shortage of drinking. Three Jersey Shore types behind me are downing vodka tonics while arguing over Texas Hold ’Em strategy; the middle-aged man to my left pounds three Scotches in an hour. On my tray table: A can of seltzer and a sad little nubbin of lime. I’ve passed up my traditional Bloody Mary because I’m heading to Sin City for a weekend of clean living.

The idea is not as ridiculous as it sounds. The casinos have figured out that a pretty significant slice of the population is more interested in early-morning yoga than all-night clubbing. And since I’m traveling with my six-months-pregnant wife, I’ll have a cheerleader to help me avoid all-you-can- eat buffets, 2 a.m. bourbons and other activities corrosive to the mind, body and soul.

Still, there’s something supremely strange about striding across a gambling floor in workout gear at 7 a.m., while most people are winding down from last night’s party. I’m off to a class called Jukari Fit to Flex, co-created by Cirque du Soleil, at the Bellagio gym (doubles from $169; 702-693-7111 or bellagio.com). For 50 minutes, I jump and lunge with a resistance band, pretending to be, in order, a sassy bullfighter, a sassy belly dancer and a sassy rodeo cowboy. I think it’s during the cowboy section that I start to loosen up. Smacking the floor with a giant rubber band while screaming “Yee-haw!” will do that to you.

Face still flushed—from either embarrassment or exercise, I’m not sure—I meet my wife for lunch at the Cosmopolitan (doubles from $200; 702-698-7000 or cosmopolitanlasvegas.com). The 52-story hotel is the new cool kid on the Strip and has attracted a posse of big-deal chefs. We stop in at Estiatorio Milos (702-698-7930 or milos.ca), a new branch of the Greek seafood empire, where the $20, three-course prix fixe buys you little composed plates of Aegean spa food, like a small whole lavraki (sea bass) flown in from Europe and pampered with light grilling, herbs, olive oil and lemon. It’s incredibly good and an amazing deal, especially since the crab- cake appetizer sells for more than $30 at Milos’s Manhattan outpost. After such a virtuous meal, a second lunch seems totally reasonable; we get the deconstructed gazpacho from José Andrés’s Mexican-Chinese restaurant China Poblano (702-698-7900 or chinapoblano.com) to go. I sit on the couch in our room, watching the dancing Bellagio fountains while eating the alternately sweet-and-spicy cubes of pineapple, jicama, cucumber and dragon fruit.

Becoming a temporary pescatarian is always the easiest way to stay calorically disciplined while traveling. For a landlocked metropolis, Vegas does fish very well: Sushi titans Nobu Matsuhisa and Masa Takayama are both here; so is Paul Bartolotta, whose 11,000-square-foot Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare (702-248-3463 or wynnlasvegas.com) ships in a ton of catch from the Mediterranean every week.

Meals at Bartolotta begin with show-and-tell: the manager rolls over a case filled with shiny amberjack, wiggling langoustines and shrimp as big as a fist. We disappoint him by asking to see the vegan and vegetarian menus. Ever since owner Steve Wynn became a vegan in 2010, he has made sure that his property is a safe haven for his fellow almond-milk lovers, and every single restaurant in his Encore-Wynn complex has vegetarian and vegan options.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit envious of the tables around us, cracking the thick salt crusts on their whole roasted snappers, but nothing feels spartan about the meal that follows: crispy chickpea cakes surrounded by frizzled capers and baby arugula; a parmesan custard with wild mushrooms. To reward us for our discipline, the waiter brings over a table-filling array of sorbets and granitas in hues straight from a Thomas Pink shop.

The following night, we follow chef Bartolotta’s advice and head off-Strip to his favorite sushi place, Sen of Japan (702-871-7781 or senofjapan.com), a strip-mall spot 20 minutes from Las Vegas Boulevard. There’s a flat-screen TV playing SportsCenter and the waitress has an Amy Winehouse beehive, but the $55 omakase buys you a Nobu-quality run of modern Japanese fusion plates. (This makes sense, since chef Hiro Nakano ran the Nobu at the Hard Rock Hotel.) As we finish, my wife and I look at our watches: “I think we can be in bed by 10:30,” I say.

An early bedtime is key when you’ve got 10 miles to bike before 11 a.m. The canyons and mountains surrounding Las Vegas offer some of the country’s best hiking, biking and rock climbing. Along with a Canadian couple in matching spandex outfits, I catch an 8 a.m. van ride with Las Vegas Cyclery (702-596-2953 or lasvegascyclery.com) to Red Rock Canyon. I start to get worried when a local triathlete stretching in the parking lot asks me if I “reside at sea level.” About a quarter of the way through the ride, I understand why: Vegas is around 2,000 feet in elevation, the visitors’ center is at 3,720, and I’m headed up to over 4,700. The triathlete, who is running, tears past me easily, but I make it to the top, feeling lucky that I have not passed out or thrown up.

Talk to enough locals in Vegas, and you find out that many are health nuts and outdoor athletes, not lounge lizards. While rewarding my punished legs with a massage at the Four Seasons (702-632-5000 or fourseasons.com), I impress the therapist with my cardio-packed long weekend. “That’s how we maintain our sanity, by getting outside the city,” she says. “Stay on the Strip too long and it’ll make you crazy.”

My legs are still sore when I pass the Cosmopolitan’s Wicked Spoon buffet. There’s no line, my wife left on an early flight and I’ve got hours to kill. “I’ll just have some granola and fruit,” I tell myself, but somewhere between the roast-pork buns and individual eggs Benedicts in little pots, I lose my self-restraint. Settling in with a couple slices of cinnamon French toast, I go ahead and order the Bloody Mary.

Healthy vacation ideas: Yoga among dolphins. Photo © MGM Resorts International.

Yoga Among the Dolphins
Only in Vegas: A yoga class with an underwater view of the Mirage’s dolphin habitat, with their whistles and clicks as a sound track. $50; mirage.com.

Mandarin Oriental Tea Lounge
Very proper Asian- and British-style teas in a serene space 23 floors above the 24-7 motion of the Strip. mandarinoriental.com.

More healthy vacation ideas: Jukarti Fit to Flex. Photo © Cirque du Soleil.

Jukari Fit to Flex
A fun if somewhat silly resistance-band workout that requires a little flexibility and a lack of shame. $40; bellagio.com.

Artisanal Foods
Food importer Brett Ottolenghi’s new outlet sells obscure spices, small-batch oils and vinegars and the same kind of octopus served at Masa. 702-436-4252 or artisanalfoods.com.

A locavore paradise it isn’t—Hawaii imports 85 percent of its food. F&W’s Christine Quinlan finds great places that challenge the status quo.

Despite Hawaii’s perfect climate, it’s weirdly a tough place to find fresh, local food. But on a recent trip to Honolulu, that was my quest. At the He’eia Kea Pier General Store & Deli, a 20-minute drive from the city, chef Mark Noguchi revamps the iconic, gravy-soaked plate lunch, serving a pa’i ‘ai (taro root) burger with greens from nearby Ma’o Organic Farms (808-235-2192 or heeiapier.com). It’s also possibly the only plate-lunch spot in Hawaii with two sous vide machines in the kitchen. Chef Jon Matsubara wakes up before dawn every day to hit the Honolulu fish auction for Azure, where he serves local fish roasted simply with Meyer lemon, herbs and white wine (808-923-7311 or azurewaikiki.com). Eric Rose of Morning Glass Coffee roasts his own Hawaiian beans. Paired with a breakfast sandwich on a homemade English muffin, a cup set me right for the 5,000-mile flight home (808-673-0065 or morningglasscoffee.com).

Morimoto Waikiki
The Iron Chef has a private plot on a Big Island farm to grow produce like yuzu for the first Hawaiian branch of his sushi empire. morimotowaikiki.com.

Paddle Core Fitness
In a calm cove just west of Waikiki Beach, this outfitter’s lessons mix paddle boarding with cardio and a strength- building workout. paddlecorefitness.com.

On nights off, local food critic Brett Anderson is not ordering beignets or gumbo. Here, his healthy Crescent City food-and-drink hit list.

After chronicling New Orleans’s food culture for more than a decade, my most cherished reprieve comes in the form of something most people never consider obsessing over: a quinoa salad. In fact, it is possible to have a favorite quinoa salad in New Orleans. Mine is made with carrots, sprouts, olives, edamame and feta and resides at Satsuma Cafe, a coffee shop and juice bar with the heart of a locavore bistro (504-304-5962 or satsumacafe.com). Near my home in the music-heavy Faubourg Marigny is the routinely mobbed Three Muses, a bacchanalia keyed to vintage jazz with a standout vegetarian section (504-252-4801 or thethreemuses.com). Freret Street in Uptown, which for years had great fried chicken and not much else, has recently been transformed into a dining and drinking destination. One of my new standbys there is Beaucoup Juice, which uses fresh-squeezed juices in Snoballs, an indigenous treat traditionally made with synthetic syrups. Here, it becomes the rare New Orleans indulgence you won’t have to repent later (504-430-5508 or beaucoupjuice.com).

The Green Goddess
Chefs Chris DeBarr and Paul Artigues turn out pasta-less beet ravioli and cream-free curried pumpkin soup garnished with rum-spiked yogurt—because it’s New Orleans. Left: A margarita spiked with sake, ginger and tangerine juice at The Green Goddess greengoddessnola.com.

New Orleans Healing Center
The healing center includes art galleries, a dance studio, a food co-op, a yoga studio, alternative-medicine practitioners and Fatoush, an organic Middle Eastern cafe. neworleanshealingcenter.org.

A guide to healthy vacation destinations, like José Andrés’s Mexican-Chinese restaurant, China Poblano in Las Vegas. Photo © Jeff Green.

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Why Healthy Food Can Add to Your Pocket Book & Your Life

People who don't know much about nutrition and real food seem convinced that they don't spend much more money on eating out than they would spend eating at home.

But the costs are really more complicated.

If you cook at home you have to spend the time to do it and you have to have the ingredients and the equipment. So there is an initial outlay of money for these things.

But people tend to spend a ridiculous amount of money on equipment.

But think.

A good kitchen knife and an iron skillet can work really well. And a set of reasonably good stainless steel cookware doesn't have to cost the Earth.

Once you have a pantry you are ready to go.

You can start cooking at home.

And the big bonus is that you can skip a lot of calories, saturated fat, sugar and salt that are ubiquitous in fast and prepared foods.

Savory (not sweet) foods that you get in restaurants and in the prepared food aisles at the grocer have a surprising ingredient that you would not expect.

They often have sugar and/or high fructose corn syrup.

This is especially true for restaurant kiddie meals.

Just ask any struggling diabetic. They have to find their way through a minefield of sugar traps.

And diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions in this country, probably due to way too much sugar in all our diets. The human body was never designed to process a lot of sugar. The amounts we generally eat are making us insulin resistant and then diabetic as our pancreas struggles to cope.

Avoiding a lot this sugar is a good first step toward avoiding the deadly health risks that come with it.

Cooking at home where you have control of what you and your family eat is a great way to get some control over these very real health risks.

Even if you are eating foods that are organic and prepared with the finest ingredients you will save money if you are not eating out or buying everything you eat pre-made.

You also skip a lot of chemicals and preservatives, which have not really been tested and proved safe to eat.

You may also lose weight and become healthier.

But there is another payoff that is all about money.

Your medical care, prescriptions, and health and life insurance may all become a lot cheaper, too. Just think you might be healthy enough to not need as much medical care.

Being in better health is the best payoff. Learning to cook healthy meals is SO WORTH IT!

Paula Stone is a lifestyle specialist. She works with her husband Ron in his various businesses including an insurance agency specializing in final expense life insurance. Learn more at their website, Burial Life Insurance as well as a video on final expense insurance at Final Expense Life Insurance

Healthy Dessert Recipes: Chocolate

Blogger Joy Wilson uses every smart trick for eking out maximum flavor with minimum fat.

Joy Wilson’s baking career got off to an early start: When she was growing up, her father would wake her up at 4 a.m., when he came home from work, so they could make cookies or pie together. Today she’s the creator of the quirky, beautiful Joy the Baker blog; her cookbook of the same name comes out this month. While she describes herself as “powered by an unbelievable amount of granulated sugar,” she enjoys finding clever ways to make desserts healthier. For instance, she’s a fan of cocoa nibs, the unsweetened seeds of the cacao pod, which are high in antioxidants. “I like eating them by the handful, like M&M’s,” she says. In the recipes here, she uses nibs as well as cocoa powder and chocolate to make delicious, surprisingly light desserts.

Some small, socially conscious chocolate companies are working directly with farmer co-ops rather than buying cacao from middlemen. Here, a few F&W favorites.

TCHO makes chocolates to evoke different flavor notes, like citrusy or fruity. Like many chocolate companies, it buys beans from Ghana, where the state-run cocoa industry can make it hard for companies to trace beans to the source. But TCHO recently formed partnerships to work directly with farmers, aiming for better cacao and more money for growers. tcho.com.

Shawn Askinosie makes earthy, single-origin bars, sharing profits with the cacao farmers he buys from. askinosie.com.

David Elliott and Nat Bletter produce artisan-quality chocolate and often source their ingredients locally, from cacao to flavorings like strawberry guava and pink peppercorns. madrechocolate.com.

Joy Wilson creates healthy dessert recipes made with chocolate. Photo © Michael Friedman.

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