Beans, Beans, the Magical Food

Despite the childhood rhyme, I’m doubtful anyone ever believed beans qualified as a fruit. But are they magical? Perhaps… Growing up in a small Midwestern town, the only beans I remember devouring were either in chili, smothered in brown sugar and ketchup as baked beans, or covered in cream of mushroom soup and fried onions […]

Life’s A Peach

Finding a perfectly ripe peach while growing up in Ohio was like finding a needle in a haystack. In the Midwest in the 1980s, my family often canned peaches or turned them into jams as the few peaches we got often went bad before we could enjoy them. In the winter, I vividly remember racing […]

To Grill or Not to Grill: That is the Question

Memorial Day weekend will soon be upon us. Millions of Americans will hang their flags and clean up their grills for celebrations with family and friends. As long as you choose lean meats, grilling is a healthy choice, right? If you are concerned about fighting high cholesterol or heart disease, that may be true; however, […]

Strawberries: The Very Merry Berry

Strawberries are one of my favorite fruits, likely due to the happy memories they evoke of my mom and me heading to the strawberry patch each year after school was out to pick berries. I ate more than I picked in those days, but I loved the whole experience and the rewards of our endeavor, […]

Rethinking Mother’s Day: Give the Gift of Health

I’m not a mom (well, only to a dog), but like all of you, I have a mother and had two grandmothers. Both of my grandmothers died from cancer. Interestingly enough, I’m not sure either could have done much more to reduce her cancer risk intentionally. Neither of them used tobacco or drank alcohol. They […]