Throughout the year and especially at Thanksgiving and Christmas time, I am thankful for pumpkin puree.  Canned pumpkin is widely available in the U.S. and yet it is not found in many other countries.  When my husband’s relatives visited us from England, I was surprised that they had never seen canned pumpkin before. 

American farmers harvest specific pumpkin varieties that are better for making canned puree than the large pumpkins grown for Halloween Jack-O-Lanterns.  I stuff and bake small decorative pumpkins for dinner and reach for canned pumpkin when it’s time to bake a pumpkin pie or make pumpkin bread. 

On October 24, America will celebrate Food Day 2013, the nationwide movement for healthy, affordable, sustainable food. Food Day aims to:

• Promote safer, healthier diets
• Support sustainable and organic farms
• Reduce hunger
• Reform factory farms to protect the environment and farm animals
• Support fair working conditions for food and farm workers

This Be Well blog supports Food Day throughout the year by promoting healthy eating, safe food handling, and basic cooking skills...

My father lived until his early 90s and was my wellness role model.  He maintained a healthy weight measured by the fact that the suit he wore on his wedding day fit him throughout his life.  A former high school and college athlete, he continued regular physical activity until his late 80s.  Dad controlled his portions by performing what he claimed was the most important exercise – pushing yourself away from the table. 

I remember that he enjoyed snacking on nuts and yet, because he was mindful of their high caloric content, he would only have a handful saying how much he enjoyed them as long as he didn’t eat too many.  We could all benefit by adopting his healthy approach to nutrition and physical activity…

Once I get started eating sugary foods I crave them more and more. I’ve found that one way to lower my sugar consumption is to wait until late in the day and only eat a few small portions of sweetened foods.  If I skip lunch time desserts and bypass afternoon candy cravings my overall sugar intake is reduced by only having something sweet after dinner. 

There are plenty of reasons to eat less sugar (e.g., it’s addictive; it’s bad for your heart; it increases the risk of certain cancers). After watching the 60 Minutes Sugar Expose featuring Drs. Sanjay Gupta and Robert Lustig and reading more about hidden sugars in the book Salt, Sugar, Fat by Michael Moss, I decided it was time to pay closer attention to added sugars in foods and beverages.  Looking at breakfast cereal choices seemed like a good place to start…

A few weeks ago my husband and I ate at our favorite Indian restaurant.  Lunch is served buffet-style and that allows customers to sample several different dishes from their wonderful cuisine.  The drawback is that, well it’s a buffet and that means there are many ways food safety can be compromised.  If the lunch service starts at 11:30 for example, I wonder when the restaurant staff put food on the buffet table and whether the food will be held at safe temperatures during the entire lunch period.

Buffet Rule #1: Go early...

Happy Independence Day!  This July 4th holiday has taken on new meaning because my husband and I both joyfully retired at the end of June.  We’ve been working and saving most of our lives and we’re looking forward to living workplace-free.  Work has kept us from leisure activities we’ve wanted to pursue such as rail-trail biking, kayaking, volunteering, and travel.

We’re certainly both very fortunate to be in good health and capable of enjoying the free time headed our way.  Some people have remarked, “You’re so lucky!” and yet I always replace that phrase with, “Chance favors the prepared mind.”  We’ve kept physically active, eaten healthy foods, and saved throughout our lives, which will help us maintain our physical and fiscal independence…

Many nutritionists advise us to eat a plant-based diet that includes a rainbow of colorful fruits and vegetables (e.g., Fruits and Veggies More Matters).  Eating fruits and vegetables in a variety of colors every day provides your body with a wide range of nutrients.  Food experts emphasize dark-colored produce that often contain more nutrients than lighter-colored varieties (think dark-green kale vs. light-green iceberg lettuce).  While dietary guidelines include recommendations for eating a variety of dark-green and orange vegetables, white vegetables such as potatoes are often overlooked...

Last month my husband and I drove to Syracuse, New York and visited family.  Whenever we take road trips, I always pack a “feed bag” so that we don’t have to forage for healthy food along the way. 

Whole fruit travels well (e.g., apples, oranges, bananas) as do dried fruits and nuts.  Refillable water bottles are a must for me whereas my husband prefers to stop somewhere for unsweetened iced tea.  Fortunately the ubiquitous McDonald’s restaurant serves unsweetened iced tea because if he relied on rest stop vended beverages, it would be very difficult to find...

When you can't afford to eat out or you find yourself needing to cook meals for the first time, it's all about survival.  Although some people have always been interested in cooking, or eating great meals that depended on honing the skill, others need to develop some basic food preparation methods to save money and manage hunger.

Among limited resource populations, cooking is truly a survival skill.  For those of us who can afford to eat out occasionally or even extensively, learning to prepare home-cooked meals is often healthier and time saving once you learn a few basic techniques...

In addition to the federal government, other groups and individuals have recommended what people should eat to be healthy.

For more than 99% of our history we lived as hunters and gatherers trying desperately to avoid starvation.  In a very short time period, the dinner tables have turned and modern society finds itself surrounded by calories from many different sources...