Healthy Eats – Food Network Healthy Living Blog: Food Network's Healthy Eats: Healthy Recipes, Weight Loss Tips & Nutrition Information

Are you sure you don't like Brussels sprouts?

We’re teaming up with fellow food bloggers and healthy eating advocates to host a Healthy Every Week Challenge, a month-long initiative to develop healthy eating habits. The plan is to develop a manageable healthy habit each week that will carry through the new year. Join us here and share what you’re eating on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #gethealthy.

In honor of “Eat More Fruits and Vegetables” week of our Healthy Every Week Challenge, we asked our pals on Facebook and Twitter what their least favorite vegetable was. There were a few eggplant-haters, a bunch of votes against turnips and peppers, some who won’t eat broccoli, a whole lot of people against beets and even more who loathe Brussels sprouts.

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Before you buy another box or pour another bowl, find out what to look for.

Cereal can be a healthy and quick breakfast, but all the information on boxes can be deceiving. We’ll school you on what to look for, plus fill you in on a few of our favorite brands.

What to Look For

1. Order of ingredients
Ingredient lists are required to display the recipe in descending order. If sugar or other suspect ingredients are listed in the top 3, move on to another option. Also be on the look out for artificial colors and preservatives.

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Soaked in sugar, eggs and half-and-half, bread pudding is decadent to say the least. Good news – it’s possible to cozy up with a tasty version of this comfort food for less calories.

Nutrition Facts
Classic bread pudding recipes can have over 600 calories and 30 grams of fat per serving. If you’re using doughnuts and buttery croissants instead of bread, you’d be lucky to keep things under 1000 calories.

The basic recipe is simple, combine bread with custard and bake. To lighten things up, use smarter ingredients at each stage of the recipe and keep portions to about ½ cup per person.

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Keep tempting foods out of reach.

It’s nearly the end of January and maybe you’ve joined our Healthy Every Week January Challenge, maybe you’ve done your own resolution-thing this year. Regardless, the new year often brings a surge of renewal and positive change. We toss out all of the leftover holiday junk food around the house (or in the case of my cousin, offer leftovers to guests as they leave the New Years’ party). We are determined to choose the grilled chicken salad over the two slices of pizza at lunch and turn down dessert when we go out to dinner. We buy lots of fresh groceries on January 2^nd and whip up great home-cooked meals, such as lentil soup and baked salmon.

For the first couple of weeks, life is good. We feel better and start to look better too! Then we go back to our old routines at work, with our families and in our day-to-day lives. As a result, our eating and exercise habits often go back to the old routines too. We (and our bodies) are the result of our habits and routines. The biggest challenge for most people is harnessing the momentum and enthusiasm from the first few weeks of January and taking steps to make sure some of those initial changes in January become permanent habits by February.

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Forget everything you’ve ever learned about how to make a good meatball. There’s absolutely no reason meatballs shouldn’t naturally be gluten-free—and dairy-free. Trust me. Even growing up with a Roman father and Neapolitan grandfather didn’t arm me with enough explanation as to why you have to first soak bread in milk before you could even think of forming a meatball.

Why do meatballs have to be so complicated? When you think of what the soaked bread is technically there to do—give the meatball a melt-in-your-mouth tenderness—there are easier, healthier ways.

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How clean are your kitchen counters?

The last place you want to get sick is your own kitchen. With poor food safety practices, your counter-top can be crawling with bacteria and viruses. Luckily, there are simple ways to prevent these bad boys from making trouble.

The Issues
It’s a basic fact that our current food supply is tainted with bacteria. Even though every egg or piece of chicken may not contain salmonella, we still need to handle food as if they do. We do many tasks on our counters from chopping veggies to cleaning raw chicken to preparing our kids’ bagged lunches. This gives the food bugs opportunities to hang out on our counter-tops. Cross-contamination and poor personal hygiene are two easy ways pathogens can get onto our counter-tops. A third way is allowing high risk foods (like raw chicken and cooked eggs) to sit on our counter-tops for a long period of time.

Here are some common examples of food safety faux pas:

• Defrosting meat on your counter-top.
• Not washing your hands after going to the restroom and preparing food.
• Using the same cutting board and knife to prep raw foods like chicken and meat, then using the same area, board and knife to cut veggies for a salad.
• Cleaning the counter-top with a wet sponge only.
• Using the same kitchen towel to dry your hands, clean the counter-top, and then dry the dishes.
• Someone with the flu or cold touching the counter-top where food is eaten or prepared.

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You could win this.

We’re teaming up with fellow food bloggers and healthy eating advocates to host a Healthy Every Week Challenge, a month-long initiative to develop healthy eating habits. The plan is to develop a manageable healthy habit each week that will carry through the new year. Join us here and share what you’re eating on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #gethealthy.

Adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet doesn’t mean you have to crunch on raw carrots like a rabbit. Keep things interesting by adding hummus to the mix. Whether you like the creamy classic flavor or you prefer your hummus with touch of added spice, you can dip, dunk and spread your way to a healthier you.

Keep a container of hummus and raw vegetables at work for a mid-day snack. Add a scoop of Tribe’s Mediterranean Style Hummus to a green salad. Spread some Sweet Roasted Red Pepper Hummus on veggie sandwich — it’s a healthier alternative to mayo.

You can buy your own Tribe Hummus or enter in the comments for a chance to win a two-month supply. Just let us know, in the comments, your favorite vegetables to dip in hummus. The contest starts at 10:00 a.m. EST today, and ends on Friday, January 27 at 5 p.m. EST.

We’re giving away a two-month supply of hummus to two lucky, randomly selected commenters. You must include your email address in the “Email” field when submitting your comment so we can communicate with you if you’re a winner.

You may only comment once to be considered and you don’t have to purchase anything to win; a purchase will not increase your chances of winning. Odds depend on total number of entries. Void where prohibited. Only open to legal residents of 50 U.S. states, D.C. or Puerto Rico, and you must be at least 18 to win. For the first day of the giveaway, all entries (answers) must be entered between 10:00 a.m. EST on January 25 and 5 p.m. EST on January 27, 2012. Subject to full official rules. By leaving a comment on the blog, you acknowledge your acceptance to the Official Rules. ARV of each prize: approximately $24 per prize. Sponsor: Scripps Networks, LLC, d/b/a Food Network, 9721 Sherrill Blvd, Knoxville, TN 37932.

So tell us, what are your favorite vegetables to dip in hummus?

Cookin' in my Kitchen's Carrot-Walnut Muffins

We’re teaming up with fellow food bloggers and healthy eating advocates to host a Healthy Every Week Challenge, a month-long initiative to develop healthy eating habits. The plan is to develop a manageable healthy habit each week that will carry through the new year. Join us here and share what you’re eating on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #gethealthy.

The theme of the third week of our healthy challenge was to cook more at home. Cooking more means something different to everyone — some of us eat out once each day, some once a week, some of us buy lunch but prepare dinners at home and some of us buy breakfast on-the-go but pack lunch each day. Regardless of your personal dining away from home practices, increasing the number of meals you prepare yourself will save you money and you’ll save on calories, too. Plus, if you’re feeding a family, preparing a meal together makes for fun family time.

It was great to see variation in the recipes our challenge participants made this week — some shared dinner recipes, we saw quite a few homemade breakfast ideas, a selection of easy-to-make lunches, and of course, some sweet treats too, like the Carrot-Walnut Muffins pictured above from Cookin’ in my Kitchen. What did you make last week? Did your good habits carry over to this week? Check out our challenge participants’ recipes from week 3 after the jump.

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While there’s no magic food to melt the years away, a poor diet can take its toll on your body. Protect yourself inside and out with antioxidants, fiber and other health-protecting goodies found in these ten foods.

1.    Fish Rich in Omega-3
Your skin, eyes, brain and heart will all benefit from this essential fatty acid. Found in salmon, sardines and tuna, try to eat at least one serving a week.

Get more info on mercury and sustainable fish choices; try the Salmon With Lemon, Capers and Rosemary in the photo above.

2.    Peppers
Vitamin C is vital for the formation of collagen, which gives skin elasticity. Citrus is the common source but a fresh pepper has over 250 percent of the daily recommendation.

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It's one of our favorite food holidays: National Peanut Butter Day!

In honor of National Peanut Butter Day, we’ve rounded up some of our best posts related to this oh-so-versatile spread. Whether you make a peanut butter smoothie or spread it on some apple slices is entirely up to you, but either way, it’s easy to see why there is a whole day dedicated to this addicting treat.

9 Reasons to Celebrate National Peanut Butter Day

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