School Lunch Standards to Take Effect This Year

Whole grain-rich foods, more fruits and vegetables mandated.

School districts across the country will bring new meaning to the "apple a day" saying this school year as nationally-mandated school lunch standards take effect. Beginning in September, the new lunch standards, introduced in January by First Lady Michelle Obama under the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act, will be implemented. The standards were created to help fight childhood obesity throughout the nation. According to a press release from the United States Department of Agriculture, the new meal standards are designed to "make the same kinds of practical changes that many parents are already encouraging at home." This involves the inclusion of fruits, vegetables, whole grain-rich foods, low-calorie foods and foods with reduced amounts of …

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Lost hope

10:28 pm on Friday, November 23, 2012

Mrs Obama is NOT the driving force behind all this dietary change as many of you have given her credit for... The ADA, more formerly known as the AND has been putting a great deal of pressure on dietary changes across the board. Quite honestly I am NOT an Obama fan; however, I do feel that change is grossly necessary in order to avert more of an obesity epidemic...   more ›

Cooking With Cheri: Recipes From a Bloomingdale Kitchen

Simple Salad for a Complex Life

Keep your busy body and mind healthy with Salmon-Orange Salad.

The first few weeks of September are a very stressful and difficult time for many of us. The summer season is coming to a close and students are getting back to their busy college lives. Also, children and parents are getting back into their active routines of school, work, sports and many other activities that coincide with the school year. Not to mention all those teachers who are hard at work getting their classes ready for a new school year. Everyone is busy and at times overwhelmed, which can cause stress. Stress can lead to many health problems including depression. That is why it is important for us to get our Omega 3 fatty acids, which many nutrition experts say are very healthy for the brain. Salmon is one of those foods that is …

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Cooking With Cheri: Recipes From a Bloomingdale Kitchen

Recipe: Buffalo-Style Stuffed Peppers

Make rich-tasting food without the rich calories.

My husband recently lost 6 pounds (the jerk) and as he hopped off the scale, he announced, “Losing weight would probably be easy for me if it weren’t for one thing…my craving for rich foods.” I felt like saying “Well, duh!” but I held my tongue. All joking aside, I am proud of his efforts, if he indeed made any. But I also cannot deny the fact that his statement rings true for many people. Rich, calorie-dense comfort foods are extremely tempting pitfalls when we are trying to lose weight. So it made me wonder what I could do to help him with his dilemma of loving “rich” foods and his desire to lose more weight. After all, I am a good wife, or at least I try to be. Or is it being a bad wife if you are using your own husband as a guinea pig …

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Health Food Store Features Organic Ice Cream

The Art of Healthy Living provides a new health experience for shoppers.

I was walking out of Dunkin' Donuts when I saw the sign for The Art of Healthy Living for the first time. The sign, and its accompanying mural of fruits and vegetables, seemed to mock my lifestyle. I was anything but healthy. A few weeks later, I found myself driving north on Route 23, with a craving for food. I pulled into the same parking lot, but this time I stopped and thought for a moment, "donuts or whole foods? Donuts or whole foods?" I suspect that this is the sort of question that many people in the Kinnelon/Butler area will be asking themselves, as The Art of Healthy Living finally gives them a healthy alternative that's only a short drive from their homes.  "We're finding that people are very excited about the store," owner …

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