Ideas & Tips — Eating Healthy

There is nothing wrong with enjoying ice cream in the winter. As a food, ice cream comes with numerous health benefits. It is both a source of vitamins A, B-6, B-12, C, D and E and it increases the amount of thrombotonin in the human brain, a hormone attached to our happiness and the reduction of stress. But there are several other reasons for eating ice cream, even in the winter, with perhaps most of all being that it tastes good. Still, if detractors attempt to rain on your pistachio parade, here are other ice cream perks that make eating it at...

For more than 100 years, butter and margarine have railed against each other for the position of America's most preferred spread. The shifting opinions of medical experts, the faithful adherence to traditional cooking habits and the millions of dollars poured into marketing campaigns have all kept the discussion about the two substances alive and heated. While butter has a history that goes as far back as the middle ages where cow's milk was first stirred into a soft solid, margarine is rather young by comparison. First manufactured in 19th century France, margarine's initial rise came largely on account of the...

Summer is the perfect season for low-fuss, no-cook food preparation. We love to assemble an elegant cheese plate, which is the perfect party hors d'oeuvres or even simple supper. (We also offer a scaled-down version for your smaller cheese assortments.) Here are our top tips for putting together the perfect arrangement of fromage:  Choose a flavorful cheese: Food Network recommends choosing at least one cheese that packs a big punch in terms of flavor. If you're wary of very strong cheeses, try Manchego, a tasty yet relatively mild option. Spread it with a little honey or served with dried figs...

Salt is almost literally the spice of life. It makes any dish more flavorful and is therefore one of the most popular table condiments in the world. There are many types of salt on the market that serve different purposes, from cooking to pickling to seasoning at the table. Here is our short guide to types of salt and how to use them: Kosher salt. This is a common table salt and is used in kosher cooking to draw out the blood of the animal. It has a milder flavor than iodized table salt, and dissolves quickly, making it a good...

Fall is the perfect time to experiment with making different homemade soups. Soups are an especially good food to make at home because you can easily double the recipe and store leftovers in your freezer. Just make sure to cool your soup in the fridge before freezing it. Kristen Eppich of Chatelaine offers some other helpful tips for making this classic (and good for you!) comfort food: Sweat your vegetables: An integral element of any good recipe is accentuating the flavors. "Vegetables like onion, garlic, celery and carrots–referred to as 'aromatics'–are part of most soup recipes for this very reason, sautéed...