Blog Posts by The Editors of EatingWell Magazine

By Matthew Thompson, Associate Food Editor for EatingWell Magazine

I love the smoky bite of a hot dog mounded with sweet and tangy toppings and the delicate, salty balance of meat with the bun. But I'm not a huge fan of the buckets of sodium and oozing fat many hot dogs contain. Still, while hot dogs are not exactly a nutritionist's favorite food, they can shine as the calorie bargain of the barbecue: you're better off with a 100- to 150-calorie hot dog on a bun than with a 230-calorie hamburger or a 285-calorie bratwurst.

Don't Miss: What to Eat & What to Skip at a Cookout

That's one of the reasons I was so excited to participate in EatingWell's hot dog taste-test. We identified a number of brands with less than 370 mg of sodium and no more than 3 grams of saturated fat per dog--our baseline standard for a healthier dog. These we separated into three categories: Poultry Dogs, Beef and/or Pork Dogs and Vegetarian Hot Dogs.

From there, we went on taste--determining

By Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D., Nutrition Editor, EatingWell Magazine

When a food in my kitchen appears to have passed its prime, my husband and I often disagree about whether to keep or toss it.

He's traveled the world and has eaten many unrecognizable foods, so how harmful is a little mold? "Just cut it off," he'll say. I, on the other hand, have worked in hospital foodservice and before becoming an R.D. took courses in food safety and food microbiology. Moldy? Chuck it!

Related: Do Food Expiration Dates Really Mean Anything?
4 Foods with a Surprisingly Short Nutritional "Shelf Life"

Turns out we're both right (or wrong, depending on how you look at things). According to the USDA, some foods can be used even when they're moldy, while others need to be discarded.

Don't Miss: 10 Rules for a Healthy, Safe Kitchen

Here are 4 moldy foods you can eat (but if it's completely covered with mold, throw it away):

1. Hard salami and dry-cured country hams.

By Matthew Thompson, Associate Food Editor for EatingWell Magazine

A few months ago, I took on an ambitious cooking project that made my wife scratch her head. It left our kitchen a mess and the entire house smelling like smoke; it took up an entire Saturday and, worst of all, it didn't even produce a viable meal! My poor spouse thought I was crazy: what had I gained from all that effort? But then she tasted the result.

I had created a thick, brown, butter-like paste called "beef extract"--a sort of bone-marrow jelly--by boiling beef stock into oblivion. It tasted amazing. It was earthy and deep--not salty, exactly, but with a hint of filet mignon, portobello mushrooms and homemade broth. It had a roundness and depth to it that filled your entire mouth the way the sound of a foghorn fills your chest. A teaspoon of it imparted an unspeakable savoriness to tomato sauces, added depth to stir-fries and transformed toast into a kind of crispy, hot drug. We couldn't get enough.

By Hilary Meyer, Associate Food Editor, EatingWell Magazine

Ever heard of yonanas? It's a one-ingredient frozen dessert made with ripe bananas that has the texture of soft serve ice cream without any added fat or sugar. Sounds pretty good to me, except that I'd have to purchase a $50 machine to make it and I've made a commitment not to buy single use appliances. But I am curious to try this wonder dessert.

With a little searching it appears as though you don't actually need the machine to replicate this fruity soft-serve-like goodness. (You actually don't need an ice cream maker to make creamy frozen yogurt either--your food processor does an excellent job of finely blending berries with yogurt. What about your blender? Although blenders can get a finer texture, blending thick frozen berries with yogurt is difficult. Air pockets form over the blade and you're left doing more stirring than you would using a food processor.)

Don't Miss: Kitchen Tools Every Cook Should Have

No-Bake Cherry CheesecakeBy Emily McKenna, Recipe Developer & Tester for EatingWell Magazine

This Memorial Day I'm hosting a picnic and each of my friends is going to bring a dish. I am in charge of dessert. Lucky for me it is cherry time-the few wonderful weeks in between spring and summer when fresh cherries are available at my farmers' market. (Sweet and tart cherries are also available year-round canned or frozen.)

Recipes to Try: Delicious Cherry Recipes including Dark Cherry Bundt Cake

I've already chosen my dessert-No-Bake Cherry Cheesecake Bars from our article about cherry season in the May/June issue of EatingWell Magazine. This recipe is part bar, part cherry pie and part cheesecake fused into a super-easy, no-bake dessert that will become your go-to for warm-weather picnicking. The best part? You don't need the oven! Here's the recipe:

More Recipes to Try: Greek Yogurt Cheesecake & More Healthy Cheesecake Recipes
Quick & Easy Fresh Fruit Desserts Ready in 15 Minutes or Less

By Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D. Associate Nutrition Editor, EatingWell Magazine

Summer is around the corner and you know what that means--shedding layers, baring skin and wanting to look (and feel) your best. And there's good news. I've put together a 4-week plan that can help you lose that stubborn extra weight, while giving you healthy eating tools and strategies that you can keep using to continue and maintain your weight loss.

Here's your 4-week plan to slim down for summer:

Start off with EatingWell's 28-day meal plan for weight loss--depending on your daily calorie needs, you can healthfully lose up to 2 pounds a week on it. Using this meal plan takes the guesswork out of what to eat. Each of these days delivers meal ideas and recipes that will help you feel satisfied, while sticking to the calorie goal you need to lose weight. Then adopt one of the following new healthy behaviors each week. Follow the plan to a T or use it as a guide to healthy portions and

By Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D. Associate Nutrition Editor, EatingWell Magazine

Can a healthy diet help you breathe easier? Some research says…yes. But there are also a lot of unproven dietary strategies touted help manage allergies and asthma. What works? What doesn't? Find out here. (Of course, if you have allergies or asthma, you should always follow the advice of your health-care provider.)

Snacking on fruit to prevent asthma? Worth a try! Eating fruit could lower your risk of asthma, according to Dutch researchers who tracked the asthma symptoms and diets of children from birth through eight years of age. They found those who ate more fruit throughout their childhood had lower rates of asthma. Researchers think the antioxidants in fruits and veggies could protect airways from damage, possibly reducing risk of asthma, which afflicts more than 8 percent of Americans. Other research has specifically found that apples, bananas and vitamin-C-rich fruits, such as citrus,

By Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D., Nutrition Editor, EatingWell Magazine

Water accounts for 60 percent of our body (or about 11 gallons or 92 pounds inside a 155-pound person) and is essential to every cell. So it's not to surprising that new research-reported on at the recent British Psychological Society Annual Conference in London-found that college students who brought water with them into an exam scored higher marks than their counterparts who didn't have water.

Unfortunately, the researchers didn't look into whether the students actually drank the water. Nor did they investigate the reasons behind the study findings. But the researchers hypothesized that drinking water could improve students' thinking and/or help students stay calm and quell their anxiety-both of which could hinder their test performance.

Their thinking makes sense to me: other research has suggested that staying hydrated keeps your memory sharp, your mood stable and your motivation intact. You can