Blog Posts by The Editors of EatingWell Magazine

By Wendy Ruopp, Managing Editor of EatingWell

It's a busy time of year--the weather is getting cooler and everything just seems to speed up. It affects people differently: while I'm just trying to keep warm, for instance, my sister works hard and likes to get things accomplished. Although she doesn't come right out and say it (very often), I think she thinks I'm a little bit lazy. Just because my motto is "There must be an easier way to do this," that doesn't mean I'm lazy: I just appreciate a good shortcut. This month's shortcut: dinner recipes with an ingredient list I can count on one hand.

Each of the dinners here has just five ingredients (not counting oil, water, salt and pepper, which I don't--those are just things you never seem to run out of). That kind of simplicity means a lot less work. I only have to remember five things to buy per recipe--and just about all of the ingredients are in the title. That means my shopping list is short and it's just not going to cost

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

With cold and flu season just around the corner, our precautionary routine has shifted from sunscreen for skin protection to immune defense. There are so many immunity-boosting products out there, and the search for a natural way to enhance your germ resistance has potentially generated an almost endless list of possibilities. (Don't be duped by these 4 immune-boosting myths busted.)

One increasingly popular trend is taking--or eating--probiotics, the live microorganisms found in fermented foods, such as yogurt, kefir, miso, tempeh and sauerkraut, and also available in supplements. But does it work?

Related:
5 Foods to Help Fight Colds & Flu
Home Remedies for Common Ailments

In one study, participants who took a probiotic supplement (50 million cultures of Lactobacillus gasseri, Bifidobacterium longum and B. Bifidum) over two winter/spring seasons shortened any colds they got by about two days

By Matthew Thompson, Associate Food Editor for EatingWell Magazine

Forget spring-cleaning: fall is the perfect time to spruce up your kitchen. Now that you've recovered from the laziness of summer (maybe I'm projecting a bit here) but before the craziness of the holiday season, there's a perfect window for tossing those mystery items in the back of your fridge, replacing that gray-looking sponge sitting by your sink and cleaning those drips from the ceiling of your microwave. And while you're scrubbing your cooking area to make it look nicer, you may as well do a few things to make it healthier too. Here, I've compiled some of the best, simple tricks that we've published in EatingWell over the years that will help make your kitchen a healthier place for you and your family.

1. Print out a list of the Dirty Dozen. Pesticide exposure is linked with diseases of the nervous system and problems with cell growth, including reproductive problems and some cancers. By keeping a list on

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

More nights than not, I cook dinner in a nonstick skillet. It's easy to wash up and can lend itself to healthy cooking…but is it safe? Here's what you should know when cooking with nonstick pans:

Related: 6 Pots and Pans Every Home Cook Needs

Using nonstick pans means you need far less oil when cooking. Just a teaspoon or two of oil will let you sauté meats and vegetables--much less than you'd need when using a stainless-steel pan. It's also great for cooking delicate foods like eggs that might break apart easily in a "stickier" pan.

Recipes to Try: 28 Healthy One-Skillet Dinner Recipes

But, nonstick pans get their nonstickness from perfluorocarbons (PFCs), chemicals that are linked to liver damage and developmental problems. Yikes! Before you toss out your nonstick pans, consider these ways to make cooking with nonstick pans safer.

Related: 7 Simple Ways to Detox Your Diet and

By Hilary Meyer, Associate Food Editor, EatingWell Magazine

I used to always cook my dark leafy greens like kale, broccoli rabe and mustard greens to death. I did that because I thought I had to, to get rid of their sharp, cruciferous and often bitter taste. That's probably why my husband met my "we're having kale for dinner tonight, honey" announcement with something less than enthusiasm. He always politely choked the stuff down, but I bet he would rather have been eating castor oil.

Don't Miss:
7 of the Healthiest Foods You Should Be Eating But Aren't
How to Get the Nutrients You Need If You're a Picky Eater

That's until I discovered a new technique for "massaging" bitter greens with a tangy dressing using your bare hands. Sound weird? It kind of is, but hear me out: By squeezing (or massaging) raw bitter greens you actually start to break down the cell walls, releasing enzymes that split apart the bitter-tasting compounds. And, you also work in the flavor of the

By Michelle Edelbaum, EatingWell Digital Editor

With two little boys at home, I'm on a mission to streamline my dinner routine. My focus? Simplify. One of the awesome parts of working as the digital editor at EatingWell Magazine is that I'm surrounded by amazing healthy food every day. The problem is, I think I can go home and cook all of these awesome recipes on a weeknight, when what I really need to do is just get a healthy, simple meal on the table so my family can still have some time to enjoy our night.

Recipes to Try: 20-Minute 5-Ingredient Dinner Recipes

I combed EatingWell's recipe database and found these healthy, super-simple 4-ingredient dinners to help me eat well but cook simply. (I didn't count kitchen staples like salt, pepper, oil, flour, sugar against my 4-ingredient limit.) And they're all ready in 30 minutes or less of cooking time, most in 20 minutes-plenty of time to steam a vegetable on the side and make instant brown rice or quinoa.

The other

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

I was surprised when I recently saw the statistic that Americans spend about 23 percent of our grocery dollars on processed foods and sweets today--nearly double what we spent 20 years ago.

Don't Miss: 6 Surprising Sources of Sugar

As a registered dietitian and nutrition editor for EatingWell Magazine, I know that eating too much sugar isn't healthy. But is too much sugar simply a matter of extra calories in our diet--or is it harming our health, too? One researcher in particular, Robert Lustig, M.D., a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of California, San Francisco, is spreading the message that "fructose is poison." Is he right--or is it just a false alarm?

Rachael Moeller Gorman answered those questions for me (and EatingWell Magazine) in the September/October issue. Here's the cliff notes version of what she found. (You can--and should--read the full story here.)

First, what is

By Matthew Thompson, Associate Food Editor for EatingWell Magazine

There's something about that moment when you bite into the first, fresh, perfectly tart apple of the autumn season that reminds you: "Yes, this is what fall is supposed to taste like." But while I love pretty much all in-season apple varieties, they're not all equally suited for every purpose. I definitely plan to do some baking this fall (Don't hate: Nothing goes better with Sunday afternoon football--Go Giants!), and when I do I'll reach for certain types of apples while avoiding others. Ditto making salads, cooking, making applesauce or just eating an apple whole.

So how do you know which kind of apple is best to buy? I've created this handy guide for picking the right apple for every occasion.

Before we begin, a quick note: It's good to keep in mind that, regardless of what kind of apple you prefer, their nutrition is fantastic. A medium apple (3-inch diameter) contains 4 grams of fiber plus a bit of