Blog Posts by The Editors of EatingWell Magazine

EatingWell Power SaladI love those stretches when my eating is nearly picture-perfect: yogurt and berries for breakfast, salads for lunch, fish for dinner; plus, plenty of water and a couple of healthy snacks in between. (You know what I'm talking about, right?)

But inevitably something-like the candy dish at work-breaks my stride. On my way to a meeting, I'll help myself to a few peanut M&Ms. On my way back from the printer, I'll snag another handful. And so it goes. Before I know it, I've easily eaten more than a serving. Ick.

In the past, this sort of unplanned eating might have led me to throw in the towel for the day and just eat whatever I wanted and as much of it as I liked. But now I know the key to overcoming slip-ups is to forgive, forget it and get right back on track.

Don't let little lapses keep you from reaching your goals. Here's how to recover from a binge:

1. Ask yourself what happened. Were you trying to be too good? If you've been eating nothing but celery all day, of

I'm bonkers for all the mushrooms, beef and creamy sauce in beef stroganoff. I could just bathe myself in it. OK…maybe not bathe. But how about bathe a bunch of egg noodles in the luscious sauce and then chow it down! That sounds like a serious comfort-food dinner to me and one that's an easy crowd pleaser. Plus our recipe only takes 40 minutes start to finish.

Our secrets to keeping it light are:

• We use flank steak, which is a relatively lean cut of beef.
• We make sauce with beef broth thickened with a little flour.
• Instead of heavy cream in the sauce, we just stir in a little reduced-fat sour cream at the end.
• The sauce is rich-tasting from a touch of cognac and plenty of portobello mushrooms.
• Serve over whole-wheat egg noodles, which have the added benefit of fiber.
  

Here are two more of my favorite comfort-food recipes starring beef:

• Creamy Hamburger Noodle Casserole
• Chicken-Fried Steak & Gravy
  

Beef

Peanuts and peanut products, such as peanut butter, are just the latest items to be recalled because of Salmonella contamination. But does that mean you should stop enjoying these otherwise healthy foods? No! Peanuts and peanut butter are rich in heart-healthy monounsaturated fats. Plus, peanuts deliver some protein, fiber, magnesium, copper and vitamin E.

What you should do before you enjoy peanuts or peanut products is check to make sure the food you have isn't part of the recent recall. The Food and Drug Administration's website at fda.gov is the best place to go for an up-to-date list of products involved in the recall.

But once you've determined your peanuts and peanut butter have a clean bill of health, enjoy them in healthy peanut recipes, quick snacks like Gorp (recipe below) and kids' lunch recipes.

Gorp

1/2 ounce whole shelled (unpeeled) almonds
1/4 ounce unsalted dry-roasted peanuts
1/4 ounce dried cranberries
1 tablespoon chopped

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Maple-Mustard Baked Chicken

Few things are more comforting than baked chicken. And Maple-Mustard Baked Chicken (see recipe below) is one of my favorite recipes because it's just as good cold the next day as it is hot from the oven. It's my go-to recipe for picnics, and I'm even going to bring it to the March Madness party my friends are hosting later this month. The chicken is quickly marinated in mustard and maple syrup, then coated in breadcrumbs and baked for that crispy, delicious crust we all love. But since it's not deep-fried, it's way healthier than the crispy chicken-in-a-bucket from you-know-where.

Active time: 30 minutes
Total: 1 3/4 hours (including 30 minutes marinating time)
To make ahead: Marinate the chicken for up to 6 hours. Refrigerate the baked chicken for up to 1 day.

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Before I started working at EatingWell, I generally thought of tofu as an ingredient for Asian recipes. That changed when I met our Test Kitchen manager, Stacy Fraser. At a tender age, Stacy decided she wanted to become vegetarian. Then when she went off to college she took it a step further and became vegan. Anyway, she eats meat now, but she still has a real fondness for vegetarian recipes and has a flair for preparing tofu creatively.

One of the first recipes I tried was Stacy's Italian-inspired concoction that she served with polenta: Tofu with Tomato-Mushroom Sauce. I was impressed. And this recipe for Tofu Parmigiana (see recipe below) is even more delicious. One of our tasters, who's a big meat eater and not so into tofu, kept coming back for seconds every time we made it. He said he would even make it at home. Our art director, who doesn't really cook, tried the recipe at home and said it turned out perfectly. Try it for yourself or try another of our healthy tofu

Quick Breakfast TacoWhen I skip breakfast, I suffer. I'm ravenous by midmorning, dragging my feet and setting myself up for overindulging in foods that I shouldn't eat. Recently I've been trying out some new healthy breakfast recipes, and there are some that are quick enough to pull together even during the morning dash out the door. If I can have a healthy breakfast pulled together in 15 minutes or less, then I'm less likely to skip out on the most important meal of the day.

Here are a few of my favorite sweet and savory quick breakfast recipes, all done in 15 minutes or less:

Quick Breakfast Taco (see recipe below): A smaller cousin of the breakfast burrito, the breakfast taco made with reduced-fat Cheddar and egg substitute is a satisfying and healthy breakfast option.

Pina Colada Yogurt Parfait: Take a trip to the tropics with our pina colada-inspired parfait. It makes a great breakfast when you need a sunny start to your day.

Cocoa-Date Oatmeal: If you are looking for a way to get

Are all saturated fats created equal?

I know (and most experts agree) that saturated fats raise levels of LDL ("bad") cholesterol in the blood. And when excessive LDL accumulates in artery walls, you're at greater risk for a heart attack or stroke.

We also know that when it comes to heart health, unsaturated fats, such as those in oils, salmon, nuts and avocados, are better choices than the saturated fats in fatty meats, cheese and butter.

If you're in your thirties, you may not think you need to worry about heart problems yet, but what you eat now can affect your health in the long term. To keep your heart healthy you can:

• Avoid unhealthy sat. fats and incorporate these good fats by cooking the recipes from EatingWell's heart-healthy recipes collection and our Mediterranean recipes collection.
• Find out the myths and truths about saturated fat.
• Start making these 3 easy food swaps today:

Fast fat swap: Salmon for Steak (3 oz. each)

My mother-in-law and I are die-hard beet lovers, but even we don't usually think of having beets on a weeknight because cooking them whole can take up to an hour-who has time for that? So I was thrilled when she and I finally got to chat about 4 quick and healthy beet recipes in the February issue of EatingWell and she practically shouted, "I can't believe I never thought of cutting beets before cooking them!" A revelation!

If you cut beets up first, they need only about 10 minutes in the steamer (see Tip, below). And once you steam them, beets go well with so many flavors. I especially love Brown Sugar-Glazed Beets (recipe below), lightly sweetened with orange juice and brown sugar.

Or if I get a hankering for a hot bowl of soup, I'll make Borscht, a simple beet soup typically made with beef broth and garnished with sour cream. I try to keep a bag of spinach and a jar of olives in the fridge so I can make Warm Spinach & Beet Salad whenever the craving hits. And if we're