Blog Posts by The Editors of EatingWell Magazine

Raspberry-Chocolate Chip Frozen YogurtNo one wants to be stuck on the grill (or the kitchen) on the 4th of July. You want to be chillaxing in your backyard, cold beverage in hand, with your favoritest family and friends. A relaxing dinner is in order, preferably cooked over an open flame, before the fireworks go BANG! With this in mind, we've compiled easy 4th of July recipes for a barbecue you can prepare at home that doesn't involve you getting pulled pork from the local barbecue joint.

Summery Cocktail Starter: Every summer celebration needs a fabulous cocktail. Iced Mint Green Tea is perfect if you have a combination of drinkers and nondrinkers. Get the tea steeping in the morning then refrigerate it 'til party time and let your guests add their own sake. Here's the recipe:

Iced Mint Green Tea
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
3 green tea bags
2 tablespoons honey
4 cups boiling water
2 cups sake, divided
4 stalks lemongrass for garnish

Combine mint leaves, tea bags, honey and

With its balanced mix of carbs and protein and rich supply of calcium and other bone-strengthening nutrients, (cow's) milk certainly does a body good. But with so many choices on grocers' shelves, how do you know which one you should buy? EatingWell helps you cut through the confusion with this guide.

Whole, reduced-fat, low-fat or nonfat?

Consider whole milk-which delivers 150 calories and 8 grams fat (5 grams saturated) per cup-a once-in-a-while treat. Nutrition experts recommend drinking low-fat (1%) milk (100 calories, 2.5 grams fat) or nonfat milk (80 calories, 0.5 grams fat) to limit intake of the saturated fats that boost risk of heart disease*. Don't be fooled: reduced-fat (2%) milk is not a low-fat food. One cup has 5 grams fat, 3 of them the saturated kind. You won't miss out on milk's nutritional boons when you opt for low-fat or nonfat milk (sometimes called "skim"): per cup, all varieties deliver about one-third of the recommended daily value for calcium and at

Ever hung out in a crowded supermarket aisle scanning the shelves for a delicious-sounding barbecue sauce? We've been there too.

Actually, it's probably a safe bet to say that most homes have a bottle or three of barbecue sauce in the refrigerator. What easier dish is there in the summer than barbecued chicken?

But if you've ever looked at a barbecue-sauce label, you may be shocked. Most brands list high-fructose corn syrup as the first ingredient and contain tons of sodium. We decided to search for healthier options.

The guidelines for the EatingWell Barbecue Sauce Taste Test were simple:

• Less than 300 milligrams of sodium
• 12 grams or less carbohydrate per serving
• No high-fructose corn syrup or artificial colors in the ingredient list

The worst offender we found on our local supermarket shelves had 540 mg sodium, 16 g carbohydrate, two types of sugar and artificial colors.

Of course, you could always make your own sauce, but if you don't have time

Whether you prefer to purchase raspberries by the pint from the grocery store or at a farmers' market, pop a few juicy berries in your mouth and enjoy a sweet-tart sensation of summer anytime. This summer, find a farm to pick your own and spend a day in the sun picking (and eating) fresh, juicy raspberries off the bush. Just don't forget to save some to make your favorite sweet and savory raspberry recipes.

Besides being sweet and delicious, raspberries are a great source of fiber-some of it soluble in the form of pectin, which helps lower cholesterol-and an excellent source of vitamin C. The gorgeous red color is from anthocyanins, an antioxidant. And did you know that raspberry-seed oil has a natural SPF of 25 to 50?

This is the first summer I'll be eating and cooking raspberries from free raspberry plants I scored last year (all I had to do was dig 'em up and haul them away). Soon to be cooked in my kitchen…

1. Hands down my favorite EatingWell raspberry recipe,

Searching for a way to look young for your age? Hit the produce aisle, suggests new research in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Analyzing data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey I-a survey that asks people to quantify how often they eat various foods-researchers from Unilever linked consuming plenty of vitamin C-rich foods (such as oranges, tomatoes and strawberries) with youthful skin.

"Our findings suggest that a higher intake of vitamin C from foods is associated with a lower risk of having wrinkled skin and age-related skin dryness in [middle-aged] women," says Maeve Cosgrove, Ph.D., who led the research.

Vitamin C's youthful effects on skin may be due to its antioxidant properties, which help protect against ultraviolet rays, and its role in keeping skin firm via collagen synthesis, say the researchers.

Bottom line: Eating more vitamin-C rich foods, such as oranges, tomatoes, strawberries and broccoli, may be a secret to smoother

Go fish. Consuming two or more servings of fish per week is associated with a 30 percent lower risk of developing coronary heart disease over the long term, studies show. Heart disease? That's something we need to worry about when we get older, right? Wrong. By adopting heart-healthy habits starting as early as your twenties, you'll be less likely to face the challenges of heart disease.

Coronary heart disease doesn't just affect men, it's the number one cause of death in U.S. women. But the good news-which Dr. Philip Ades, author of the new book EatingWell for a Healthy Heart Cookbook, has made it his mission to spread-is that heart disease is mostly preventable. Research shows that up to 90 percent of heart disease can be prevented by changing one's diet, exercising more, maintaining a healthy weight and not smoking. Reduce your risk by following these 10 simple steps, cooking delicious heart-healthy recipes and snacking heart-smart.

Step #1: Know your numbers. High blood cholesterol is linked with about one-third of heart disease cases worldwide, according to data from the United Nations. Your blood cholesterol (lipid profile) is made up

Elderflower SparklersI hadn't planned on visiting Copenhagen during my 2-month post-college backpacking trip, but as we made our way north, I decided to ditch my traveling companion for a few days (breaks are always good) and check it out. I was only there for a short time, but I was really taken by the beauty of the city, the friendly demeanor of the people and the simplicity of the cuisine. When I first read Joyce Hendley's story on Denmark's fresh, simple cuisine in EatingWell magazine, the memories flooded back.

To really bring back the memories, I planned a casual dinner party with a few friends. The menu was delightful. We started out the evening with Elderflower Sparklers. Elder-what? The blossom of the elder tree, elderflower concentrate or syrup is a popular drink ingredient throughout northern Europe and has a delicate, lightly floral aroma and mild honey flavor. Look for it in specialty shops that feature northern European foods (such as Ikea) or at lepicerie.com. Apricot nectar can be

EatingWell's Oven-Fried ChickenAlthough fried chicken is a perfect picnic food, it's not perfect health-wise. But there's a solution to making fried chicken healthy without sacrificing flavor: oven frying. Like any fried chicken, our healthier oven-fried chicken tastes as good cold as it does hot, so it's perfect to pack in a cooler and take along on a picnic. In fact, it smells so great when it's baking that you may not be able to wait until it's cold to dig in.

So why not just fry the chicken? The numbers are enough to convince us. Here's how our Oven-Fried Chicken stacks up against traditional fried chicken:

Our 4 secrets to make "fried" chicken that's delicious and healthy:

• Start out by marinating the chicken in buttermilk, along with mustard and hot sauce-this keeps it juicy and moist. Plus it adds flavor.
  
• Remove and discard the chicken skin, which is high in saturated fat. Typical fried chicken has 7 grams of saturated fat per serving. Our recipe has only 2 grams.