Blog Posts by The Editors of EatingWell Magazine

By Wendy Ruopp, Managing Editor of EatingWell

Unpredictability may spice up a marriage, sure--but predictability can be comforting without being boring. For instance, when my husband and I go out to eat, we can predict with a pretty high degree of accuracy what each other will order. If we're out for Asian food he'll go for spicy and garlicky--and I'm going to want sticky chicken with sesame seeds.

Don't Miss: Sweet & Sour Chicken and More Better-Than-Chinese-Takeout Recipes

The unpredictable part is that it turns out I can make sticky chicken we'll both love at home (it's so easy!). This EatingWell recipe for Oven-Barbecued Asian Chicken is everything we're looking for. The sauce has fresh ginger and plenty of garlic and just enough hot sauce to satisfy my husband, and the hour it spends on the chicken in the oven turns it into the rich, savory, sticky glaze I'm hungry for. I also like how simple this recipe is to put together (cheaper than going out for dinner, for

By Wendy Ruopp, Managing Editor of EatingWell

Confession time: I'm a brownie snob. For years I've turned up my nose at "blondies." (OK, maybe there's a little "brunettes vs. blondes" thing going on too.) Given the choice, I'd always pick a fudgy brownie over a wan beige blondie more defined by its lack of chocolate than the presence of any particular identity of its own.

Don't Miss: Rocky Road Brownies and Skinny Dessert Bar Recipes

But recently I've reconsidered my prejudices. A story in the March/April issue of EatingWell Magazine, "Rediscovering Quinoa," brought Almond Butter-Quinoa Blondies into my life and that changed everything.

These beautiful squares mix up in 10 minutes with just a few ingredients--and best of all, one of those ingredients is chocolate chips. That means I get to have it all: a sweet little treat made with luscious almond butter and trendy quinoa flour (what a great discovery for people who are eating gluten-free!), for just 146 calories.

By Wendy Ruopp, Managing Editor of EatingWell

I just have two questions about this chicken recipe: Why is it called "Three-Cup Chicken"? And can I please have it for dinner tonight? It has the Asian flavors I love: Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, fresh ginger and fresh basil. And lots of garlic: 12 cloves plus 1 tablespoon minced garlic. That's why Kathy Gunst included it in her story "A Fresh Look at Garlic" in the March/April issue of EatingWell. (Find 25 healthy garlic recipes, including more of her new garlic recipes for garlic scape pesto and more.)

According to her, the name of this classic Taiwanese dish comes from the combination of soy sauce, rice wine and rice vinegar in equal measure (actually 3 tablespoons each in this recipe, not 3 cups--I suppose if you wanted to multiply it to serve 64 instead of making 4 servings, you'd use 3 cups of each…and an awful lot of chicken).

To make it for dinner tonight, I just have to spend a fragrant hour in the kitchen with my

By Gretel H. Schueller, Contributing Writer for EatingWell

On his 12th birthday (Earth Day), Danny Seo founded Earth 2000, which quickly exploded into the country's largest teenage activist charity, and he's been campaigning for sustainability ever since. Today, Seo (now 36) has a syndicated column and an extensive line of eco-friendly home and food products, including nonstick cookware that is free of two controversial chemicals (PTFE & PFOA). He is also the best-selling author of nine books, including the Up-cycling series, featuring eco-friendly craft projects. Here he shares his five changes that would have the biggest impact on the planet.

1. Eat Local
Food shouldn't have more frequent-flier miles than you do. While it may not be possible to find locally grown oranges where you live--I live in Pennsylvania--that doesn't mean things like milk, cheese and eggs have to come from other states when local options exist for most of us.

Don't Miss: 5 Ways to Eat Local

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

Are organic foods are really healthier for you than their conventionally-grown counterparts? Here's why you can feel good about organic: USDA-certified organic means your food is produced without synthetic pesticides, bioengineering or radiation; animals are raised without antibiotics or growth hormones. But the debate about whether organic foods are healthier for you continues. And two new studies add to the controversy. (Here are 14 foods you should buy organic.)

In a recent study in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, researchers fed organically and conventionally grown carrots to mice. Mice who ate organic had an increase in regulatory T cells, which are key for immune function. This study looked at the effects of eating organic food. In contrast, most simply compare nutrient and contaminant levels in organic versus conventional foods. And very few studies are of people who eat these

By Wendy Ruopp, Managing Editor of EatingWell

Quinoa is all the rage these days--and once you've made a few quinoa recipes, it's not hard to see why. It cooks in 15 to 20 minutes, which means it is a truly convenient whole grain, and makes itself at home in lots of different kinds of recipes--soups, salads, casseroles, even desserts (Hello, quinoa blondies.)

When the EatingWell Test Kitchen was testing the new quinoa recipes in the March/April issue of EatingWell magazine and putting the results out for lunch at our office, the Quinoa Lasagna was a huge hit. A pan of it disappeared in minutes and people clamored for the recipe to make it at home.

For this quinoa lasagna recipe, the quinoa stands in for lasagna noodles. To assemble, you spread cooked quinoa in a 9x13-inch casserole dish. (Get our tips for how to cook quinoa perfectly every time.) Then you cover the quinoa with either jarred tomato sauce or make an easy mushroomy tomato sauce. You follow that with a layer

By Gretel H. Schueller, Contributing Writer for EatingWell

There's nothing worse than meeting someone and realizing that your breath smells like your tuna lunch, stale coffee or worse. What you eat and poor oral hygiene are the two main causes of halitosis, or bad breath.

When you think about it, the mouth is a dirty worksite: more than 600 kinds of bacteria live in the average mouth. Many produce smelly gases as they digest the tiny food particles lodged between your teeth and on your tongue. Some of the most offensive gases produced by mouth bacteria are sulfur compounds, which are formed during the breakdown of proteins. Garlic and onion also contain many sulfur compounds. A proper oral-hygiene routine, which includes brushing, flossing, rinsing, tongue cleansing and regular visits to the dentist, is an important first step.

But even with good dental hygiene your breath can still stink. About $1 billion a year is spent on breath-freshening products like gum and mints.

By the Editors of EatingWell

Garlic infuses delicious flavor into dishes and preparing it in certain ways can boost both its flavor and health benefits. Find out how to prepare and cook with garlic to for maximum potency and how to cure garlic breath and get rid of garlic smell on hands.

Don't Miss: 4 Health Benefits of Garlic

1. Use Fresh Garlic, Not Bottled Garlic for the Most Health Benefits of Garlic
Allicin, a healthy compound in garlic, is most potent in fresh cloves. Japanese researchers found that crushed garlic stored in water lost about half its allicin in six days; stored in vegetable oil it lost that much in under three hours.

2. For Maximum Health Benefits of Garlic, Cut and Wait
Cutting a garlic clove breaks its cells and releases stored enzymes that react with oxygen. That triggers healthy sulfide compounds, such as allicin, to form. Letting the chopped garlic stand for 10 to 15 minutes before cooking allows the compounds to fully develop