ArcaMax

Best Food for Kids Before and After School

When I was a grade-schooler my brother and I would walk home from school each day. He was one grade behind me. It was about a mile from school to the house. If we didn’t get any other exercise at least we got that.

I do know that we went out to play after school but when we got home and ...Read more

Enjoy this previously published Zola classic

Have you heard about the spotless giraffe!

Yep, that’s right. She was born a couple of months ago in Limestone, TN. She’s already 6’ tall of gorgeous. I was on my North Carolina mountain vacation when we heard about her. She made the NY Times, The Today Show, and about every other news ...Read more

A lot of people call me a clean freak. My house is pretty spotless most of the time. I have two cats, but I don’t have any small, human children, so frankly, this is not that hard to do. My husband and I split up the household duties pretty evenly. I do the menu, shop for the food, and cook it. Sometimes he chops veggies. He’s a great sous...Read more

What to do with all those tomatoes...

When you grow a garden, you know what it’s like when the tomatoes start coming in heavy and you have to figure out what to do with them. My mother used to can stewed tomatoes. It took her one long weekend, but we had enough for the whole winter.

I had an even worse problem than tomatoes one year ...Read more

Six Wonderful Sweeteners Better For You Than Sugar

Even if you never touch dessert it’s still easy to have too much sugar in your diet. We all know now that sugar is virtually everywhere in our food system. Plan Z dieters know to stay away from things like bread, pasta, pancakes, baked goods, sodas, fruit drinks, and virtually every ...Read more

My father was an engineer; a smart and precise man who had his weekend rituals. About once a month, I’d find my father at the kitchen table on a weekend afternoon sharpening the kitchen knives.

He’d have a sharpening stone in front of him set on a spread of newspaper print. He had a little can of oil that looked like a miniature version of ...Read more

There are so many vegetable options offered up by Mother Nature that I thought I could go my whole life skipping the ones I didn’t like.

It started when I was a kid. My family believed in the “Clean Plate Club.” You didn’t leave the table without eating everything on your plate, whether you wanted to or not. Compared to my brothers and ...Read more

My mother used to carry a big purse with her in the car. She had all that stuff in that bag that moms with small children do. The interesting thing was when she went into a store she usually just grabbed her wallet and ran in. She’d leave us kids in the car (when it was deemed okay to do that sort of thing). As a child, I thought that purse ...Read more

We were all taught the same thing. Calories in. Calories out. It’s all about the calories.

When I was a young teenager, I bought one of those pocket-sized calorie counting books they sold at the grocery store. They were prominently displayed by the check out. I took it home and it didn’t take me long to memorize it. I was obsessed with ...Read more

Herbal Aromas

I gave up planting fruits and veggies years ago but I have not given up on herbs. Every year I make sure I have plenty of those.

I’ve changed some of what I plant because my garden is much smaller now. But there’s nothing like cooking with fresh herbs. I love stepping into my garden to pick herbs when I need to ...Read more

Enjoy this previously published Zola classic...

From the IDF Diabetes Atlas:

“Today, there are over 380 million people living with diabetes. A further 300+ million with impaired glucose tolerance are at high risk from the disease – an alarming number that is set to reach 471 million by 2035. Diabetes has caused over 5 million deaths...Read more

It was Sunday morning. We were in the mood for brunch, so we went to a restaurant called 1885.

1885 has indoor and outdoor seating. One section of the outdoor seating runs along one side of the bar. We sat there so we could chat with our favorite bartender, Daniel.

We were not there long when a couple of folks sat down beside us. Turns out ...Read more

I have discovered a new way to stay regular. It’s not fiber. It’s a mineral. Magnesium.

Lots of people have a challenge staying regular. Overweight or skinny. Constipation can be an issue; and one that can interrupt your life in a most uncomfortable way.

When dieting, lots of people get constipated. As you reduce the amount of fats you...Read more

Dairy and the Best No-Dairy Alternatives

I was born in Wisconsin. America’s Dairyland. I was proud to be from Wisconsin. Still am.

In June, the “June is Dairy Month” commercial jingles would come on the radio across the Midwest. My favorite that ran for years went like this:

“Dairy foods are great foods. Dairy foods are great. ...Read more

Enjoy this previously published Memorial Day edition....

Memorial Day was always a fun holiday at my house. As a kid, I remember the day to be sunny and not too cold. I’m sure that was not the case every year, but my memory holds that weather report on record anyway. One of the other things I will remember about Memorial Day is kittens...Read more

Editor's Note: Enjoy this previously published Zola classic edition!

When I was a young girl of 12, I became obsessed with weight. Twiggy was the super model at the time and she was rail thin. I thought I needed to be like that. I wasn’t obese by any means. Turns out I was a normal 12-year-old, but I was worried I was too fat to be in...Read more

Editor's Note: Please enjoy this previously published Zola classic.

“Little Plate” restaurants are all the rage. In our “hip and happening” neighborhood no fewer than a half dozen of these popular eating places have debuted in the last 6 months –all located within a mile of our place. There are more spread throughout the city. ...Read more