I’ve mentioned on this blog that I soak my grains before eat them. I thought I’d write about why I soak them and how I soak them. Read more »

I wanted to talk about diet today and some of the changes I’ve made in my own diet. My dietary philosophy has changed a bit since I started this blog and I wanted to say something about that. When I first started Art of Balanced living I only ate fish and no meat or poultry. My dairy consumption was very limited and I drank soy milk and ate tofu occasionally. I avoided fats especially saturated fat and used vegetable oil in cooking regularly. I was always on the look out for the healthiest oil, but it was always some sort of vegetable oil. I only wanted to eat healthily and I wanted to feed my family the healthiest meals possible. I still do, but the way I approach it has changed a bit. Read more »

Many people look to traditional diets to stay healthy. Diets like the Mediterranean diet and the Okinawa diet are among the most popular. Read more »

Most people in the world are omnivores. Omnivores eat a combination of plant and animal products. Most traditional cultures eat a diet that includes both plants and animals. I’ve been an omnivore at various points in my life and am one now. Read more »

When I was in college most everyone I knew was a vegetarian, including me. I thought it was so common than that when I graduated form college I was shocked to find myself surrounded by meat eaters. Vegetarians continue to be in the minority, but there ranks continue to grow. Read more »

Vegans eat no animal products at all. This means that they don’t eat meat, poultry, fish, dairy, eggs, or honey. Unlike raw foodists, they do eat cooked food. As I discussed in my raw food post, the majority of raw foodists are vegan, but the majority of vegans are not necessarily raw foodists. Did I confuse you? Don’t worry, I confuse myself too. Read more »

I thought I’d start my series by discussing raw food. I frequent a health forum and many of the people on that forum are raw foodists so I hear a lot about it, it’s benefits and it’s drawbacks. Actually, I hear more about it’s benefits then it’s drawbacks. Read more »

There are tons of health gurus out there telling you what you should eat, what supplements to take and what kind of exercise to do. There’s so much information and so much of it is contradictory that it’s hard to know what to listen to. Read more »

When I first married my husband, my stepson only ate five foods. He’d eat chicken pot pies, chili, cheese pizza, spaghetti and chicken wraps with Caesar dressing. Sometimes he’d eat dry cereal. He ate at odd hours and he and his father almost never sat down and ate a meal together. Read more »

Tom kha gai is one of my favorite soups. Whenever I go to a Thai restaurant I order it, but I’ve never made it at home. Partly because it features galangal. I have no idea where to get galangal. Because of this I’ve let myself be intimidated from making this delicious soup. Read more »