Stepfanie Romine is a writer, recipe developer, published author and certified yoga teacher who has lived--and cooked--on three continents. She currently calls Asheville, North Carolina home. 
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Healthy, Homemade Gifts: Hearty Gourmet Oatmeal
In the middle of winter, when the mercury's dropping and the snow is piling up outside, is there anything more comforting than a bowl of oatmeal?
Judging from your answers last week, most of you agree with me. Plain old oatmeal becomes a tedious breakfast rather quickly, but the fancy flavored versions are pricey and full of artificial flavors.
Thankfully, making your own gourmet oatmeal is easy. Flavored oatmeal makes a great gift for the busy professional, a time-strapped mom or anyone who says there's no time for a healthy breakfast.
Posted 12/9/2008 2:59:01 PM By: : 100 comments 21,128 views
Healthy, Homemade Gifts: Recipe Binder
When you're learning how to lead a healthy lifestyle, you often have to relearn how to do simple domestic tasks like shopping and cooking. Ease the process for someone else by compiling a recipe binder.
Cut out healthy dishes from magazines, write up your slimmed-down family recipes and print your favorite SparkRecipes. Put them in a three-ring binder and decorate the cover. This recipe book can easily be expanded to accommodate additional healthy recipes.
Posted 12/8/2008 4:35:34 PM By: : 104 comments 21,126 views
Healthy, Homemade Gifts: MRE (No, Not Those Meals Ready to Eat)
After a long, hard day at work, school, the gym and carpooling duty, who has the time, energy or interest in standing over the stove for an hour? Why not ease the burden for a busy friend or family member with a meal ready to eat?
Posted 12/7/2008 12:10:48 PM By: : 96 comments 14,826 views
Healthy, Homemade Gifts: Chocolate Spoons
You might say that chocolate isn't a "healthy" gift. We disagree. Everything is fine in moderation, and dark chocolate (at least 70%) contains antioxidants.
Studies have found that dark chocolate helps prevent heart disease and cancer, and has also been shown to improve mood by boosting the brain chemical serotonin. Some even consider chocolate an effective diet food, claiming that a chunk of chocolate before meals diminishes your appetite.
Just be choosy about your chocolate and monitor your portions. That's one reason we love these chocolate spoons. They're easy to make and are instantly portion controlled.
Posted 12/6/2008 3:03:57 PM By: : 132 comments 15,354 views
Healthy, Homemade Gifts: Bath Salts
After a long, tough workout, an equally long, hot bath is just what I crave. If I'm feeling particularly sore, I add Epsom salts, which help reduce inflammation. You can buy expensive aromatherapy bath salts at department stores, but I don't like to shell out cash for something I can make at home.
Epsom salts cost less than $3 for a 5 pound bag at the drug store, and essential oils, though pricey, are used sparingly in these recipes. As a bonus, you can control the quality of the ingredients if you make bath salts at home.
This gift is great for anyone who needs to learn to take time to relax or for someone who has already mastered that skill. (My sister, a stressed-out graduate student, is getting some homemade bath salts for Christmas this year.)
Posted 12/5/2008 1:00:29 PM By: : 132 comments 28,942 views
Tune In! SparkPeople Member to be on 'The Doctors'
One of our favorite nationally syndicated talk shows, "The Doctors," will air a show tomorrow (Friday, December 5) that features SparkPeople member Cynthia (SABLOUWHO), and we're encouraging members to tune in.
Visit www.TheDoctorsTV.com to view a preview of the show and to check your local listings to see when "The Doctors" airs in your area.
Will you tune in? Wish Cynthia luck in the comments below!
Posted 12/4/2008 2:33:43 PM By: : 60 comments 8,079 views
Food 101: Clementines, a 35-Calorie Holiday Treat
This time of year, I can resist the candies, the cookies and the cakes. It's the clementines that catch my eye.
Called Christmas oranges because they are in peak season between November and January, the diminutive orange fruits are a holiday tradition.
Posted 12/4/2008 2:13:11 PM By: : 222 comments 23,128 views
Healthy, Homemade Gifts: Trail Mix
The holidays are a hectic time of year. So many people, so many gifts, and so little time and money! The dailySpark has decided to ease a bit of the burden this year. Starting today, we're offering 12 healthy, homemade and affordable gift ideas for people in your life. Many of these gifts are great projects for kids, too.
With a balance of carbs, fat, and protein, trail mix is a great snack. Plus, it eliminates one of life's toughest decisions by mixing salty and sweet. Store-bought versions can be pricy, so why not create a custom mix for the people you love?
Posted 12/4/2008 6:56:45 AM By: : 58 comments 21,554 views
Quick Tip: Freeze Those Thanksgiving Leftovers!
I love Thanksgiving leftovers! The trouble is that if I leave them in the fridge for long, I'll eat them. All of them. I don't want to be tempted by all that rich, delicious food lying around, but I don't want to waste any of it either.
So how do I compromise? By freezing my Thanksgiving leftovers.
Posted 11/30/2008 12:00:00 PM By: : 124 comments 18,134 views
Stress Relief for Women: Spend Time with Your Girlfriends
Girlfriendology founder Debba Haupert made her debut as a guest blogger on the dailySpark in September. Now that girlfriend guru is back, with plenty of good advice culled from interviews and chats with her own girlfriends.
Posted 11/29/2008 10:41:37 AM By: : 99 comments 31,627 views
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving, dailySpark readers!
We here at the dailySpark wish you and your loved ones a healthy, happy Thanksgiving.
Posted 11/27/2008 12:00:00 PM By: : 76 comments 7,396 views
11 Tips to Survive Thanksgiving
Not the one cooking on Turkey Day? You can still control your gastronomic destiny. Here are some easy tips to stay on track:
1. Survey the spread before you fill your plate. Confronted by so many rich foods, you might want to start piling up the food, but stop and take a deep breath. Think before you serve yourself (and try to serve yourself, so you control the serving size).
Posted 11/26/2008 2:00:00 PM By: : 32 comments 12,455 views
Add dailySpark Entries to SparkFavorites
Great news, dailySparkers!
Now you can add dailySpark blog entries to your SparkFavorites, which means you can find them easily and share them with friends who read your SparkPages.
So how do you do it?
Posted 11/25/2008 9:28:54 PM By: : 53 comments 7,211 views
Trim Thanksgiving: Gravy
This is part of a series of blog posts about how to slim down your Thanksgiving side dishes and treats. For more information about healthier Thanksgiving cooking, read this article.
Gravy is, well, the gravy of the Thanksgiving meal. It blankets mashed potatoes with its silky deliciousness, and the unctuous condiment helps hide overcooked or dried-out turkey. Unfortunately, gravy is often little more than grease and fat.
Typical serving size=1/4 cup (about the size of an egg)
100 calories 4 g fat
Posted 11/25/2008 2:00:00 PM By: : 25 comments 9,286 views
Trim Thanksgiving: Mashed Potatoes
This is part of a series of blog posts about how to slim down your Thanksgiving side dishes and treats. For more information about healthier Thanksgiving cooking, read this article.
For most people, Thanksgiving Day isn't Thanksgiving without turkey. In my house, the turkey is important, yes, but the mashed potatoes are our side dish of choice. Forget the spuds, and you might as well put Turkey Day on hold.
Those starchy, delicious potatoes are not exactly healthy:
Serving size=1 cup (about the size of a softball)
220 calories 8 g fat
But, you can easily slim them down without sacrificing texture or flavor.
Posted 11/24/2008 4:00:00 PM By: : 45 comments 14,093 views
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