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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UPDATE: Watch Story of BabyFit Moms!
UPDATE:Two members from SparkPeople.com's sister site, BabyFit.com, were featured on the syndicated show Inside Edition Monday night. Read more about their story here!
Megan Santos' year-old daughter, Rowan, was diagnosed with eye cancer after Madeline Robb recognized the girl's white pupil as a symptom, after seeing a picture of Rowan that was posted on BabyFit.
Posted 9/16/2008 9:23:41 PM By: : 46 comments 8,327 views
Interview with 'Biggest Loser' Contestant Turned Singer
Fans of The Biggest Loser might soon hear a familiar voice on the radio. Dan Evans, who with his mother, Jackie, appeared on the fifth season of the hit NBC weight-loss show, will release his debut album, a country and rock project called Goin' All Out, on Sept. 30.
Posted 9/16/2008 7:05:03 AM By: : 35 comments 22,838 views
When the Power's Out, How Long is Your Food Safe?
We interrupt your regularly scheduled dailySpark blog programming to bring you an important announcement about… food safety.
Thanks to Ike and his aftermath, many of us are staring into fridges, freezers and deep freezes, sniffing various unrecognizable food stuffs and wondering whether we should save food or pitch it.
Posted 9/15/2008 11:01:15 AM By: : 30 comments 18,955 views
Celebrity Diet Lowdown: JLo's $455 Meal Plan
In its Sept. 8 issue, Woman's World magazine details how Jennifer Lopez got her figure back just four months after giving birth to twins.
Posted 9/14/2008 9:00:00 PM By: : 149 comments 16,485 views
I Survived the Salad Bar, and More Good News from the Supermarket
I don't know how you're feeling today, dear readers, but TGIF!
I've had a really hectic week full of volunteer events and social obligations. I've eaten fairly healthfully, but by this morning my body was telling me it hadn't met its weekly quota for vegetables. I get cranky if I haven't eaten enough vegetables. (Does this happen to anyone else?)
With no time to make a salad, I decided to splurge on a salad bar lunch from Whole Foods.
DailySpark recently warned you of the hidden salad bar dangers, so this time I was strong.
Posted 9/12/2008 1:49:47 PM By: : 27 comments 12,650 views
Food Prices Will Keep Rising. How Will You Cope?
We've all seen our food bills rising for months. The outlook doesn't look good, according to this article.
Posted 9/11/2008 7:33:08 AM By: : 70 comments 8,275 views
Food Finds: Mambo Sprouts Healthy Coupons
Food prices are rising, there's no doubt about it. It seems like I blow my food budget every time I go to the grocery store, and unfortunately, unhealthy foods seem to be cheaper than the healthy ones I prefer to buy.
I mostly cook from scratch (it's my hobby!), so there are very few coupons in the Sunday paper that I can actually use. Then I noticed a coupon book in the natural foods section of my local grocery store.
Posted 9/9/2008 7:00:00 AM By: : 39 comments 9,353 views
On TV: Oprah's Olympics Party
Having Olympics withdrawal? Yeah, me, too. I could watch athletes like Michael Phelps, Jennie Finch, Aaron Peirsol, Nastia Liukin and Dara Torres all day long!
For those of you who, like me, wish you'd had more time to watch the Olympics, there's hope: Oprah will open the 23rd season of her daytime talk show with more than 150 Olympians!
Posted 9/8/2008 7:12:55 AM By: : 38 comments 8,870 views
Exotic Eats: Kimchi (gimchi or kimchee)
It's Korea's most popular side dish
What is it?
Vegetables—usually Napa cabbage, but also daikon radish, cucumber, scallions, or perilla leaves--mixed with garlic, ginger, onions, dried shrimp (sometimes), and hot pepper paste. (It's the food in the upper right in the picture.)
Kimchi is spicy and pungent, like a fiery sauerkraut. (The heat level is usually comparable to a medium salsa.) In Korea, it's served at every meal: For breakfast, it's eaten alongside white rice and maybe an egg over easy. For lunch and dinner, it's served in stews, soups, stir fries and alongside barbecued meats. It tops pizzas, burgers and pastas. There are 187 varieties of kimchi, according to the Kimchi Field Museum in Seoul (I visited when I was living in South Korea back in '05.). The most popular is made of Napa cabbage.
Posted 9/7/2008 12:26:35 PM By: : 63 comments 21,371 views
Food Finds: Blue Bunny Light Personal Ice Cream
My boyfriend is an ice cream fiend. I'm lactose intolerant, so I can't indulge in the rich, creamy treat, but he will eat any flavor, any variety, any time. His trouble is that if he buys a pint, he'll eat a pint. If we buy a quart, he'll eat a quart (over a few days).
On my way to pick up frozen broccoli, I was distracted by a sale on ice cream. I usually pass by single-serve products in lieu of family-size or bulk foods, but these were on sale 3 for $2.
At about 67 cents each, these Blue Bunny Personal Ice Creams were a great deal.
Posted 9/4/2008 3:00:00 PM By: : 176 comments 15,959 views
Recipe Makeover: Garden Fresh Lasagna
I love lasagna. Layers upon layer of pasta, meat, sauce and cheese—what's not to love? But in the summer and early fall when vegetables are at their peak, all that cheese seems overwhelming. Adding plenty of fresh vegetables (easily and perfectly sliced using OXO V-Blade Mandoline to your regular lasagna for a healthy, light summer supper.
Posted 9/4/2008 7:00:00 AM By: : 41 comments 17,277 views
Should There Be an Obesity 'Penalty'?
Alabama state workers who are obese have one year to slim down—or they'll have to start paying for health insurance.
Beginning in 2010, Alabama, the second-heaviest state in the U.S., will start charging $25 a month if its 37,000 employees don't submit to free health screenings. (Smokers are already charged $24 a month, and that will increase to $25.) Alabama will be the first state to charge workers for being overweight. The health insurance is ordinarily free. According to the Associated Press:
Posted 9/3/2008 6:06:00 AM By: : 627 comments 19,064 views
Your Labor Day Cookout Survival Guide
Happy Labor Day!
Before you head out to that family barbecue or neighborhood picnic, we wanted to share with you a guide to the best and worst cookout foods.
Posted 9/1/2008 9:36:05 AM By: : 12 comments 8,121 views
Quick Calorie Cuts: Guilt-Free Guacamole!
Guacamole is my indulgence when I go out for Mexican.
I can bypass the queso dip, the fried foods and the gooey sopapillas for dessert. But that green stuff has my name written all over it.
Guacamole is rich--one serving has about 150 calories and more than 13 grams of fat—but most of the fat is the heart-healthy monounsaturated kind. And you get a hearty dose of fiber: 5.9 grams, or about 20% of your recommended daily fiber intake.
Posted 8/31/2008 11:02:50 AM By: : 107 comments 41,775 views
Caveat, Eater! Beware the Super-Sized Healthy Salads
Salad bars can be calorie landmines. That's old news.
We all know how to survive: Avoid the fat bombs (croutons, bacon bits, crunchy noodles), go easy on the healthy fats (olive oil-based dressings, avocados, low-fat cheeses), and load up on the good stuff (dark leafy greens, a rainbow of vegetables, lean proteins).
Now, as it turns out, there are two new, waistline-sabotaging trends on the salad bar: Supersizing and "healthy" salads, the New York Sun reports.
Posted 8/30/2008 12:33:02 AM By: : 66 comments 16,903 views
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