When it comes to weight loss, it’s always the last few pounds that are the hardest, right? At least, that’s how it’s going for me. I want to be choosier about how much and what I eat, but I don’t have time to count calories. So I’m going to take the deliciously easy way out by using this yummy 28-day diet meal plan. That’s about the level of effort I can make at this point, and as a bonus I know I’ll be eating really delicious recipes so I won’t be tempted to cheat.

Whenever I see ground beef on sale, I stock up. Knowing I have a few packages stashed away in my freezer helps solve the nightly question of “What’s for dinner?” I just pull out some ground beef the night before I plan to use it and let it defrost in my refrigerator. When I get home from work the next day I can cook up any of these delicious recipes using ground beef in 45 minutes or less. Bonus: they’re all $3 or less per serving.

At a few years shy of 30, I’m far from the age when the majority of breast cancer cases occur (50+). And then there are the factors that increase my risk of breast cancer that I can’t control, like family history, getting older and, um, the obvious…being a woman.

I’m sad to see summer go, but it means that fall is here, and I’ve got some delicious fall recipes ready for the occasion. Fall has a lot to offer in the produce department—including sweet apples and pears, tart cranberries and savory Brussels sprouts and fennel. All this fresh produce inspires me to whip up some warming dishes on cool fall nights.

My wedding is a mere 6 weeks away. And with my final dress fitting just around the corner I’m focused on not gaining—or losing—any weight. I’m on track weight-wise (now, if my arms could just look like Michelle Obama’s…), but lately my sweet tooth has been getting the better of me. So to satisfy my dessert cravings, but not go overboard, I’ve been whipping up some of these low-calorie dessert recipes—that way I only have to cut back a little bit at one of my other meals.

I think it’s fair to say that cauliflower was nearly forgotten—the lone vegetable left on the veggie platter after all others have been eaten or hidden under a blanket of cheese sauce. But cauliflower has recently been rediscovered as a skinny “starch” and is making a comeback on the menus of family-style restaurants and high-brow eateries alike as an alternative to the higher-carb potato.

To me, carrots are a humble vegetable. However, the Greeks once thought carrots were the secret to great sex. And the vegetable’s amorous reputation followed it to Rome, where the emperor Caligula fed nothing but carrot dishes to the Roman Senate so he could watch them “rut like wild beasts.”

Most of the “water cooler conversation” around our office this time of year is about back to school. (Check out the recipes and tips in our new Back to School Guide!)

I’m sure this comes as no surprise because we work at EatingWell, but most of the focus has been on what to pack kids for lunch. You might find it refreshing to know that we too struggle with what to feed our kids.

Every fall, when I was growing up in western Pennsylvania, my parents took me and my younger brother, Angelo, apple picking. We’d usually go in late September, always on a Sunday. Angelo and I loved picking—but even more, we loved the savory apple recipes and sweet apple treats that my mom made with the bushel of apples (roughly 45 pounds) stored in our downstairs fridge.

I’m trying to eat more vegetarian meals, so I’m obsessed with beans. And the bean recipes I’ve been making have made it incredibly easy. I thought I would feel less satisfied without having meat as part of my dinner, but beans fill me right up. Since they’re packed with fiber I never feel hungry after a meal. And my wallet isn’t suffering either—a can of beans is much cheaper than a pound of chicken or beef (and a pound of dried beans is even less expensive!). Now that’s what I call satisfaction.