I eat avocados almost daily. I enjoy them thinly sliced on my salad, paired with salty sunflower seeds, or with creamy protein-rich cottage cheese. They also make a great sandwich topping in place of mayo. Here is yet another way you can incorporate the ever-versatile avocado into your culinary life. When baking, substitute half the amount of butter in your recipe for mashed avocado. It not only Read more

Go the extra mile with your food budget with these tips from LearnVest. For years, many people — my husband, mom, sister and even my son — told me to stop wasting so much food. Throwing away half a piece of chicken here or a handful of grapes there never seemed like such a big deal to me. If I was full or no longer in the mood for that particular food, then I had no problem tossing Read more

Eating healthy isn't always cheap, but it's a must if you want to improve your overall health. If you choose to buy organic or exotic options like dried blueberries — $13 for a small bag! — snacks can quickly eat up your food budget. Find out how to nosh on healthy nibbles and still have money left in your wallet. Cheese sticks: Instead of buying individually wrapped cheese sticks, save Read more

Turn your pita into a healthy quesadilla — Vegetarian Times Flat-belly foods that will actually help you prep for bikini season — Fitness Skip the romaine and amp up your salad with these greens — Health Snack smart and try these low-calorie yet filling foods — Shape Too much salt! What it takes to redefine a low-sodium diet — HuffPost Healthy Living How cleansing can become a food Read more

For many who have stuck to their healthy ways all week long, the weekend is a time to loosen up the reigns a little, ignore weight-loss rules, and indulge in some high-calorie Cinco de Mayo goodness. If you're not careful though, an entire weekend of living it up could make you gain the pounds you've worked so hard to keep off all week. Here are some ways to splurge a little this weekend and not Read more

Today is May 4, the unofficial holiday that Star Wars fans have proclaimed Star Wars Day. If you encounter anyone wearing fanboy paraphernalia this Friday, make sure to greet them properly by saying, "May the fourth be with you." It will give you instant geek cred. We made a Star Trek cake for Captain Picard's birthday, so of course we had to make a sweet treat for May 4 too. To replicate this Read more

The magic number for happiness is apparently $50,000. LearnVest tells us more about it. Good news! Apparently, happiness is on sale for the new, low price of $50,000. Nope, we’re not talking about private trips to outer space, or even tuition for an Ivy League college. Apparently, all you need to be happy is $50,000 in yearly income. RELATED: Exercise Can Help Your Finances: The Read more

Photo: Camilla Salem When building salads, it's far too easy to get stuck in a rut. You know what works, buy the same ingredients, and inevitably eat green leaf lettuce with black olives, sliced tomatoes, and shredded carrots everyday. However, with a little creativity and an open mind at the grocery store, you can enjoy a fabulous variety of healthful and scrumptious salads on a regular basis. Read more

Today's reader question comes from lovelittle. In the YumSugar Community, she inquired about frosting, strawberries, and cupcakes. She says: "I made cupcakes like these [white frosting garnished with fresh-cut strawberries] for Valentine's Day and I want to make them again, but my only problem, and it was a big one, was that the strawberries kept sliding and 'leaking' on the frosting. Any tips on Read more

Consumers have a tendency of falling for the next big health gimmick. Save your money on health duds with these Business Insider tips. No matter how many times we're told otherwise, Americans' obsession with get-healthy-quick schemes will likely never die. Too bad most of these fads aren't worth their weight in salt — or your hard-earned dollars. We've put together a list of some of the worst Read more