Protect Your Pets from Holiday Hazards [VIDEO]

Dog and cat
Dogs, cats and other pets rely on their human family members to keep them safe during the holidays. (Photo by dixie wells, Flickr)

Each year, veterinarians around the country warn pet owners about the potential health hazards animals face during the holidays. From electric shocks and fires to strangulation and stomach upsets, human parents unwittingly place their furry children in the middle of a veritable minefield during one of the most festive times of the year. Here’s what you should know to keep your pets happy and healthy this season.  Continue reading “Protect Your Pets from Holiday Hazards [VIDEO]”

Why Parents Should Teach Children to Wash Their Hands [VIDEO]

Boys washing hands
Teaching children to wash their hands often will keep them happy and healthy. (Photo by WoodleyWonderWorks, Flickr)

During cold and flu season, every teacher and family I know with young children gets sick. It seems inevitable. Some pestilence or another sweeps through schools and households like one of the plagues of Egypt, and both educators and parents are left wondering what they can possibly do to keep well. The answer is simple: teach children to wash their hands.  Continue reading “Why Parents Should Teach Children to Wash Their Hands [VIDEO]”

Lucinda Scala Quinn Teaches Us How She Cooks for Her ‘Mad Hungry Family’ [REVIEW]

Lucinda Scala Quinn
Lucinda Scala Quinn is a longtime crusader for the family meal. (Photo courtesy madhungrylsq, YouTube)

We are firm believers in the old adage that food is love. It is one of the reasons that we are such huge fans of Lucinda Scala Quinn. She’s been preaching about the importance of cooking for your family for years now. As a mom, she realizes this is not always an easy feat, but after raising three sons, she knows that it is possible, and that is why her Mad Hungry trilogy of cookbooks should be a staple in every family’s kitchen. Each volume is not only packed full of recipes that will satisfy growing teens, but they are also filled with cooking principles which make the family meal the bedrock we can all build upon. The third book chronicling her culinary journey, Mad Hungry Family, is the capstone on this epic quest to bring families together.  Continue reading “Lucinda Scala Quinn Teaches Us How She Cooks for Her ‘Mad Hungry Family’ [REVIEW]”

In ‘The Dude Diet,’ Serena Wolf Proves She Understands How Men Eat [REVIEW]

Serena Wolf
Serena Wolf understands how men eat, and she’s determined to show us that eating healthy doesn’t have to mean giving up our favorite foods. (Photo courtesy Serena Wolf, YouTube)

As a dude, particularly as a dude of a certain age, I have become increasingly concerned about what I eat. My physician just had a heart to heart with me today in fact, reminding me to be more conscious of the food I put in my body, the need to minimize carbohydrates, watch my cholesterol intake, and reduce the number of calories I consume daily. But what’s a dude to do when he loves chowing down on pizza, wings, nachos, and all the other eats guys love? That’s where Serena Wolf’s new book, The Dude Diet: Clean(ish) Food for People Who Like to Eat Dirty, comes in to save the day. Continue reading “In ‘The Dude Diet,’ Serena Wolf Proves She Understands How Men Eat [REVIEW]”

Iain Reid’s ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ Is Seriously Creepy [REVIEW]

Farmhouse in winter
In Iain Reid’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things, a ramshackle farmhouse in the middle of nowhere may be the creepiest home since Norman Bates took up residence at the top of the hill in Psycho. (Photo by Teresa Alexander-Arab, Flickr)

Have you ever read a book that was brilliantly written, and yet so shocking in its denouement, it left you feeling so ponderous you simply had to talk about it with friends to make sense of it all? Iain Reid’s debut novel, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, is one such book. Continue reading “Iain Reid’s ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ Is Seriously Creepy [REVIEW]”