Kathy Izumi
I’m Kathy. I love pen and paper, glue and glitter, trees and tents, chopping, mincing, stirring, kneading. I run a little, swim a little, and curse a little (especially when I’m too ambitious about the other two). I have one husband, two young kids, and until quite recently, two Madagascar hissing cockroaches in an aquarium in the living room. I’ve lived here and there across the U.S. and the world and am happiest huddled in a corner of the couch reading mystery novels.

How to Apply Sunscreen (the Right Way!)

A little girl on the beach smiles with lots of sunscreen on her nose.
As the days get warmer and longer, we start to make summer plans — time for going “down the shore,” camping, barbequing, playing sports, swimming, and general lazing in the sun. But what we may not plan for in advance is how we’ll protect our skin during all that outdoor fun. According to the experts at the American Academy of Dermatology,...
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The Truth About Dietary Fat? Maybe It’s All About Who You Ask

Understanding the truth about dietary fats including saturated fat and unsaturated fat
“Mom, in Harry Potter, Voldemort is a baddie, right?” This is how it is with kids. Everything can be separated into two opposing extremes: goodie or baddie, right or wrong, truth or lie. It’s a simple way to view the world, and it’s enticing. The allure of the absolute. Unfortunately, in the adult world,...
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The Training-Wheels Guide to Improving Family Nutrition

Improving family nutrition
Sausages fried in butter. Sugar-coated cereal. Strawberry milk. Sometimes a toaster pastry. That was the breakfast that many of us in my generation routinely had each morning, and no one gave it a second thought. And if you did, you were probably in the minority; a “health nut.”

Superfoods: How can anyone stand this stuff?

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Learning About Cholesterol: A New Perspective

Learning about cholesterol
Cholesterol can’t swim, so it needs boats to help it get around inside our bodies. I learned this today. I was looking up something about cholesterol for work and feeling like I’d done this a million times and read this same material a million times and was beating myself up a little that I couldn’t seem to keep it all straight....
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Delicious, Nutritious Quinoa: You Want Me to Try What?

Healthy quinoa recipes
“Eat it. It’s good for you.” These words struck fear into my eight-year-old heart. That means it’s gross, because otherwise they’d have said to eat it because it’s yummy. Though I’ve left childhood behind me, when it comes to food, I suspect none of us have ever really let this youthful logic go. Take quinoa (keen-wah) for example....
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