I have fond childhood memories of eating artichokes. My mom would prepare them on occasion for dinner and I remember savoring each leaf as I slid it across my teeth, extracted every last drop of meaty stuff, and then dove in for the best part: the heart. I never knew how those artichokes came to be exactly. I just never paid much attention to what went on in the kitchen.

I still don't know how my mom prepared her artichokes. But I did just happen upon one method for approaching this fiber-filled Super Food, which is also full of protein, vitamin C, folate, and magnesium and void of all fat, cholesterol, and trans fat. Smack dab on page 100 of April's Family Circle magazine are these precise instructions for steaming artichokes.

• Trim off artichoke stems.
  

• With kitchen shears, trim tips of outer leaves.
  

• From center leaves, cut off last one inch. Rub cut edges with lemon.
  

• Fill a large, deep pot with two inches of water. Place steamer insert into pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium. Place artichokes, top down, in insert. Cover and steam for 25 minutes, until bases are knife-tender. Add more water as needed.

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I love statistics. Don't let that "D" I got in my college statistics class fool you. I love reading these numbers, interpreting them, wondering how they fit into the lives of those who inhabit this Earth. Statistics catch my eye all the time. Here's one I just happened upon while strolling through the December 2007 issue of Family Circle magazine.

More than 65 percent of women haven't had their feet measured in five years. What's the big deal, you might ask. Well, feet can lengthen and widen over the years and wearing shoes that improperly fit can cause blisters, calluses, and ingrown toenails. You don't want that, do you?

Don't forget to keep tabs on your feet, especially if you use them for regular exercise. Knowing exactly how you measure up can increase comfort and decrease problems that might arise from putting the squeeze on your tootsies.

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I think this logic applies to adults and kids alike but the blurb I just read in the November issue of Family Circle puts the kid spin on diet foods and drinks. And this is what it says: Diet foods and drinks may actually lead to obesity.

Research suggests that kids who eat low-calorie versions of foods may develop distorted connections between taste and nutritional content. If they never really experience the good stuff, they are more likely to overindulge when they do get a taste of it. So it's best to skip the diet goods and instead teach kids to eat all foods in moderation. Like the kid who never gets to watch TV and then arrives in front of a television set and can't break away, kids who are restricted from regular foods may one day go way overboard.

This makes sense to me -- that's why I think we adults can also benefit from this little diet lesson.

For more on this topic, take a look at this article.

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I'm flipping through the October 1, 2007 issue of Family Circle magazine -- yes, I'm a month behind -- and I keep stumbling upon diet and exercise tips that are really quite interesting. Seems only fair I'd share with you these random tidbits about dogs, sleep, and food cravings. So here goes:

• Walking your dog for 20 minutes five times per week for one year led to an average weight loss of 14 pounds for those who were part of a recent study. If you don't have your own pooch, consider volunteering to walk dogs at a local animal shelter.

• If you skimp on your sleep, you're more likely to eat fast food. Why? Probably because feeling tired makes cooking a healthy dinner seem like a lot of hard work. Swinging through the drive-through or plopping down in that booth at McDonald's is so much easier.

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