When you're watching what you eat, that doesn't mean snacks have to hit the highway. On the contrary, actually. Snacking can be part of a healthful diet. When you choose the right snacks, they can be helpful in maintaining stable blood sugar and can help ward off the cravings that hit when you get overly hungry.

Fresh fruit or veggies are always a good choice for snacking ... but that's kind of a no-brainer. If you're in the mood for more of a treat, it's not as easy to determine what your best options are.

Cooking Light did some side-by-side comparisons of relatively healthy treats. Take hummus and salsa for example. Two tablespoons of hummus with carrot sticks has about 60 calories, 3 grams of fat, 1 gram of fiber, and 105 milligrams of sodium. Two tablespoons of salsa with tortilla chips has 147 calories, 7 grams of fat, 0.5 gram of fiber, and 187 milligrams of sodium.

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What? What do you mean I've posted a quinoa and grilled zucchini recipe before? OK, I admit it, I did the deed. But since these two recipes are so radically different, I thought it would be fun to do a comparison of the two recipes; surely you'll choose a favorite.

The new quinoa and grilled zucchini recipe has eggs, pine nuts, goat cheese and a tantalizing yogurt avocado dressing, all providing protein and other nutrients. The original recipe I posted has garbanzo beans as added protein.

Most of the flavor in the original quinoa recipe is provided by curry spices, like cumin, paprika and turmeric. In this new recipe, fresh cilantro dominates for a very different flavor. Both recipes use healthy spices, so we're win-win here.

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If cardio and strenth training were to face off in a head-to-head battle for "who's the best overall" which one do you think would win? Is it that simple really? Well Women's Heath set out to find out, comparing the two with good old fashioned 'pros and cons' lists based on what your goals are. Weight loss? Strength training is best (really? I'm surprised). Stress relief? Cardio. To live longer? Cardio. To look sexy in front of a mirror? Strength training.

Surprised by any of these? It looks like overall they pretty much even out, so the best advice might be to mix it up and do some of both as part of a consistent routine -- why not get the best of both worlds?

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Most people, when told they need a major medical procedure or surgery, simply go to whatever hospital their doctor has it scheduled in -- without a second thought. But in the face of a new trend that may no longer be the case in many situations. Washington, in response to state lawmaker's requests, has created a website that makes hospital pricing for medical procedures, surgery, and other information like customer service more easily accessible to the public. The idea being that if you're told you need knee surgery, for example, you can look it up online and see at a glance which hospitals charge more or less, and which have better patient teaching and end-result track records.

Not to say that your doctor isn't referring you to the best hospital in his opinion, but it's just that -- his opinion. I think it's awesome that patient's can now take a more active part in how and when they are treated, and this has to be having a positive impact on how the hospitals manage things. Plus I can honestly say, from experience, that the last thing on most doctor's minds is making sure you get the best deal financially. That's entirely up to you.

Can't wait until this catches on in my area.

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