One of the best tools for helping you to stay committed to healthy eating is a good collection of yummy, yet healthful, recipes. After all, who needs takeout when you can have it for less price and better quality at home?

Some recipes sites given have a mixture of traditional "good for you" food, and food (such as pastas, pizzas, sweets, and sauces) that may seem questionable to the health-conscious. My opinion is, as long as it's not doctor-restricted, these "questionable" fares are okay...in moderation, of course. Being homemade, you can shut out the chemicals such as HFCS and MSG that come with fast-food or commercially packaged versions of these recipes. So, with that in perspective, no matter what you make at home will be healthier than what you're currently getting elsewhere.

To see how people cooked in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th Centuries—and even before—see my other site, Vintage Cookbooks.

Recipes Associated with Farmers' Markets and Other Health Food Businesses:

Harvest Eating — Gives recipes you can make from fresh produce. They also have an online store, where they sell organic spice blends, coffees, and teas.

Home Cooking Recipes — This is from Henry's Farmers' Market, a store chain here in California.

General Recipes:

Food Network — Naturally, the website of the popular Food Network would have about everything you'd want to know on cooking, including recipes.

All Recipes — A great resource on recipes and cooking tips.

Epicurious — Associated with Gourmet and Bon Appetit magazines.

About.com's Recipes — About.com's own recipe section. It includes "Cooking 101."

Recipe Link — This site is formatted more or less like a posting board. Special features include "copycat" recipes of famous restaurants' specialties.

Razzledazzle Recipes — I love the homespun graphics on this person's site!! Some recipes are categorized for various holidays and occasions.

NetCooks — NetCooks has quite a variety of recipes and cooking tips. One page is devoted to descriptions of herbs and spices. This site also tells what items can substituted in a recipe.

Joy of Baking — Warning! Due to nature of this site's images (cookies, cakes, cupcakes, etc.), viewer discretion is advised. Photos accompany all its baking and dessert recipes, with zooming Flash images on its main page. On the healthier side, in addition to breads, it has some great muffin and pancake recipes. But the dessert recipes aren't necessarily evil. As mentioned above, as long as not prohibited by a physician, a once- or twice-a-month indulgence won't waylay your new "healthy eating" lifestyle. And, using pure ingredients, these would be better for you than the packaged processed stuff you'd find in your store's snack aisle.

Homemade Breads:

The Fresh Loaf — I believe this site contains about everything you'd need to know about breadmaking.

Pizza Maniac — The author of this site is looking to make the perfect pizza. Along the way, he's found oodles of pizza recipes in the process.

Ethnic Meals:

Whats4Eats — In their words, this site "is a celebration of the various cuisines of the world," with recipes searchable by cuisine, name, ingredient or method.

Recipe Source — This site's recipes are divided two ways. First, by ethnic regions. Second, by type of dish.

International Cooking Links — This list of international cooking sites is from another part of NetCooks.com.

World Cuisine — This is another part of the AllRecipes.com site.

Helpful References

Cook's Thesaurus — This site, according to their own description, "is a cooking encyclopedia that covers thousands of ingredients and kitchen tools. Entries include pictures, descriptions, synonyms, pronunciations, and suggested substitutions."

Recipe Tips — Besides recipes, plenty of helpful cooking tips are here as well.