When we last left our heroine, she was contemplating how much (or is it how many?) sweeteners she should allow in her food. On this week's episode of Are you Smarter than an FP.com editor, we examine how family dinners can help prevent family problems.

Like many Americans, my family doctor has cautioned me to take better care of my expanding body.

"Cut out processed foods," she says. 

Be sure to stock your pantry with low-fat and low-calorie foods if you feel like you must snack. 

I don't know about you, but working in the food industry, particularly in a job that is centered around processed foods, makes the chore of sticking to only whole foods a little difficult. 

Did I add I'm also a parent? 

Thanks to Twitter and my fellow digital mates at Putman Media, the following blog post crossed my desk: PETA Classified as a 'Terrorist Threat by the USDA. After checking Snopes.com to make sure this wasn't a hoax or urband legend, I sat down with my morning beverage of choice and began to read.

I confess, I've been a horribly busy parent who has served her kids numerous plates of macaroni and cheese and turkey burgers over the past few weeks. What can I say, my husband was travelling through China and the rest of us all had places to be, homework to do, and articles to write. Convienience took ahold of the wheel at dinner time and we were relegated to whatever we could make the fastest and with the fewest ingredients. 

McCormick Spices was thoughtful enough to forward me the URL for the Rosemary Baked Chicken recipe I made in last week's Erin/Food Processing Project.

If you'd like to check it out, you can find it on McCormick's site under the aptly named page: Rosemary-Baked Chicken with Potatoes

Next up: Simply Asia's Single Use Seasonings and Steamers.

Stay tuned and check back tomorrow for the big reveal...

True to my word, I have officially embarked on the Erin/Food Processing project. If you recall, my plan was to try and cook at least one recipe per new food product or ingredient(s) that cross my foodie desk. 

Forgive me blog readers, for I have sinned. It has been almost one month since my last blog post.

What can I say, I've been a busy girl. The editors of Food Processing are wrapping up our Processor of the Year issue, our Editors' Choice issue as well as a gamut of other projects.

Oh, and I've been cooking -- a lot. 

I'm up to page 324 of Julia Child's memoir, My Life in France. It's a fabulous book about her travels around Europe with her husband, Paul, and her ascension to the role of French Chef we all grew to know and love.

For those who may not know a lot of back story on Julia or her first cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking was a 10 year endeavor among she and two friends. Julia rifled through French recipe after French recipe to not only translate the language, but also the measurements, food types and cooking times. 

My 13 year old recently came home from school with some information that startled me as a parent. One of her teachers was planning to show the movie Supersize Me in class that week.

Most parents might read that and think "So what, kids need to learn not to inhale Mickey D's every day" but I heard it and thought: What lesson are you teaching these kids? 

It's Back to School time all around the United States. While the thought of heading back to the books spells doom and gloom for some, at our house it means a whole new experiment with back to school lunch foods.