New Year, New You!

Happy New Year!

It seems everyone around this time of year resolves to get into better shape, and yet very few of us are able to stick to our resolutions. I know for me in the past it has been extremely hard to stick to any kind of exercise or diet plan, because I don't see much logic in going out and purposefully making myself sweat and stink, and, in the immortal words of Garfield the Cat, "diet" is nothing more than "die" with a "t". :) I don't know about you, but whenever I've gone on a diet, I always either starve to death, or the subscribed diet "foods" taste so awful and are the farthest thing from edible that I just give up and revert to my regular cooking style. Then there's the fact that there are just so many diet plans out there, spanning the spectrum of being obviously ineffective to the downright unhealthy and unsafe. I don't want gimmicks or food sent through mail or to have to drink every meal, I want a diet plan that uses real food, real cooking methods that I can control, and that will improve my health overall, not just make me lose weight through starvation or by eating "rabbit food".

A while ago, a friend referred me to the new food pyramid website, so I checked out www.mypyramid.gov and I loved it! Unlike the old pyramid that suggested the same number of servings for everyone regardless of activity level, age, gender, weight, etc., the new pyramid offers personalized eating plans, as well as interactive tools for learning about the new pyramid. I also love how the new pyramid promotes whole grains, lean meats, a variety of vegetables, and so forth. Real food, real cooking I could do at home, and the healthiest parts from each food group is promoted, I struck gold, y'all! I would definetely suggest that if you are looking to change your eating habits, whether to lose weight or to help maintain a healthy lifestyle, this is worth checking out some time! There's even a tool called mypyramid tracker that you can use after recieving your on-line personalized eating plan (which is free by the way) to track the foods you eat and how they fulfill your personal daily requirements (that's free too!) .

So,to help you start out your New Year right, for Savory Selections this Friday, Saturday, and Monday, I have selected some awesome recipes, using real food, that are all under 20 minutes to prepare, and to put the cherry on top (pardon the expression) these recipes are down right tasty ( I know because I just got done cooking and tasting all of the recipes in the last hour) so make sure to stop by Providence's Maceys this weekend or on Monday, or check back here on each of our presentation days for a copy of each of the respective recipes. Happy New Year again, and good luck reaching your goals!

-Carrie