One size doesn't fit all after all

In sometimes direct conflict with my extreme love of cooking is my extreme desire to save money and spend on a budget. If anything in the household expenses could be unlimited, I would choose to have an unlimited food budget. However, that's not always possible. So, at least one night a week I force the dreaded L word on my boys... leftovers!

This isn't usually a problem for me. I find that pasta dishes, especially, taste better after a night in the refrigerator. Neither of them were accustomed to leftovers growing up it seems, and this whole concept of actually eating food for lunch or dinner the next day has taken some getting used to. It was a struggle for awhile to convince my husband that saving that $10-$15 on one meal a week really adds up, and no food doesn't go bad in the refrigerator overnight. He still chooses to eat cereal from time to time, but that's all right. He still eats and we have an extra $40 or so at the end of the month. That's a tank of gas, folks!

So, tonight is the dreaded leftover night in my home. Instead of offering a new recipe tonight, I thought I'd share some new information I just discovered. I was surfing the internet, looking for information to post about nutrient breakdown in food. Instead, I came across the US Department of Agriculture website.

Remember in elementary school when they first started teaching you about nutrition and health, they always had that nifty little pyramid? And then you looked at it and realized all the sugary sweet goodness was the teeniest little bit at the top? I was disappointed.


It seems now that the USDA has realized that one size doesn't really fit all! I think that's been my biggest issue with diet and weight loss programs. Each person's body is different. It reacts differently to exercise, calorie intake, carb intake, everything. If you don't know your own body it leads to frustration and heartbreak when that scale just won't move even though you're doing everything according to plan.

Well, check this out! http://www.mypyramid.gov/index.html
You plug in your age, weight, height, and activity level and it gives you basic guidelines to follow for a healthier you! Here's what mine looks like:


There's all sorts of other neat things on the website. There's a pyramid just for moms, a menu planner, food tracker, and all kinds of other stuff. Go check it out! See if you learn something new =) And thank you USDA for realizing that not everyone is exactly the same!