The food pyramid has been around since 1992, and this month the USDA came out with a new icon.  I personally think this new icon is very simple and clear; showing an example of  portion control and how much of each nutrient we should be consuming.

This is the new food plate released for June 2011 by the USDA.

More information is available at the Choose My Plate website!  The website has lots of information on food groups, preparing healthy meals, tips and interactive tools.

Did the food pyramid confuse you? What do you think of the new icon?

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1. Clean Plate Club

October is definitely a very busy month for me.  I’ve been cross-training at work which means I have a bigger work load, until my coworker comes back from Maternity Leave. 

I’ve never been big on 100 cal snacks because I didn’t feel they kept me satisfied. In fact I could eat about 2 packs and still be hungry. That was the case until I’d heard of Vita tops & wondered what they were and how they tasted!  How could I get my hands on this product that every blogger seems to love?

Well, the nice people at Vitalicous sent me free samples to test taste and review.  Vitalicious has vitatops, muffins, mixes, cakes, brownies and coffee.  All products are 100 cals, 4-7g of Fiber, 4g of Protein, low fat, trans-fat free, no cholesterol and contain up to 15 vitamins & minerals.

My Thoughts

• I like that Vitalicious  products can stay fresh for 5+ shelf days or store in your freezer up to 9 months.  I’ve been keeping mine in the freezer, also my way of not eating them up in a week.
• Appleberry VitaTop was one of my favorite muffins. Although I didn’t taste the apple chunks, I did taste the blue berries and cranberries.

• I loved the Chocolate VitaBrownie for all the walnuts it contained  Chris tried the brownie and didn’t care for the taste of it.  He said it tasted like a ”diet brownie”, too bland and too many walnuts for him.

•  The Blueberry Vitatop was also delicious and it paired well with my blueberry yourt for breakfast!

Overall

 I like Vitalicious products and still have many tops and muffins to sample.  I recevied these samples for free and I would purchase them online. I like that they are not expensive and can be purchased by the dozen for $14-16.  So, basically your paying under $1.50 for each, which is pretty cheap in my book!

I’m hoping the ”Vitalicious Fairy” will send me their cakes and mixes to sample!

Have you tried Vitalicious products, what’s your favorite top, muffin or cake?

(Vitalicious products are also available in stores like Whole Foods, Publix,  and Krogers. Please check their website for more stores.)

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I’m  happy to say…Monday is Complete! I didn’t think I could make it through a 3 hour board meeting w/ a  headache last night.

Had to pump up this Tuesday with some cardio.

Ladies of the Firm kick my booty into gear every morning!

I needed a smoothie for breakfast BUT decided to quench my thirst with my current #1 Love.

 Coconut Water!!

I had the Pom flavored Chobani too (not pictured)

I’m loving this water and at $1.30 a can, you can’t go wrong!!  I recently learned ”Goyo” has sweet and unsweetened coconut water. I ended up drinking two of these babies throughout the day.

Lunch was brown rice w/chickpeas, carrots and apples.

I’m try to mix it up with dinner but I could not stop thinking about Kashi’s Pilaf.  I decided I would make simple tacos with the pilaf tonight.

Introducing… The best tacos I’ve ever eaten.

”Nothing Fancy Pilaf Tacos”

Yummy Balsamic Cucumber salad.

Ingredients:

• Kashi ”Fiery Fiesta” Pilaf
• Lean ground turkey
• 2 T McCormick taco seasoning
  
• fresh cilantro
• dash of S&P

There was no need for tomatoes, cheese or any other thing else on the tacos.

Last but not least my 2nd Love: Organic Green Tea Pomegranate from Old Orchard.

I don’t see this bottle lasting too long b/c Chris liked it. I was shock because the only tea he drinks is ”super” sweet tea.

He also started telling me the health benefits of Pomegranates

Yeah for only 45 cals, but boo! on the 12g of sugar…oh well it’s still great!

Can you name some health benefits from Pomegranates?

Pomegranates Promote a Healthy Heart

Clinical research shows that pomegranates, when part of a healthy diet, might help prevent heart disease, heart attacks and strokes. This is because pomegranates have the potential to thin the blood, increase blood flow to the heart, reduce blood pressure, reduce plaque in the arteries, and reduce bad cholesterol while increasing good cholesterol.

Time to erase the DVR before tonight’s shows like 90210 .

Do you prefer the original or new cast of 90210?

Remember tomorrow is the last day for Dr. Kracker Giveaway, winners announced Thursday!

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