• Choosing the Healthiest Foods for Your Family

    Welcome! I am a mom of a busy 8 year old and an adventurous 6 year old. I also happen to work for a great company called NuVal. NuVal is a nutritional scoring system that rates foods on a scale of 1-100, based on how nutritious they are. We are implementing NuVal in grocery stores around the country.

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    I am not a registered dietitian. I am just a mom who happens to work for NuVal. I am also an AFAA-certified Group Exercise Instructor. NuVal is a system designed to lead customers to the most nutritious food choices. It is not a diet or weight-loss plan. Before starting a diet, you should always consult your personal physician. The opinions expressed in this blog are the opinions of the writer and not the opinions of NuVal LLC.

Happy Hour!

Monday, October 5, 2009 at 08:58 AM


This weekend I heard that the Chobani website has some great recipes that use one of my favorite ingredients: Greek yogurt. Now, let me just say up front, that NuVal is not partnering in any way with Chobani nor am I being compensated by Chobani for blogging about them. I just really like the stuff. When I saw that there was a recipe that included two of my favorite ingredients (Greek yogurt and avocados), I had to try out this recipe: Holy Guacamole!

I bought my ingredients on Saturday during my regular shopping trip which was sans kids thanks to cancelled soccer. Woo hoo! I carefully chose my avocados. My sister Julie, a Mexican food aficionado, once explained to me that you should try to make a dent in the avocado with your thumb. If the dent stays, you’re good. The avocados I chose passed the test, but I also put them in a paper bag over night so that they would ripen just a bit more.

Sunday proved to be busy with church, my DH working on remodeling our downstairs bathroom, and me getting ready for FNCE, the American Dietetic Association conference coming up in a couple of weeks. However, since this great recipe took only 15 minutes, I whipped it up around just as the New England Patriots were winning their game and called The Neighbors Most Likely to Drop Everything and Come Over for a Cocktail at a Moment’s Notice. Since it suddenly felt like summer again, we paired it up with frozen margaritas for the Moms and cold Guinness for the Dads.

Other than the cocktails, our little Happy Hour got a great NuVal Score. The recipe consists mostly of Avocados (Score of 89) and non-fat plain Chobani yogurt (score of 94). While I could have gone for Garden of Eatin No Salt Blue Corn Tortilla Chips, the highest ranking Salty Snack with a score of 52, I like salt. Instead, we had Price Chopper Tortilla Chip Blue Corn Flax (score of 46), which I had picked up during my trip to Price Chopper last week.

The verdict? We all loved Holy Guacamole. It is a little creamier than your usual guacamole, but it went down quick with our blue chips. We also thought that it would make a great spread on a tortilla with grilled chicken or in a wrap for a sandwich. So, I’m off to buy 2 more avocados to make some more. You will find me in the produce aisle poking my thumbs in the veggies!

Posted by: Melissa 8 comments

Posted in: Chobani

Tags: , ,

8 Comments on “Happy Hour!”

  1. #1 Joanna Sutter (Fitness & Spice)
    on Oct 5th, 2009 at 10:11 am

    There are so many recipes I want to try on the Chobani Web site. I just might have to make this guac for an appetizer and their pumpkin muffins for dessert. ;-)

    Thanks, Melissa!

  2. #2 Yum Yucky
    on Oct 5th, 2009 at 12:10 pm

    All this talk of delectable goodness. Are you people sharing, or what??

  3. #3 JG
    on Oct 6th, 2009 at 7:47 am

    I eat 6 or 7 avocados a week in various forms. I did not think there was a way to eat more but I guess I was wrong. Going for 8-10 next week with the greek yogurt. Wish me luck!!

  4. #4 Jay
    on Oct 6th, 2009 at 12:54 pm

    Thanks for the comment Melissa! Im looking forward to writing a nutrition blog, although I know there are so mnay out there! Anyways, do you know if Chobani greek yogurt is better than Fage? I've only recently heard of Chobani and have been eating Fage for a couple months now and really enjoy it.

  5. #5 Melissa
    on Oct 6th, 2009 at 1:23 pm

    You are the 2nd person to ask me how Fage compares to Chobani. I will check! I like them both too.

  6. #6 Nicole M., MS, RD, LD
    on Oct 8th, 2009 at 9:38 pm

    Greek yogurt in guacamole…huh. I'd never think of that! As a HUGE guacamole fan (and probably over-indulger) I'll have to try this! Thanks, Melissa!

  7. #7 Joe P
    on Oct 9th, 2009 at 4:35 pm

    My two favorite things avocados and Chobani! When I am trying to be a bit healthier with margaritas, I just use limes, a little seltzer and tequila. You could add a little sweetener or simple sugar. It is very good but not so quick.

  8. #8 JG
    on Oct 14th, 2009 at 9:09 am

    So I made the Holy Guac with a few tweaks and it delighted my best and most frequent critic – my wife who does not normally enjoy spicy food at all. Something about the yogurt made it smooth and cool. The tweaks included using Whole Foods Greek Yogurt. Since I forgot to get peppers, I threw in some onions, crushed red pepper and extra cilantro.

    Nice work Melissa. Greek Yogurt just made it into the permanent rotation.

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