Monday, December 14, 2009 at 09:54 AM
When I started blogging, back in July of 2009, one of my first posts was about Cereal for Grown-Ups. I wrote about it because one of the most frequently asked questions I get, once people learn that I work for NuVal, is about cereal and how it scores. People want to know about Kashi, Shredded Wheat, and other popular brands of cereal that adults tend to eat. This is true for kids’ cereals too. A lot of moms ask me about brands that they choose for their children, most notably Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Kix. Let’s face it, most of us mothers start out by feeding our kids Cheerios but by the time the kids are 5 and they are walking the grocery store with us and they are beginning to read words (like Lucky Charms!) they start asking for more than just plain old Cheerios. Add one of their favorite movie characters to the front of a box of cereal and it’s Meltdown In Aisle Five.
So, yes, I admit. We’ve been experimenting in the cereal department. In our cabinet right now are the following brands:
- Frosted Flakes
- Golden Grahams
- Cheerios
- Shredded Wheat (mine)
- Cinnnamon Toast Crunch
- Honey Nut Cheerios
I can tell you that the Golden Grahams and Cinnamon Toast Crunch made it into the basket because they had Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs characters on them. I have no idea how the Frosted Flakes made it into our cart and then into our cabinet. No idea. Perhaps one of my kids threw it in when I wasn’t looking? No idea.
Last week, my son had a half-day of school, so I brought him along on a Price Chopper visit that I had scheduled. We met up with my new colleague, Tina, to walk the store, to see some scores on the shelf and to try out some tools that we’ve developed at NuVal for teaching store employees about the system. I gave my son a Scavenger Hunt to do. He had to write down his favorite cereal and then go find it on the shelf to see what the score was. What did he pick? Frosted Flakes, of course. He found it on the shelf and wrote down the NuVal score: 24. Then I told him that he could go find another cereal that scored better than Frosted Flakes and that we would buy it. He was so excited about this little game. He is so used to being at our local grocery store with me (where they do not have NuVal), asking me to buy sugary, colorful cereals and getting the big NO. It was his big chance to show me that those Kid Magnet cereals really were healthy, Mom!
So, my son quickly found Lucky Charms (nope, NuVal score of 23), Fruity Pebbles (uh uh, NuVal score of 24), Apple Jacks (no, sigh, NuVal score of 24), and Cap’n Crunch (no, no, no, NuVal score of 10). My poor son! He was so deflated! It reminded me of A Christmas Story, when Ralphie so deperately wants a Red Ryder BB Gun, but everyone, including Santa keeps shooting him down. ‘You’ll shoot your eye out kid.”
Finally, my son found a colorful cereal that had a NuVal score better than that of Frosted Flakes: Fruity Cheerios. NuVal Score: 28.
Notice that he does not look overjoyed. It wasn’t that exciting. Fruity Cheerios have been resident in our cereal cupboard in the past. However, it was cool to see my son empowered with the NuVal scores to choose his own cereal – as long as it was above a certain number. In case you’re curious, Cereal scores range from 4 – 100 on the NuVal score, but the median score (half are above it, half are below it) is a 25.
Last week General Mills announced that it will be reducing the sugar levels in its cereals marketed to children. That’s great news. After the reformulations, NuVal will rescore those cereals and I will be sure to blog with an update.
On a bright note, the kids have been asking for Fruity Cheerios as a snack. The good news is that they’re munching on a little baggie of O’s which score a 28 while watching PBS Kids. Hey, it’s better than Cheetos. The bad news is that they have very sticky hands. This week, I’ll be sure to throw more hand wipes in my cart!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Kashi
Tags: Cereal for Grown-Ups, Cereal for Kids, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Kashi, Kix
Friday, December 11, 2009 at 07:01 AM
‘Tis the season for holiday get-togethers! Last weekend, we attended our friends’ annual Cookie Exchange. Now, you might be envisioning an afternoon get-together with lots of kids running around and parents sipping hot chocolate out of big mugs. Not! No one under 5 feet tall is allowed at this annual party. The height-challenged hosts joke that they barely make the cut!
Jen & Tim host this annual fun-fest at their home in Southern Rhode Island. It started to snow just as we were leaving and the commute is about an hour, but we did not let that deter us. After a day of chauferring kids from event-to-event, we were looking foward to an evening with people over 5 feet tall who can drink wine. I’m so glad we made it. Tim & Jen’s house looked beautiful in the snow.
I’m always amazed that Jen gets her house decorated so early in December. I give credit to Jen, but you know I mean Tim too!
The tree was beautiful:
And they even had a fire going. I think the cat in the picture is fake. Actually, the fire might be too. Whatever – it was nice and cozy!
And I loved the snowflakes on her chandelier:
At the Cookie Exchange, we eat appetizers and drink wine. Eventually, we get to the cookie part. I wanted to bring something healthy this year, since all my friends attending are also friends of A Better Bag of Groceries. But isn’t “Healthy Appetizer” an oxymoron? Unless it’s a crudite of vegetables? I contacted my Twitter friends at Cooking Light for suggestions. They came to my rescue in mere seconds with this suggestion: Spinach and Artichoke Dip. The recipe is from the year 2000, but my Twitter friends tell me that it is served at many a Cooking Light Staff Party.
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
1/4 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 teaspoon, black pepper
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
1 (8-ounce) block fat-free cream cheese, softened
1/2 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
1 (13.5-ounce) package baked tortilla chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, sour cream, 2 tablespoons Parmesan, and next 6 ingredients (through spinach) in a large bowl; stir until well blended. Spoon mixture into a 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella and remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Serve with tortilla chips.
I followed the recipe and purchased all the ingredients as specified, with one exception. I am not a fan of fat-free sour cream. So, instead I used reduced fat sour cream. Interestingly, reduced fat sour cream scores higher than fat free on the NuVal scale. You read that right – reduced fat sour cream scores a 29 while fat free scores a 26. Regular sour cream scores a 25. To make this recipe as nutritious as possible, I used Garden of Eatin’ No Salt Blue Corn Chips (score of 52) which I purchased at Price Chopper.
Everyone seemed to like the Spinach and Artichoke Dip. It was warm and flavorful.
The dip makes A LOT. And since my friends are a pretty health-consicous bunch, I came home with leftovers. Next time, I will divide it in two and use it for two parties.
The Cookie Swap
What is a Cookie Swap?
A Cookie Swap is a great little invention. You bake a large batch of cookies (all one type) and you go to the swap and trade with everyone. You come home with the same number of cookies you left with, but now you have a lot of different varieties of cookies. Here’s more information on cookie swaps from Baking 911.
Again, I wanted to give my cookies a healthy twist this year. Usually, if I’m going to eat a cookie, I just eat a cookie. I don’t really worry about what’s in it. But just for fun, I thought I’d try to make a healthier cookie. Cooking Light came to the rescue again with a recipe for Espresso Crinkles. I have to say, I have been making cookies for many, many years. And I have made many, many different kinds of cookies. And Espresso Crinkes are one of the best cookies I have ever made. My husband called them “flourless chocolate cake in a cookie.” Oh yeah, baby! If you are a gooey, dark chocolate lover, you have to make these.
Aren’t they beautiful? Here they are just out of the oven.
And cooling on my wire rack…
In case you’re wondering (I always have Weight Watchers points in the back of my head), these cookies come in at only 2 Weight Watchers points a piece. And they are worth every bite.
Eventually, just like any party with people of a certain age (most of the party-goers were on the brink of 40), the ladies end up in the kitchen and the guys end up in the basement. I wish I had taken a picture of the ladies, but I was too busy talking and enjoying the company of these great women who I’ve known since college. I did get a great shot of the guys engrossed in their Foosball tournament.
We’re such party animals! 
Due to the weather and a crazy-busy Sunday schedule chock full of kids’ activities, we made an early exit. But the time spent together with friends was just the respite we needed during this hectic season. And the bonus was the big plate of cookies that we took home. You may remember it from my post earlier this week.
So, if you have a party this weekend, I definitely recommend both of these recipes. Thanks to Cooking Light for coming to the rescue and enjoy the Holiday Weekend!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Cookies
Tags: appetizers, Cookies
Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 07:12 AM
Not to stress you out, but Christmas Eve is only two weeks from today. And Hanukkah starts tomorrow night! This coming weekend is our busiest of the holiday season, with basketball starting, 2 Christmas pageant rehearsals, tickets to the ballet, a neighbhorhood cocktail party, church & church school, and a Hanukkah get-together with friends Sunday evening. Whew! So, I’m sticking to my plan of making quick, easy, healthy and high-yield recipes to get us from here to January in one piece. One same-sized piece.
One of my Go To Recipes every December is Lentil Soup. I credit this recipe to my sister, Pilates Julie. She’s been making this for years. Interestingly, my 4 year old daughter loves to make Lentil Soup with me. I’m not sure why. Lentils are kind of gray and boring. A couple of weeks ago, my daughter had to answer the question, “What makes you happy?” in her ballet class. Her answer was “making Lentil Soup with my mom.” Awwwwwww! So, of course, we had to go home and make Lentil Soup.
I made it again this week since it’s a great lunch when an evening cocktail party is on the agenda.
Lentil Soup
Olive Oil
3 cloves garlic, minced (I do this with my Pampered Chef garlic press, which is one of 3 items I would want with me if stranded on a desert island)
Ham stock or 8 cups vegetable broth
Diced ham
1 bag dried lentils, washed and inspected for pebbles
5 carrots, peeled and sliced
4 celery stalks, chopped
1 onion, chopped
Pinch of Kosher salt
Pinch of black pepper
1 bay leaf
Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add olive oil and garlic. Cook until garlic just starts to brown. Add broth, onion, bay leaf and lentils; reduce heat to low and simmer. When lentils begin to soften, add ham, carrots, celery, salt & pepper. Simmer until vegetables are tender. Add additional spices as you like.
Pilates Julie makes her stock with a ham bone and leftover ham from holiday dinners. When we don’t have one, we make it with canned vegetable broth and a small ham steak.
My daughter loves everything about this recipe, with the exception of the smell of the chopped onion. Her favorite part is washing the lentils.
So how does Lentil Soup Score?
Lentils get a great NuVal score: 94! And the vegetables are all incredible, of course.
- Celery: 96
- Onion: 93
- Carrots: 99
Ham is not a superstar in the meat department. A Plumrose Boneless Ham Steak scores a 24. You could make this without meat. But the ham does add some flavor and my daughter insists that we keep it in. She likes eating little cubes of ham while we cook. As for the Vegetable Broth, we have not scored it yet. NuVal is scoring ALL products in the grocery stores of our retailer partners. That is different from any other nutritional scoring system out there – and it takes time.
But making Lentil Soup does not take time. Especially if you teach your 4-year-old how to do the lentil-rinsing part for you. The key to a Sane Mommy is Child Labor - teach them to do some chores (before they get too old and start to complain) and they will think it’s fun Mommy and Me time. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll all get through the next two weeks in a good frame of mind, body and spirit. Cheers!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Uncategorized
Tags: Uncategorized
Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at 06:50 AM
On Monday, I gave you my tips for avoiding the dreaded holiday weight gain. You can do it – and have fun – promise! One of those tips was to eat a light lunch when you know you are headed to a holiday party in the evening. Here’s one of my favorite light lunches of all time: The Incredible Vegetable Sandwich.
The inspiration for this sandwich comes from a cafe in Providence. Back in the early ’90s, I was working in Providence temporarily for a small consulting firm who was reengineering a Big Bank. This was just after finishing my graduate degree and just before beginning my traveling days with Big Consulting Firm. There was a small deli/cafe nearby where we often got take-out sandwiches for lunch. This steamed veggie sandwich was what I often ordered – without cheese! I was such a masochist – trying to lose the last of some leftover college pounds on Weight Watchers.
Now, it is my Go-To Sandwich when I want something warm but healthy.
Chop up some broccoli (cooked or raw – whatever you have) and grate a few carrots. Top with some roasted red peppers, also chopped. Heat in the microwave.
Top with some cheddar cheese and microwave it some more. Spoon the heated veggies and cheese into a pita, and voila – lunch! I recommend adding something with protein, such as a glass of skim milk, to help to round out your lunch.
So, how does the Incredible Vegetable Sandwich Score on the NuVal scale?
Well, the carrots score a 99 (remember 100 is best) and the broccoli scores a 100. The Pastene Roasted Red Peppers do not score as well as fresh, raw peppers. They score a 7. Last time I used roasted red peppers in a recipe, some readers asked me why they score so low. So I checked in with Annette Maggi, MS, RD, LD, FADA, Sr. Director of Nutrition for NuVal LLC. She said that these roasted red peppers have 5 calories per serving (80% come from sugar) and 85 mg of sodium, so the sodium for the calories is what is driving the score down. Additionally, while there is some vitamin C in the product, it has very little positive nutrition. Too bad! They taste so good.
I use Boar’s Head Cheddar cheese from the deli and NuVal has not yet scored deli cheeses as of yet. However, we have scored other cheeses that you would find in the refrigerated section. For example, Cabot Sharp Cheddar Slices score a 22. You might think that the Cabot Light Cheddar would score better. Well, it only brings the score up by one point to a 23. As for the pita, I use Joseph’s Flax, Oat Bran and Whole Wheat Flour Pita. These nutritional juggernauts, which made my list of Top Ten Favorite Foods, score a 65, an amazing score in the bread category. And don’t forget, if you add a glass of skim milk, it scores a 91. Fabulous!
So, if you know you have a fun night of cocktails and hard-to-resist hors d’oeuvres coming up, have the Incredible Vegetable Sandwich for lunch. With cheese!
Winner of Trade-Up Tuesday
Congratulations to Commenter #41 Emily J, winner of yesterday’s Almond Give-Away!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Broccoli, Carrots, Incredible Vegetables
Tags: Broccoli, Carrots, cheese, Incredible Vegetables
Tuesday, December 8, 2009 at 07:02 AM
Welcome to Trade Up Tuesday. It’s my weekly feature where I tell you about a Trade Up I’ve made for better nutrition since I started working for NuVal. I also ask you to tell me about trade ups you’ve made (or plan to make) and everyone who comments is enrolled in a drawing for a prize giveaway. Cool, huh?
Today’s Trade Up is Almonds. Usually in this weekly feature I tell you about a product I traded in for a new product that I’m eating now. In this case, I didn’t really trade anything in. I just started eating almonds – sans guilt.
I credit my boss, Leslie, for getting me hooked on almonds.
Leslie is a super-healthy eater and it shows: she has incredible energy, awesome hair and beautiful skin. And I’m not just saying that because she is my boss. She does all the right things: she drinks her water, takes her vitamins, gets her exercise, you name it. And she is always munching on almonds. Now, almonds (or any nuts really) were something that I kept away from for the most part because I was always thinking in terms of Weight Watchers points, only. Almonds are not low in calories, nor are they low in fat. 23 almonds = 4 Weight Watchers points. Ouch. However, almonds are super-nutritious. They get an 81 on the NuVal scale. My husband and I have been snacking on roasted, unsalted almonds for about a year now. And the amazing thing is that I easily maintain my happy weight while including them in my diet. About halfway throughout the morning, I find myself incredibly hungry and a little handful of almonds does the trick.
So, hip hip hooray for almonds.
How about you? What have you traded up since learning about NuVal? I’d love to hear about your go-to foods when you are feeling like a hungry, hungry hippo. Leave a comment below. One lucky winner will receive my Almond Prize Pack.
- 2 containers of my favorite roasted, unsalted almonds
- A suprise goodie from the NuVal marketing closet (we have water bottles, shopping bags, magnetized shopping lists)
Just leave a comment by midnight tonight (11:59 pm EST to be exact) and you could win!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: almonds, Trade-Up Tuesday
Tags: almonds
