Wednesday, March 24, 2010 at 10:05 AM
Welcome to Marvelous Meals with Rachel, a regular feature here on A Better Bag of Groceries. Rachel Rodek, MS, RD, LDN is Manager of Nutrition Communications at NuVal. Rachel and I are headed out to NY this weekend to represent NuVal at Price Chopper’s Healthy U Open House. We are looking forward to a fun and busy trip. In the meantime, Rachel and her fiance, Fernando, got in the kitchen this week and collaborated on this wonderful recipe. I love how it brings their families and backgrounds together – much like their wedding will this June! So without further ado, I bring you Rachel!
Have you ever started out on a path where you thought you knew the end point, but by the time you arrived you were in a completely different spot?
Well, that was this past dinner. You see, I’ve had this butternut squash sitting on my counter for the last month, not knowing what to do with it. So I started looking up recipes and came across a beef stroganoff with butternut squash. What an interesting twist to a family favorite. My mom used to make this dish all the time (minus the squash, of course) – and we enjoyed every bite. But then again, everything my mom made (makes!) is simply wonderful.
What I loved best about my mom’s cooking, other than its utter deliciousness, was how it brought everyone to the table. Family meals were a fundamental part of my childhood – helping to create the eater and nutrition-lover I am today. Did you know that lifelong nutrition habits are formed by the time a child is around four years old? That’s why it’s so important to role-model good eating habits and continue to introduce new foods – even to a picky eater. For someone who used to hate it if my pork chop touched my lima beans (intermingling of foods was never allowed in my tiny world – I’m not even sure I ate those lima beans even if they didn’t touch), I now have adventurous taste buds and an appetite to experiment. Thanks Mom!
But back to this past dinner. I realized upon searching my cupboard and fridge that not only did I not have mushrooms (a staple for beef stroganoff), I also didn’t have sour cream. And where did those noodles disappear to? Hmmm. Time for experimentation!
Instead of mushrooms I used water chestnuts, adding a nice crunch; and instead of sour cream I added spaghetti sauce. Then we had it all over polenta (my fiancé’s specialty!). As Tina from NuVal’s TradingUpDownTown would say: Holy Yum! It’s basically a hearty spaghetti sauce with the boost of veggies over mushed up spaghetti.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground turkey (I used 99% lean, however we only have a score for 93% lean [33], but skinless turkey breast scores a 48)
1 yellow onion, diced (NuVal Score 93)
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed (Score 100)
1 jar Classico Tomato Basil (Score 43) Or your favorite high-scoring spaghetti sauce
1 (8oz) can sliced water chestnuts (Score 83)
½ cup Quaker Enriched Corn Meal (Score 89!)
2 cups water
2 tsp olive oil (Score 11)
2 tsp canola oil (Score 24)
1 tsp paprika
½ tsp garlic powder
Salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
Saute chopped onion in 2 tsp olive oil until translucent. Add ground turkey and cook through. Add butternut squash cubes, water chestnuts, spaghetti sauce, paprika, salt and pepper, and cook until squash is tender, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a medium-sized pot, bring 2 cups water to a boil with salt, pepper, garlic, and 2 tsp canola oil. Add corn meal and whisk on high until thick.
Pour polenta (corn meal) into the bottom of 4 bowls, and spread to cover the bottom. Let cool until firm, but not cold.
Top with Butternut squash mixture.
Enjoy!
Nuts About Nuts Winner
Congratulations to Commenter #39, Stacie! You have won yesterday’s giveaway. A care package of almonds, walnuts and a NuVal t-shirt is coming your way. Just email me at abetterbagofgroceries@gmail.com with your mailing address and t-shirt size.
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Marvelous Meals
Tags: Butternut Squash
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 at 07:08 AM
Welcome to Trade-Up Tuesday, a weekly feature here on A Better Bag of Groceries where I tell you about a trade-up I’ve made since learning about NuVal and I give away free stuff. Today’s topic: Nuts! I am nuts about nuts. And since coming to work for NuVal in the Fall of 2008, and learning more about the benefits of nuts, I have definitely added them to my repertoire. These are the two that I eat just about every day.
My first nuts of the day come in the form of Walnuts. They get a fantastic NuVal score: 82! I love to sprinkle a few on my oatmeal. I vary my concoction, but here’s a good example of my breakfast:
1/2 cup Hodgson Mill Regular Oat Bran Hot Cereal: NuVal Score of 60
1 Tbsp Raisins: NuVal score of 91
1 Tbsp Walnuts: NuVal Score of 82
1 tsp flax seeds: not yet scored
1 tsp brown sugar: NuVal Score of 1
While this breakfast does hold me for a while, I do need a snack before I get to lunch. Blame it on that early morning Spinning class and the subsequent rush of getting two kids off to school and me to work, but I’m a hungry girl. So usually, by about 10 am, it’s Almond Time. Plain almonds get a super NuVal score, too. An 81! However, you need to be wary of what’s been done to your almonds. Remember the post where I found out that the roasted, unsalted almonds that I had been buying were roasted with oil? It was tragic.
To Enter:
You can win both bags of nuts plus a NuVal t-shirt! All you need to do is leave a comment below answering the following question:
One winner will be selected at random by 10 am EST Wednesday. So be sure to check back here to see if you’ve won. Good Luck!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: almonds, Trade-Up Tuesday
Tags: almonds, Nuts, Walnuts
Monday, March 22, 2010 at 07:39 AM
What an amazing first day of Spring we had in New England! Saturday could not have been better: weather in the 70s (unheard of in Massachusetts in March), flip flops, short sleeves, sunshine. In other words – heaven. I had seen this incredible forecast ahead of time, so I was prepared with the ingredients for guacamole and steak on the grill.
My husband had the kids playing outside, so I was all set to start mixing up my guacamole. I knew exactly the recipe I wanted to follow: Holy Guacamole from Chobani Nicki (who I had the pleasure of meeting at the ADA conference). So, I went to the Chobani site to get my recipe but it was down. Oh no! So, I had to improvise.
Here’s what I did:
2 avocadoes (NuVal score: 89)
3 cloves garlic, minced (NuVal score: 91)
1/2 cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt (NuVal score: 94)
1/3 cup chopped cilantro (NuVal score: 99)
1/2 of a lime, squeezed (NuVal score: 91)
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt (NuVal score: 1)
1 jalapeno, finely diced (NuVal score: 99)
Slice the avocados lengthwise, remove the pit, and scoop out the insides with a fork. Mash up the avocado with a fork in a mixing bowl. Add garlic, yogurt, cilantro, lime juice, salt and jalapeno. Mix well.
As Tina would say, Holy Yum. Since our cul-de-sac was full of parents and kids playing out in the beautiful weather, I brought some out for the neighbors to taste test with some Garden of Eatin No Salt Blue Chips (NuVal score: 52).
The verdict:
- Two and a Half Year Old: “Chip Please”
- Five Year Old: “May I have a chip, please? No green stuff.”
- Middle-Schooler: “Yum. Love this guacamole. Can I have another? And another? And another?”
- Mom from Next Door: “This is delicious. When will the recipe be on A Better Bag of Groceries?”
So, it would seem that somewhere around Middle School, kids are ready to start tying some green stuff on their chips.
Much to my husband’s relief, I got the bowl safely back inside our house before too much taste-testing went on. He and I finished it up – first on some chips and the rest we used on top of our baked potatoes. We basically ate guacamole for dinner. But what a great way to celebrate the First Day of Spring!
Thanks to Chobani Nicki for the inspiration for my own twist on her Holy Guacamole!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Uncategorized
Tags: avocados, Holy Guacamole, Spring
Friday, March 19, 2010 at 07:21 AM
Happy Friday, Blog Friends! I thought I would head into this glorious Spring weekend – during which I can envision myself on my deck with a cocktail in one hand and a salty snack in the other – with a blog post about chips. Not just any chips. Chips that Mom’s eat to feel all virtuous and all. What I mean is – something other than a Cheese Doodle.
So, it’s Cart Confession Time! These Stacy’s Naked Chips find their way into my shopping cart every week. To be completely honest, we actually used to get TWO bags. But, you know, they’re not REAL chips. They’re pita chips! So they must be “healthy”, right? Well, they get a 24 on the NuVal scale. And that is fine. The median score for salty snacks is a 17, so they’re better than “average”. But many grown-ups probably snack on them thinking that they’re better than potato chips. Not true! Lay’s Original Potato Chips score a 24. Guess what Baked Lay’s get? Better right? Nope, they get a 24 also!
But Stacy’s Naked Chips MUST be better than Dorito’s, right? Uh-uh. Doritos score a 24 also. Fascinating, isn’t it? This is why I love my job!
And how about pretzels? They must be better than potato chips, right? Nooooooooo. Rold Gold Tiny Twists score a 13. Snyder’s of Hanover Thin Pretzels score a 9.
So what’s a crunch-and-salt-craving Mom to do? Well, there are a few salty snacks that do even better than Stacy’s, Doritos, and Lay’s:
- Bearitos Blue Corn Tortilla Chips: NuVal score of 40
- Terra Sweet Potato Chips: NuVal score of 49
- Garden of Eatin Blue Chips with No Salt Added: NuVal score of 52
As for Stacy’s Naked Chips – I still love them. My husband and kids do too. Nothing goes better with our favorite red pepper hummus. I’ll just keep our weekly purchase down to ONE bag!
Question of the Day
What do YOU crave that is crunchy and salty?
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Cart Confessions
Tags: Stacy's Chips
Thursday, March 18, 2010 at 07:24 AM
I love asparagus. I mean, I really love asparagus. As in it goes in my shopping cart every single week. And with a NuValscore of 100, why wouldn’t it? While I do eat this stalky green vegetable year-round, asparagus is just synonymous with Spring, don’t you think? And since Spring is right around the corner (woo hoo!!!!!), I thought that today was the perfect day to share my asparagus tips (oh, what a clever play on words!) with all of you!
Tip #1: Smell your asparagus
That’s right. Give it a whiff when selecting your asparagus at the grocery store. Does it smell fishy? If so, put it back. Asparagus spoils quickly so you want to feel the tips to make sure they are firm and make sure that it smells fresh.
Tip #2: Treat asparagus like a bunch of flowers
You know how when you come home with flowers, you need to give them a fresh cut and get them in water right away? Same holds true for asparagus. Chances are the stalks have sealed up along the bottom, so give them a fresh cut and place them in a container of water. Store them upright in your refrigerator for no more than 2-3 days.
Tip #3: Steam, then blanch.
Steaming is one way to cook asparagus. It is a great cooking method for Spring when you want to really taste the freshness of your vegetables. But there’s nothing worse then over-steamed, mushy asparagus. So, if steaming is your method of choice, steam it until the stalks just turn green and then remove them from your steamer or from your boiling water and place them in a basin of ice water. You could invest in one of those fancy-schmancy asparagus cookers, but I find that steaming it in a skillet with about a 1/2 inch of water works just fine.
Tip #4: Grill it or roast it
This is my favorite way to cook asparagus, probably because the leftovers are great on a salad the next day. On most busy weeknights, the asparagus goes right into a very hot oven (like 425 degrees). First, I submerge it in a basin of water to make sure all the sand or dirt comes off. There’s nothing worse than gritty asparagus. The, I dry it with paper towels. Next I lay it out on a cookie sheet lined with Parchment Paper. Then, I lightly coat it with olive oil using my Pampered Chef oil mister. It’s a great way to add just a small amount of oil.
Roast it until it turns bright green (about 10 minutes). Remove from oven and sprinkle with Kosher salt and lemon juice. Yum!
Instead of the oven, you can also place your lightly-oiled asparagus right on the gas grill. It does tend to come out a bit crunchier this way.
So there you have it, my Asparagus Tips! Find some non-smelly asparagus at your market today and try it out!
Question of the Day
What is your favorite Incredible Vegetable? Do you know the NuVal score? You might find it on this blog, Tina’s blog or on the Nuval website.
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Incredible Vegetables
Tags: asparagus, Incredible Vegetables
