Friday, July 23, 2010 at 07:11 AM
One thing about summer – I tend to do a lot less Cooking With Kids! We’re swimming a lot, the kids are at camp, meals are quick and easy and it’s just too darn hot. So, when we finally had a cloudy and stormy day this week, I got this incredible urge to bake. Lucky for me, the kids were happy to pitch in.
We found that we had some Nestle Toll House Morsels in the cupboard and all of the ingredients to make Original Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies. I made that recipe so many times as a child, I think I know all of the ingredients and measurements by heart. To me, making Toll House Cookies is one of those things that should be on the Childhood Bucket List of every boy and girl. However, we decided to experiment a little by substituting one of the two and one-quarter cups of white flour (NuVal score of 67 for King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose Flour) with Bob’s Red Mill whole wheat pastry flour (NuVal score of 91).
The cookies came out even more soft and scrumptious than ever!
Now, there are many other ingredients in the Toll House recipe that we could have experimented with. For example, we could substitute a higher scoring fat for the two sticks of butter that the recipe calls for. Or we could have experimented with lowering the amount of brown and white sugar in this recipe. However, as I’ve said in my Cooking With Kids posts before, first let’s just teach our kids to cook. We took some baby steps by substituting some of the white flour with soft wheat pastry flour. As the kids get more confident in their cooking, we’ll try more experiments.
Instead, we focused on “collaboration.” When my kids ask me what that means, I refer them to my Three Summer Rules:
- No Whining
- No Fighting
- No Complaining
Collaboration, I tell them, is Summer Rule Number Two.
Kids Following My Summer Rule Number Two
At this point in the recipe they were combining the dry and “wet” ingredients. One added the dry ingredients to the batter bowl, while the other mixed. Without whining, fighting or complaining. Believe me, this doesn’t happen every day!
Once the batter was ready, we had another test of the kids’ collaboration skills. I like nice uniform cookies, so I gave them my handy-dandy Pampered Chef Small Scoop to form the cookies.
Since my five-year-old daughter is not strong enough to squeeze the scoop and release the dough, it was easy to divide the labor and to keep the kids from breaking Summer Rule Number Two. My daughter loaded the Scooper and leveled it. My son squeezed the dough out onto the cookie sheet.
Isn’t his spacing impressive?
The thing that amazed me the most was that my kids did this all by themselves. I cleaned the kitchen while they scooped and spaced. It’s hard to believe! We’ve come a long way in the kitchen.
By the time we got to the oven part of the cooking baking process, the sun had come out, and the kids headed out to play on their swing set. That was fine with me, because I got to play with one of my other favorite baking tools: my Pampered Chef Stackable Cooling Racks. Love them!
I must say that I love my partially Whole Wheat version of the Toll House Cookies even more than the Original recipe! Next time, we will try a complete substitution on the flour. And then who knows what we’ll do next. The possibilities are endless.
Question of the Day
What is one of your favorite recipes from childhood?
Blogaversary Contest Winner
Today, I celebrate by Blogaversary – one year as NuVal’s Mommy Blogger! In honor of this special day, my loyal readers voted for their favorite ABBG post. And the winner is – drumroll, please – School Lunch, 1988 and Today! Whoa, that 80′s hair was so out of control. And those big sweatshirts did nothing for us! Congratulations to Meda, one of the voters for that post! Thank you to everyone for playing along all week! Have a wonderful weekend!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Cooking with Kids
Tags: Nestle Toll House Cookies
Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 07:09 AM
In my role as the Mommy-Blogger, I get all sorts of questions. I loved this one that came in from Meaghan, who is just beginning her career as a Management Consultant Who Travels A Whole Lot. Meaghan’s question inspired me to begin today’s new blog feature where I answer your questions, so bring ‘em on!
Meaghan’s Question:
Hi Melissa,
I’ve been reading Carrots n’ Cake for a while now and just recently came across A Better Bag of Groceries! After reading your background, I had to immediately contact you and ask for tips! I am currently a management consultant (working for McKinsey) and traveling ALL OVER THE PLACE. In my former life as a college student I spent large portions of every day exercising and cooking delicious healthy foods. Needless to say, this job has not allowed such luxuries! I just recently vowed to never eat plane food on domestic flights but I’m still having a tough time eating well and exercising enough to make me feel human!
Given your experience, I’d love to know of any tips! NuVal is also so very interesting. I can’t wait until it comes to stores near me in Chicago!
Thanks!
Meaghan
My Answer:
Hi Meaghan -
Thanks for reaching out to me. First of all, congratulations on securing a job with McKinsey. I know how difficult the consulting life is, but it is worth it! I landed the job that I have today because of the connections I made at Accenture – and that was well over 10 years ago!
Keeping healthy while on the road is so tough. Many people get caught in the trap of working too much and just letting their diet and exercise routines go. I have a feeling that you will not!
The good news for you is that while airplane food has not improved, airport food has. I just flew to New York a couple of weeks ago and took a lot of pictures of what there is to offer. If you scrounge around, you can find fruits, vegetables, yogurt.
While waiting for our flight to leave Boston, Rachel Rodek MS, RD, LDN, CSSD and I hit Starbuck’s for breakfast.
I was happy to see Bananas (NuVal score of 91)
Apples (NuVal score of 96)
And my favorite, Starbuck’s Perfect Oatmeal:
So here was my airport breakfast:
The apple and banana went in my bag for snacks later in the day.
Lunch was tougher. Through no choice of our own, we found ourselves at Subway where we had to eat very quickly. One thing that I try to do is choose the item on the menu that incorporates the most vegetables. I had this salad with tuna salad on top. I had just a few bites of the tuna since there was a lot of mayonnaise involved. Good thing I had that apple and banana in my bag!
After a long day meeting with clients, we headed back to the airport. While we drove, I had a LaraBar (NuVal score of 29 for Peanut Butter Cookie) that I brought from home.
While we waited for our flight back to Boston, we ordered a hummus plate and some wine which we shared with our colleagues Leslie and Anne at the airport bar. We were hoping for something with more vegetables, but the bar was out of just about everything. However, the bartenders suggested we hit the snack store just outside and bring something back in. Great idea! I found us some veggies and cheese. It was a perfect light, pre-flight dinner.
Other tips I would suggest:
Pack whatever you can in your suitcase (almonds, Larabars, even fresh fruit and vegetables).
- Seek out hotels with a good gym or hotels near a good gym
- Try to work out early. I know that in consulting, everyone works late, late, late. The best advice I have is to get on an early schedule.
- If you end up in a corporate apartment, try to seek out a grocery delivery service.
- Take advantage of the cities you travel to. I once worked in Chicago for 3 months. I loved running in the early mornings along Lake Michigan and I found a ballet class at Ballet Chicago at night. I felt like a native. In New York City, I took the New York City Ballet Workout with the founders of the workout. So cool!
- This one might be hard, but don’t be afraid to close your laptop and leave the office at you know, like, 6 pm. And head to the gym. I know that face time can be important, but so is your health and happiness.
Send Me Your Questions!
Do you have questions about NuVal scores, making nutritious choices your family, leading a healthy life while on the road? Please send them to me at abetterbagofgroceries@gmail.com!
Yesterday’s Winner
Congratulations to Leanne D! You were randomly chosen from all of the correct entries in yesterday’s Scavenger Hunt! You will be receiving Dr. Katz’s cookbook The Flavor Full Diet and a NuVal t-shirt. Here are Leanne’s winning answers:
- The score for Knorr Rice Pilaf = 3
- The score for Trop 50 Orange Juice with Calcium and Vitamin D = 81
- The score for LARABar Apple Pie = 57
- The name of the vegetable I use in my Black-Eyed Peas recipe from Cooking Light = Swiss Chard
- The name of one of the songs on my running playlist on my Ipod = Tin Man by Animal Kingdom
- The score for Hebrew National Beef Franks = 9
- The score for Kraft Scooby Doo Macaroni and Cheese = 5
- The score for Kashi 7 Whole Grain Cereal Puffs = 91
- The score for Kashi Strawberry Fields = 11
- What I once did in order to gain access to a gym in Chicago = pretended to be a co-worker’s wife
My Blogaversary!
In case you didn’t win this week’s Trade-Up Tuesday Giveaway or the Scavenger Hunt Giveway, you still have one more chance to win. Voting for the top ABBG post continues until Friday morning!
One lucky Voter will win a NuVal t-shirt, a NuVal shopping bag and a NuVal pen.
All you need to do is leave a comment for me anytime this week voting for your favorite post from the past year. I will select one winner at random for all the votes on Friday at 7 am EDT.
Here are the Top Ten Contenders:
Thanks for voting!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Readers Ask
Tags: Blogaversary, Readers Ask
Wednesday, July 21, 2010 at 07:15 AM
It’s Giveaway Week here on A Better Bag of Groceries in celebration of my Blogaversary. I’ve been writing the NuVal Mommy Blog for a whole year, so the party continues! Today I have a special cookbook and t-shirt giveaway for one lucky reader who can find the ten items in my Scavenger Hunt.
All you need to do is find the items listed below and send your answers to me at abetterbagofgroceries@gmail.com. Be sure to email me instead of putting the answers in the comment section below. OK?
So, what do you need to find? Here’s the list:
- The score for Knorr Rice Pilaf
- The score for Trop 50 Orange Juice with Calcium and Vitamin D
- The score for LARABar Apple Pie
- The name of the vegetable I use in my Black-Eyed Peas recipe from Cooking Light
- The name of one of the songs on my running playlist on my Ipod
- The score for Hebrew National Beef Franks
- The score for Kraft Scooby Doo Macaroni and Cheese
- The score for Kashi 7 Whole Grain Cereal Puffs
- The score for Kashi Strawberry Fields
- What I once did in order to gain access to a gym in Chicago
Hmmmmmm. Looks challenging, doesn’t it? Hint: If you are eyeing that Search field over there on the left hand-side, you are headed in the right direction!
One lucky reader who can find these ten items will win a copy Dr. David Katz’s the Flavor Full Diet (one of my favorite cookbooks) and a NuVal t-shirt. I’ll choose one winner from all the correct entries that I receive at abetterbagofgroceries@gmail.com on Thursday morning. Have fun and Good Luck!!
Yesterday’s Trade-Up Tuesday Winner
Congratulations to Commenter #44 Kimberly Lee of kimandmikey.blogspot.com! You’ve won the Snack Bar Encore Giveaway. Please email me at abetterbagofgroceries@gmail.com with your mailing address so that I can get your prize out to you.
Voting Continues!
Don’t forget – voting continues all week for the Top ABBG post of all time.
Here are the Top Ten Contenders:
You can vote by commenting on Monday’s post. I will select the winner randomly on Friday morning.
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Giveaway
Tags: Blogaversary, Scavenger Hunt
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 06:48 AM
Welcome to Trade-Up Tuesday! Every Tuesday, I blog about a Trade-Up I’ve made since learning about NuVal scores and I give away something for free. Today is a Special Trade-Up Tuesday because it is my Blogaversary Week! Since I’ve been blogging for one year this week, I thought I would look back at all the Trade-Up Tuesdays to see which one received the most comments. Loyal ABBG readers sure like their beans, their granola, their cereal and their peanut butter. But the Trade-Up that you were most interested in was (drum roll, please….) Snack Bars. So today, I present you with an encore Trade-Up Tuesday featuring Larabars, Luna Bars and Clif Bars.
Even before having kids, I was a big fan of snack bars. They were my Go To Snack after working out, during long work days, and most importantly, while traveling for my job. Now, as a busy Mom, they still are a constant companion. When I am without my Mommy Snack, I’m too tempted to grab a handful of Goldfish or Scrabble Cheeze-Its, which definitely are not as satisfying.
So how do Snack Bars score on the NuVal scale? They range from a low of 2 (ouch!) to a high of 57. The average score for Snack Bars is a 20. So the Snack Bars that I have chosen for today’s giveaway all score above average.
- LaraBar Chocolate Coconut Chew: 28
- LaraBar Apple Pie: 57
- LaraBar Cashew Cookie: 32
- LaraBar Peanut Butter Cookie: 29
- Clif Bar Oatmeal Raisin Walnut: 29
- Clif Bar Crunchy Peanut: 25
- Clif Chocolate Fudge Energy: 25
- Luna Bar Iced Oatmeal Raisin: 27
- Luna Bar Peanut Butter Cookie: 27
- Luna Bar Smores: 26
To enter Today’s Giveaway:
One lucky commenter will win all of these Snack Bars plus a NuVal t-shirt. All you need to do is leave a comment below telling me a Trade Up you’ve made over the last year. Simple! I will choose one winner at random at 7 AM EDT on Wednesday. Be sure to check back here tomorrow to see if you’ve won. Also, since this is my Blogaversary Week, there will be ANOTHER fun giveaway tomorrow, so don’t miss it!
Blogaversary Voting Giveaway:
Don’t forget to vote for your favorite post over the past year. The winner for THAT giveaway will be drawn this Friday morning. In case you missed it, I announced the Blogaversary Giveaway in yesterday’s post. Whew! All these Giveaways. I can hardly keep track!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Trade-Up Tuesday
Tags: Luna Bars, snack bars, Trade-Up Tuesday
Monday, July 19, 2010 at 06:59 AM
My Blogaversary!
This is a Big Week!!! On Friday, I will celebrate my Blogaversary. It’s hard to believe that it’s been a whole year since I started blogging, first at Nutrition By the Numbers and then later at A Better Bag of Groceries. To celebrate, I’d like to present you, oh faithful readers, with a little Giveaway.
One lucky Voter will win a NuVal t-shirt, a NuVal shopping bag and a NuVal pen.
All you need to do is leave a comment for me anytime this week voting for your favorite post from the past year. I will select one winner at random for all the votes on Friday at 7 am EDT.
Here are the Top Ten Contenders:
I can’t wait to see your the Number One Pick from ABBG Readers! Thanks for voting!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Giveaway
Tags: Blogaversary
