Thursday, September 23, 2010 at 07:41 AM
On top of a whole new Back-to-School Schedule this week, I also had a business trip to Chicago. Lucky Me! I love the occasional business trip. I get to escape lunch-making, laundry-doing, and homework-overseeing for a short time and pretend to be a real grown-up for a while. Not so good for my husband, who has to single-handedly juggle the schedule back at home. So, I try to make things as easy as possible for him. I make lists (sometimes even spreadsheets), I lay out clothes for everyone ahead of time, and of course, I make dinner as easy as possible for him.
For this business trip (a quick over-nighter on a Tuesday), I decided to make a baked pasta casserole for Sunday dinner with enough leftovers that my husband could easily re-heat when he got in from work and was faced with the undaunting single-parenthood for one night. I was figuring I would make one of my old tried and trusted recipes, when I found something in my recipe box that I had clipped out of Cooking Light, but I had never actually gotten around to making. And boy, I ‘m glad we tried it! It was easy and it was a huge hit!
Baked Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes, and Cheese
For exact measurements, click the link above to see the recipe on the Cooking Light site.
I used Barilla Ziti: NuVal score of 61
Cento Tomato Paste with no additives: NuVal score of 75
Del Monte Petite Diced Tomatoes: NuVal score of 77
Fresh Basil: NuVal score of 100
Onion: NuVal score of 93
Garlic: NuVal score of 91
Sorrento Part-Skim Mozzarella: NuVal score of 27
4C Grated Parmesan: NuVal score of 21
Shady Brook Farms 65% less fat Sweet Lean Italian Turkey Sausage: NuVal score of 20
Directions:
You can see the actual directions by clicking on the recipe on the Cooking Light site.
Basically, you cook the pasta and set it aside. Then, you remove the sausage from the casings and brown it with the onion and garlic. Then you add the tomato paste, salt, pepper and tomatoes.
You bring the mixture to a boil and then simmer it for 10 minutes.
Then you combine the pasta with the sausage mixture and the basil. I did this in my big metal mixing bowl.
To put the casserole together, you layer it: pasta mixture, mozzarella, Parmesan, repeat. Kind of like a lasagna. In fact, when we were having dinner, my daughter asked if it was a lasagna. The kids gobbled it up. In fact they were eating so much, my husband had to slow them down and remind them that half of it needed to remain because it was Tuesday night’s dinner too!
This recipe is moving to the front of my recipe box because I am sure to make it again very, very soon. I love pasta casseroles – especially the kind you can get a second night out of! And I love Cooking Light!
Souper Giveaway
Congratulations to Commenter #66 Lesley! You’ve won the Souper Giveaway: Bob’s Red Mill Soup that scores a 99 plus the 2 souper-cute soup bowls. Please send me an email at abetterbagofgroceries@gmail.com so that I can mail your prize to you. Thanks to everyone who offered up their ideas (and recipes) for nutritious soups!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Cooking Light
Tags: Baked Pasta with Sausage Tomatoes and Cheese, Cooking Light
Wednesday, September 22, 2010 at 05:30 AM
Welcome to Cooking with Catherine Katz, a frequent feature here on A Better Bag of Groceries. Catherine is married to Dr. David Katz, the founder of ONQI, the algorithm that fuels NuVal scores. Catherine and David have five beautiful children together.
They really could all be models, couldn’t they?
David and Catherine have also collaborated to bring Catherine’s recipes and David’s nutritional expertise together in a fabulous cookbook called The Flavor Full Diet.
I love everything I’ve made so far from this amazing cookbook! This weekend was no exception. This time, I opted for a lunch recipe. It was quick, easy and perfect for late summer/early fall.
I love recipes that only have five ingredients!
This was so easy. I was up early Sunday morning (as usual!) My body is so used to an early wake-up call, that I have a hard time sleeping in. So while the house was quiet, I made the barley. And had coffee and read the Boston Sunday Globe.
While we were at church and the first day of Church school (looong Sunday), the barley was cooling in our refrigerator. I really enjoy sitting down to a nice lunch as a family when we get home on Sunday, since we’re all off in different directions the rest of the week. Full disclosure here – the kids did not have Apple, Fennel, Walnut and Barley Salad. No, they had Annie’s Peace Pasta with Apple Slices. I made Catherine’s recipe for 2 – for my husband and me.
I added the apple. I used Honey Crisp. Yum!
Then I added the next three (or should I say the last three) ingredients. I love recipes that have only five ingredients!!
There was thinly sliced fennel, chopped walnuts, and salad dressing. So easy!
Oh, for those of you who are not quite sure what fennel looks like, it looks like this:
I admit it – I had to ask my Produce Guy! It’s been a while since I’ve bought a fennel bulb!
I tossed it altogether and served it over one of my favorite leafy greens of all time – arugula.
Not only is this a great recipe because it only has five ingredients, it’s a great recipe because they are five ingredients with incredible NuVal scores.
Barley: NuVal score of 91
Apple: NuVal score of 96
Fennel: Nuval score of 91
Walnuts: NuVal score of 82
Newman’s Own Light Italian Dressing: NuVal score of 3
Arugula: NuVal score of 82
I will definitely whip this easy recipe up again!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Cooking with Catherine Katz
Tags: arugula, barley, Catherine Katz, fennel
Tuesday, September 21, 2010 at 06:49 AM
Welcome to Trade-Up Tuesday! Everyone loves Tuesdays here at A Better Bag of Groceries, because I tell you about a Trade-Up I’ve made since learning about NuVal and I give away something for free! This week, Autumn arrives and we’ve started making soup again in our household. This week it was Lentil Soup and Venus Soup. For the most part, we make homemade soups in our household, because I’ve always thought that most store-bought soups were full of sodium and just not a good thing. However, when I started to research soups recently, I learned that there are some amazing soups to be found in the grocery store. And the leader of the pack is Bob’s Red Mill!
Bob’s Red Mill 13 Bean Soup Mix scores an amazing 99on the NuVal scale. That’s incredible!
Some other notable soups are:
- Amy’s Organics Lentil Vegetable (50% less sodium): NuVal score of 65
- Campbell’s Select Harvest Light Italian-Style Vegetable: NuVal score of 52
- Progresso Vegetable Classics Minestrone: NuVal score of 46
Soup scores really vary. They range from 1 to 99, and the average score is a 25. So, these scores of 46 and above are really great.
I did notice that one soup mix that we use in a lot of family recipes (Lipton Onion Soup & Dip Mix) only scores a 2 on the NuVal scale. Bummer. And not really much of a surprise, either.
Another interesting score that I found – Wolfgang Puck’s Organic Corn Chowder – which I saw in the “Healthy” section of one of my local grocery stores – only scores a 14 on the NuVal scale. It’s like I always say – just because it’s in the “Healthy” section, doesn’t mean it’s a “health food.”
Today’s Giveaway
One very lucky commenter is going to win this Souper Giveaway today. You’ll get the Bob’s Red Mill 13 Bean Soup Mix and those two adorable soup bowls to go with it. Isn’t that the best? All you need to do is leave a comment below, telling me what you like to put in your soup. Bonus – you can leave a second comment (and be entered twice) if you can tell me the NuVal score (or scores) for one or more of those ingredients. This Giveaway is so good, I’m going to give you all a couple of days to get your entries in. I’ll pick the winner at random on Thursday morning by 8 am. Good Luck!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Soup
Tags: Bob's Red Mill, Trade-Up Tuesday
Monday, September 20, 2010 at 06:55 AM
Eggs have gotten a lot of attention in the news lately. With all this talk about eggs, I realized that it’s a topic that I haven’t really blogged about here on A Better Bag of Groceries. That’s kind of strange, because I eat eggs almost every day.
My husband is the Egg Man (and I am the Walrus). Ouch! That was so bad. I apologize. My 7-year-old is going through a Beatles Obsession Phase and I find myself waking up in the middle of the night singing
“Love Me Do” and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”. But I digress. By calling my husband The Egg Man, I mean that he pretty much makes some eggs every morning in our house. Usually, they are scrambled, but lately our 5-year-old daughter has discovered that she likes them over-easy too. He is the Egg Man and I am not because I don’t really care for the smell of raw eggs in the morning. So glad I married the Egg Man!
Eggs are an interesting category when you look at NuVal scores. Regular ‘ole eggs score a 33 on the NuVal scale. White eggs, brown eggs, large eggs, small eggs, jumbo eggs. They all score a 33. However, once you start talking about egg substitutes, egg whites and things like Omega-3′s added to eggs, it’s a whole ‘nother story.
Check out these Eggland’s Best Eggs that I found at Big Y.
They score higher than a 33. They get a 44! That’s thanks to the Omega 3 that’s been added.
I also found this new product at Big Y.
Wow, that 81 really caught my attention.
Now you must remember, that I am not a registered dietitian. So I asked Rachel Rodek, MS, RD, LDN, CSSD and Manager of Nutrition Communications for some help in explaining it all to you.
She says, “Egg substitutes often score higher than whole eggs because they are fortified with vitamins and do not contain saturated fat. A new product out, Better N Eggs Plus, scores even higher because of the addition of health-benefiting omega-3 fatty acids. One serving of the product has 75mg of this beneficial fatty acid.” Pretty amazing!
I did go through a whole egg substitute phase of my life. And now I’ve been back to plain ‘ole eggs for the past few years. But those scores on Eggland’s Best and Bet tern Eggs are pretty compelling. I think I will have to try them out. And then I will have to get the Egg Man to cook them for me, while we sing a Beatles Song together!
Please Tell Me:
- Are you a Plain Ole Egg Person or do you go for those added Omega-3s and/or Egg Substitutes?
- What is your most favorite (or least favorite) Beatles song?
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: eggs
Tags: Better'n Eggs, Eggland's Best, eggs, The Beatles
Friday, September 17, 2010 at 08:11 AM
OK – one more Back to School post and then I’ll give this theme a rest. Promise. But I couldn’t let these two weeks pass without paying homage to the the bravest of the brave: the Moms who decide to dust off their college backpacks and head back to school after quite some time. Like my good friend, Karen.
Karen lives with her husband, Jeff in Northern New Jersey with their two awesome kids, a girl, age 11, and a boy, age 7. Karen graduated from Colby College back in 1990 and went on to work in Manhattan in the publishing industry. Soon after her daughter was born, Karen left publishing and spent some time as a stay-at-home-mom while still freelancing in editing at times. Fast-forward to today. With both kids in full-day grade school, Karen has decided to go back to school to pursue her M.Ed. in Special Education/Elementary Education. Wow! Karen is one busy Mom, but she took a few minutes out of her day to answer some questions for me:
Me: What made you decide to return to school?
Karen: I am currently in a program that will certify me to teach Kindergarten through 5th grade as well as certify me in Special Education. I have always been interested in working with children, during college I worked in a camp for severely disabled children. I returned to school part-time when both my children were in school full-day.
Me: What is different about college now than it was in the late 1980s? What is the same?
Karen: The differences: well, last semester I took a test in my pajamas at home! The technology to register, to attend class, to find out grades, it is all on-line and it is such a time saver. Oh and one word (well, maybe 2) PowerPoint! Most of my lectures are posted on line in PowerPoint. Instead of taking notes most students just print out the PowerPoint. When I gave my first presentation, my 11 year-old daughter helped me with the basics. What is the same is the course work – I still have homework and projects although I find I am much better now at studying because I only have a limited amount of time to do so.
Me: How are you juggling being a student and being a mom?
Karen: Some days are better than others! I also work part-time as a freelance editor, so it is all about priorities. The days I attend school can be a bit frazzled but I believe I am setting a good example for my children by showing them that “Moms” can go to school and an that you are never too old to be a student or a learner.
Me: What is your goal when you complete your studies?
Karen: I will be certified to teach and would like to be Special Ed teacher in a school district.
Me: Shifting gears, I know you have been a long-time ABBG reader. What do you think of NuVal?
Karen: I love NuVal. I wish we had it in my local grocery stores. When I was on vacation in New Hampshire, we saw it in Price Chopper. My children and I loved comparing the scores of products and guessing the more nutritious food.
Me: What Trade-Ups have you made since learning about NuVal?
Karen: I absolutely love Greek yogurt. I can’t go back to the other stuff. My favorite is Chobani. I have also replaced white rice with brown rice and while my family complains a bit (well, mostly my husband) I know it is a better choice for my family.
Thank you, Karen for answering all my questions. When Jeff whines complains about the brown rice that you are serving him, know that you can always serve him parboiled rice instead. It actually gets the same great NuVal score as brown rice – an 82! – but it has a consistency more like plain white rice. I wrote a post about it a long time ago and you can read it here.
Congratulations to Karen, and to all the other brave Moms out there who have made that courageous step to go back to school. We’ll be cheering you on!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: back-to-school, Chobani
Tags: back-to-school, brown rice, Chobani, parboiled rice, rice
