Wednesday, November 25, 2009 at 07:30 AM
Yesterday, I had a meeting with Caryn at NuVal. I headed into her office only to see her candy dish chock full of candy. “This is the last of my kids’ Halloween candy,” she exclaimed with glee.
I’m not quite sure how Caryn manages to sneak the candy out of the house, past her pre-teen daughter and first-grade son. It used to be so easy. When the kids were really little, I could easily dump most of their halloween stash into a big ziploc baggie the day after Halloween and bring it into work for my hungry colleagues faced with a 3 pm slump. No more. Not only do my kids seem to have a mental calculation of just exactly how many Nestle Crunch Bars and Twizzlers they got, but their loot has expanded as they’re grown and their Trick-or-Treat stamina has increased. We made it to a lot of houses this year, particularly since Halloween was on a beautiful, balmy Saturday night.
Check out my little Spider-Girl and her take!
Not surprisingly, candy does not score so well on the NuVal score. OK, that is an understatement. Candy scores abysmally low on the NuVal scale. It is hard to find any candy that scores above a 1 (remember, 100 is highest).
- Twizzlers 1
- Tootsie Roll 1
- AirHeads (one of my kids’ favorites) 1
- Heath Bar 1
- Kit Kat 2
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups 3
- Snickers 5
- Hershey’s Special Dark 6 (Woo hoo – I’m a dark chocolate fan!)
- Hershey’s Mr. Goodbar 7
So, slowly and deliberately, my kids ate their Halloween candy. My son has only 1 piece left. My daughter, who does not like chocolate, just has her chocolate left. I’ve read about different ways parents handle the tsunami of candy that enters the home on October 31. Some parents let their kids eat all they can on Halloween night and throw out the rest. Others let their children keep a certain percentage and require them to donate the rest. I must admit I did somehow manage to sneak out a portion of their candy. After that, I made them each a ziploc bag with their names on them, filled them with their candy and placed the bags on top of the refrigerator. I did not make a rule about candy-eating. I waited for them to ask when they wanted a piece. And they did – generally for “dessert” and I did require them to stop at one piece. I wanted them to learn how to live with “treats”. After all, they will grow up and live in this world where there are “treats” everywhere. I am known to say that we live in a big field with poor nutritional landmines everywhere. Think about it, we go from having Halloween candy in our offices right into the over-indulgent Holiday season. There’s a brief respite at New Year’s and then we’re right back at it with Superbowl Parties, Valentine’s Candy, Easter Candy, and all those Summer Cookouts. Before you know it, you’re back in the office staring at a big bowl of Halloween candy during your meeting. So, I believe in teaching my children how to live in that world, with some boundaries of course.
Question of the Day:
How do you keep on track with all the “treats” that surround us?
Yesterday’s Winner:
Congratulations to Carol, Commenter #4 on yesterday’s Trade-Up Tuesday. Carol has won a fabulous red colander, five boxes of Barilla Plus Pasta in various shapes, and a NuVal aluminum water bottle.
Thanks to all of you who shared your trade-up stories! Happy Thanksgiving!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Halloween
Tags: candy, chocolate, Halloween
Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 11:28 AM
Like so many of our holidays, it seems like Halloween is no longer one day. It has truly become a “Season”. In our town, we kick off with the Annual Halloween Parade, a great event that we never miss. There’s also “Wear Your Costume” days at Sports Class, Ballet, Gymnastics, and Daycare. And don’t forget the classroom party. My goal is just to get to 9 pm on Oct 31st with two children’s costumes more or less intact!
In addition to the kids’ Halloween festivities, we have my sister’s Annual Halloween party this Friday night. This is no ordinary Halloween party. My sister has some very competitive friends when it comes to costumes. And although I grumble about not having time to put together a costume for myself (note all those activities I just mentioned in the previous paragraph), my sister usually comes to my rescue with an idea for me and even some clothes. Yes, my sister had held onto that 1980′s Jane Fonda leotard that was the basis for my 80s Workout Girl costume last year. And yes, my DH is wearing his real fraternity sweatshirt from the same era, albeit inside out and stuffed a la Hans & Franz.
In an attempt to get through the Halloween Season without the dreaded weight gain (that’s what Christmas is for!), I am bringing veggies with my favorite yogurt dip to my sister’s Party for Grown-ups.
Dannon Fat Free Plain Yogurt – NuVal Score of 99
Athena Feta Cheese Crumbles – NuVal Score of 24
Fresh Chopped Dill
But back to the Kid Stuff. It was a glorious fall day for our Halloween parade.
My son had been begging me to have a Halloween party this year. However, between my trip to Denver, our downstairs bathroom completely gutted, and our front steps under significant renovation, I opted to invite just 3 close friend-families over for a “party”. Thankfully, this appeased my son.
They happily made some goodie bags.
And put on their Costumes for the first time.
I wonder what those costumes will look like by Saturday night?
As for Post-Parade snacks, I decided to go healthy (shocker!) and I took the opportunity to try Del Monte’s Arizona Chicken Chili. When we were at the American Dietetic Association Conference, Del Monte was sampling this chili just a few booths away. So when people came to see us to learn about NuVal at our booth, they were carrying these beautiful steaming bowls of a hearty yet healthy chili. Thankfully, Rob Keane, our Senior Manager of Communications, grabbed the recipe for me. You can find it here.
I bought the exact ingredients denoted in the recipe because I was curious to see how they scored.
Del Monte Fresh Cut 50% Less Salt Corn gets a NuVal score of 61
Del Monte Diced Tomatoes with Garlic & Onion gets a NuVal score of 35
That 35 is a little low for the diced tomatoes. I probably could have bought a No-Salt version and added my own onion and garlic. Next time!
The recipe called for black beans. Since NuVal is not yet on any grocery store shelves in my area (although I really wish Stop & Shop, Roche Bros, or Big Y would join us), I have to go by memory. And that is fading fast as I approach the big 4-0! So, I bought Goya Regular Black Beans at Stop & Shop for a NuVal score of 54. A better choice would have been Full Circle Organic Canned Black Beans (which I can get a Roche Bros) for a score of 82.
The boneless chicken breast in this recipe with a score of 39 is a much healthier alternative to the traditional ground chuck, which scores a 26.
I added two things to the Del Monte recipe: 1 tsp of cumin and 1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes.
We topped our chili with all the suggested garnishes, (grated Monterey Jack Cheese, diced avocado, sliced green onions) and added chopped cilantro and a dollop of non-fat Chobani Greek yogurt (NuVal score of 94) in lieu of sour cream. It was so yummy and it made great lunches during the busy week.
I don’t know about you, but I often find that I’m all “holidayed” out by the time the holiday actually gets here. We get so caught up in all the festivities, that by the time, Halloween actually arrives, I do not want to see any more orange and black for a long, long time. In the meantime, I’ll try to pick just a couple of things that I really want to do together as a family.
1) Carve our pumpkin
2) Make some pumpkin seeds
3) Watch It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, altogether, as a family (not with kids in front of TV, mom making dinner, Dad en route on train).
And what do I want to do at 9 pm on October 31st? Once my sugared up kids are in bed, I want to curl up on the couch with a big glass of red wine (or a pumpkin martini) and watch my favorite Halloween Chick Flick, Practical Magic. I have to get that guilty pleasure in. Because you know what season starts on November 1st. And it ain’t about giving thanks.
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Halloween
Tags: Del Monte chili, Halloween
