Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 08:10 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. It’s a great day.
Since last Tuesday, autumn officially arrived. Although we’ve been stuck in a patch of incredibly warm and humid weather here in New England, we took some time over the weekend to do a little fall decorating. I love fall and I just could not wait!
So, today, I wanted to give away something that was truly autumnal. Kashi’s Autumn Wheat seemed like a great choice. I know that it is a huge hit among Kashi fans. It scores a 40 on the NuVal scale. That’s a great score for cereal because the average NuVal score for all cereals is only a 27. So, if you choose Kashi Autumn Wheat, you are choosing a cereal that is above average. Plus, you’ll feel all autumny.
Today’s Giveaway
One lucky reader will win both boxes of Kashi’s Autumn Wheat cereal. All you need to do is leave a comment below telling me what you love best about the fall season. I can’t wait to see what you all have to say! I’ll select one winner at random at 8 am Eastern Time on Wednesday. Good luck!
Yesterday’s Winner
Congratulations to Commenter #13, Dana! You’ve won the Lunchbox Love notes! Lucky you! Please send me an email at abetterbagofgroceries@gmail.com with your mailing address so that I can mail them out to you. Thanks to everyone who entered.
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Kashi, Trade-Up Tuesday
Tags: Giveaway, Kashi, Kashi Autumn Wheat
Tuesday, March 1, 2011 at 07:03 AM
Welcome to Trade Up Tuesday, a favorite day here at A Better Bag of Groceries because I blog about Trade Ups I’ve made since learning about NuVal scores and I give away something for free. Today, I’m hosting a Kashi Snack Giveaway.
Kashi is a brand that is well-known for nutrition, so it seemed fitting to host this Kashi giveaway on the first day of March, which by the way, is National Nutrition Month.
Now, while I do love many Kashi products, I am not saying that they are all nutritional juggernauts. I’ve blogged about this topic in the past. Take cold cereal, for example. You could buy Kashi 7 Whole Grain Puffs (NuVal score of 91) or Kashi Strawberry Fields (NuVal score of 11). Just because Kashi is on the label, does not automatically mean that it gets a super-high score. But Kashi does make some products that score well, and for this giveaway, I thought I would highlight some high-scoring Kashi snacks.
Cookies: Kashi Oatmeal Raisin Flax are a cookie that we talk about at the NuVal office a lot. Why? Because it is the highest cookie we’ve scored to date. They get a 40 on the NuVal scale. That’s amazing when you consider that the average cookie scores a 7. And they are tasty.
Crackers: Speaking of “tasty”, Kashi’s TLC (Tasty Little Crackers) Original 7 Grain are also part of this giveaway because they score very well in their category. Coming in with a NuVal score of 26, they are well above the average score for crackers (a 17). While these make a great snack, they also come in handy when used in lieu of bread crumbs (crushed up, of course).
Snack Bars: The average NuVal score for all snack bars is a 21, so these Kashi Chewy Granola Bars Honey Almond Flax score very well. They get a 40! Another win.
To Enter:
All you need to do is leave a comment below telling me one of the following:
- your favorite Kashi product
or
- a goal that you have for National Nutrition Month
I’ll choose one winner at random on Wednesday at 8 am Eastern Time. So don’t delay. Good luck everyone!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Kashi, Trade-Up Tuesday
Tags: Kashi, Trade-Up Tuesday
Wednesday, November 3, 2010 at 08:14 AM
One of the best things about my job with NuVal is that I have had the chance to meet with and to work with many of the women who have been awarded the coveted title of Women of Influence in the Food Industry. As I was searching through the past winners from 2006, 2008, and 2009, I discovered that my boss was awarded this honor in 2007. Wow!
Last week, we had the honor of meeting with a very accomplished woman who is also a past winner of the Women of Influence title to discuss the possibility of NuVal within her organization. During our meeting, she stopped the discussion to ask about the scores for Kashi frozen dinners. Turns out – she had recently purchased some – she is a busy Mom, after all – and she was very curious about their scores.
Now, before I reveal these Kashi frozen dinner scores, it is important that you know a little bit about frozen dinners and how they score on the NuVal scale. The scores for frozen dinners really range – from a 2 to an 81. The average score of a frozen dinner is a 20. That being said, there are some Kashi frozen dinners that score well and some that score kind-of-average.
Here are the highest scoring Kashi frozen dinners I could find:
Kashi Black Bean Mango, NuVal Score of 34
Kashi Mayan Harvest Bake, NuVal Score of 36
Kashi Tuscan Veggie Bake, NuVal Score of 40
And the highest-scoring Kashi frozen dinner of all (drum roll, please) is Kashi Pesto Pasta Primavera, with a NuVal Score of 44.
So, those are the highest scoring Kashi frozen dinners. As I mentioned above, there are also some Kashi frozen dinners that score sort of ho-hum. Among them are:
Kashi Lemongrass Coconut Chicken with Broccoli, NuVal Score of 27
Kashi Sweet and Sour Chicken, NuVal Score of 27
and Kashi Chicken Florentine, NuVal Score of 26
Those scores hover awfully close to the average frozen dinner score of 20.
Remember I said that frozen dinner scores range all the way from a 2 to an 81? Well, I can imagine that this potential client, who was curious about Kashi frozen dinner scores, would also be curious about the low and high scores in the range. So here’s a sample of the highest and lowest scoring frozen dinners in the category:
High Scoring
- Earth’s Best Elmo’s Pasta and Sauce With Carrots and Broccoli: NuVal Score of 81
- Helen’s Kitchen Meat-Free Chicken Tofu Steaks: NuVal Score of 66
- Tai Pei Frozen Shrimp and Vegetable in Garlic Sauce: NuVal score of 66
- Amy’s Brown Rice and Vegetable Bowl: NuVal Score of 50
A lot of times we think that the brand we associate with “Healthy” (like Kashi) will be the Highest Scoring, but sometimes there are lesser-known brands that take the prize!
Low Scoring
- Midwest Country Fare Chow Mein Noodles: NuVal Score of 2
- Budget Gourmet Classics Rigatoni in Sauce with Broccoli and White Chicken: NuVal Score of 3
- Boston Market Salisbury Steak Two Patties: NuVal Score of 4
- Bertolli Four Cheese Ravioli in Tomato Basil Sauce: NuVal Score of 4
Oooooof! Those low scores were no surprise, although the last one sounds kind of yummy.
Question of the Day
Do you buy frozen dinners? If so, what kind?
Yesterday’s Winner
Congratulations to Commenter #69 Stacie, author of the blog Imperfectly Healthy. You’ve won the Nutrition Bar Giveaway! Please send me an email at abetterbagofgroceries@gmail.com with your mailing address so that I can send your prize out to you. Thank you to everyone who entered!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: frozen dinners, Kashi
Tags: frozen dinners, Kashi
Tuesday, September 28, 2010 at 06:56 AM
Welcome to Trade-Up Tuesday! I make the second work day of each week a bit more bearable by hosting a fun giveaway and one lucky commenter gets to try a new product with great NuVal scores. This week, in honor of it being the first full week of Autumn, I thought it was only appropriate that we kick things off with Kashi Autumn Wheat.
Yes, Fall really is here! There are leaves all over my backyard already. My neighbors have pumpkins on their doorsteps. My kids have narrowed down their Halloween costume choices (I think we have one SuperGirl and one Obi-Wan Kenobi). Autumn is indeed in the air, so this week, the giveaway is Kashi Autumn Wheat which scores a 40 on the NuVal scale. That is a great cereal score when you consider that the average score for cereals is a 27. So, Autumn Wheat fans (and I know there are many out there) should feel good about their choice!
However, I could not host a Kashi giveaway without throwing in the Rock Star of Kashi products, Kashi 7 Whole Grain Puffs. They score a 91 on the NuVal scale. Whoa!!!!! That’s like Post Shredded Wheat. Maybe the winner of this giveaway could alternate: eat Autumn Wheat one day, eat 7 Whole Grain Puffs the next. Or eat Autumn Wheat on the days when the temperatures are feeling like Fall, eat 7 Whole Grain Puffs on those days when it still feels like summer. Oh, the possibilities are endless!
In any event, it’s a great giveaway. So, here’s how to enter…
To Enter
Just leave a comment below telling me your favorite Kashi cereal. You can leave an extra comment (and be entered twice) if you know the NuVal score for that cereal. I will randomly choose the winner at 8 am Eastern Time on Wednesday, so don’t delay! Good Luck!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Kashi, Trade-Up Tuesday
Tags: Kashi
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 at 06:57 AM
Welcome to Trade-Up Tuesday! Every Tuesday, I tell you about a Trade-Up I’ve made since learning about NuVal and I give away something for free. Today, it’s all about Kashi TLC.
Kashi, a company that is associated with health and nutritional foods, has some very high-scoring products and some very low-scoring products. I’ve blogged about Kashi before, most notably in my Adult Rated Cereal post, where I point out that there are Kashi cereals that score a 91 and then there is one that scores an 11. My point is that just because the name Kashi is on the label does not mean that it is a nutritional juggernaut. However, the three products that you see in this photo all have great scores in their categories.
Let’s look at them one by one.
Kashi Organic 7 Grain Tasty Little Crackers score a 27 on the NuVal scale. When you consider that the average score for crackers is a 16, that is a great score. Compare it to Keebler Wheatables with a score of 5, and it is a fantastic score.
Kashi Oatmeal Rasin Flax Tasty Little Cookies score a 40 on the NuVal scale. Compare that to the average score for cookies (a 7), and it is super. Compare it to Archway Classic Oatmeal cookies with a NuVal score of 3, and it is Super-Duper.
Kashi Tasty Little Chewies All Natural Granola Bars, Trail Mix score a 33 on the NuVal scale. The average score for Snack Bars and Granola Bars is a 20, so the Kashi TLC do pretty good, right? You might think that the Cascadian Farm Fruit and Nut Chewy Bars would score better than average too. Well, they don’t. They only get a 14.
So, all three of these Kashi TLC products are superstars in their respective categories. This summer, I am challenging Moms out there to see if you can get your kids to trade up. Instead of packing Wheatables for the beach, try some of the TLC crackers. Send your child to camp with a TLC granola bar instead of one of the “kid” brands. And serve some Kashi TLC cookies along with a cool beverage at your child’s lemonade stand. You will feel good knowing your kids are getting better nutrition.
Today’s Giveaway
One lucky reader will win all three Kashi TLC products. Just leave a comment below telling me your favorite Kashi product. Leave a second comment with the score of that product and you will be entered twice. You can search this blog, tradingupdowntown or the NuVal website for some sample scores. I will choose one winner at random at 7 am Eastern Time on Wednesday. Good Luck!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Kashi, Trade-Up Tuesday
Tags: Kashi, Kashi TLC
