Friday, December 2, 2011 at 07:27 AM
It’s that time of the year: Holiday Party Season. My husband and I are lucky to be invited to many, which means some upcoming “Sitter Nights” for our kids and some opportunities for us to hang out with grown-ups. One of the things my kids love best about “Sitter Nights” is that on these nights, they have macaroni and cheese for dinner. The boxed kind.
I guess I could make Macaroni and Cheese from scratch. And I have in the past. See this blogpost featuring the recipe for Ellie Krieger’s Macaroni and 4 Cheeses if you need proof (or a great recipe). But let’s face it. That is not happening right now. Not with all the shopping, card-writing, decorating, cookie-baking, and wrapping there is to do.
I was out at Price Chopper just before Thanksgiving and these scores for macaroni and cheese caught my eye.
Yes, that’s a 4 on the shelf tag. I was very much aware of that score, having been with NuVal for over three years now.
I was aware of this score too.
Annie’s Bunny Pasta scores a 5.
The Macaroni and Cheese that I buy for “Sitter Nights” is this one:
Kraft Whole Grain with a NuVal score of 18.
The kids really can’t tell the difference between the Whole Grain and the regular, and I like the score of 18 much better than the score of 4.
But then, while I was in the aisle, I found an even higher-scoring macaroni and cheese!
See, that is what I love about NuVal!
One might think that this box would score high too, with it’s natural packaging and all. Not really.
Let’s face it. Boxed macaroni and cheese is not a nutrition juggernaut. But you can trade up for a better box. And I always round out the meal with sliced fruit, a vegetable, and a glass of skim milk. Later, my kids snack on Orville Redenbacher popcorn (NuVal score of 91), so all is not lost. And they have a fun night and so do we.
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Macaroni and Cheese, Score Lowdown
Tags: Macaroni and Cheese
Thursday, September 16, 2010 at 08:01 AM
Today I have a Cart Confession. That’s when I ‘fess up to all of you that if you were to bump into me in the actual grocery store you would see that not everything in my cart has a NuVal score of 100. This was one of those days.
After my daughter and I went to Flint Farm on Sunday to buy everything we needed to make ratatouille, we stopped at a local grocery store to get a few items that they did not have at the farm (herbs de provence, fennel seeds). We were in one of those “organic/healthy” aisles, when my daughter spied this box. And, well, she just had to have it.
My daughter loves peace signs. She’s five. I don’t think she really knows what a peace sign means. But she loves them. I think it has something to do with the rainbow colors. In any event, she wanted that Annie’s Organic Peace Pasta. And since she had been such a good girl, helping me buy veggies at the farm, how could I not oblige.
Now, I do a lot of research with the NuVal scores, and I’ve spent time looking at macaroni and cheese scores, so I pretty much knew that the best kinds to stick with are Annie’s Whole Wheat Shells and White Cheddar (NuVal score of 21) and Kraft Whole Grain Macaroni & Cheese (NuVal score of 18). I already knew that my daughter’s Peace choice meant that I was going to be able to write a Cart Confession later in the week!
We took the box home, I looked up the score. And I was right. Annie’s Peace Pasta scores a 6. It lines right up with some cartoon-character Kraft products:
- Annie’s Peace Pasta and Parmesan: NuVal score of 6
- Kraft Scooby Doo Macaroni & Cheese: NuVal score of 5
- Kraft Spider Man Macaroni & Cheese: NuVal score of 5
Just because a product is in your supermarket’s “Organic” or “Healthy” section, does not necessarily mean it is the most nutritious. ‘Nuff said.
Question of the Day
If I were to bump into you in the grocery store, what would be your Cart Confession?
Baking Season Giveaway
I don’t know about you, but I turned on my heated seats on the way to the gym this morning! Fall is in the air and my friend Tina has a Baking Season Giveaway over on her blog today. Don’t miss it!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Cart Confessions, Macaroni and Cheese
Tags: Annie's, Macaroni and Cheese
Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at 06:55 AM
Welcome to Trade-Up Tuesday – my favorite day here on A Better Bag of Groceries! Every Tuesday I blog about a Trade-Up I’ve made since learning about NuVal and I give away something for free. It’s a lot of fun!
Today’s Trade-Up was a last-minute idea – quick and easy. One thing that I’ve learned from motherhood is that life throws you curveballs and all the planning in the world cannot guarantee sanity. So it was this weekend when we found ourselves without Internet service – for four long days!!! While my husband tried to work the problem out with Verizon customer service representatives “somewhere in Asia” (they refused to say where), I found myself unable to blog (aaaaaaaaagggggghhhhhh!!!) and unable to connect to the WiFi in my home, my neighbor’s home, or even the WiFi at our Pool Club. I had this great Trade-Up Tuesday post all planned, with a recipe and pictures, but no way to write it.
And so, I took a deep breath, scrapped the complicated recipe post, and did what any experience mother would do……I opted for macaroni and cheese. I hightailed it to Stop & Shop, roamed the aisles desperate for a new Trade Up Tuesday post, when I saw it on the shelf. Yes! I can give away macaroni and cheese!! Suddenly, my whole outlook on life changed. Woo hoo! And, I remembered that I just discovered last week that Annie’s Whole Wheat Shells and White Cheddar scores even higher than the mac & cheese I’ve been giving my kids for the past year. That’s right, the Annie’s Whole Wheat Shells and White Cheddar scores a 21. Now the key is that you have to buy the WHOLE WHEAT Annie’s. Not the regular kind.
Check out these scores:
Annie’s HomeGrown Cheddar Cheese Regular Macaroni and Cheese: 5
Annie’s HomeGrown White Cheddar Shell Macaroni and Cheese: 5
Annie’s HomeGrown Whole Wheat Shell Macaroni and Cheese: 21
See what I mean? You have to buy the Whole Wheat kind. My kids usually get Kraft Whole Grain Elbow Macaroni and Cheese, which scores an 18. But last week, they did agree to putting some of Annie’s in the basket instead.
So, with this whole new quick and easy plan, I zipped over to Borders. Can I just say that I Heart Borders?? I really do. I took this lovely photo right outside the cafe door:
found a seat inside at a cool and quiet table near a power source and was soon, blissfully connected!
My Border's Office
I whipped out this quick and easy Trade-Up Tuesday blog post for all of you. Disaster averted! You didn’t arrive here today to see yesterday’s post still sitting here. Whew!
Can I just say that I loved blogging from Border’s? The smell of the coffee, no one yelling “Mom!!”, good people watching. This might become a regular thing!
Now, full disclosure here, my kids haven’t actually tried this Annie’s Whole Wheat Mac & Cheese yet. (Hey! There’s only so much a Mommy Blogger can do in a day!) No, they were happily (I hope) munching on one of my homemade dinner recipes with my husband while I blogged from Borders. But we will. And the winner of today’s giveaway can give us a review as well!
Today’s Giveway
Leave a comment below telling me the dinner or food you turn to when all plans get turned upside down (hint: it’s OK to say takeout!) You can enter twice if you know (0r can find) the NuVal score for that food. I will randomly choose a winner at 7 AM EDT on Wednesday (I hope – let’s see if we can get this Internet problem figured out!) or a little later if we are still not connected. Good Luck!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Macaroni and Cheese, Trade-Up Tuesday
Tags: Macaroni and Cheese, Trade-Up Tuesday
Monday, June 14, 2010 at 07:09 AM
Monday is just the perfect day for a Confession, isn’t it? Let’s face it – none of us are perfect on the weekend. There’s always something that we put into our body or into our shopping cart that we’re a little ashamed of. For me, it was Apple Jacks this weekend. However, with all of the Toy Story Hype that is going on right now, I’m actually pretty proud of myself for coming home with only one Toy Story product in my shopping bag.
Let me explain…
In our house, Toy Story is big. Not just big, it is HUGE. My son has been a Toy Story fanatic for several years. Hands down, it is his favorite movie of all time. When he was four, he was Woody for Halloween.
And then, the next year he was Buzz…
My daughter joined in on the Toy Story craze, too. She was Little Bo Peep (one of the Toys from the movie) for Halloween that year.
In case you don’t know, Toy Story 3 comes out in movie theaters this Friday. My kids have been talking about June 18, 2010 for about a year now.
According to the Boston Globe, Walt Disney Co. expects to sell $2.4 billion in merchandise related to the movie. Well, of course, Walt Disney is off to a running start, even before the movie is released. We saw a lot of Woody and Buzz in the stores this weekend.
My daughter first spied the Toy Story gang on this Fruit Crisps display at Stop & Shop.
Then, we found them on “fruit flavored snacks,” one of the foods expressly prohibited by our pediatric dentist.
And what children’s character doesn’t make it to the front of the Kraft Macaroni and Cheese box? Kraft Mac and Cheese is to kids’ characters just as Wheaties is to Olympic athletes.
Woody even made it onto Edy’s ice cream.
In fact, our Target Flyer advertised a whole array of Toy Story Food products.
Of course, it’s not just food that Walt Disney is hoping to sell by pasting these favorite characters on the packaging. At Kohl’s we saw Toy Story 3 shoes:
And back at Stop & Shop, the Toy Story characters adorned bottles of kids’ shampoo and conditioner:
Let me just point out that the shampoo without Toy Story characters on the label had more ounces in the bottle and cost 70 cents less.
So, yes, some Toy Story Apple Jacks did make their way into our shopping cart this weekend. What’s the NuVal score? It’s a 24. The average score for cold cereal is a 27, so it’s below average. I guess it could have been worse. The Toy Story Kraft Macaroni and Cheese gets a 5 on the NuVal scale.
How did I get away with only one Toy Story product in my cart? Well, all of a sudden, my son is done with Toy Story. He even talked about donating his Toy Story toys this weekend. He has moved on to Star Wars, big time. He still wants to see the movie, but that’s about it. He told me that he is just too big (I’m almost 7, Mom!) as he surfed youtube for Beatles videos, rattled off facts about the Presidents, and read about the Celtics in the Sports section of the Globe. I guess it’s fitting that in the new movie coming out this weekend, Andy goes to college and his toys get shipped off to a daycare. I get misty just thinking about it!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Cart Confessions, Macaroni and Cheese
Tags: Apple Jacks, Macaroni and Cheese
Wednesday, January 6, 2010 at 07:32 AM
Last week, while the kids were out of school for Christmas Vacation, I packed them up, picked up my mother, and we drove over the river and through the woods (literally) of Rhode Island and Connecticut to visit my Great Aunt Ruth. After a lovely visit with our favorite Aunt, we decided to stop by Price Chopper in Putnam, CT on the way home. I’m so glad we did.
My mother has heard a lot about NuVal and is a regular A Better Bag of Groceries reader, but this was her first experience seeing it live on the grocery store shelf.
My mom loved seeing all the scores. She kept saying, “We need this in a grocery store near us. We SO need this in a grocery store near us.”
This was my 6-year-old son’s second visit to a Price Chopper store. It was amazing to see him now that he had a little NuVal experience under his belt. He knew just how to look for the scores.
This Rice A Roni whole grain rice mix, which scores a 23, was a huge improvement over the kind we used to buy. You can see my daughter jumping up and down with excitement behind the box.
The rice mix we used to buy, Knorr Rice Pilaf , only scores a 3. We stopped buying that kind when we found out that little fun fact. You can read more about my Mommy Guilt over that one here.
My son now thinks of himself as a NuVal Pro. He loved showing off his NuVal prowess to his little sister.
He takes the Big Brother role very seriously. Here he’s showing his little sister how the Whole Grain Macaroni & Cheese gets a better score than SpongeBob Macaroni & Cheese. Remember that post? The Annie’s Macaroni & Cheese that we found did not score so well.
No, you do not need glasses. That is a 2.
My son loved showing Grandma how NuVal works.
My mom quickly got the hang of it. She had fun finding new, interesting products to try. Here she found a green olive tapenade with a good score.
That’s when I heard her say it again, “We SO need NuVal in a store near us!”
Every time I go to a Price Chopper, I find new things to try. There are so many products out there, but the scores shed new light on products that I would normally overlook. For example, on this trip, I found a very high-scoring canned tuna.
I had no idea there was lower sodium tuna. As a busy mom, shopping with 2 kids in tow, I rarely have time to explore new products. Normally, I would just buy the same old, same old – like this albacore tuna in water.
Now I know that I can get tuna that scores an 81 instead of the kind I used to buy (which scores a 55). I made a nice little tuna salad and served it on whole wheat toast. Yum!
It was bitter cold in Connecticut on the day of our trip and I was crazing something warm. Usually, I steer away from canned soups because of the sodium content. However, with all the scores on the shelf, I found a couple of higher-scoring soups that I took home to try.
It was so cool to show my kids the scores on a Trade-Up we’ve made in our household. We used to buy Capri Sun Roarin’ Waters for school snacks. They travel well in backpacks. However, they only get a score of 10!
Sorry my picture is so blurry! It’s tough taking pictures in grocery stores!
I remember I was in a Meijer store out in Michigan on a business trip when I found Minute Maid Fruit Falls with a score of 41. I wanted to pack it up in my suitcase and bring it home!
That is a 41, by the way. It looks like the folks at Price Chopper just had a little print alignment problem.
After quite some time in the grocery department, we finally ventured over to Produce.
“Wow!” my mom said, ogling all the scores of 99 and 100. “NuVal sure helps you to put nutrition into perspective.” Yup, that’s why I call them “Incredible Vegetables.”
So, we finally hit the checkout, with about 15 new products to try in my basket.
We climbed into the car, settled the kids in with water (NuVal score of 0) and chocolate Teddy Grahams (NuVal score of 25), and opened up our newly acquired Kashi Dark Mocha Almond TLC Bars (NuVal score of 27). After our busy and cold day, I still had 2 tasks ahead of me:
- Drive home
- Help my dad set up his new Ipod
Hmmmm. Teaching my mom and kids how to use NuVal to choose nutritious foods in the grocery store: Easy. Teaching my dad how to set up and use his new Ipod: Not so easy!
Winner of the Granola Challenge GiveAway
Congratulations to Commenter #14, Crystal! She correctly rank-ordered the three granola products.
Bear Naked Fit Triple Berry Crunch gets an amazing score of 91
Bear Naked Peak Protein comes in at a 45 (wow, big difference!)
Kashi Mountain Medley Granola gets the lowest score with a 31
Crystal will be receiving a great granola care package in the mail. Thanks for all the great guesses.
Question of the Day
If you could have NuVal scores in only one aisle of your grocery store, what would it be?
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Macaroni and Cheese, Price Chopper
Tags: Macaroni and Cheese, Price Chopper, rice, tuna
