Welcome! I am a mom of a busy 8 year old and an adventurous 6 year old. I also happen to work for a great company called NuVal. NuVal is a nutritional scoring system that rates foods on a scale of 1-100, based on how nutritious they are. We are implementing NuVal in grocery stores around the country.
NuVal may not be in your area yet. But I see the scores while they are "hot off the press" and because of that I am able to make better decisions about what to feed my family.
I am not a registered dietitian. I am just a mom who happens to work for NuVal. I am also an AFAA-certified Group Exercise Instructor. NuVal is a system designed to lead customers to the most nutritious food choices. It is not a diet or weight-loss plan. Before starting a diet, you should always consult your personal physician. The opinions expressed in this blog are the opinions of the writer and not the opinions of NuVal LLC.
In the winter, I love a hot lunch. So, on the weekend, I try to make a soup that I can take to work to reheat for warm lunches. But, there’s not always time for that – especially at this time of the year! We spent the weekend putting up the tree, decorating, and shuttling the kids to basketball, karate, dance, church school and a birthday party. And we went to a cookie swap. No soup for us! So, I like to have some cans of higher-scoring soups in my cupboard for times like these.
So, I recently tried out some of Amy’s Soups. They get two thumbs up!
The Lentil Soup, while not as tasty as the homemade version that I make often, is still very, very close and it scores a 48 on the NuVal scale.
So, let’s put that 48 into perspective, shall we? Soup scores range from 1 – 99 and the average score is a 25. So a 48 is well above average.
Here’s how some of my other favorite Amy’s Soups score:
Amy’s Organic Lentil Vegetable 50% Less Sodium: 65
Amy’s Organic Chili Low Fat Black Bean Medium: 62
Amy’s Pasta and 3 Bean Organic Soup: 48
Amy’s Butternut Squash 50% Less Sodium: 44
Amy’s Low Fat Minestrone: 44
Not too shabby! In case you’re wondering which soup scores a 99 – it’s not an Amy’s brand – it’s Bob’s Red Mill. It does get an amazing score, but it’s a lot more work. It’s really more like a bag of beans.
I have this NuVal Score Curiosity (and I think that many of my faithful readers do as well) that just doesn’t go away. If Bob’s Red Mill Soup gets a 99 (but it’s really more like beans in a bag), and Amy’s Soups top out at a 65, what canned soups score say between 65 and 99? Can you guess?
I will fill you in. Health ValleySoups with No Salt Added. For example, the Health Valley Organic Lentil Soup No Salt Added Scores an 87.
Wow, much higher than the Amy’s. But here is the burning question: Will you add salt? I saved myself the trouble of actually taste testing and read this review of Amy’s vs. Health Valley on MissyMaintains.com. And Missy says that Health Valley is pretty bland. I have tried them all and I can tell you that Amy’s is not bland at all. So, I think sometimes, it’s worth taking a little hit in the score for the sake of better taste!
Kaitlyn Hebert, the newest member of the NuVal team, has already earned her own little recipe corner here on A Better Bag of Groceries!
Kaitlyn (3rd from left) with Dad, Mom and Sis at Cashel Castle in Ireland
That is pretty impressive, considering that she is in the company of Catherine Katz and Rachel Rodek, both gurus when it comes to nutritious cuisine. Kaitlyn is just out of college and she is working hard in her first job, but on the weekends, she unwinds in her kitchen by working up new, creative recipes. Kaitlyn and I talk food in the office and believe me, this girl has a passion for all things culinary.
So, without further ado, I bring you Kaitlyn!
My recent trip to Ireland inspired my next recipe for all you Nuval lovers! I was a bit weary trying some of the foods in Ireland since the reviews from my sister who is currently studying there has been sub par. I quickly put all those reviews behind me and realized I enjoyed all Ireland had to offer, well besides the blood sausage that is! One dish I constantly ordered was the soup, not only because it was made from local and fresh produce, but it was a quick was to take the chill off from the wet and dreary weather there.
Once I came back to reality and back to the US I knew that I was in need for a satisfying and fresh soup recipe. I decided to make a roasted root vegetable soup with my own twist on things! Many of the soups I had over there were quite heavy from the butter and cream they had incorporated into the vegetables. However, with my newfound knowledge of NuVal, I came up with a hearty soup without the naughty thickening agents. Here is a list of items you will need…
4 large carrots (NuVal Score 99)
4 large parsnips (NuVal Score 94)
1 medium yellow onion (NuVal Score 93)
½ peeled and cleaned butternut squash (NuVal Score 100)
1 large fennel (TIP: Save the tops of the fennel to garnish your soup with!) (NuVal Score 91)
3 large cloves of garlic (NuVal Score 91)
4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme (NuVal Score 91)
2lb container of Low Sodium Vegetable or Chicken Stock (TIP: By using low sodium broths you can control that amount of salt that is in your foods!)
¼ cup of Parmesan cheese (Look for a part skim Parmesan at your local grocery store)
½ tablespoon crushed red pepper
4 tablespoons of Olive Oil (NuVal score 11)
Preheat your oven to 425 while you prep your vegetables. I cut all the vegetables into similar sized chunks. Place on a large baking sheet and cover vegetables with four to five tablespoons of olive oil. This will help caramelized the vegetables and enhance the flavors. Next, sprinkle the vegetables with salt and pepper. Be aware of how much salt you add, even though I recommend sodium free stock there is still a salty bite from the cheese that will be incorporated later in the recipe. This is the time to add the thyme to your veggie before they enter the oven for 25-30 minutes. Halfway between the roasting time I like to toss the vegetables so all corners get nice and crispy.
Once the vegetables have come out of the oven and cooled it is time for them to head to the blender. I added about a cup of vegetables at a time and added enough stock to get the puree going. The blender was on high level on a pulse mode.
After you have pureed the vegetables add the mixture to a large pot that is on simmer. Continue the process until you have gone through all your vegetables. The outcome will be a beautiful orange color soup that is thick and creamy. No need for all that cream and butter! I have a few more ingredients that will enhance the flavors of the yummy veggies. Add a half a tablespoon of crushed red pepper that will give your mouth a little kick while eating a big bowl of this soup. Also, add ¼ a cup of parmesan cheese to the mixture which adds a nutty and salty flavor to the soup. Give the pot a few stirs and let it simmer for a half hour.
I like a bit of texture to my foods which is why I made some delicious homemade whole grain croutons to top off my soup. Here is how I did it…
I kept the oven on 425 after taking my veggies out from roasting. I took a small cookie sheet and cut up four or five slices of five grain whole grain bread. I sprayed the cubes with Pam cooking spray, a dash of salt, pepper, and Parmesan if I have some handy. Bake for about 5 minutes then give the croutons a good toss. Turn the oven onto broil and put the croutons back in the oven for another 2 minutes or so. Be sure to keep your eye on the croutons so they do not burn!
Now it is time to grab yourself a big bowl and a spoon! I like to garnish my soup with a handful of the croutons, a dollop of non-fat plain Greek yogurt (I prefer Chobani Non-Fat Plain NuVal Score 94), crack pepper, and a few sprigs of fennel tops. Your bowl will look gourmet but it will be hard for you not to dig in right away! The smell and taste of that bowl will bring you back to fall in New England, but for me, it will remind me of my wonderful travels in Ireland.
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!
Remember my friend Heather and her amazing marinara sauce? The recipe calls for some blending and Heather says that a stick blender works the best. Heather is a fabulous cook and I knew that her advice was something to take seriously. So, I headed to Kohl’s and dropped $50 on a Cuisinart SmartStick hand blender. And I am so glad I did! It is the coolest thing ever. I’m just looking around for things to blend. And that is how I came to be making carrot soup…
Easter is fast approaching and we are hosting my mother-in-law, sister-in-law and brother-in-law who will all be in from out-of-town. I’m starting to think about the menu and I thought it would be very Easter-y to start with a Carrot Soup. And truth be told – I was excited about the thought of blending up some carrots with my new SmartStick!
I hunted around for some recipes and found this one on the Dr. Oz site. It is sooooooooo healthy. It’s hard to believe that there is no cream in this soup. So what’s the secret ingredient? Rolled oats! And the stick blender does make the consistency simply dreamy. Check out my SmartStick in action.
1 large onion cut into medium dice (NuVal score: 93)
1/2 tsp sea salt (NuVal score: 1)
2 lbs carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch rounds (NuVal score: 99)
5 cups of vegetable stock (NuVal score for Swanson 100% Fat Free: 5)
1/4 cup rolled oats (NuVal score for Quaker Rolled Oats: 57)
1 1/2 tsp ginger juice
1 tsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Garnish with 2 tsp dill and dollop of plain yogurt (NuVal score for Chobani non-fat plain Greek: 94)
In a medium-sized pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and salt. Sweat until onions are soft (about 5-8 minutes). Stir often to prevent browning. Add stock and oats to pot. Raise the heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 25 minutes until carrots are tender. Pour contents of the pot into a blender. Blend the soup until creamy. Add additional stock to desired consistency. Add lemon and ginger juice. Readjust seasonings. Garnish with a dollop of yogurt and dill and serve.
This soup is delicious! It’s perfect for early Spring when it’s still cool enough to crave warm, filling foods, yet you also want something fresh and flavorful to awaken your senses. My daughter ate the whole bowl. My son tolerated it (that’s good!) and said that it “surprised his tummy.” My husband and I devoured ours and my mother enjoyed it for lunch the next day when she came over to babysit. It’s a keeper!
So, now, I want to blend more things! Asparagus soup, anyone?
Question of the Day
What should I make next with my SmartStick blender?
My friend and co-worker, Tina, who also has a NuVal blog, focuses on how to eat healthy on a budget. Today, I’m taking a page from her book. When I am feeling the need to keep a close eye on our family budget, I look for meals that stretch, without compromising on nutrition. One of the best ways I know how to do that is to make a roast chicken, and follow it up with my famous chicken soup.
For this project, I bought a 7.5 pound roast chicken and planned to make it on a Sunday. You don’t really need such a big chicken, but my grocery store had their store brand whole chickens on sale for 99 cents a pound. No need to splurge for the $12 Perdue Oven Stuffer Roaster. The store brand will definitely do.
I like to make roast chicken using a Reynold’s Oven Bag. My mom introduced me to these many years ago. They are great for whole chicken, turkey, or roasts. If you are afraid of roasting something for fear that it will dry out, try out these oven bags. They are fool-proof. While I needed a 2 hour window for roasting, once it is in the bag and in the oven, I’m free to do other things. There are so many things you can do with roast chicken. One of my favorite Martha Stewart recipes calls for placing a lemon and sprigs of thyme right inside the cavity. On this particular Sunday, however, we were cleaning out the kids rooms and the downstairs hall closet, so I kept things really simple. I removed the giblets from the chicken, rinsed it, and patted it dry. I brushed it with a very light layer of canola oil and sprinkled it with black pepper, thyme and paprika. I prepared the oven bag with 1 Tablespoon of flour and put the chicken in. I closed it with the little tie that comes with the oven bags and put it in the oven. Done!
Growing up, my mom always put vegetables right in the oven bag with the chicken. And I’ve done that too: potatoes, parsnips and carrots. The downside to that, however, is that the vegetables absorb a lot of the chicken fat. So this time, I made my vegetables separately. My kids don’t like potatoes (weird, I know), so I reheated some while parboiled rice (NuVal score of 82) for them and made a Dream Dinner side of roasted baby potatoes for us (they go right out of the bag on to a cookie sheet and are done in 25 minutes). I also made a nice pot of steamed carrots (NuVal score of 99). Dinner #1, Done!
Now, here comes the more labor-intense part. The real reason I like to make a roast chicken is so that I can use it to make my Famous Chicken Soup. Well, it’s not really famous, but my mother did tell me once that she thinks that I make better chicken soup than she does – so that’s famous to me! My chicken soup is part Italian (with escarole) and part Jewish (with Matzoh balls).
First, I take whatever is left of the chicken, and put it in my big soup pot, cover it with water, add 2 chopped onions, black pepper and a lot of dried parsley.
I bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat to simmer – for about an hour (usually while we clean up the kitchen from dinner and get the kids ready for bed). Then, I turn the heat off and let it cool. While it is cooling, I take out all the chicken parts, meat and bones with a slotted spoon. I let the chicken cool on a plate.
Next comes the Not Fun part. You need to pick the chicken off the bones. However, because you’ve simmered it, it comes off easily and you can discard all the pieces that just don’t look appetizing to you. Then, I put the chicken that I want to keep back in the pot. I let the pot cool while we watch whatever has arrived from Netflix. Before we head to bed, my husband’s job is to take the pot down and put it in our extra fridge that we have in the basement.
The next day, I pull out the cold pot. The cool thing is that all the fat is now on top and I can easily skim it off.
Sorry for the unappetizing photo, but I needed to show you what I mean! Once I’m skimmed off the fat, I put the pot back on the stove and bring it to a simmer. Now, here’s where the healthy part comes in. I add a lot of Incredible Vegetables:
Escarole (NuVal score of 96)
Celery (NuVal score of 96)
Carrots (NuVal score of 99)
The only downside to escarole is that it often is full of dirt. I fill my sink with water and shake all the dirt loose – at least 2 or 3 times. Then I lay it out on the counter to inspect it one last time for dirt.
Then, I chop it into coarse pieces.
I add the chopped carrots, celery and escarole to my pot. Sometimes I go overboard with the amount of vegetables I put in!
It looks more like a salad than soup! But everything shrinks down after simmering. An hour is more than enough time. It’s during this cooking that I taste and see what I need to add: usually more parsley, more black pepper and just a pinch of Kosher salt.
Finally, right before dinner time, I add my winning ingredient: Matzoh Balls. I became a fan when my husband and I lived in Newton, Massachusetts. Just outside Boston, Newton has a large Jewish community and some great restaurants. I first started loving Jewish Penicillin at Johnny’s Luncheonette. My own chicken soup has included Matzoh Balls ever since. I make then from a Manischewitz mix – so easy. Unfortunately we have not yet scored them at NuVal (although we will!) so I can’t give you the nutritional low-down. They are a great finishing touch, though. One thing to keep in mind is that the Matzoh Balls add a salty taste to the soup, so that pinch of Kosher salt that I mentioned in my last paragraph really is just a pinch! Also, roll the mix into very small balls. They really expand. OK, so it’s a little more work, but Dinner #2 – Done!
My soup could feed an army. There’s always some to send home with my Mom and Dad, some to bring for lunch and some to freeze. It’s a great way to stretch a $7 chicken!
Groundhog Day GiveAway
Congratulations to Commenter #35, Ashley of Food, Fotos and Fun. You’ve won the hot cereal round-up – just what you need to get through the last 6 weeks of winter!
The NuVal Nutritional Scoring System gives nutritional guidance to consumers frustrated with complicated nutrition labels and misleading packaging promises. Under NuVal, all foods and beverages are rated on a scale between 1 to 100. The higher the score, the higher the overall nutrition.
Awards
A Better Bag of Groceries was recently named by Medical Assistant Colleges as a Top 50 Blog for Understanding and Preventing Childhood Obesity. Hooray!
