Wednesday, September 28, 2011 at 08:18 AM
It’s Wordless Wednesday! So, today, I take a break from writing and I listen to what you all have to say about my photos. I can’t wait! Bring on the comments, please!
Yesterday’s Winner
Congratulations to Commenter #16, Haley! (By the way, she also writes the blog, Teen On a Mission, which is all about staying healthy while in college). You’ve won the Kashi Autumn Wheat Giveaway! Please send me an email at abetterbagofgroceries@gmail.com with your mailing address so that I can ship your prize out to you. Thanks to everyone who entered!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: tomatoes, Wordless Wednesday
Tags: Wordless Wednesday
Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 07:08 AM
There’s nothing like a healthy lunch to make me feel good. That is something I’m trying hard to pass along to my kids as well.
Here’s a sneak peak inside two lunches that went out the door at our house today.
First, my son’s lunch for school.
In his Transformers lunch box, you will find:
- Ham and Cheese sandwich on Freihofer’s 100% Hearty Whole Wheat bread (NuVal score of 33 for Freihofers)
- Chobani Champions Strawberry Banana Greek yogurt (not yet scored – I am eagerly awaiting the score on this new Chobani product for kids)
- Del Monte Fresh Cut Green Beans with No Salt Added (NuVal Score: 100)
- Horizon Organic Reduced Fat Milk (NuVal Score: 55)
- One Lunch Box Note reminding my son to pay it forward
More about those Lunch Box Notes later in this post!
He also took some Chocolate Teddy Grahams (NuVal Score of 25) and a Minute Maid Fruit Falls (NuVal Score of 41) for his afternoon snack. It’s always a challenge to pack something that will sit in his warm backpack until the 2 pm snack time!
I took some extra time to pack a nice healthy lunch for myself as well.
This is actually my morning snack and lunch. I eat a lot of food!
Morning Snack
- Strawberries (NuVal Score: 100)
- Chobani Fat Free Plain Greek Yogurt (NuVal Score: 94)
Lunch
- Romaine Lettuce (NuVal Score: 100)
- Red Leaf Lettuce (NuVal Score: 100)
- Cucumber (NuVal Score: 93)
- Cocktail Tomatoes (NuVal Score: 96)
- Goya Cannellini Beans (NuVal Score: 57)
- Dressing of Olive Oil (11), Balsamic Vinaigrette, Kosher Salt and Black Pepper)
- Cedar’s Red Pepper Hummus (NuVal Score: 61)
- Central Market Toasted Whole Grain Wheat and Flax Crackers (NuVal Score: 36)
- Orange (NuVal Score: 100)
- Ghiardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips (NuVal Score: 8)
I was a little disappointed by the score on the Cannellini beans. I thought they would be higher. I’ve been spoiled by the Beans That Scored 100!
Those Central Market Toasted Whole Grain Wheat and Flax Crackers were a great find!
The average score for crackers is a 16. So a cracker that scores a 36 is great. And they taste great too! I found them on my last visit to Price Chopper.
Packing a healthy lunch is no easy task! And in my case, it takes a lot of containers. My lunch bag was bulging!
Today’s Bonus Giveaway
As you know, I usually reserve giveaways for Trade Up Tuesday, but the nice people at www.sayplease.com were kind enough to send me some Lunch Box Notes to give away after I wrote about them in Two of My Favorite Things. They sent me Volumes 1, 2, 3, and 4 of Lunch Box Love for Kids:
I love these notes! There are even some blank ones inside so that you can personalize your message. And if you are not a Mom, you could win these and give them away to a Mom that you love for Mother’s Day. Also check out their site for:
- Lunch Box Love for Girlfriends
- Lunch Box Love for People You Work With
- Lunch Box Love for Those You Appreciate
To enter, leave a comment below telling me what’s in your lunch bag today. You can enter twice by leaving a second comment with the NuVal score for something in your lunch bag. Check out the NuVal site for some sample scores. I’ll pick one winner at random by 7 am EDT Friday. Good Luck!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: bread, Chobani, Crackers, Lunch, Salad, tomatoes
Tags: bread, Chobani, Crackers, Lunch Box Love, Salad, tomatoes
Tuesday, September 1, 2009 at 12:58 PM
We had 2 vacations this summer, with 2 completely different results. Vacation #1 left us feeling bloated and exhausted. Vacation #2 left us feeling somewhat tired, but also refreshed, renewed and ready to start the new school year. Why the difference? Vacation #1 was very short, it included a theme park (Storyland) and restaurant-only dining. Vacation #2 was longer, it included beaches and hiking and we ate mostly at home.
Dictionary.com defines vacation as a period of suspension of work, study, or other activity, usually used for rest, recreation or travel. We took our Storyland trip at the very end of June, when the school year had just wrapped up. While we could have chosen to stay in a rented condominium, we chose a hotel instead. I was adamant – I did not want to make beds, I did not want to cook dinner, I did not want to do dishes. While it was nice to take a break from these chores, 3 days of restaurant and theme park food left us feeling yucky. Combined with the long theme park days and no time for exercise, my DH and I came home feeling exhausted. When you live healthy most of the time, a departure from your routine is really no vacation.
Last week, we spent 8 glorious days on Block Island, a small island located 13 miles off the Rhode Island coast. While we had been to BI previously for day trips and even overnight on friends’ boats, this was our first week-long beach house rental there. We’ve been doing the beach house thing since our children came along. Now that they are 6 and 4, we made the following observations: we had to bring less stuff (no pack & play, no diapers, no stroller), there was less laundry to do (those potty training years were no fun), there was little rest time for us since the kids do not nap anymore, and there was significantly more whining. While the kids loved boogie boarding in the surf, they did not share our penchant for hiking Rodman’s Hollow or the rocky coastline to the Old North Lighthouse. And shopping – forget about it.
But back to healthy living on vacation…
We had learned our lesson at Storyland. A happy vacation, for us, needs to include a balance of healthy eating and physical activity. My DH and I took turns going out for runs on the island’s hilly roads and I even got to a Pilates class at elevation studio. As for eating, I went into the vacation thinking we would eat 4 nights at home and 4 nights out. I brought 4 Dream Dinners, a meal preparation location of which I am a devotee. Turns out, the owner of our house was an Italian gourmet chef and the kitchen was extremely well-equipped. We also had a beautiful wrap-around deck overlooking meadows. After long days at the beach, it was more of a vacation to stay in, cook an easy meal and watch the stars with a bottle of wine. On our 8 day vacation, we ate out at a restaurant once and ordered pizza once. Everything else was home-cooked.
Groceries on an island are prohibitively expensive, so I shopped on the mainland the day before we left. Still, we did have to buy some items there since we decided to stay in and cook. I bought tomatoes (NuVal score of 96) at the Farmer’s Market for $15 – for 3 large and 3 small tomatoes. But with the island-grown lemon basil, they were worth it. No Chobani Greek yogurt at the Block Island Grocery, so I bought Fage Total 0% (NuVal score of 94) for $7. We threw some blueberries (score of 100) and blackberries (score of 91) in and it was delicious. Friends of ours were also vacationing on the island and invited us for a last night seafood grill. They served seared Tuna (score of 82), grilled shrimp (score of 75), and grilled scallops (51). I made my famous avocado salsa (avocados score an 86 and cost about $3.00 each on the island) and it was a feast to remember.
For now, the days of jetting off to a Caribbean island and sipping frozen drinks all day under a palm tree are not happening. But I think I’ve found a recipe for vacation that will get us as rested as we’re going to be at this point in our life. We’ll be back for those $15 Block Island tomatoes next year.
And here’s my Avocado Salsa recipe (really it’s from my fabulous hair stylist, Karen).
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 red peppers, finely chopped
1 small bag frozen corn
2 cans chopped black olives
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
Kosher salt & pepper to taste
1/2 tsp oregano
4 ripe avocados, chopped
Mix everything and refrigerate. Serve with blue corn chips (Garden of Eatin’ Blue Corn Chips with Salt get a 40).
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: scallops, tomatoes, vacation
Tags: avocado salsa, avocados, blackberries, blueberries, Fage yogurt, scallops, shrimp, tomatoes, tuna, vacation, whining
