Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 07:11 AM
Welcome to Trade-Up Tuesday! Every Tuesday, I blog about a trade-up I’ve made since I learned about the NuVal scoring system and I give away something for free. It’s a great day and lots of people tune in. Today is a special edition of Trade-Up Tuesday because I wanted to celebrate! I just discovered that this little blog is shattering its readership record! Yup, it’s true. The top number of readers ever (in a month’s time) used to be a little over 12,000. And usually, the monthly readership hovers somewhere around 11,000. Well, this month (January 1st through January 31st, 2012), we broke that record. As of yesterday, 13,991 people had read A Better Bag of Groceries in the month of January. So, thank you all for reading – and for recommending ABBG to your friends.
I’m pretty sure we’ll go over the 14,000 mark by the end of the day today. So, to celebrate, I put together some of my favorite things for today’s giveaway. They are all high-scoring foods in their categories and they are all something that I discovered thanks to NuVal.
There are LaraBars…
Kind Bars
and Chocolate Twilight Delight
LaraBars are a staple in our kitchen pantry, but just a couple of years ago, I was asking, “Lara Who?” After my co-worker Tina introduced them to me, I was hooked. And they get great NuVal scores for a snack bar. In this giveaway, there is:
- Apple Pie LaraBar: NuVal score of 53
- Pecan Pie LaraBar: NuVal score of 40
- Cashew Cookie LaraBar: NuVal score of 32
My kids now love LaraBars too – especially the Apple Pie flavor.
Kind Bars are the snack that I am most likely to grab when I am at an airport or convenience store. I like them for a quick energy boost on the go. These also get great NuVal scores.
- Kind Nut Delight Bar: NuVal score of 66
- Kind Fruit and Nut Delight Bar: NuVal score of 28
- Kind Almond and Apricot: NuVal score of 23
To put those scores into perspective for you, the average score for a snack bar is a 24. So, all of these scores are at just about average – and some are much higher.
And then, there’s my favorite food group: chocolate! I need to have a little nibble every day. I remember the day that I found these Twilight Delight bars at Price Chopper with a NuVal score of 21. I was so excited! After all, the average score of candy is a 4. Here was a dark chocolate (my favorite kind of chocolate) bar with a NuVal score of 21. I was jumping up and down with excitement.
Now to continue my blog celebration here, I threw in one of our new NuVal long-sleeved t-shirts and a NuVal water bottle.
Isn’t this a great giveaway?
Today’s Giveaway
One lucky reader will win today’s giveaway with all of the goodies included. All you need to do is leave a comment below telling me what favorite goodie you would have included if it were your giveaway. In honor of the blog record-breaking today, I’m also asking readers to “pass the blog” on to a friend, relative or neighbor who may not know about A Better Bag of Groceries or NuVal yet. It’s an honor system kind of thing, but you can let me know if you passed it along. I’ll choose one winner at random at 8 am Eastern time on Wednesday. Good Luck!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Trade-Up Tuesday
Tags: Trade-Up Tuesday
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 07:09 AM
Welcome to Trade Up Tuesday! Every Tuesday, I blog about a trade-up I’ve made since learning about NuVal and I give away something for free. This week, I was looking through my kitchen pantry and perusing what I store in there these days. I was thinking that I wanted to host a giveaway that consisted of products that are completely new to me since I learned about NuVal. I’m talking about products that I had never purchased (or even heard of) before.
- Quinoa: OK, full disclosure here. When I first came to work for NuVal in the fall of 2008, I thought that you pronounced it like it is spelled: “quin-oh-ah”. Wrong! It’s “keen-wah.” The NuVal dietitians taught me all these incredible things about quinoa. This seed is one of the few plant foods that contain all the essential amino acids, making it a complete protein. Quinoa is technically a seed not a grain! As a complete protein it is equivalent to the quality of animal protein – providing the amino acid building blocks needed to support your immune system, wound healing, tissue repair, hair growth, and building hormones. In addition to protein, Quinoa is also a good source of B vitamins and other minerals. The seed is gluten free, making it a great food for those who have celiac disease or gluten intolerance. Most quinoa is grown in South America and the Inca Indians have been eating the seed, which they call “Mother Grain”, for over 5,000 years. This Bob’s Red Mill Quinoa scores an 82 on the NuVal scale.
- Flaxseed: I had heard of flaxseed, but what I didn’t know is that you need to eat it ground in order to reap the benefits. Yup. That’s another nutrition wonder that the dietitians here at NuVal taught me. Yes, flax is very nutritious. Two tablespoons of ground flax has about 3 grams of protein, 4 grams of fiber, and 5 grams of health-benefiting unsaturated fats – most of which are omega-3’s. Your body can only get these fantastic fats from the ground form of flax. So when you see the seeds floating around on your bread or in your cereal – know you’re getting a great fiber kick, but the body simply can’t break them down to extract the omega-3 fatty acids. Also, try to avoid purchasing already-ground seeds as the fats are highly sensitive to oxygen and will go rancid quickly. The dietitians I work with suggest grinding them with a blender or coffee grinder as you go. This Bob’s Red Mill Natural Raw Whole Flaxseed scores a 91.
- Whole Wheat Pastry Flour: If you haven’t checked out my Catherine Katz recipe collection yet, you must do so. They are right up there under the recipe tab. Catherine has her own section and all of her recipes are winners. Her recipes for baked goods often call for “soft wheat flour” or “pastry flour”. This was something I could not find at my run-of-the-mill grocery store (not a NuVal-retailer, mind you). But once I found a retailer with a huge line of Bob’s Red Mill products, I found it! And now it is what I bake with all the time. I’ve replaced white flour with this whole wheat pastry flour in classic recipes, like toll house chocolate chip cookies and banana bread. And I’ve used it in new recipes, such as The Cleaner Plate Club’s Whole Grain Chocolate Chip Cookies, Runner’s World’s Sweet Potato Muffins, and Harry Potter’s Pumpkin Bread. This Bob’s Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour scores a 91 on the NuVal scale.
- Steel Cut Oats: I had made a lot of oatmeal before the Fall of 2008. And I made the real kind (in a pan, not instant). But I had no idea what Steel Cut Oatmeal was. Not a clue. Steel-cut oats are whole grain groats (the inner portion of the oat kernel) which have been cut into only two or three pieces by steel rather than being rolled. They take longer to cook and they have a different texture. I actually have made them overnight in the slow cooker. There is nothing like waking to the smell of steel cut oats wafting through your house on a cold winter’s morning. For a moment, you feel like you’ve woken up in a cozy English cottage. These Bob’s Red Mill Steel Cut Oats get a NuVal score of 58.
Today’s Giveaway
One lucky reader is going to have a great chance to stock their pantry with some fabulous high-scoring foods. All you need to do is leave a comment below telling me something that’s been new to your palate over the last year or two (or three). How did you learn about it? How do you cook it? How do you enjoy it? I’d love to hear. I’ll choose one winner at random at 8 am Eastern time on Wednesday January 25th, so don’t delay. Good Luck everyone!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Trade-Up Tuesday
Tags: Bob's Red Mill, Trade-Up Tuesday
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 07:01 AM
Welcome to Trade Up Tuesday! On the second day of the week, I blog about a trade up I’ve made since I learned about NuVal scores and I give away something for free. It’s a great day! Today, I’m talking about salad.
I’ve been eating a lot of salad these past few weeks. As I get back on track after the holidays, it just seems fitting to try and get as many high-scoring fruits and veggies into my day as I can. We always – always – have a big bowl of salad in our fridge. What don’t we have? Store-bought salad dressing.
Salad dressings that you buy (in a bottle or jar) range in NuVal score from 1 to 24. The average score is a 5. Basically, there is a lot of sodium and stuff in many of them. There are some standouts in the crowd. For example, Marie’s Blue Cheese Yogurt Dressing with No Preservatives scores a 24.
Instead of buying bottled dressing, I buy bottled oil and bottle vinegar and mix my own. I just make a basic balsamic vinaigrette. A little olive oil (NuVal score of 11), a little balsamic vinegar, a little Kosher salt and a twist or two of ground black pepper. And then, shake shake shake. Voila, dressing. I could become even more adventurous and add fresh herbs – and I’m sure I will get there – someday. In the meantime, it’s one, two, three, four. Shake, shake, shake.
I make my dressing quickly and easily – and instead focus my attention on the salad.
Yum!
Today’s Giveaway
One lucky reader will win this great little salad giveaway. Included is this fantastic airtight glass bottle that I found at Crate and Barrel. Perfect for shaking your vinaigrette. There is also Carapelli Olive Oil (NuVal score of 11) and Bertolli Balsamic Vinegar (not scored). Also included is a Salad recipe book. Sorry, the tomatoes are not included. I can’t guarantee that those would arrive on the winner’s doorstep without a big, squishy mess! All you need to do is leave a comment below telling me what you love to put in your salad. Bonus: you can enter a second time by leaving a second comment with the NuVal scores of any of those ingredients. If you don’t have NuVal scores in a grocery store near you, try searching the NuVal website or this blog or the Trading Up Downtown blog. I’ll select one winner at random at 8am Eastern time on Wednesday January 18th. Good Luck!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Salad, Trade-Up Tuesday
Tags: Salad dressing
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 07:03 AM
Welcome to Trade-Up Tuesday! Tuesdays are the most popular day on my blog, because at the end of this post, there is always a giveaway! Today, I’m thinking about the word Alternative. You know, Alternative Fuel, Alternative Music, Alternative Spring Break.
I got the idea for today’s giveaway this past weekend, during my sister’s baby shower. Yes, our baby sister is having a baby!
During the shower, we were talking about how to eat more nutritiously (of course!) – and my sister, Pilates Julie, was all excited about an Alternative she had planned.
She was having friends over for dinner. “Usually, I make risotto. But I was thinking about pearled barley as an alternative. How would that score on the NuVal scale?” she asked.
“Very high,” I told her. “I will check it out for you.” I don’t bring my laptop to baby showers, so once at home, I did check it out. Sure enough, pearled barley scores a 91. The risotto only scores a 48.
I checked back in with Pilates Julie to see how her dinner with friends went. Did her friends mind that she was serving them this nutritious pearled barley instead of the usual risotto? “Oh!” she exclaimed. “It was wonderful! I served the pearled barley as the main course. I added shrimp for protein. Everyone actually preferred it over the risotto. It was so creamy – no butter or cheese needed. We accompanied it with a crisp green salad. The perfect meal.”
What a great Alternative! I thought of some other alternatives to add to this giveaway.
My friend Heather, an amazing cook, only uses Dreamfield’s pasta now. I know many people who are hesitant to trade on up to whole wheat pastas – and I get that. The texture is almost always different. However, if you haven’t tried Dreamfield’s, you absolutely must. It scores an 87 on the NuVal scale. And it is so creamy. Try it as an alternative to regular pasta (most score about a 57). Your guests or your family will never know the difference.
Brown rice (NuVal score of 82) is an aquired taste for most people – especially children! However, did you know that parboiled rice (which looks and tastes almost like white rice) also scores an 82 on the NuVal scale. It’s a great Alternative to white rice (which scores a 57). Parboiled rice is what my kids eat. They have no idea they are being so healthy.
In my daily life as a mom, sister, daughter, neighbor, citizen, shopper, businessperson, I listen to a lot of different conversations. And right now, the buzz that I hear is “I’d like to lose a few pounds” or ”I’d like to fit into those jeans again” or ”I’d like to eat more nutritiously.” But the only way to do that is to change something that you are doing. Insanity is defined as as repeating the same behavior and expecting a different result. So, these are just three small ideas of alternative foods – or at NuVal, what we call Trade-Ups.
Today’s Giveaway
One lucky reader will win the Alternative Giveaway. All you need to do is leave a comment below telling me one of the following:
- An alternative (or Trade-Up) you’ve made
- About a time when you did something different and it helped you achieve a goal
- Whether you are most likely to like Alternative Music, drive a car that takes Alternative Fuel, or go on an Alternative Spring Break
I’ll choose one winner at random at 8 am Eastern on Wednesday January 11th. Good luck everybody!
BREAKING NEWS
NuVal is in today’s USA Today! You can read the article here!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Trade-Up Tuesday
Tags: Bob's Red Mill, Dreamfield's, parboiled rice, pearl barley
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 07:11 AM
Welcome to Trade Up Tuesday! It’s everyone’s favorite day here at A Better Bag of Groceries because there’s a giveaway at the end of today’s post! I could think of no more fitting food to give away to celebrate the New Year than Special K. Everyone is in the New Year’s frame of mind right now. The gyms are packed! Everyone I know spent Sunday and Monday cleaning out their houses of the remnants of holiday cookies and treats and making plans to get back on track nutritionally.
On December 31st, my little family enjoyed New Year’s Rockin’ Eve together – all four hours! We loved the “best of” over the past 40 years and Florence and the Machine; our kids loved LMFAO and Justin Bieber. Our only “trade up” that night was that we made chip dip with Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. And every other commercial was for Weight Watchers (one of my favorite weight loss and maintenance programs of all time). Yes, it’s January all right.
When I describe the power of NuVal to new people, Special K is one of the examples that I often use. Special K is one of those foods that you think of when it’s diet time, right? Well, did you know that regular, original Special K scores a 23 on the NuVal scale. Remember that the average score for cold cereal is a 27, so that means that original Special K scores a little below average for cold cereal. However, Special K Protein Plus scores a 53! That’s well above average! It has extra fiber and protein, so it will help you feel full longer.
Included in today’s giveaway is one of our new NuVal long sleeved t-shirts.
I love long-sleeved t-shirts, especially when layering for winter running and outdoor sports. We have these in all sizes, so anyone can win.
Today’s Giveaway
One lucky reader will win both boxes of Special K Protein Plus and a NuVal long-sleeved t-shirt. All you need to do is leave a comment below telling me what new healthy thing you are hoping to do in 2012. I’ll select one winner at random at 8 am Eastern time on Wednesday January 4th. Good Luck!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Special K, Trade-Up Tuesday
Tags: Special K
