Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 07:07 AM
I Love New York! And I love that the lucky people of New York are about to get a whole bunch of grocery stores with NuVal scores on their store shelves!
Yes, today is a special edition of Trade Up Tuesday. Typically, on Tuesdays I blog about a trade up I’ve made since learning about NuVal scores and I give away something for free. Since tomorrow, you will all learn who the new retailer is – and, hint hint, it is in the New York Metro area - I thought I would host a New York-themed giveaway.
So, while I will still blog about some trade-ups I will make while in The Big Apple, the winner of this Giveaway will win their very own I ♥ New York t-shirt.
If you read the “About” section of this blog, you will see that in a previous “life,” I flew to all sorts of different cities and worked on long-term consulting assignments. So, in my mid-twenties, I actually spent a year working in Manhattan. It was one of the best years of my life – what a great experience!
My favorite food while I was working in New York? Bagels. Every Friday my whole project team shared this huge paper bag of ginormous bagels with scrumptious cream cheese. So, what’s the closest thing I’ve found in a grocery store to a real New York-style bagel? Ray’s New York Sesame Big Boiled Bagel Shop Bagels. They score (brace yourself) a 3 on the NuVal scale. Ugh, I know. So, what’s in my freezer now? Much higher scoring bagels, such as Thomas’ Better Start Light with 8G of Fiber Multi Grain. They score a 42 on the NuVal scale. Or Lender’s Multi Grain. They score s 37. Big difference.
New York is also known for wieners. I am not a hot dog aficionado – at all. But I include these scores here for the curious among you. Nathan’s Famous Skinless Franks (so New York) score an 8 on the NuVal scale. Or, you could get what I get for when my kids eat an occasional hot dog: Hebrew National 97% Fat Free franks: NuVal score of 20. Much better.
So, break out your Sinatra CDs everybody, because it’s New York Week here on A Better Bag of Groceries! Tomorrow, is the big press conference announcing our latest launch and we are all very excited!
Today’s Giveaway
One lucky commenter will win their very own I ♥ New York t-shirt to commemorate NuVal’s launch into the New York Metro area. All you need to do is leave a comment below guessing the grocery store chain that we are launching in. (Don’t know any New York-based supermarket chains? Try Google for answers!) Your answer does not need to be correct to win. I will choose one winner at random at 8 am on Wednesday. Here are a few more clues:
- I fly into La Guardia airport when I go to this supermarket chain
- It is near New York City, but not in New York City
- They have been in business for over 70 years
Remember, you don’t have to be right to win! So just have fun! Good luck!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Bagels
Tags: Bagels, new retailer, New York
Wednesday, August 11, 2010 at 07:20 AM
Do you bagel? Sadly, I do not. <Sigh> Oh, how I miss bagels. So crusty on the outside and warm on the inside – slathered with gooey cream cheese. But a Bagel-A-Day habit back in college got me in big trouble, so I stay far, far away from these delectable treats. Seriously, I eat about three bagels a year – one on Christmas (it’s a tradition), one while on vacation, and one if I visit NYC or a really good bagel shop.
My kids, on the other hand, do indulge in bagels for breakfast on a more regular basis. Am I worried that they will end up on a childhood obesity track? Not currently. They both swim daily and they both have body weights that have been tracking in the lean to normal range. But I do like to give them the most nutritious bagel I can find in the supermarket.
So what national brand bagel gets the best NuVal score? It’s Lender’s Whole Grain Multi Grain Bagel with a score of 37. Compare that to Thomas’s Plain Whole Grain Bagels, which score a 16. So what’s the difference? According to the Nutrition Team at NuVal, Lender’s uses all whole wheat flour plus other grains and seeds that boost its fiber to 7 grams. While Thomas’s name boasts “whole grain”, the bagels are primarily enriched wheat flour plus some whole wheat flour mixed in, providing only 3 grams of fiber per bagel. Lender’s score is also driven by sodium and use of soybean oil which contains omega-3 fatty acids.
See, that’s why you have to be really careful about those claims that you see on packages. “Whole Grain” can mean a lot of different things.
So, it’s Lender’s Whole Grain bagels to give my kids the energy they need for their swimming lessons and free swim time. We also round it out with some fresh fruit to really boost the NuVal score.
Question of the Day
Do you indulge in bagels? Come on – tell the truth!
Yesterday’s Giveaway
Congratulations to Commenter #205 Lisa! You’ve won the Cereal Giveaway. A box of Peanut Butter Puffins and a box of Kashi Autum Wheat are coming your way. Just send me an email at abetterbagofgroceries@gmail.com with your mailing address so that I can send it out to you. Thank you to everyone who entered.
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Breakfast
Tags: Bagels
Monday, February 15, 2010 at 06:50 AM
Every Christmas morning, I have a bagel and cream cheese – a big, yummy Ray’s New York Style Bagel slathered with cream cheese. It’s my own way of celebrating that I made it through the Christmas season to Christmas Day. I know – I live on the wild side! But a big giant bagel really is a splurge.
I think that bagels are one of the things that got me in a little trouble – especially in college. There was a great cafe on campus where I would get an onion bagel with herbed cream cheese – probably about three time a week. Oy! Back then, bagels had sort of a health halo around them. People thought they were healthy because, after all, they weren’t doughnuts. And this was pre-Atkins, so carbs weren’t of a concern. Now, we know better.
I must confess, I am a bagel snob. After living and working in Manhattan back in the mid-1990′s, I came to love true New York
Style bagels. They’re kind of crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside. I guess it’s something about how they boil them. As Tina would say, Holy Yum. So, when I go for a bagel, I go big and I eat a Ray’s New York Style bagel. Here’s the bad news: a Ray’s Everything bagel only scores a 4 on the NuVal scale. That’s right – a 4. Ouch! So that’s why this is a once a year kind of thing for me.
As for the cream cheese, it does a little bit better on the NuVal scale. Regular Philadelphia Cream Cheese scores a 20. 1/3 less fat cream cheese scores a 22. Fat-free cream cheese (of which I’m not a fan) scores a 28. Since this is a splurge thing for me, I go for the Regular cream cheese.
Although, the bagel eating is just a once-a-year splurge for me, having them in the house got my kids on a big bagel kick. They have quickly become fans. Who can blame them?
They like to make them look like smiles.
But I worry that I’m giving them a breakfast of nutritious nothingness. What is a guilt-ridden Mom to do? Look to NuVal for a little bit of guidance, of course! So, I did some research and found that Lender’s Whole Grain Bagels score a 37 on the NuVal scale. That’s a huge improvement from a 4! Lender’s bagels may not have that authentic New York kind of taste to them, but my kids have never been to Manhattan, so they won’t know the difference.
Now, all I need is for my beloved Ray’s to come out with a whole grain version. I wonder how it would score? Time will tell!
Question of the Day
What is your once a year splurge?
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Bagels
Tags: Bagels, cream cheese
