• Choosing the Healthiest Foods for Your Family

    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.

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  • Disclaimer

    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.

You say Pota-toe!

Thursday, March 11, 2010 at 07:46 AM

Let’s give it up for the Spud! 

I love a good old-fashioned baked potato topped with sour cream.  I like them toasty hot on the inside and a little crunchy on the outside. 

I was so happy to learn that potatoes get an amazing NuVal score of 93!

I have two secrets to this tasty treat.

  1. I have figured out how to make them really quick.
  2. I have traded up my sour cream for a higher scoring topping.

Speedy Baked Potatoes

Preheat oven to 45o degrees.  Rinse the potatoes with water and scrub well to remove the dirt.  Pierce the potatoes two or three times on each side with a fork.  Microwave each potato for 4-5 minutes.  Flip them, microwave for another 4-5 minutes.  (I have the oldest microwave in the world so I zap them one at a time).  Once the potatoes are tender through (I check with aforementioned fork), place them in the oven for about 5-10 minutes (depending on how crunchy you’d like the skin to be). 

A Better Baked Potato Topping

What’s a baked potato without a little dollop of sour cream on top?  My favorite brand is Breakstone’s and I usually opt for the reduced fat version.  Check out these scores:

  • Breakstone’s regular sour cream (NuVal score of 25)
  • Breakstone’s reduced fat sour cream (NuVal score of 29)
  • Breakstone’s fat-free sour cream (NuVal score of 26)

Yes, it’s true.  The reduced fat sour cream actually scores higher than the fat free. 

However, since discovering Greek yogurt, I’ve acually tossed my sour cream and moved on to topping my warm & toasty baked potato with non-fat plain Greek yogurt.  Check out these scores:

  • Chobani non-fat plain 94
  • Fage non-fat plain 94
  • Brown Cow 0% fat plain 94
  • Oikos plain non fat 94

Since they all get the same fantastic score, I just buy the brand with the lowest price.

Such a yummy treat and I feel so virtuous eating my doubly high-scoring concoction! 

Question of the Day

What do you like to put on top of your baked potato?

BuiltNY Lunch Bag GiveAway Winner

Congratulations to Commenter #38 Lisa P!  You’ve won the cool new lunch bag and a NuVal water bottle.  Thanks to everyone who entered!

Posted by: Melissa 10 comments

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