Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 08:17 AM
As part of my job with NuVal, I get to work with registered dietitians at a whole bunch of different supermarkets. Carrie and Andrea are two amazing ladies with incredible energy and Big Y is very lucky to have them on board! They are always spreading the word about NuVal – on TV, on the radio, in schools, even on ginormous billboards overlooking the Massachusetts Turnpike. I am still in my surprise location this week – so Carrie and Andrea jumped in and offered one of their recipes for today’s blog post.
Carrie Taylor and Andrea Samson
Have a favorite recipe or a family recipe that has been passed down throughout the generations that you know isn’t quite the healthiest one…but you would love to try a “healthier” version? Join Andrea and I as we collaborate with the Morning Show on Lite 100.5 WRCH for our new program “Trade Up to Smack Down”.
We provide tips on ways to use the NuVal™ Scoring System to trade up to more nutritious ingredients for use in your recipes.
For example, love fajitas?
Trade up that plain wheat tortilla (NuVal™ Score of 3) for a multi grain tortilla (NuVal™ Score of- 47), full fat sour cream (NuVal™ Score- 27) to fat free sour cream (NuVal™ Score- 33), four cheese Mexican cheese (NuVal™ Score- 20) to reduced fat cheddar cheese (NuVal™ Score- 23) and mix up the protein.
iStock image purchased by Big Y
Trade up from beef (average NuVal™ Score- 30) fajitas to boneless, skinless chicken breast (NuVal™ Score- 39), turkey breast (NuVal™ Score- 48), shrimp (NuVal™ Score- 75), tilapia (NuVal™ Score- 82), salmon (NuVal™ Score- 87), tofu (average NuVal™ Score- 49) or fresh vegetables (average NuVal™ Score- 96) and beans (average NuVal™ Score- 55).
Don’t forget to season everything yourself with dried and fresh herbs and a squeeze of lime in lieu of using fajita seasoning mix that is loaded with sodium!
Examples like this and more are discussed on-air on 100.5 FM in the Hartford, CT listening area, as well as online on the WRCH webpage for the Big Y® Trade Up to Smack Down program. The webpage includes tips, videos shot of the Living Well Eating Smart Wellness Team showing examples on ways to trade up breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner as well as customer questions and comments about ways NuVal™ Scores can be used to trade up their favorite recipes and dishes.
Visit the Trade Up to Smack Down page to learn more!
Authors:
Carrie Taylor and Andrea Samson are the registered dietitians for the Living Well Eating Smart program at Big Y Foods. Have a nutrition question? Visit their webpage at www.bigy.com/lwes or e-mail livingwell@bigy.com.
Living Well Eating Smart
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Yesterday’s Giveaway Winner
Congratulations to Commenter #20 Jordan, you’ve won yesterday’s Shelf-Stable Kids’ Snacks giveaway! Please send Melissa an email at abetterbagofgroceries@gmail.com with your mailing address so that she can can mail your prize out to you. Thanks to everyone who entered.
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Big Y, Guest Bloggers
Tags: Big Y, Guest Posts
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 at 09:07 AM
Today, I am so proud to hand off the keyboard at A Better Bag of Groceries to the very capable hands of my good friend Heather! Heather and I first met about two years ago at our daughter’s ballet class. That summer, she joined the same Pool Club and we got to know each other even more. Heather has made an incredible transformation – her ph0tos and her story tell it all - but I’ll let her tell you all about it. This is Heather’s Guest Post, after all. So, without further ado, I bring you Heather!
When Melissa asked me to guest post my first thought was, “YES!” and then came the, “about what???”. I began to think of favorite recipes and favorite things in my little world and realized that so many of them came from this blog. Yes, I admit it – I’m A Better Bag of Groceries addict. You see I love food. I have to say I think I love it more than the average person. This topic came up when I was out for drinks with some of my Pilates friends last week. I take pictures of my food simply because I think it looks yummy – apparently most people don’t do that?
Well along with that love for food comes a few extra pounds on the scale. I’ve never been truly overweight but I have always had what my 6-year-old daughter referred to as, “Mommy’s fluffy belly.” Thanks for that, Sophia. After six knee surgeries including two complete reconstructions, I was OK with the fluffy belly. Exercise wasn’t high on my list. There I was, as the saying goes, “fat and happy” right up until last March – our annual trip to Disney. I pulled out my summer clothes to pack and couldn’t button a thing. Now we aren’t talking about buttoning the pants and cutting off the circulation – we’re talking the button and the buttonhole were INCHES apart. I checked the scale… weight hadn’t changed, but somehow, the Fluffly Belly had gotten the best of me. There it was – the motivation to get back into shape.
In Disney - with my Fluffy Belly
When we came back from Disney I started my healthy eating and exercising lifestyle with my goal to lose 7 pounds before the pool club opening day.
I remind you of how much I love food. Dieting is simply not part of my world. I had to do it in a way that I could still have all my flavor and nutrition but be healthier and hopefully drop a few pounds at the same time. It started with simple changes. The light cream in my coffee that scores a 6 traded up for Land o Lakes Fat Free Half and half scoring 41. The big squishy sandwich rolls for my lunch traded up to Flat Out Multi-Grain which scores a 60. Teddy Unsalted (49) has replaced my all time favorite peanut butter Jif (7) and I like it even more! Yogurt, bars, and oatmeal – everything I was eating became a trade up! Gradually I became Melissa’s stalker, you see at the time, there were no Nuval stores around us. As I traded up and found new foods, I would email Melissa from the aisle of the grocery store, “Have you scored this yet??” If you’ve followed ABBG for a while now, you’ll recall how excited Melissa was last fall when a grocery store near us was about to roll out the Nuval system – I’m pretty sure that was because she knew she’d have fewer emails from me to reply to!
NuVal at My Local Big Y
Along with the healthy eating changes, I started dragging myself to the gym at the end of my street. Yes, its literally nine houses away from me… no real excuses there. I started out slowly there too, the elliptical, some walking on the treadmill and then a few Pilates classes and there I found a new love – Pilates.
Pilates Reformer - I love it!
What began as taking 2 mat classes a week grew into 4 or 5 Pilates sessions a week and a return to running. By the time the pool club opened, two and a half months after I started this new lifestyle, I had dropped 20 pounds… really twenty!! I even wore a bikini (first time in 15 years) to the pool!
Almost a year later, this has become my way of life. Thanks to my dear friend Melissa, Nuval is part of everything we eat. My 5 year old loves to shop at the Big Y so that she can compare the scores and tell me if I am eating healthy enough. On more than one occasion she has been heard saying, “High score for Mommy’s cream. Not so high for Daddy’s. He needs to eat better, Momma!” A few months ago as I was towel drying my 6 year old’s hair she rested her head against my belly and said with disdain, “no more fluffy belly – that’s hard!” Yippee!!! I’m back to running road races which shocked even my knee surgeon. I love food and I cook all the time but my ingredients are more nutritious and support my healthy lifestyle.
And even though Big Y has all the Nuval scores I need, Melissa hasn’t escaped the multitude of emails from me. Just last week I emailed her from the dairy aisle exclaiming, “Why didn’t you tell me Promise Light is more than twice as nutritious as I Can’t Believe its Not Butter Light!!”
Me with My Cheering Section - After a Big Race
Yesterday’s Giveaway Winner
Congratulations to Commenter #52 Meghan! You’ve won yesterday’s Chocolate Gluten Free Giveaway. Please send me an email at abetterbagofgroceries@gmail.com with your mailing address so that I can get your prize out to you. Thanks to everyone who entered!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Guest Bloggers
Tags: Big Y, Guest Posts
Monday, September 13, 2010 at 07:18 AM
I know Mondays can be tough, but I love this Monday September 13th for 3 reasons:
- My daughter starts Kindergarten today!
- My husband and I celebrate 13 years of wedded bliss today!
- Big Y is officially launched and I can finally shop NuVal scores in a grocery store near my home today!
Oh happy day! Can you tell that I love my job? NuVal scores in a grocery store near me rank right up there with my wedding anniversary. 
But seriously, all of us who work at NuVal – our offices are located in Braintree, Massachusetts – are having a blast now that we have Big Y launched. We’ve worked so hard these last two-and-a-half years to get this brand new concept of NuVal from just a concept to the grocery store shelf and it really is awesome to have it close to home.
Last week, I visited a store in Holden, MA where they were hanging signs in preparation for the Big Launch.
They were beautiful!
The signs in produce looked great too.
And I loved how the NuVal score looked in Seafood.
I’m very happy for Big Y and everyone there who has worked so hard to make their NuVal launch a reality. Big Y just announced last week that they are acquring seven A&P supermarkets in Connecticut – so there will be even more supermarkets with NuVal scores on shelf. Woo hoo!
What a happy day this is. My sister has so graciously offered to babysit tonight. What will my husband and I do to celebrate our anniversary? Go grocery shopping at the Walpole Big Y?
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Big Y
Tags: Big Y
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 at 06:58 AM
Big Y!!!
Yes, I know. I’ve been teasing you for far too long. The newest supermarket to put NuVal scores on their shelves is none other than Big Y, headquartered in Springfield, MA.
I have been just dying to divulge this secret to all of you. We have been working on this launch for months now, but we had to keep it top secret. Finally, on Monday, Big Y held a press conference announcing that they will launch NuVal on September 6th. I headed out to the press conference along with some of my NuVal colleagues.
When we arrived, the people at Big Y had really decked out their headquarters NuVal-style. It was amazing to see all of the beautiful signs, pamphlets and marketing pieces the team at Big Y had created. They have done a super job.
Dr. David Katz gave an outstanding presentation to all of Big Y’s Store Directors. He always wows the crowd! Here he is with Big Y’s Registered Dietitians, Andrea Samson and Carrie Taylor.
If you are in the Big Y area, you might see Carrie on TV or hear Carrie, Andrea and Dr. Katz on the radio talking about NuVal. Very cool!
After the Store Director Presentation, we headed back up the stairs to Big Y’s beautiful atrium to meet members of the press. Television, radio and newspaper reporters were there to hear Dr. Katz and Big Y’s CEO, Charlie D’Amour announce the big NuVal launch.
Dr. Katz talked about how thrilled he is to finally have a supermarket close to his home in Connecticut with NuVal scores on shelf. Me too! There is a Big Y in Walpole, MA – just about a 15 minute drive from my house – and so worth the trip!
Yesterday’s Giveaway
Congratulations to Commenter #34, Paul W! While you didn’t guess Big Y, Paul, you are the winner of the Gluten-Free Giveaway. Please send me an email at abetterbagofgroceries@gmail.com with your mailing address so that I can send your prize to you. Thanks to everyone who entered. I loved reading your guesses!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Big Y
Tags: Big Y
