Trade-Up Tuesday: Hodgson Mill
Welcome to Trade-Up Tuesday, my weekly feature here on A Better Bag of Grocerieswhere I tell you about a Trade Up I’ve made since learning about NuVal. I also ask you to share your Trade-Up stories and I give away free stuff. What a deal!
Let’s face it, for many people, grocery shopping is a mindless chore. It’s all about replenishment – putting the same products in your cart week after week. Yawn……
And for some people – especially moms with small children – grocery shopping is a stress-inducing battle that must be fought. Week after week, you just try to make it from your car, through the store (without a potty break in those restrooms, without a meltdown, without junk-food) in one piece.
For me, working for NuVal, learning about NuVal scores, and blogging about it all has made grocery shopping fun again. Where I used to routinely throw the same old, same ole in my cart each and every week, I’m now branching out to try new things – especially high-scoring new things. It’s like a little adventure. I know, I know – I live such a wild and exciting life!
A year and a half ago, I had never heard of Hodgson Mill, the Illinois-based company that manufactures flour, corn meal, cereal, pasta and baking mixes. But when I started working for NuVal, the name came up again and again. They package some pretty high-scoring stuff. Most recently, I’ve tried two of their hot cereals:
Hodgson Mill Regular Oat Bran Hot Cereal scores a 60.
Hodgson Mill Milled Flaxseed & Soy Multigrain Hot Cereal scores an 82.
Both of these cook up quickly and are just what I need on a cold January morning in New England. My husband has been enjoying these too. Sometimes we add walnuts and raisins. Other times we add a teaspoon of peanut butter. Next, I’m planning to get my daughter, a 4 1/2 year old Quaker Oats fan to try out Hodgson Mill. The Quaker Old Fashioned Oats that she eats score a 57. I know it’s only a 3-point improvement, but really my motivation is in getting my kids to branch out and vary their eating as well.
This week, I also picked up some Hodgson Mill Cornbread and Muffin Mix. Unfortunately, we have not yet scored this one, but we will get to it. I’m curious to see what it scores. The brand that I usually buy, Jiffy, only scores a 3.
Today’s GiveAway
One lucky winner will receive my Hodgson Mill GiveAway – Oat Bran, Multigrain Cereal and Cornbread Muffin Mix. All you need to do is leave a comment and tell me about a brand or a product that you’ve tried (or that you’d like to try) since learning about NuVal scores. For ideas, check out this blog, Tina’s blog at www.tradingupdowntown.com or www.nuval.com. The contest ends at 11:59 pm Eastern time tonight so don’t delay!
Posted by: Melissa 42 comments
Posted in: Oatmeal, Trade-Up Tuesday, corn meal
