• 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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    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.

Happiness is a Bagel and Cream Cheese

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 11 comments

Posted in: Bagels

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