• 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.

Trade-Up Tuesday: Best of Salty Snacks

Tuesday, October 5, 2010 at 06:50 AM

Welcome to Trade Up Tuesday, a great day here at A Better Bag of Groceries because I blog about a Trade Up I’ve made since learning about NuVal and I give away something for free.  Today’s giveaway is fantastic – especially if you are planning some fall entertaining – because it includes four big bags of some of the highest-scoring salty snacks. 

I was inspired to pull this giveaway together by the spread that Family Circle Magazine  did on NuVal in their October 17, 2010 issue.  They listed the best of the best snack foods, according to NuVal score, and they had a great piece on the best salty snacks.

So this weekend, while grocery shopping, I hunted down some of the best salty snacks and here’s what I found:

  • Terra Original Chips:  NuVal Score of 42
  • Garden of Eatin’ No Salt Added Blue Chips:  NuVal score of 52
  • Bearitos Organic Yellow Corn:  NuVal score of 27
  • Bearitos Organic Blue Corn:  NuVal score of 40

Those are some pretty good scores when you consider that Salty Snacks scores range from 1 to 59, but the average score is a 15.  I’ve always loved Bearitos Chips.  They can be hard to find, but once you do, you’ll love them.  They are great if you are serving them with a thick salsa or dip because they have a lot of heft to them.  I also have become a huge fan of the Garden of Eatin’ No Salt Added Blue Chips since coming to work for NuVal.  We were all so impressed by that score of 52.  And instead of regular potato chips, I now serve the Terra Chips at parties.  Not only do they get a better NuVal score than most plain potato chips, but they are prettier too!

How to Enter
One lucky commenter will win all four bags of chips.  All you need to do is leave a comment below, telling me which of the four bags you would like the most and what you would like to dip those chips in.  I’ll select one winner at random by 8 am Wednesday Eastern Time, so don’t delay.  Good Luck!

Posted by: Melissa 63 comments

Posted in: snacks, Trade-Up Tuesday

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Trade-Up Tuesday: Rock Star Chips

Tuesday, March 2, 2010 at 06:52 AM

Welcome to Trade-Up Tuesday, a weekly feature here on A Better Bag of Groceries where I tell you about a Trade-Up I’ve made and give away free stuff. 

Every category has a Rock Star.  In cold cereal, it’s Shredded Wheat with a NuValscore of 91.  In cookies, it’s Kashi TLC Oatmeal Raisin with a score of 40.  And in Salty Snacks (just the title of that category makes my mouth water – I love salt), it’s Garden of Eatin No Salt Added Blue Chips.  They get a NuVal score of 52.  That’s pretty amazing when you consider that the median (half are above it, half are below it) score for salty snacks is only a 13.  I buy these chips all the time now.  There just is no other.  And what I love about them, is that they don’t seem like a healthy alternative, if you know what I mean.  They taste like a chip.  You don’t feel like you’ve sacrificed.

I couldn’t give away chips without something to dip them in, so I picked up some salsa.  In the Healthy/Organic section of my grocery store.  And guess what?  This Green Mountain Gringo Salsa only gets a 9!  This is why I so need NuVal in a grocery store close to my house.  It’s so easy to pick up the wrong thing.  And to think that you’re picking up the right thing.  Because, ya know, it’s in the Healthy/Organic section of the supermarket!  There are some better choices to be made:

  • Ortega Original Salsa, Medium:  35
  • Newman’s Own Chunky Roasted Garlic Salsa, Medium, All Natural:  32
  • Taco Bell Home Thick and Chunky Medium Salsa:  26

And I could have picked those up in the regular old Salty Snack aisle. 

So to make up for the low-scoring salsa, I’m throwing in a NuVal t-shirt too!  Woo hoo!

To Enter:

All you need to do is leave a comment below telling me your favorite Salty Snack.  Easy!  I’ll choose one winner at random.  The contest closes at 11:59 pm tonight, so don’t delay!  Good luck!

Posted by: Melissa 72 comments

Posted in: Trade-Up Tuesday

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