• Choosing the Healthiest Foods for Your Family

    Welcome! I am a mom of a busy 7 year old and an adventurous 5 year old. I also happen to work for a great new 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.

Oh Nuts!

Monday, February 8, 2010 at 06:58 AM

Healthy living bloggers everywhere are blogging about NuVal!  One of my favorite posts was published last week by Jen who blogs at Healthy Laps.  Jen lives in Boston but took the time to drive all the way out to Marlborough, MA to check out NuVal at a Price Chopper store.  I’ve been working for NuVal for a year and a half now and blogging about NuVal since July of last year, and still Jen managed to shock me!  That’s the way NuVal works.  You’re always finding out something new.

You see, Jen took a picture of my favorite roasted unsalted almonds.  Now, the score for plain almonds is an 81.  So, I thought that by buying the roasted unsalted version, I would be choosing almonds with the same score.  I mean, they even say “No Guilt” on the top of the container.  Boy was I wrong!  The roasted unsalted almonds only score 48!  Oh no!  All this time I thought I was being so virtuous!

Right away, I checked in with Rachel Rodek, MS, RD, LDN and Nutrition Communications Manager for NuVal.   She investigated the almonds for me. Apparently those roasted unsalted almonds contain some peanut oil.  Who knew?

I went home and checked out the label.  Yup, there it is – peanut oil.  And some other oils too!

Now, if I had a store with NuVal on the grocery shelves, I never would have fallen into this trap.  The products would be clearly marked with the NuVal score.  I can’t wait until I have those scores handy!

So, now I knew that I had to buy raw almonds and roast them myself.  And that meant that this weekend, I undertook the Great Almond Experiment.  It was a little like Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

All three times, I put the almonds on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and added nothing – no salt, no oil.

The first time (at 450 degrees for about 13 minutes), they came out too burned.

The second time (at 45o degrees for about 7 minutes), they were still too raw and chewy.

Finally, the third time (at 450 degrees for exactly 9 minutes), I got it just right.

This last time, I took them out of the oven as soon as I could smell them.  Once they were out, I loved hearing them crackle as they cooled.  I have to admit, they still are not as tasty as the Roasted Unsalted Almonds I was buying.  A little oil makes everything taste yummy.  But I am thankful to Jen for spotting this little NuVal fact at Price Chopper.  A little knowledge goes a long way.

Question of the Day

What surprises has NuVal uncovered for you?  For ideas, check out nuval.com, Trading Up Downtown, or Nutrition Outlook.

Posted by: Melissa 6 comments

Posted in: almonds

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