Tuesday, September 14, 2010 at 07:09 AM
Welcome to Trade-Up Tuesday, everyone’s favorite day here on A Better Bag of Groceries because I write about a trade-up I’ve made since learning about NuVal and I give away something for free. Today”s giveaway is very timely now that we’re well into the Back to School swing of things. Minute Maid Fruit Falls are a staple in our household. Here’s how I learned about them.
As part of my job with NuVal, I sometimes travel to visit the awesome retailers who have decided to put NuVal scores on their shelves. It was on such a trip that I found myself in a Meijer supermarket in Michigan looking at scores in the juice aisle. I had never heard of Minute Maid Fruit Falls but I was amazed that they got a NuVal score of 41. While that might not sound like a high score (the scale is 1 – 100 and 100 is most nutritious), it is when you consider the scores of other juice boxes and water beverages:
- Capri Sun Roarin Waters: 10
- Juice Juice Apple Juice Box: 11
- Kool Aid Cherry Water Beverage: 10
- Mott’s for Tots Apple Juice Box: 20
I could not believe that score of 41. Back at home, my kids were sipping on Carpri Sun Roarin’ Waters which only got a 10! So, I flew back to Boston and immediately checked around with my Mommy friends to see who knew about these Fruit Falls. By checking in with neighbors and friends, I soon learned that I could buy them at Target and Roche Brothers (but not at Stop & Shop – weird!) Anyway, we stopped buying Capri Sun Roarin’ Waters and started buying Minute Maid Fruit Falls right away. It was a no brainer. But without the NuVal scores, I never would have known this.
I talk to a lot of Moms. A lot. And these days, everyone is talking about what to put in lunchboxes and backpacks. So last Thursday’s post with The List of the best-scoring packaged snacks – you know, the kinds of things you can put in your child’s backpack that won’t be all soft and mushy at 2 pm – got a lot of hits. But now, everyone is asking me about drinks. And well, other than water (which also goes with both of my kids to school every day), these Minute Maid Fruit Falls are definitely a Go To beverage for us.
Today’s Giveaway
One lucky commenter will win this 10-pack of Minute Maid Fruit Falls. All you need to do is leave a comment below telling me a beverage that you’ve traded up to since learning about NuVal. I’ll choose one winner at random at 8 am EDT on Wednesday so don’t delay.
Our Back To School Update
Fair is fair. I put pictures of my son’s first day of second grade on the Blog, so I must do the same for my daughter. Yes, my baby left for Kindergarten yesterday. Sniff!
My husband captured this great captured this great action shot.
I jumped right on that bus and grabbed this priceless shot of our last-born’s first day on the school bus!
After two years of seeing her big brother get on and off that school bus, it was finally her turn. She was thrilled!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: back-to-school, Trade-Up Tuesday
Tags: back-to-school, Minute Maid Fruit Falls
Thursday, May 13, 2010 at 06:53 AM
It’s hard to believe but my blogoversary is coming up soon. In July, I will have been blogging for NuVal for one year. I have already started to think about how I’d like to celebrate here on A Better Bag of Groceries. Don’t worry – you’re all invited to the party!
So, how did it come to pass that I would be writing a Mommy Blog as part of my job? Well, it all started with this little juice box/water beverage: Minute Maid Fruit Falls.
As part of my job with NuVal, I sometimes travel to visit the awesome retailers who have decided to put NuVal scores on their shelves. It was on such a trip that I found myself in a Meijer supermarket in Michigan looking at scores in the juice aisle. I had never heard of Minute Maid Fruit Falls but I was amazed that they got a NuVal score of 41. While that might not sound like a high score (the scale is 1 – 100 and 100 is most nutritious), it is when you consider the scores of other juice boxes and water beverages:
- Capri Sun Roarin Waters: 10
- Juice Juice Apple Juice Box: 11
- Kool Aid Cherry Water Beverage: 10
- Mott’s for Tots Apple Juice Box: 20
I could not believe that score of 41. Back at home, my kids were sipping on Carpri Sun Roarin’ Waters which only got a 10! So, I flew back to Boston and immediately checked around with my Mommy friends to see who knew about these Fruit Falls. My Mommy Network answers life’s little mysteries in a matter of minutes, so I soon learned that yes, these Fruit Falls did exist in New England and that I could find them at Roche Brothers supermarkets and Target. Now, any mom will tell you (while opening a juice box with one hand because the baby is taking up the other hand) that she just can’t live without juice boxes and water beverages. They are a lifesaver. And this little nugget of information that I now had – the fact that there was a more nutritious water beverage for our kids – was burning inside me. I needed to shout it out. Loudly. So, I did.
I started by telling my friend, Hazel, while we watched our kids swimming at our community pool. She said, “Which one? No way! Write it down!” Then, I started a little email list of friends who I knew would love to have this information. Every time I had an “Ah Ha” moment at NuVal, I just had to tell my friends. They were inundated with my emails:
- Did you know that regular peanut butter scores higher than low-fat?
- Those Pepperidge Farms goldfish aren’t so bad after all!
- Celebrate! There are frozen french fries that score an 81!!
I just wanted to get up on top of a mountain and shout this new-found knowledge out to Moms and Dads alike. And to people without children as well. After all, I cared about nutrition way before I had kids.
Back at the office, we were working hard to come up with ways that we could spread the NuVal word to consumers. So, I floated the idea. “Hey, maybe we should start a Mom Blog. I’ll write it, if you want!” Permission was granted, I did some quick research, and before we knew it, Nutrition By the Numbers was launched on Blogspot. A few months later, I was tweeting, redesigning, rebranding, and moving to WordPress.
Today, about 7,000 – 9,000 visitors per month read A Better Bag of Groceries. This blog truly chronicles my life as a mom trying to shop for, plan, and cook nutritious meals for my family, while balancing work, parenthood, home-ownership and my own health and fitness. Nothing is made up. The passion that you see in my writing is real. I am constantly thinking about my next recipe, surprising NuVal scores, the next giveaway, and new features. I love it! I now have a mountain on which I can stand and shout out all that I want you to know about choosing the most nutritious foods for your family. I am a very lucky Mommy.
Thanks so much for reading!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Uncategorized
Tags: Juice, Minute Maid Fruit Falls
