• 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'd love to hear from you. Feel free to email me.

    You can also follow me on Twitter @MelisaNutrition and my RSS feed.

  • 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.

Wordless Wednesday

Wednesday, November 9, 2011 at 08:15 AM

 

 

 

 

 

It’s Wordless Wednesday!  That means that today, I give my fingers a rest.  Instead, I ask you, my dear readers, to comment on the photos that you see here.  The comment line is now open!  What’cha got to say ’bout these nuts?

Yesterday’s Giveaway

Congratulations to Commenter #7, Aida! You’ve won the Mary’s Gone Crackers Giveaway!  Please send me an email at abetterbagofgroceries@gmail.com with your mailing address so that I can ship them out to you.  Thanks to everyone who entered!

 

Posted by: Melissa 10 comments

Posted in: Wordless Wednesday

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Trade-Up Tuesday: NUT-rition

Tuesday, May 4, 2010 at 07:05 AM

Welcome to Trade-Up Tuesday, a very popular day here on A Better Bag of Groceries  because I not only talk about a Trade Up I’ve made, but I also give away free stuff.  Today’s topic:  NUT-rition.  Have you seen these NUT-rition nuts made by Planter’s?  I noticed them on one of my recent Price Chopper trips.  I was pretty impressed with the score:

They get a 71 on the NuVal scale.

Remember when I found out that the almonds that I had been buying only got a score of 48!  Then, I had to go into this whole big roasting frenzy.  I tried so hard to get my plain raw almonds (with a score of 81) to taste like the yummy Aurora brand.  I never did get it quite right. 

So, I was very intrigued by the NUT-rition Heart Healthy Mix, which includes peanuts, almonds, pistachios, pecans, walnuts and hazelnuts.   There are a lot of different mixes in the NUT-rition line.  Interestingly, they really range in how they score.  While the Heart Healthy Mix gets a fantastic score of 71, the other mixes do not fare so well:

  • NUT-trition Almonds:  52
  • NUT-trition Energy Mix: 42
  • NUT-trition Digestive Health Mix: 36
  • NUT-trition Smoked Almonds:  35

So this is where I get on my NuVal Soapbox and once again proclaim that all supermarkets need NuVal.  With scores on the shelf, you would know which nuts to choose for the best nutrition.  If you are not lucky enough to shop where there are NuVal scores on shelf, you have to try and remember what you read on my blog!  Not easy.

Today’ GiveAway

One lucky commenter will win the NUT-rition Heart Healthy Mix and a NuVal t-shirt.  To enter, just leave a comment below telling me your favorite nut.  Leave a 2nd entry with the NuVal score for that nut if you are able to find it.  Hint:  you can search for that nut using the search function here on A Better Bag of Groceries and chances are good that I’ve blogged about it.  I’ll choose one winner at random by 8 am Eastern Time on Wednesday May 5th.  Good luck to everyone!

Posted by: Melissa 61 comments

Posted in: Nuts, Trade-Up Tuesday

Tags: ,

Trade-Up Tuesday: Nuts About Nuts!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 at 07:08 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 since learning about NuVal and I give away free stuff.  Today’s topic:  Nuts!  I am nuts about nuts.  And since coming to work for NuVal in the Fall of 2008, and learning more about the benefits of nuts, I have definitely added them to my repertoire.   These are the two that I eat just about every day.

My first nuts of the day come in the form of Walnuts.  They get a fantastic NuVal score:  82!  I love to sprinkle a few on my oatmeal.  I vary my concoction, but here’s a good example of my breakfast:

1/2 cup Hodgson Mill Regular Oat Bran Hot Cereal:  NuVal Score of 60

1 Tbsp Raisins:  NuVal score of 91

1 Tbsp Walnuts:  NuVal Score of 82

1 tsp flax seeds:  not yet scored

1 tsp brown sugar: NuVal Score of 1

While this breakfast does hold me for a while, I do need a snack before I get to lunch.  Blame it on that early morning Spinning class and the subsequent rush of getting two kids off to school and me to work, but I’m a hungry girl.  So usually, by about 10 am, it’s Almond Time.  Plain almonds get a super NuVal score, too.  An 81!  However, you need to be wary of what’s been done to your almonds.  Remember the post where I found out that the roasted, unsalted almonds that I had been buying were roasted with oil?  It was tragic.

To Enter:

You can win both bags of nuts plus a NuVal t-shirt!  All you need to do is leave a comment below answering the following question:

  • What are you nuts about?

One winner will be selected at random by 10 am EST Wednesday.  So be sure to check back here to see if you’ve won.  Good Luck!

Posted by: Melissa 59 comments

Posted in: almonds, Trade-Up Tuesday

Tags: , ,