On Sunday nights, my husband makes 5 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches– one for each day of the work week. In assembly line fashion, he lays out 10 pieces of Arnold Country Wheat bread (NuVal score: 28) on the kitchen counter, spreads the peanut butter, then the jelly, and wraps the sandwiches nice and neat in tinfoil. And, just like that, he has his lunches made for the entire week. What can I say, he’s efficient. Even still, after 3.5 years of teaching, I still can’t believe he doesn’t get sick of eating the exact same meal!
Peanut Butter
Teddie Peanut Butter is the only peanut butter that makes its way into our home, so on the NuVal front, my husband eats a top scoring peanut butter in his sandwiches. Teddie Smooth Unsalted scores a 49, while Teddie Super Chunky scores a 38. You might think that these score seem somewhat low on the NuVal scale, but consider some of the other peanut butters on the market:
- Teddie Smooth UnSalted: 49
- I.M. Healthy Soy Nut Butter: 44
- Teddie Super Chunky: 38
- Skippy Honey Nut Super Crunchy: 26
- Skippy Natural Super Crunchy: 20
- Smucker’s Natural Chunky: 20
- Skippy Super Crunchy: 20
- Jif Creamy: 20
- Skippy Reduced-Fat Creamy: 18
- Jif Reduced-Fat Creamy: 7
Did you notice that the reduced-fat peanut butters actually score lower than the regular versions? Surprising, right? Even though the reduced-fat peanut butter has less saturated fat, it has more sugar, sodium, calories, and less fiber than the regular peanut butter. When these factors combine, the reduced-fat variety receives a lower NuVal score than the regular. You see, if the manufacturer takes out some of fat, they probably need to add something else to make it taste good. Likewise, the “natural” peanut butters score as well or lower than some of the regular peanut butters. Good thing my husband like’s the Teddie brand! It’s the most nutritious of the group.
Jelly
Jelly may complete the sandwich, but it’s not the most nutritious option for my husband’s lunches. Most jams and jellies at the grocery store score a 1 or, at best, a 2 on the NuVal scale.
Even the “fancy” jellies score in that same range. The Polaner All Fruit gets a 1 as well.
My husband is pretty set in his ways, so I don’t think he’ll change his Sunday night PB & J-making ritual anytime soon. But, on occasion, I see him replace his usual PB & J with a PB + banana (NuVal score: 91) sandwich. Maybe he does get bored with eating the same thing everyday? Maybe not? Either way, I am glad that he trades up the nutritional value of his lunch sandwich every now and then.
Developed by an independent panel of nutrition and medical experts, the 
haha! i think that’s hilarious about your hubs
so funny that he lines them all up! I wonder where Naturally More ranks on the NuVal system?
I’d take a PB&B sammie anyday
Mal really does that? That’s hysterical. I’d worry that Friday’s sandwich would be soggy.
NuVal introduced me to Teddie’s and I have to admit it’s really good for plain and unsalted! Personally, for “plain” I like smart balance, but I don’t mind switching it up now and then
I usually buy the peanut butter that you grind at the store. Do you know the score for that? I have never seen Teddie’s. We have homemade jam, but I bet that is no better. If I use it I don’t use a ton. I like PB, agave, banana sandwiches. YUM!
Some people just don’t mind eating the same thing over and over again. I just wrote a post that included my admission that breakfasts & lunches are generally about the same for me… it’s dinner that I’m interested in, haha
So I’m fine with eating whatever is quick & easy, and then for dinner having something more tasty & worth the wait.
and the Teddie Bear PB is made right here in Boston
I normally use Naturally More Peanut butter, Pb2,or Almond butter. However for jelly I normally would get Whole Foods pumpkin butter or apple butter
Hey Tina, just wanted to say I think this NuVal stuff is extremely interesting. I’m in a clinical psychology PhD program and we talk a lot about health psychology and how the public needs to be able to access simple information about nutrition. Genius! Any idea of when this system will hit most grocery stores? (I’m in CO Springs, CO).
How interesting about peanut butter and jelly scores! We do not have Teddie’s where I live but I’m now curious about the brands that I do eat at home.
My husband eats sandwiches every day too, though I wish they were PB&J…he does lunchmeat. I’m going to have to check the scores on that now too!
Would other all-natural peanut butters score as high as Teddie’s as well? I’m thinking of the Whole Foods ‘grind-your-own’, or the Trader Joes all-natural Almond Butter!
how do you find the scores of peanut butter on the nuval site? i don’t know which food group to look under.
@ari: Not all of the NuVal scores are on the website. Is there a specific brand that I can look up for you?
Just curious…why is the Chunky version rated lower than the creamy? Hmmm….
@Tricia: The creamy version doesn’t have salt added.
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