Trading Up Downtown

How was your Memorial Day weekend? I hope you enjoyed some quality time with friends and family. I know I did!

My husband and I hosted a Memorial Day barbecue at our house. We fired up the grill, played some yard games, and enjoyed all sort of delicious barbecue fare– some of which was nutritious, but most of which didn’t score too high on the NuVal scale.

Of course, indulging in not-so-healthy food every now and then isn’t a big deal, especially for fun holidays that include parties and other get-togethers with yummy food.

Let’s see how the foods at our Memorial Day barbecue scored on the NuVal scale!

• Corn: 91
• Newman’s Own Lemonade: 1
• Heluva Good French Onion Dip: 23
• Ruffles Ridges Original Potato Chip: 14
• Doritos: 9
• Lean ground beef patties: 30
• Ballbark Bun Size Beef Franks: 7

As you can see, besides the corn on the cob, the items that we served at our barbecue didn’t score very high on the NuVal scale. In fact, they scores pretty low! But, one day of eating this way doesn’t derail my healthy habits. I enjoyed these “fun” foods to the fullest, and then get back on track with my (mostly) nutritious eating the very next day.

Happy Memorial Day! I hope you’re firing up the barbecue to grill some hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken today!

Don’t you just love finding a deal on meat at the grocery store? Chicken for 60 cents a pound!?! Love it! But, why let the savings stop there? Here’s how you can uncover similar markdowns more often and stretch servings of beef, pork, chicken and fish across several meals. This article also gives you ideas to make meat go further with tips like mixing in beans, oatmeal or rice to round out burgers or meatloaf; make meat an accent, rather than the main meal, such as top a salad with steak slices and more: Save money when shopping for meat.

Trading Up Downtown Giveaway

Thanks to everyone who entered last week’s giveaway! Here’s your winner: 15!

Congrats, Alex! Please email me at thaupert@nuval. com with your full name and mailing address to claim your prize.

While I love cookbooks, I don’t use them all that much in my everyday cooking. Most of the time, I’d much rather Google a recipe than pull out a cookbook to use. However, when Cristina Ferrare’s publicist contacted me to review her new cookbook, “Big Bowl of Love,” I jumped at the chance because she mentioned that all of the photography in it was done by Todd and Diane of White on Rice Couple, who are my blog idols.

I first met Todd and Diane last summer at an event put on by Thermador,where they taught me how to use my fancy DSLR camera. They easily could have been snapping photos of the event, but instead they took the time to show me and a few other bloggers how to take great photos. Todd and Diane are extremely talented photographers, but they’re also some of the nicest, most helpful people I’ve met in the blog world. Long story short, I couldn’t say reply fast enough to the email to send me a copy of “Big Bowl of Love.” I wanted to see the food photography in it!

Not surprisingly, when the cookbook arrived, the pictures were gorgeous. As I flipped through the pages, admiring Todd and Diane’s excellent work, I started to notice all of the wonderful recipes inside. It seems that Cristina and I have a lot of the same tastes, and a number of her recipes immediately caught my attention. Most of them seem easy-to-make and really, really delicious! Here are just a few of the recipes that I can’t wait to make:

• Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting (obviously)
• Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe and Sweet Italian Sausage
• Flourless Chocolate Cake
• Fresh Figs with Port Wine and Balsamic Glaze
• White Bean Puree Appetizer

Don’t all of those recipes sound amazing? Well, here’s your chance to win a copy of Cristina Ferrare’s “Big Bowl of Love” for yourself!

Trading Up Downtown Giveaway

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment on this post about your favorite cookbook. Earn an extra entry by tweeting about this giveaway– just be sure to leave a second comment on this post with your tweet. I’ll randomly pick a winner on Monday morning.
Good luck!