On Monday, my husband and I were rock stars getting things done around the house. We put away all of our Christmas decorations, took down our Christmas tree, put our patio furntiure in the basement for the winter, cleaned the entire house, and washed, dried, folded, and put away three loads of laundry. It was pretty awesome. I don’t know what got into us!
Anyway, long story short, when we finally finished our chores, we ate lunch. I didn’t want to make any ol’ edible thing– I wanted to make sure my meal was somewhat healthy– so I made sweet potato fries and a grilled veggie burger. Let’s see how they scored on the NuVal scale.:
- Dr. Praeger’s California Vegetable Burger (NuVal score: 51)
- Sweet Potato (NuVal score: 96)
Not too shabby, right? It was a delicious meal, too!
What’s your favorite healthy lunch?
It’s that time of year again: hot cocoa time!
I love those little packets of chocolate powder than instantly turn into a warm mug of hot cocoa, but I always thought they didn’t provide much nutrition (if any). I figured all of my favorite brands scored a 1 or a 2 on the NuVal scale. I mean, aren’t they just sugar?
For the most part, most hot cocoa on the market is just sugar, so they score pretty low on the NuVal scale, but there are several varieties that are either fortified with vitamins and/or have no sugar added, which brings up their score and make them a more nutritious hot cocoa option.
Check out these scores:
- Ghirardelli White Mocha Premium Hot Cocoa Chocolate (NuVal score: 1)
- Nestle Hot Cocoa Mix Milk Chocolate Flavor (NuVal score: 2)
- Land O Lakes Chocolate Graham Hot Cocoa Mix (NuVal score: 3)
- Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa Mix with Marshmallows (NuVal score: 8 )
- Swiss Miss Sensible Sweets No Sugar Added (NuVal score: 14)
- Swiss Miss Great Start Hot Cocoa Mix (NuVal score: 22)
- Nestle Fat Free Rich Milk Chocolate Hot Cocoa Mix (NuVal score: 25)
- Green & Black’s Organic Cocoa Powder (NuVal score: 29)
- Swiss Miss Sensible Sweets Diet – 25 Calories Hot Cocoa (NuVal score: 33)
What’s your favorite kind of hot cocoa?
A few weeks ago, my husband and I spent some time in Medford, Oregon with our family. One of the mornings that we were there, we went out for breakfast at a cute little restaurant called Rooster’s.
The menu was pretty standard– eggs, bacon, pancakes– but one item, in particular, caught my attention: The Fiber Special.
Of course, the name alone cracked me up, but when I started thinking about the meal, I realized it was quite fiberific!
You might not know this, but each NuVal score takes into account more than just the nutrition fact panel of a food item. It considers 30-plus nutrients and nutrition factors (including fiber) – the good (protein, calcium, vitamins) and the not-so-good (sugar, sodium, cholesterol) – and then it boils it down into a simple, easy-to-use number. There’s a lot more to the science behind the NuVal System than what I explained, so if you want to learn more, visit The Science Behind The NuVal System.
With that said, let’s see how my Fiber Special scored on the NuVal scale:
- Quaker Old-fashioned Oats (NuVal score: 57)
- Almonds (NuVal score: 81)
- Pecans (NuVal score: 65)
- Sunflower seeds (NuVal score: 52)
- Raisins (NuVal score: 87)
- Ocean Spray Craisins Sweetened Dried Cranberries (NuVal score: 4)
Minus those dried cranberries, it was a pretty nutritious breakfast. All of that fiber must have helped to bring up the scores! 
Developed by an independent panel of nutrition and medical experts, the 