Ok, let’s talk peanut butter.

The average reduced-fat version of peanut butter has 12 grams of fat per 2 tablespoons (versus 16 for the regular stuff), but it also contains more sugar and sodium– and only 10 fewer calories. Surprised? According to the NuVal scale, most full fat peanut butters score higher than the reduced-fat kind. Check out these scores:

Regular peanut butter:

• KREMA PEANUT BUTTER NATURAL SMOOTH & CREAMY: 51
• BRAD’S ORGANIC SMOOTH PEANUT BUTTER: 37
• TEDDIE ORGANIC ALL NATUREAL PEANUT BUTTER: 36
• POLANER REGULAR CRUNCHY: 34

Reduced-fat peanut butter:

• SMUCKER’S REDUCED FAT NATURAL STYLE PEANUT BUTTER: 26
• KROGER CREAMY REDUCED FAT PEANUT BUTTER 25% LESS: 25
• SKIPPY REDUCED-FAT PEANUT BUTTER: 18
• JIF REDUCED-FAT PEANUT BUTTER: 7

As you can see, reduced-fat peanut butter generally scores lower on the NuVal scale. Why? The fat in peanut butter is the healthy monounsaturated kind, so swapping it out for sugar and salt just doesn’t make sense from a health standpoint. When it comes to peanut butter, it’s more nutritious to choose the full fat variety.  

As you can see, “reduced fat” isn’t necessarily synonymous with more nutritious. Foods can be low in fat, but high in sodium or sugar. Foods can be low in fat, but have very few positive nutrients (think fiber, calcium, vitamin D) that still benefit our health. Also, not all fat is bad.

Have you ever traded-up from a “reduced fat” or “low-fat” product for the regular variety?

In the mix:

• Quaker Old Fashioned Oats (NuVal score: 57)
• Kashi Go Lean Crunch (NuVal score: 36)
• Hood Fat Free Milk (NuVal score: 100)
• Eggs (NuVal score: 33)
• Cinnamon
• Vanilla extract

I added everything to a pot (yep, even the egg!) and cooked it on the stovetop until the oatmeal started to thicken.

Breakfast is served! I ate my delicious, nutritious, and satisfying oatmeal with a cup of coffee with steamed milk. (I swear, you couldn’t taste the egg mixed in!)

What trade-ups have you made with your breakfasts lately?

Trading Up Downtown Giveaway

Thanks to everyone who entered this week’s giveaway! Here’s your winner: 46!

46. Lela

I love grinding up oats and using them in place of part of the flour. Gives a great texture!

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

Mom’s Apple Crisp

Ingredients:

• 3-4 medium apples (NuVal score: 96)
• 1 cup King Arthur All Purpose Flour (NuVal score: 67)
• 1 cup sugar (NuVal score: 1)
• 1 stick Land O Lakes Sweet Cream Salted Butter (NuVal score: 2), softened
• Cinnamon and nutmeg to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350* F. Haphazardly slice apples into small pieces. (I used Macoun, Macs, and Fuji.) You don’t need to worry about how the apple pieces look. The different size pieces “fit together” nicely once all of the ingredients bake together. This recipe is great for less-than-perfect apples– you can just cut off the rotten part and use the rest of the apple. You can also peel the apples, if you’d like, but I prefer to leave the skins on for this recipe.

2. Next, sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg all over the apples. Feel free to add as much or as little as you’d like. I try to cover the entire top layer of apple slices with both spices.

3. Combine flour and sugar (and a little more cinnamon and nutmeg, if you want) in a small bowl. Next, using a fork, combine butter with flour and sugar. (Make sure the butter is really soft.) The mixture will begin to look lumpy. Make sure that the majority of the dry ingredients have combined with the butter.

4. Cover apple slices with flour-sugar-butter mixture. Spread evenly over top layer and fill in all around the apple slices.

5. Bake for 30-40 minutes until top becomes slightly “crisp” and apples are soft. Your house will smell AMAZING at this point!

6. Remove from oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes. Serve alone or with French vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

Apple Crisp Light

Ingredients:

Filling:

• 3 medium apples (NuVal score: 96), coarsely chopped
• 2 tbsp sugar (NuVal score: 1)
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Topping:

• 3/4 cup Quaker rolled oats (NuVal score: 57)
• 1 tbsp Bob’s Red Mill whole wheat pastry flour (NuVal score: 91)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp Land O Lakes Sweet Cream Salted Butter (NuVal score: 2), softened

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F.
2. Combine filling ingredients in a large bowl; coat apples in cinnamon and sugar, and then transfer to a baking dish. (I used a 1-1/2-Quart Covered Round Dish.)
3. In the same large bowl, combine all of the topping ingredients and mix well, and then pour on top of the apples in the baking dish and spread evenly.
4. Bake for 40-45 minutes until apples are soft and topping is lightly browned.
5. Allow to cool before serving and enjoy!

Serves 4

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?

The day was exciting and jam-packed, so I never really had a chance to eat. By the time, I got to Penn Station to take the train home, my stomach was seriously growling, so I grabbed a salad for dinner. In it was romaine lettuce, broccoli, beets, artichoke hearts, chickpeas, and tomatoes– and it was awesome!

Once I finished eating my salad, I decided that I needed to recreate it at home– it was that delicious! As I was plotting my recreation, I realized that the salad ingredients were a combination of fresh and canned. Working at NuVal, I’ve learned that if you look for canned vegetables with low- or no-sodium, they can be just as nutritious as the fresh kind.

Here’s what’s in my recreated salad:

• Romaine lettuce (NuVal score: 100)
• Broccoli (NuVal score: 100)
• Tomatoes (NuVal score: 96)
• Eden Organic Garbanzo Beans No Salt Added (NuVal score: 100)
• PriceChopper Sliced Beets No Salt Added (NuVal score: 99)
• Mezzetta Marinated Artichoke Hears (NuVal score: 30)

As you can see, all of these salad ingredients– even those from cans– score high on the NuVal scale. The Mezzetta Marinated Artichoke Hearts score much lower than the others, but I used the oils and seasoning as my salad dressing. If you want to trade-up the the artichoke hearts, try the frozen variety. Bird’s Eye Fresh Frozen Artichoke Hearts get a 99 on the NuVal scale!

Here are three of my favorite fall vegetables that I just can’t get enough of right now. They taste delicious and can be prepared in a variety of ways– and the best part: they score 100 on the NuVal scale!

Butternut Squash (NuVal score: 100)

Butternut squash contains many different nutrients, such as vitamins A and C, potassium and fiber. Each cup of cubed butternut squash provides approximately 60 calories, 16 g of carbohydrates and 3 g of fiber. It also supplies almost 300 percent of your daily value of vitamin A, 50 percent of vitamin C, 7 percent of calcium and 5 percent of iron. [source]

Recipes to try: Roasted Butternut Squash & Butternut Squash Soup

Beets (NuVal score: 100)

Beets are loaded with vitamins A, B1, B2, B6 and C.  The greens have a higher content of iron compared to spinach.  They are also an excellent source of calcium, magnesium, copper, phosphorus, sodium and iron.While the sweet beet root has some of the minerals in its greens to a lesser degree, it is also a remarkable source of choline, folic acid, iodine, manganese, organic sodium, potassium, fiber and carbohydrates in the form of natural digestible sugars. [source]

Recipes to try: Shaved Baby Beets with Greens & Beet Chips

Cauliflower (NuVal score: 100)

Have you ever wondered the difference between steel-cut oats versus rolled oats? According to EatingCleanWorks.com, there are several differences between it and the typical rolled oat variety. These include:

• Much longer cooking time (30 minutes)
• More cholesterol lowering soluble fiber than other oatmeal
• Takes longer to digest so you stay fuller longer
• Chopped with steel blades resulting in a “chewier” oatmeal

Steel-cut oats are basically a less processed version of the rolled oats, which often means more of the nutrients are retained and often leads to a higher NuVal score.

I was so impressed with the steel cut oats that I ate in New York City, I decided to look up the NuVal score of a few common brands at the grocery store:

• McCann’s Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal: 91
• Country Choice Irish Style Steel Cut Oats: 91
• Arrowhead Mills All Natural Steel Cut Oats: 75

Pretty high scores, right? Well, surprisingly, not all of the steel cut oats on the market score that high, which is why the NuVal system is so helpful:

• Quaker Steel Cut Oats 100% Whole Grain Hearty Oats: 59
• Bob’s Red Mill Whole Grain Steel Cut Oats: 58
• Hodgson Mill Steel Cut Oats Hot Cereal: 56

As you can see, some brands of steel cut oats score around the same as regular rolled oats and hot cereal:

• Lowes Foods Whole Grain Quick Oats: 62
• PriceChopper100% Natural Rolled Oats: 59
• Bob’s Red Mill Organic Old Fashioned Whole Grain Rolled Oats: 57
• McCann’s Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal Hot Cereal: 55

I’m glad that I checked out these NuVal scores before I went to the grocery store and just bought any ol’ canister of steel cut oats. Since I was already at the grocery store, I bought some oats (Old Wessex LTD Irsh-Style Oatmeal: NuVal score 55 + McCann’s Irish Oatmeal: NuVal score 55) and a fun oatmeal bowl to giveaway on Trading Up Downtown.

Trading Up Downtown Giveaway

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment on this post with your favorite way to eat oatmeal. I’ll randomly pick a winner on Monday morning.

Good luck!

Thankfully, I have access to the NuVal database of scores, so I did a little research the other day to see how my favorite kinds of hummus scored. I also searched for more nutritious varieties to pick up at the grocery store the next time I am there. Check them out!

My favorite hummus varities and their scores:

• ATHENOS HUMMUS ROASTED RED PEPPER MADE WITH 100% OLIVE OIL: 46
• CEDARS GARLIC LOVERS HUMMUS: 45
• TRIBE ROASTED GARLIC HUMMUS: 44
• TRIBE ALL NATURAL CLASSIC HUMMUS: 44

Top scoring hummus:

• NASOYA ORIGINAL SUPER HUMMUS: 64
• MARZETTI BLACK BEAN HUMMUS: 57
• MARZETTI SOUTHWEST CHIPOTLE HUMMUS: 55
• WILD GARDEN HUMMUS SUN-DRIED TOMATO: 52
• GIANT EAGLE LEMON PEPPER HUMMUS: 49

Lower scoring hummus:

• SABRA GREEK OLIVE HUMMUS: 23
• SABRA ROASTED PINE NUT HUMMUS: 25
• SABRA CHIPOTLE HUMMUS: 26
• SABRA SUPREMELY SPICY HUMMUS: 26

What’s your favorite kind of hummus? If it’s not listed here in this post, leave a comment, and I’ll give you its NuVal score!

My brands of choice:

• Banana (NuVal score: 91)
• Teddie Smooth Unsalted Peanut Butter (NuVal score: 49)
• Thomas Hearty Grains Multi-grain English Muffin (NuVal score: 33)

The banana and peanut butter score at the top of their respective categories (produce and peanut butter), but my English muffin could definitely score higher. English muffins range from 6-81 on the NuVal scale.

At the bottom of the category:

• THOMAS CRANBERRY FORK SPLIT ENGLISH MUFFIN: 6
• BAYS ORIGINAL ENGLISH MUFFINS: 7
• THOMAS MIXED BERRY FORK SPLIT ENGLISH MUFFIN: 9
• SOUTHERN BAKERIES ENGLISH MUFFINS: 11
• DUTCH FARMS ORIGINAL ENGLISH MUFFINS DOUBLE-FORK SPLIT MUFFINS: 12

At the top of the category:

• FOOD FOR LIFE SPROUTD WHOLE GRAIN FORK SPLIT ENGLISH MUFFINS: 81
• NATURE’S OWN ENGLISH MUFFINS 100 CALORIE MULTI GRAIN ENGLISH MUFFIN: 45
• THOMAS BETTER START LIGHT MULTI-GRAIN MUFFINS: 42
• FOOD FOR LIFE 100% FLOURLESS SPROUTED WHOLE GRAIN ENGLISH MUFFINS: 42
• NATURE’S OWN 6 ENGLISH MUFFINS 100% WHOLE WHEAT ENGLISH MUFFINS: 39
• HEALTHY LIFE LIGHT ENGLISH MUFFINS: 38

My Thomas Hearty Grains Multi-grain English Muffin (NuVal score: 33) isn’t a bad choice when it comes to nutrition, but I could easily trade-up my morning English muffin with one of the choices above. I actually think my local grocery store carries the Food for Life brand, so I want to try these English muffins the next time I visit.

What’s your favorite kind of English muffins?

GOOD

• 2 eggs (NuVal score: 33)
• 2 Banquet Brown N Serve Breakfast Sausage (NuVal score: 6)
• 2 Pillsbury Grands Biscuits (NuVal score: 2)

BETTER

• 2 Eggland’s Best eggs (NuVal score: 44)
• 2 slices of Butterball Turkey Bacon (NuVal socre: 23)
• 2 slices of Wonder Classic White Sandwich Bread (NuVal score: 28) with jam (NuVal score: 1)
•  Ore-Ida Hash Browns Southern Style Potatoes (NuVal score: 59)

BEST

• 2 egg omlet made with Eggland’s Best eggs (NuVal score: 44) with tomatoes (NuVal score: 96), onions (NuVal score: 93), broccoli (NuVal score: 100), and green bell peppers (NuVal score: 94)
• 2 slices Land O’Frost Canadian Bacon (NuVal score: 26)
• 2 slices of Arnold Natural Flax and Fiber Bread (NuVal score: 48) with Teddie Super Chunky Peanut Butter (NuVal score: 38)
• Fresh pineapple (NuVal score: 99) and canteloup (NuVal score: 93)