Trading Up Downtown

One of the best parts about blogging at Trading Up Downtown is giving away fun, nutritious foods in my weekly giveaways. I know what you guys like, so this week’s giveaway is sure to put a smile on your face.

As you know, I love Larabars. I tend to enjoy them as dessert, but they also make a great snack, especially when paired with a food with a little more staying power, like almonds (NuVal score: 81) or a banana (NuVal score: 91). My favorite Larabar to enjoy as dessert is the Peanut Butter Cookie (NuVal score: 31). I have a major peanut butter addiction, so this bar satisfies that craving as well as my sweet tooth. It’s the perfect way to end a meal for me!

When it comes to bars, a 31 on the NuVal scale is pretty good. The scores for these bars (and granola bars) range from 2-57 and the median score is a 19. I’m always looking for ways to trade-up the nutrition of the foods that I eat, so here are some of the top-scoring Larabars on the market:

• Larabar Apple Pie: 57
• Larabar Lemon: 32
• Larabar Banana Bread: 40
• Larabar Pecan Pie: 46
• Larabar Cashew Cookie: 32
• Larabar Cherry Pie: 40

With all of this talk about Larabars, let’s get on with the giveaway!

Trading Up Downtown Giveaway

Here’s your change to win 8 of my favorite dessert-like Larabaras!

To enter: Just leave a comment on this post about your favorite Larabar flavor. Earn an extra entry by tweeting or posting this giveaway on Facebook. (Just be sure to leave a second comment on this post with your tweet or FB post.) I’ll randomly pick a winner on Friday morning.

Good luck!

One of my biggest joys in life are cookies. For real. Ok, there are tons of things in my life that also bring me joy, but when it comes to desserts, it’s all about the cookies. My family even refers to me as the “Cookie Monster” because I love them so much.

When it comes to cookies and nutrition, I’m sure you’re not surprised to hear that they don’t score too high on the NuVal scale. But, that’s okay because if there was a high-scoring cookie out there, it probably wouldn’t taste very good. The ingredients that make a cookie taste so delicious (sugar, fat, chocolate, etc.) are the things that bring down the NuVal score. The category range for cookies on the NuVal scale is 1-32, so any cookie toward the top of that range is likely the best you’ll find for nutritious cookies.

With that said, here’s a sampling of some popular cookies on the market with their NuVal scores:

• Kashi TLC Tasty Little Chewy Oatmeal Cookies: 32
• Nabisco Mini Teddy Grahams Graham Honey Snack Cookies: 24
• Back to Nature Cinnamon Graham Sticks Cookies: 15
• Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookies: 10
• Nabisco Nilla Wafers: 6
• Nabisco Chips Ahoy chewy Real Chocolate Chip Cookies: 2
• Salerno The Original Butter Flavored Cookies: 2

Did any of these cookie scores surprise you? Does a nutritious cookie really exist?

The front of your box of cereal might show blueberries or strawberries, but that doesn’t mean there are any inside. Those “berries” are usually globs of flour, sugar, and other weird additives, and they’re not very nutritious. Boo.

Check out these some of these “fruit” cereal scores:

• TOTAL WHOLE GRAIN FLAKES WITH BLUEBERRY AND POMEGRANATE FRUIT FLAVORED CLUSTERS: 33
• UDI’S BANABERRY FRUIT MIX STRAWBERRIES AND BANANAS KIDS GRANOLA: 33
• KASHI BERRY BLOSSOMS CRISPY BERRY-KISSED SEVEN WHOLE GRAIN CEREAL SQUARES MADE WITH REAL FRUIT: 27
• DORSET SUPER CRANBERRY CHERRY & ALMOND CEREAL: 26
• KELLOGG’S FRUIT HARVEST WITH REAL STRAWBERRIES AND BLUEBERRIES: 24
• SPECIAL K RED BERRIES CRUNCHY RICE AND WHEAT FLAKES WITH STRAWBERRIES: 24

 
As you can see, many of the “fruit” cereals on the market don’t score very high on the NuVal scale. With the help of the NuVal scores, you can really see which cereals are nutritious and not-so-nutritious.

Instead of these fruity cereals, stick to simple cereals like Kashi 7 Whole Grain Cereal Puffs (Nuval score: 90) or Post Healthy Classics Shredded Wheat (NuVal score: 91) and add your own fruit. You’ll get all of the fruits nutrients, plus extra satiety from its fiber and water.