If not, these websites offer discounts of 50% off or more on anything from restaurant meals to spa services as long as a minimum number of people buy the deal. The offers change daily, so there’s something for everyone! Definitely consider signing up. I’ve saved tons of money on these types of deals!

Have you ever used one of these group buy websites?

So, what do you think is the most nutritious ice cream-like dessert out there? Frozen yogurt? Fat-free sorbet? Ice cream? I bet a lot of people think fat-free sorbet is the best option, right? Wrong. Most sorbets score a 1 or 2 on the NuVal scale. If you’re wondering why, it’s because sorbet is basically frozen fruit-flavored water, which is not very nutritious when you think about.  It’s low in calories, but that doesn’t mean it’s nutritious, too.

Ok, so sorbet isn’t very nutritious. What does that mean about the other options out there? The ice cream aisle can actually be pretty confusing, especially when there are so many different health claims on ice cream products: Fat Free, Reduced Fat, Low-Fat, Light, No Sugar Added, Reduced Sugar. Jeez, Louise! This is where you need NuVal to cut through the clutter!

Check out some of these NuVal scores:

• Breyers Extra Creamy Vanilla Ice Cream (Nuval score: 45)
• Blue Bunny Reduced Fat Double Strawberry no sugar added (NuVal score: 39)
• Breyers Double Churn Fat Free Strawberry Ice Cream (NuVal score: 39)
• Edy’s Slow Churned Vanilla no sugar added (NuVal score: 34)
• Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia Ice Cream (NuVal score: 21)
• Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia Low Fat Frozen Yogurt (NuVal score: 15)
• Dean’s Healthy Delight Strawberry Frozen Yogurt (NuVal score: 14)
• Haagen-Dazs Fat Free Strawberry Sorbet (NuVal score: 1)

Did you notice that the Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia frozen yogurt scores lower than the ice cream? In many cases, frozen yogurt scores lower than the equivalent ice cream. Kind of crazy, right? NuVal’s Director of Nutrition, Annette Maggi, explains the reason over on A Better Bag of Groceries. But, basically, she says that even though ice cream is not a health food, it offers some of the benefits of milk, like calcium and vitamins. Interesting, right?

But, don’t think you can eat all of the ice cream you want. Not all ice creams score high for nutrition. For instance, Breyers Vanilla with Snickers scores a 3 and Edy’s Rich and Grand Chocolate Chip gets an 8. Tasty, but not very nutritious.

Trading Up Downtown Giveaway

With all of this ice cream talk, I think a giveaway is in order!!! I can’t giveaway ice cream since it will melt and make a mess, but I can giveaway the next best thing: ice cream dishes and a scooper! How adorable are these?!

I think this one would also make a great oatmeal bowl!

To enter: Leave a comment on this post about your favorite flavor of ice cream. I’ll randomly pick a winner on Monday morning. You can earn an extra entry if you tweet this giveaway! (Just be sure to leave another comment on this post with your tweet!)

Good luck!

Check out some of the NuVal scores below. They may just inspire you to trade-up your bagel choice the next time you are at the grocery store!

Instead of:

• Ray’s New York Plain Bagel (NuVal score: 5)
• Thomas Blueberry Bagel (NuVal score: 10)
• Pepperidge Farm Everything Bagel (NuVal score: 10)
• Sara Lee Cinnamon Raisin Bagel (NuVal score: 11)
• Lender’s Frozen Original Plain Bagel (NuVal score: 15)

Trade-up to:

• Lenders Whole Grain Multi Grain Bagel (NuVal score: 37)
• Western Sweet Wheat Bagel (NuVal score: 36)
• Western Roasted Onion Bagel (NuVal score: 34)
• Natural Ovens Muti Grain Whole Grain Bagel (NuVal score: 34)
• Weight Watchers Heart Baked Bagel (NuVal score: 30)
• Pepperidge Farm Whole Grain Mini Bagels (NuVal score: 30)

You can further trade-up the nutrition of your bagel breakfast by adding 2 tablespoons of Teddie Creamy Natural Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter (NuVal score: 49) and sliced banana (NuVal score: 91). You’ll have a satisfying, nutritious, and delicious breakfast in no time at all!

This week’s cart:

• Bananas (NuVal score: 91)
• Tomatoes (NuVal score: 96)
• Carrots (NuVal score: 99)
• Peaches (NuVal score: 99)
• Edensoy Soymilk Original (NuVal score: 82)
• Stonyfield Oikos
• Blue Diamond Almond Unsweetened Chocolate (NuVal score: 89)

• Arnold 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins (NuVal score: 37)
• Romaine hearts (NuVal score: 100)
• Eggland’s Best eggs (NuVal score: 44)
• Sweet potatoes (NuVal score: 96)
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Buitoni Three Cheese Ravioletti (NuVal score:

• Country Choice Old-Fashioned Oats (NuVal score: 57)
• Brown sugar (NuVal score: 1)
• Chopped walnuts (NuVal score: 82)
• Vegetable broth (NuVal score: 1)

What was in your shopping cart this week? Did you make any score trade-ups?

Amelia Winslow is a busy young professional who wants to eat good food, enjoy good company, look and feel her best, live a long time, and make the world a better place.  All at the same time.  Sound overwhelming?  It can be!  That’s why she started Eating Made Easy: a one-stop shop for food, nutrition, and healthy cooking ideas that will make your life easier.  On eating-made-easy.com she shares her (and your) practical ideas for how to navigate the world of food and nutrition sans mental breakdown.

Amelia holds two Master’s Degrees, in Nutrition and Public Health, from Tufts University in Boston, MA.  She currently works as a nutritionist and personal chef in Los Angeles.

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Not much says summer like fresh corn on the cob (NuVal score: 91).  And although corn got a bad rap during the low-carb craze, it’s actually a healthy summer side, coming in at about 100 calories and 3 grams of fiber per ear.  While corn is delicious as is, it’s even more tempting to sink your teeth into a hot steaming cob when it’s been rolled in one of these flavorful spreads.  Try them all, and let me know if you have any favorites of your own!

ROASTED CORN ON THE COB

4 ears corn, husks removed

Kosher salt

one of the following delicious spreads

Preheat oven to 400.  Place corn on a baking sheet coated with nonstick cooking spray and sprinkle with coarse salt.  Roast for 15- 20 minutes, shaking sheet a couple times during roasting to turn corn, until corn is tender and there are some brown spots.  (Alternatively, you can grill the corn on low heat for a few minutes per side, or even microwave it for ~5 minutes instead).  Put one of the spreads below in the bottom of a baking dish or pie plate and roll the hot corn around in it.  Serve when it’s cooled a little.

Maple Mascarpone Spread

2 Tbsp Mascarpone Cheese

2 Tbsp Maple Syrup

Generous pinch of cinnamon

Generous pinch of salt

Let cheese come to room temperature, then mix all ingredients with a spatula until well-combined.

Cinnamon Honey Butter

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp honey

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

Let butter come to room temperature, then mix ingredients together with a spatula.

Chili Lime Sauce

Juice of one lime

10-ish dashes of hot sauce (I like Tapatio or Chipotle Tabasco)

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp coarse salt

Whisk ingredients together in a small bowl, then roll corn in the sauce.

Herb and Parmesan Rub

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (use a good one here and grate it yourself – so worth it!)

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh herbs, like basil or Italian parsley

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp salt

In a baking dish, mix the grated cheese, salt, and herbs.  Rub the olive oil on the corn with your fingers, then roll around in the cheese-herb mixture.  Enjoy!

Some of my favorite ways to get more veggies into my diet are by adding shredded spinach (NuVal score: 100), carrots (NuVal score: 99), or zucchini (NuVal score: 99) to chili, soups, and meatloaf. I also like to add sweet potato (NuVal score: 96) or canned pumpkin (NuVal score: 94) to baked breads and cakes.

One of my favorite veggie trade-ups is adding mashed avocado (NuVal score: 89), instead of a slice of Kraft Singles American Cheese (NuVal score: 18), to my sandwich. Besides increase the nutritional value of my sandwich, it also jazzes up the flavor!

What veggie trade-up have you made recently?

Horizon Organic Vanilla Yogurt (NuVal score: 24) + Annie’s Cocoa & Vanilla Bunnies Toasted Corn & Whole Oat Cereal (NuVal score: 11)

Yoplait Light Fat Free Very Vanilla (NuVal score: 60) + Barbara’s Bakery Ultima Organic High Fiber Cereal (NuVal score: 33)

Chobani Non-Fat Vanilla Greek Yogurt (NuVal score: 73) + Quaker Essentials Puffed Wheat (NuVal score: 82)

Weight Watchers Nonfat Yogurt Vanilla Yogurt (NuVal score: 87) + 7 Whole Grain Puffs Crunchy Cereal Puffs (NuVal score: 90)

Spaghetti squash is easy to make, and when topped with marinara sauce and a little Parmesan cheese, it tastes almost like regular pasta, but it’s a lot more nutritious for you.

How to cook spaghetti squash:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F.

2. Cut the squash in half lengthwise.

3. Using a spoon, scrape out the seeds in each half.

4. Bake the halves face-down on a lightly oiled tray for about 30-35 minutes, or until the skin-side of the squash can be pierced with a fork.

5. Allow the baked squash to cool for about 20-25 minutes, then use a fork to scrape-out (length-wise) the “spaghetti” strands from the skin.

A small, whole spaghetti squash will yield a TON of cooked squash! Spaghetti squash stores well in a Tupperware container in the fridge and tastes great reheated in the microwave.

Trading Up Downtown Giveaway

Thanks to everyone who entered yesterday’s iced coffee giveaway! Here’s your winner: 59!

59. Tamara @ The Stretch Jean Incident

I love iced coffee, but ice cream has to be my favorite cool treat, preferably a flavor with chocolate and peanut butter!

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

You may already know that NuVal doesn’t score coffee, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t win some!

Trading Up Downtown Giveaway

Here’s your chance to win a bag of ground coffee and a great reusable and environmentally-friendly iced coffee cup, so you can make your own iced coffee at home. Here’s a little how to make iced coffee tutorial.

New England Coffee’s EyeOpener Blend is perfect for making iced coffee because it’s really strong and doesn’t get watered-down when you add ice to it.

To enter: Leave a comment on this post about your favorite cold treat. Earn an extra entry if you tweet this giveaway! (Just be sure to leave another comment on this post with your tweet!)

I’ll randomly pick a winner tomorrow morning. Good luck!

• Consignment Shopping 101
• Consignment Shopping 101: Part 1
• Consignment Shopping 101: Part 2
• Consignment Shopping 101: Part 3

Ok, now that you know all about consignment shopping, here’s the final post in my series: where to sell you stuff.

(source)

There are thousands and thousands of consignment shops around the country. A quick Google search will likely turn up a bunch in your area. There are a number of consignment store chains that might be near you as well. Feel free to check out their websites to see if they have a location near you.

• Second Time Around
• Buffalo Exchange
• Plato’s Closet
• Turn Style

Happy consignment store stopping!

Trading Up Downtown Giveaway

Thanks to everyone who entered last week’s overnight oats giveaway! Here’s your winner: 341!

341. Kristy, on July 16th, 2010 at 6:14 am Said:

One of my favorites for breakfast, oatmeal made with pure apple juice and cinnamon, delicious!!!

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