1. Check out the day-old shelf: Most grocery stores have a day-old shelf or rack where you can find day-old bread at a deeply discounted price. If you don’t know where yours is located, ask the bakery counter. Day-old bread is perfect for making your own bread crumbs or French toast.
2. Take advantage of buy one, get one deals: Don’t need two loaves of bread? Buy one and freeze one for later!
3. Get creative: Is your bread at home about to expire? Crumble it into burgers or meatloaf. You’ll use less meat without skipping out on flavor, which means you’ll save some money in the end!
4. Make your own snacks: Instead of buying expensive bags of chips, make your own at home using corn or flour tortillas. Crisp up the tortillas in the oven (or toaster oven) and sprinkle with sea salt or garlic powder.

Trading Up Downtown Giveaway

Thanks to everyone who entered this week’s giveaway! Here’s you winner: 75!

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

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?

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!

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?

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.

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!

Here’s your chance to win a bag of Bob’s Red Mill Finely Ground Almond Meal/Flour, which scores a 77 on the NuVal scale.

To enter: Just leave a comment on this post about your favorite way to trade-up the nutrition of your baked goods. I’ll randomly pick a winner tomorrow morning.

Good luck!

In this week’s cart:

• Bananas (NuVal score: 91)
• Dry Roasted Pistachios (NuVal score: 67)
• Butter (NuVal score: 1)
• Romaine hearts (NuVal score: 100)
• Avocados (NuVal score: 89)
• Eggs (NuVal score: 33)
• Frozen shrimp (NuVal score: 75)
• Frozen edamame (NuVal score: 91)
• Rib eye steak (NuVal score: 30)

Save

Our grocery shopping trip was last-minute this week, so we shopped for in-store sales and used our reusable bags to save as much money as we could without planning ahead of time. We still managed to come in under our weekly grocery budget, but I think if we had coupons and really paid attention to the in-store sales and planned our meals around them, we would have saved even more. Oh, well. There’s always next week, and I’ll be sure to get my save on big time!

Do you tend to spend more when you don’t plan out your meals? How much more would you say?

1. Meat – Organic meat comes from cows, chickens, and other animals that were fed grain free of pesticides and antibiotics. They also had access to the outdoors for some period each day. Organic meat will also be free of growth hormones that may have negative effects in humans.
2. Milk – Conventional milk is made from cows injected with lots of antibiotics and hormones. Studies on one of these hormones, recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), have shown possible links to early puberty and other hormonal abnormalities. On the other hand, studies on organic milk have shown that it contains more vitamin E, omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants than milk made from high-yield cows.
3. Eggs – Similar to conventional milk, the typical eggs you find in the grocery store have been made by chickens who were injected with lots of antibiotics and hormones and had to sit in a metal box for their whole lives. Eating organic eggs will mean fewer abnormal hormones and chemicals in your body,
4. Coffee – Coffee comes from many exotic parts of the world, many of which don’t have regulations about fertilizers and pesticides. Buying organic coffee keeps you from drinking these chemicals, but it will also likely support fair trade practices which ensure that workers earn a fair wage.
5. Potatoes – A pesticide commonly used on potatoes call chlorothalonil can be particularly harmful to children. It has been linked to asthma and other health problems.
6. Fruit – Certain fruits may contain lots of pesticides, both on their skin and absorbed into the inner parts. Peaches, apples, strawberries, cherries, and grapes tend to have the highest levels. While washing and peeling fruit may help, it certainly won’t get rid of all those chemicals. Fruits with tougher skins, like bananas, kiwis, mangoes, and pineapples are safe to buy without going organic.
7. Soft-skinned Veggies – Similar to fruit, soft-skinned vegetables are particularly susceptible to absorb pesticides. Peppers, green beans, and tomatoes are the worst. Tougher vegetables like onions, broccoli, and asparagus are fine to buy normally.
8. Leafy Greens – The tender leaves of leafy greens like spinach and lettuce are a favorite for pests like worms and slugs, and so they are sprayed with lots of pesticides. In fact, spinach was the vegetable with the highest number of pesticides when tested by the Environmental Working Group.
9. Baby Food – Since it’s processed, many of us don’t think about the harmful effects of non-organic baby food. However, it’s made with concentrated fruits and veggies, which only intensifies the pesticides they might contain. Babies are especially susceptible to the harmful effects of such chemicals because they can interfere with natural development.
10. Foods You Eat Frequently – While most of us can put up with some chemicals in our bodies, but too much can have serious effects. Lots of other foods, from corn chips to peanut butter, may contain pesticides or other harmful chemicals. If you or your children eat a lot of a certain food, you may want to research whether it has a risk of containing chemicals and consider buying an organic alternative.

Brenda Lawrence is a physical therapist whose interests include sports rehabilitation and nutrition. She owns the site Physical Therapy Aide for students interested in a career as a physical therapy aide.

This blog post is written by a guest blogger and does not necessarily represent the views of NuVal LLC or Topco.

I have to admit after trying a few recipes with it, I’m nuts about almond flour!

Of course, as soon as I got home, I went to look up it’s NuVal score. It turns out that Bob’s Red Mill Finely Ground Almond Meal/Flour scores a 77 . Not too shabby! But, when I looked in the NuVal database for the score of whole wheat flour, I realized that it scores higher than the almond flour. King Arthur 100% Organic Whole Wheat Flour scores a 91, for example. Interesting, right? I thought the almond flour would score higher, but calorie for calorie, the whole wheat flour has more fiber, less saturated fat and a lower energy density than the almond flour.

Trading Up Downtown Giveaway

Thanks to everyone who entered this week’s giveaway! Here’s your winner: 7!

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