|
| These Anzac Cookies are full of Whole Grain Goodness.. |
September is Whole Grains Month and we’re kicking it off with some simple, fast ways to incorporate healthy whole grains into our everyday diet. If you’ve never tried whole grains or if you’re just starting out, adding more whole grains to your meals might seem intimidating. But once you start keeping an eye out for whole grain alternatives to your favorite foods, it becomes easier.
Going cold turkey and just launching straight into whole grains doesn’t work for most people. However, for my family, I’ve found that gradual changes from processed grains to whole grains has worked best.
Here are a some fast and healthy food ideas to help incorporate more whole grains into your diet:
Why not try this beautiful Pineapple Yogurt, Berry & Coconut Breakfast Parfait by Jennifer of Savoring the Thyme instead of a bowl of processed sugary cereal for breakfast.
|
| This Pineapple Yogurt, Berry & Coconut Breakfast Parfait is made with Whole Grain Granola |
Make transitioning to whole grains fun by making sandwiches with half white and half wheat bread. Aren’t these Tuna Checkerboard Sandwiches by Alison of Ingredients, Inc. cute?
|
| These Tuna Checkboard Sandwiches are Fun and Healthier. |
If you’re craving something crunchy, why not try a crusty whole grain bagel topped with crunchy sunflower or other nut butter. Over the years, my kids have learned to appreciate the heartiness and crustiness of whole grain bread.
|
| A Crusty Sprouted Whole Wheat Bagel with Crunchy Sunflower Butter |
Buy multi-grain pancake and muffin mixes that list “whole (name of grain)” – such as whole wheat flour – near the top of the ingredient list.
|
| These pancakes were made with King Arthur Flour’s Multi-Grain Pancake Mix. |
Try whole grain pasta made with quinoa and corn, or brown rice in place of white pasta made with refined wheat.Soba noodles also make a nice introduction to whole grain pasta (most are a blend of buckwheat flour and wheat flour). Choose colorful, flavorful sauces such as Basil Garlic Scape Pesto or a sauce made with Tuna, Plum Tomatoes and Olives, which pair nicely with whole grain pastas.
|
| Garlic Scape Pesto with Whole Grain Pasta |
Gradually substitute whole grain flours in muffin and quick bread recipes. One of the easiest ways to start incorporating whole grain flour is to try whole white flour or brown rice flour. Whole white flour is made from white wheat kernels, which is milder in flavor and lighter in color than its heartier, darker sibling, red wheat. Nutritionally, they are considered to be the same. I’ve made Pumpkin Spice Donuts and Mocha Chocolate Chip Muffins from whole grain gluten-free flours with fabulous results.
|
| Gluten-Free Pumpkin Spice Donuts made with Brown Rice Flour |
|
| Gluten-Free Mocha Chocolate Chip Muffins made with King Arthur Flour’s whole grain flour mixes. |
Although I’m not a proponent of sneaking healthy foods into my kids’ diet, I confess that there have been times when I haven’t fully disclosed the ingredients to my children at first. However, once they’ve tried the healthier alternatives, I admit to my sneakiness. Now that my kids are older, they are aware of what the healthier choices are. Although they may not always choose the healthier options outside of the home, my hope is that once they fly the coup, that they will make their own healthy choices.
And now for the Giveaway! Today, I have giveaways from Cookiehead and Alvarado Street Bakery to help make it easier for you to pack healthier whole grain food in your lunch bag.
Giveaway Details: This Giveaway is now closed (congratulations Joanne and Amie!)
(1) Cookiehead is providing one of their Five Family Pack Clamshells, full of their whole grain cookies, including Dark Chocolate Chunk, Cranberry Walnut, and Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies, plus a box of their Sprouted Grain Mini Brownies, perfect for healthy snacking.
(2) Alvarado Street Bakery has 5 coupons for free organic and sprouted grain bread. Choose among their sprouted breads, bagels, tortillas, pizza bread and more.
There will be Two Winners. The first winner will receive the cookie and brownie package from Cookiehead, and the second winner will receive 5 coupons for free Alvarado Street Bakery products of your choice.
How To Enter:
All you have to do to enter is leave a comment telling us easy ways you’ve added whole grains to your diet, or how you plan on adding more whole grains to your daily diet. The deadline for entering this giveaway is 9/16/11, 12 midnight EST. Two winners will be chosen using random.org and will have 4 days to respond or a new winner will be selected (please be sure to include your email address in your comment). For U.S. residents only.
You can earn additional entries by doing any of the following. Be sure to leave a separate comment for each additional entry so I know you did it:
- Tweet this giveaway, being sure to include my Twitter handle (@JeanettesHealth).
- Stumble this post and follow me @JeanettesHealth on Stumbleupon
- Stumble your favorite Whole Grains Post on my blog
- Sign up for my Email or RSS Feeds
- Follow @JeanettesHealth on Twitter
Disclosure: Cookiehead and Alvarado Street Bakery offered these giveaways as part of Whole Grains Month, to help encourage all of us to add more whole grains to our daily diet 
When it comes to carbs, I almost exclusively eat whole grains and I love them! Spelt and wheatberries are my current favorites cause I love the chew so much. this is a great round-up of some fabulous recipes!
Beautiful recipes!
Mary
I love this! You're making me so hungry with all of the amazing whole grain dishes! As for how I incorporate whole grains…I do it daily: from whole wheat waffles to whole wheat bread and pasta. So good!
Thanks for the giveaway!
caroline@chocolateandcarrots.com
http://chocolateandcarrots.com/2011/09/whole-wheat-waffles
I tweeted!
caroline@chocolateandcarrots.com
I stumble 'liked' this post!
Yay! And I'm your newest stumble-upon follower.
caroline@chocolateandcarrots.com
I read your posts via RSS (Google Reader) daily.
caroline@chocolateandcarrots.com
I also follow you on twitter.
@chocandcarrots
caroline@chocolateandcarrots.com
Great post! I appreciate you including my Checkboard sandwiches. I love to whole grains, and these selections look great!
I try to use whole grains as much as possible. I recently have been switching from all-purpose flour to whole wheat and have had surprising results without complaint from the family. What a generous giveaway!
I already receive email notifications.
We've converted to whole grain pastas and whole grain tortillas, and I've been learning to bake bread so I can ensure whole grain goodness in that area, too. I love carbs, so they need to be as healthy as possible!
I'm now following you: @allthingsjane
I also added your feed to my Google reader (not sure how to link that)
I try to substitute whole wheat flour in most of my baking. I use a combination so as to not weigh the baked goods down or strong of a flavor (although I like the nutty, wholesome flavor of wheat). My favorites are pancakes, chocolate chip cookies, scones, and pizza dough!
I have been trying to incorporate more whole wheat into our diets. I'm taking baby steps and replacing half of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat in recipes that I make, but hope to do even more! All of these recipes look so good!!
What a great post, Jeanette! Timely too, as just this weekend for the first time I substituted a cup of whole wheat flour in place of all-purpose flour in a batch of chocolate chip cookies I was making. I actually preferred the addition of nutty flavor. Baby steps for me here!
All of the recipes look wonderful!
I incorporate whole grains in the form of whole grain bread, pasta and cereal! Thanks for doing the givaway!
Baking with whole grain flours is a lot easier than most people think. I was surprised by how easy it was to make the switch, first by using half white and half whole wheat flour. Whole white wheat flour makes it even easier to make the transition.
I try different grains when I can for meals and experiment with whole grain flours in my baking.
Following you on Twitter!
Stumbled!
what a beautiful round up of whole grain recipes! my mom still makes half brown rice and half white rice in the rice cooker haha.
since i'm gluten free and buckwheat free and potato free, it's hard for me to find g/f bread that i can eat. i usually just stick to making my own like brown rice or quinoa!
I started my kids off making half and half white/brown rice too, then switched to brown rice. Now they want either white or brown, but not mixed. Good whole grain gluten-free bread is hard to find, but I do like Canyon Bakehouse's GF San Juan 7-Grain bread (brown rice, tapioca flour, sorghum, teff, millet, quinoa, amaranth). Of course, making your own is always best
What a great selection of healthy recipes from a number of different bloggers. I don't have much time for refined grains. The complexity, taste, texture and nutrient profile of whole grains puts them in an entirely different class. I love that you've dedicated a month to these beauties.
We try to work as many whole grains into our diet as possible. White bread and rice don't even make it through the door, unless for a special treat. These are all wonderful recipes and I can't wait to try some of them.
What a great post Jeanette. I'll be posting some protein balls using whole grains today! you are so right. When you start looking for ways to incorporate more whole grains, they're everywhere.
I'm going to switch to Whole Grain pasta!
This was such a great post, Jeanette! I am a huge fan of whole wheat anything. My favorite whole wheat product is actually the wheat seed itself, also known as the wheat berry. Cook those berries up and you can put them in anything! For me, I put them in my spinach salads, soups, and sometimes I eat them straight with a little bit of honey drizzled on top. I'm crazy for wheat berries!!
Whoops, forgot to add my email:
lind2176@gmail.com
I add whole grains to my diet by using whole grains instead of all-purpose and white in my muffins, cookies, pancakes, etc.
Since I switched, whenever I see a pancake made with all-purpose flour, I'm like, 'o_O that pancake is so white…" no offense ><
i use whole wheat flour, oatmeal and wheat germ frequently in baking.
jacquieastemborski AT comcast DOT net
Great recipes! I especially like the pesto pasta one.
I'm really enjoying hearing all the different ways everyone tries to include whole grains in their diet. There are so many choices today, something for everyone.
Great whole grains recipes & very thoughtful giveaway.
Both great companies. We fully rely on whole grains daily.
I stumbled this post & follow you on stumble.