The key to losing weight and realizing your best health is to work in as many good-for-you-foods as you can BEFORE treats and sweets.

"On average Americans get in 1 serving of whole grains a day". Check out the link below to get acquainted or reacquainted with whole grain basics:

http://www.eatright.org/Public/NutritionInformation/92_nfs0900b.cfm

We have recently been trying to make the whole-grain transition. We have switched to brown rice, something I never thought I would do. And now we have switched to ww pasta. I have gotten it at Trader Joe's and truly cannot tell the difference. My dc have not said a word about the change! And Dh didn't realize it was ww until I told him.

I really need to get more whole grain portions in throughout the day though.

Kathy

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Originally posted by SheriaVa:

quote:

Originally posted by kd:
You've inspired me to go out and buy MY first box! I really can't remember ever having tried it! What brand did you buy?

It was the "365" brand from Whole Foods--whole wheat penne.

I really like Whole Foods brand and Trader Joe's brand.
Dawn

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jennifer:

You might have better luck mixing regular white rice with barley or just serving barley in place of rice. Barley has a cleaner flavor than brown rice and looks more like white rice. To top it off, barley has few calories per cup and twice the fiber of the brown rice.

QUOTE]

Thought I'd check out some of the topics from last year, and lo and behold found this one I thought we'd benefit from again!

Barley is my personal favorite. It has a nutty flavor and keeps you full all afternoon. Also, as a WW member I've found that I can have a satisfying portion of barley for ONE POINT, way less than the 3-4 PTS of brown rice. Plus it's chewy so it takes longer to eat it; you can't just shovel it in like you can with rice.

Today I had it with grilled chicken (marinated in ginger and a Key West spice rub), brussels sprouts simmered in chicken broth with tarragon, and a spring mix salad. It also pairs well with grilled vegetables in the summer. Try it!! )

P.S. The web connection no longer seems to work, but the topic/thread is still a good one to revisit.

So yesterday I was reading a copy of Muscle and Fitness Hers while on the treadmill (only walking - damn pulled quad) and came across this tidbit:

According to the ongoing Nurses Health Study, women who consumed the most whole grains over a 12 year period gained an average of 3.3 fewer lbs than women who relied more on refined grains.

The women with the highest of the high fiber intakes has a 49% lower risk of major weight gain.

Interesting!

Now, I don't want to be too critical, but I do wonder if women who consume more grains are just more health conscious, and thus, more likely to make other healthy food choices and exercise more.

To be honest, the only whole grains I get in, is if I have brown rice, WW toast, or Kashi cereal. This is something I should work on. Say.....? My next baby step!

quote:

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Originally posted by Jennifer:
One of my personal favorite whole grains is wheat berries. I find them in the health food section of my grocery or at whole foods. They cook for a long time, but I cook a whole bag at once and freeze in batches that I can then boil for about 3-5 min to thaw. I love the flavor of them and bake them in breads or use them in place of rice. I also love quinoa (pronounced keen-wa). I use it mostly as a breakfast cereal.

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Hi Jennifer -

I post on the other board but have been rading this one also. How do you prepare the wheat berries? I have always wanted to try them just haven't gotten there. What kind of seasonings do you add? Also, how do you fix the quinoa for breakfast? I made something with it a few years ago and have some now but haven't done anything with it lately.

I have made bulgher and mixed it with yogurt and fruit and that is really good for breakfast. Keeps me fulla nd I love the chewy nutty texture of whole grains.

Pam

I also recommend Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) It's a seed that cooks like a grain and is a complete protein. It cooks stove top in about 20 minutes in twice it's volume of liquid. It has a cheqy consistency, like brown rice, but reminds me more of cous-cous. It's a nice change from the same old same old pasta and rice

Mary Jo -

You might have better luck mixing regular white rice with barley or just serving barley in place of rice. Barley has a cleaner flavor than brown rice and looks more like white rice. To top it off, barley has few calories per cup and twice the fiber of the brown rice.

You might also experiment with different varieties of brown rice. I've tried a bunch of different kinds and have found that I like some and and am not really big on others.

One of my personal favorite whole grains is wheat berries. I find them in the health food section of my grocery or at whole foods. They cook for a long time, but I cook a whole bag at once and freeze in batches that I can then boil for about 3-5 min to thaw. I love the flavor of them and bake them in breads or use them in place of rice. I also love quinoa (pronounced keen-wa). I use it mostly as a breakfast cereal, but also have a recipe for a quinoa mango salad with a lime cumin vinaigrette from "Vegeterian Cooking for Everyone."

I just purchased some whole grain linguine that contains ground flax seeds (Hodgson Mills brand). I'm making a pasta with squash recipe this week and thought I would try it. I'll let you know how it is.

Thanks for the pilaf idea Allie

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Originally posted by Dinni:
I would like to try Kasha - I don't know why, but I had heard of it and got some, now I don't know what to do with it. Any ideas?

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I recently tried Kasha in a pilaf recipe in place of the rice, and it worked well.

alli

We are still in the process of discovering whole grains. The bread was pretty easy and we have done that for several months. Where we seem to have the main problem is pasta. When you want spaghetti you want the real thing. To solve this problem we have been making creative new pasta dishes around the pasta. We will use roasted vegs, sundried tomatoes, tuna or chicken and make this an entirely different kind of meal. Maybe after we are more used to using the ww pasta "normal" spaghetti won't be the norm anymore.

I tried the quinoa that Bee recommended to me on the other board and liked it quite well. I think that there may be many interesting things to do with this.

I would like to try Kasha - I don't know why, but I had heard of it and got some, now I don't know what to do with it. Any ideas?

Thanks - dinni

Hi

When my family decided to start eating healthy in 2004 we made the switch from white sugar processed bread to a 9grain whole wheat bread and I have had no complaints yet. Goal is to switch the pasta and get them to eat the brown rice. We are just baby stepping it here to get healthy.

ttfn
Patty

My three year old DD begged me to make cookies this afternoon. It's been a while since I last made any, so I decided to do it for her (and we had no fruit left in the house for her t snack on). I had this thread in the back of my mind, and decided to try making something whole grain. We made Whole Wheat - Honey Cookies, and they are amazing--a little like oatmeal cookies without the chunkiness, and a little like a cup of tea in cookie form. Here's the recipe:

Whole Wheat - Honey Cookies

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Heat oven to 375. Mix brown sugar, butter, honey, vanilla and egg in a large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets (I use silicon mats on my sheets). Bake 9-11 minutes or until light brown around the edges. Remove from cookie sheet.

you could probably make these lighter by using apple sauce in place of the butter and cutting back the sugar, but I lacked applesauce in the hosue to try this.

alli

quote:

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Originally posted by kd:
You've inspired me to go out and buy MY first box! I really can't remember ever having tried it! What brand did you buy?

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It was the "365" brand from Whole Foods--whole wheat penne.

KD -
I would also recommend BioNaturae ww pasta - they are fabulous!
Just be sure not to overcook the pasta - ww pasta MUST be al dente otherwise it gets chewy.

Besides switching to wholegrain products, I've just been trying to work more grains into my diet.

For instance, I like to make tabouli from time to time (bulgar wheat)

I make my super duper dont have to eat the rest of the day pancakes:

multigrain pancake mix + sesame seeds, flax seeds, oat bran, dried cranberries, diced bananas, soymilk.

I love to make those when I'm camping. Drizzle on some honey and you've got good eats.

Another cool thing is quinoa. Cook, mix with parmesan and scredded zucc, season with garam masala, stuff squash or tomatoes with it and bake.

Quinoa is a good substitute in tabouli, rice, and couscous recipes too.

We have been using whole grains for quite some time now. The only thing I have trouble with is getting everyone to eat brown rice. I have tried first mixing half white rice and half brown rice. It really is a crunchy issue, I think. I love the crunchiness of brown rice, but my husband and kids really prefer the fluffy texture of white rice. I won't give up though. I continue to slip it in whenever I make a rice dish.

I use Bella Terra (imported from Italy) WW organic pasta and like it very much.
Sandy

quote:

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This week, I bought my first package of ww pasta...

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You've inspired me to go out and buy MY first box! I really can't remember ever having tried it! What brand did you buy?