Wanting to switch to more whole grains

[jayne]

Since early February my husband and I have been trying to eat more healthy things. I have managed to drop about 32 pounds primarily by not eating things that are refined, mainly breads, pasta, white rice, sugar and bakery!! I also noticed I'm not buying butter much any more, imagine that: no bread = no butter! I didn't even realize this until now! Sheesh.

Realistically though, I would like to eat a sandwich again some day, but everything I read says we need to eat whole grains. Now I can make our own whole grain bread, but we also like pasta and rice. How is whole grain pasta? Do you have any suggestions for other types of grains that we should try? Any good healthy recipes using whole grains that your family likes?

Seems like I remember Laura (Mia's mom!) talking about a grain that their family really likes but I can't remember what. Hopefully you'll read this or someone will remember!

What about whole grain breakfast cereals? I like oatmeal, but is there something else you like? I did find a whole grain pancake mix I really like, but only make that sporadically as I don't like them plain, so here comes Mr. Butter and something like syrup or jam which ups the calories I'm trying to avoid for now.

Anyway, I just thought I'd toss this out there and see what ideas you all had! Thanks.

Jayne

 

[Cathy_H]

We like the Barilla Plus. Omega 3 is good for you. We have tried whole grain also (Kroger brand I think ) & it was also decent. Pasta isn't that expensive so keep trying until you find one you like. I keep Uncle Bens Instant whole grain rice on hand. Probably not as good as true brown rice but better than white. Cooks in 10 minutes.

Barilla Plus - Made with wholesome ingredients that are naturally rich in protein, fiber and ALA omega-3 fatty acids

Also for sugar I have been using half sugar & half Splenda in our sweet tea. Splenda does not have an off taste. You can also bake with it... Congrats on losing your pounds.

 

[chandab]

What about whole grain breakfast cereals? I like oatmeal, but is there something else you like? I did find a whole grain pancake mix I really like, but only make that sporadically as I don't like them plain, so here comes Mr. Butter and something like syrup or jam which ups the calories I'm trying to avoid for now.
Anyway, I just thought I'd toss this out there and see what ideas you all had! Thanks.

Jayne

I like a breakfast cereal called Zoom, its a cracked wheat hot cereal (similar to oat meal). I eat it with milk and brown sugar, but I'm sure you could figure out a lower calorie version. Its made by Krusteaz. I just make some Zoom cookies the other day, similar to oatmeal cookies (they do have a fair amount of sugar in them, but oh so yummy).

 

[Brandi*]

I started switching to whole grains this year. I thought I was doing really good until I took a nutrition class. The instructor told us to always turn the package over and read the first ingredient in the ingredient list. Even if the package says "whole grains", "whole wheat" and so forth, that does not mean it is. She said a lot of them will have "whole enriched flour" as their first ingredient and that is basically white flour that has been dyed. So I came home and checked. Sure enough my orowheat bread that said whole wheat was actually white bread dyed brown. My wheatable crackers are not wheat at all. There are a lot of products that are whole wheat, you just have to be selective and look at those labels. I love wheat pasta but again just make sure and check the ingredients.

 

[muffntuf]

I have been incorporating whole wheat penne pasta in alot of my pasta dishes and it is pretty good tasting. There is also a Smart Pasta out that is pretty good.

Brown rice is good - it has alittle bit more crunchy bite than white rice, but you get used to that.

I also have started using more beans in dishes, Black beans are great!

What I did for cooking:

Got a nice rice cooker. Got a bread machine. Saves me much time in the kitchen and I make as much of my own food now as possible.

 

[jayne]

Thank you for all your good suggestions. I might have to try a different grocery store to find whole grain pastas, but that's fun too. There is a Trader Joe's about 20 miles away that might be good to visit when I'm in the area. I bet they'll have more whole grain products than the local store I have here.

Good to know about being more careful reading the labels. Who would have known that some things that say whole grain aren't really. Good thing I make my own bread. I did discover, happily, that two corn tortillas have only 110 calories and are from whole grain corn. It's something to remember for a change once in a while, and to get some good mexican flavors going with maybe some lean steak or chicken and lots of veggies. Fish tacos are also great with shredded cabbage and some salsa.

Thanks again. Making a change is hard, but it's not a bad thing. Just learning to think and shop a different way.

Jayne

 

[pinck43]

Since my sons will only eat healthy, I have gone to the wheat spagetti, lasagne noodles, and brown rice. We only eat wheat bread, sweet potatoes. I will not ever use regular spagetti again. The wheat are so much better. I also like the lasagne noodles. The brown rice seems to take longer to cook and I don't care for this as well. dionne

 

[Valerie]

Congrats on your weight loss........ I too have noticed my weight dropping since we moved away from the white breads, pastas, etc.

I think the one grain that you were trying to think of is called Quinoa....."keen wah"....... you can find that in a lot of health food sections....I found ours at Fred Meyers ......(I think Kroger's owns Freddy's).... it's a super grain...so the box says. I can say it's very yummy it's wheat & gluten free....and easy to cook. I also like to mix it with brown rice to add a little different texture & extra protein.

Also, if you have a Costco near you?..... they have a 3.2 lb container of Organic Harvest Medley rice mix.... i'ts a blend of Calmati Brown Rice, Wild Rice,

Sweet Brown Rice & Heirloom Red Rice.......again, very yummy...and it has a rich, nutty flavor.

Hubby has been seeing a nutritionist since 2-13-09 and has dropped a lot of weight and we do have some sort of whole grain pasta, or whole grain rice, or quinoa ....daily....it does change weekly based on his menu from his nutrionist....... oh and yes, make sure you read your bread labels.......as someone else

pointed out, multi-grain, etc, doesn't mean whole grain.

I think we were using the Barilla pasta as well...whole wheat I believe.....the Penne was really good and the cork screw shaped kind was good.... you will probably have great luck at finding this stuff at Trader Joe's.......