Animal Writings

• Eat oatmeal for breakfast. The non-instant kind is the healthiest. But I have to admit, it's probably been a decade since I had "real" oatmeal—the kind that doesn't come out of a single-serving package. Those variety packs of instant oatmeal are a godsend. Healthy up your bowl of oatmeal even more by adding fruit—fresh or dried. In fact, here is a random forum thread that presents a hundred good ways to have your morning oatmeal: http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5301.


• Other hot cereals usually contain lots of whole grain goodness. Give them a try. The variety of hot cereals is actually pretty amazing.


• When buying bread, look for the word "whole" near the top of the list of ingredients, preferably as part of the first ingredient. The amount of fiber in the bread is also a good tip-off as to how whole grain-ish it is: 3 grams of fiber or more per serving is good; 1 gram or less is bad. (Though note that bread may contain ingredients other than whole grains that add fiber.)


• Whole Grain Fact

  Did you know that popcorn is a whole-grain snack?
  It's roughly the same deal with cold cereals. Look for "whole" at or near the top of the ingredients list and check the fiber content. Bonus: Oat milk (give it a try!) and some varieties of soy milk will add a couple more grams of fiber to your cereal. (Note: Some cereals contain gelatin, which is basically slop and discarded body parts from the slaughterhouse. "Organic" brands of cereal are less likely to be made with this disgusting ingredient.)


• And ditto for frozen waffles. Most of the major brands I see in the stores are quite lacking in their whole graininess. Look for brands like Van's and Kashi. You're more likely to find these brands in Whole Foods or health food stores, but you also may see them in mainstream grocery stores.


• Buy whole wheat pasta, and/or spelt pasta if you can find it. Some people find the taste of whole wheat pasta too heavy. One thing I've found is that whole what pasta likes thicker, heartier sauces, like a dense, veggie-rich version of marinara.


• Prefer brown rice over white rice. Granted, brown rice has to boil for 45 to 50 minutes, so you're looking at an hour cooking time and a lot of people (including me) don't feel like waiting that long. A decent compromise is quick-cook brown rice, which generally has been partially cooked already. If you're at a restaurant that offers brown rice as an option (many vegetarian and health-food restaurants do this), take it.


• Wild rice is another good choice.


• Couscous is wonderful, and only takes a few minutes to cook. Look specifically for whole wheat versions. Unfortunately, that's not available everywhere. But you can ask! Vegetables taste great on top of couscous. For instance, you could nuke some frozen asparagus, saute some cherry tomatoes and pine nuts in olive oil, throw everything on top of cooked whole wheat couscous, and add in Italian spices like oregano, basil, marjoram, and garlic powder—or an Italian spice blend. [Thanks to Tamara for pointing out that I need to add the "whole wheat" qualifier.]


• Quinoa is an amazing grain. Google or GoodSearch it; you'll see what I mean. It's a powerhouse. Simple to cook, and like most grains goes great with beans, vegetables, and a variety of sauces.


• Look for products that display "Diets rich in whole grain foods and other plant foods and low in total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk for heart disease and certain cancers.” Buy law, only products that contain at least 51% whole grains by weight can state this claim.


• Try your hand at baking. Muffins are a good place to start. (By baking I mean getting out the mixer and bowls and so forth, not roasting vegetables in the oven—although that's good, too.) Look for recipes that use generous amounts of whole grain flours. Note that baked goods made with whole wheat flower may be quite dense compared to those made with white flour. In some cases, and/or for some people, this doesn't matter, and in fact, you may prefer (or come to appreciate) the rich whole wheat taste. But you may want to start out by using a 50% whole wheat - 50% white flour (or "enriched" flour) blend.
  
  A great suggestion from Tamara in her comment to this post: Try white whole wheat flour; it's sort of the best of both worlds.


• All kinds of food products these days, including pretzels and tortilla chips, are advertising their whole-grainness. In some cases, the amount of whole grains in the products is puny, in other cases, it's legitimate. If it's at the top of the ingredient list, or if the amount of fiber in the product is considerably more than that of similar products that don't have the whole grains, it may be worth a try. Note that just because a product has whole grains doesn't automatically make it healthy. It could still be high in sugar or fat or salt, or otherwise be an overall unhealthy food. Generally, try to get your whole grains from products that are a little closer to nature.

Labels: diet, fiber, whole grains