I very much enjoyed the April challenge of fitting more whole grains into my diet. Turns out I’m a big fan (who knew?), and I have really enjoyed all the recipes I’ve tried with different grains. The subject of whole grains brought to mind a critique we sometimes get from readers. Every now and then, Cooking Light gets complaints from readers (or I get complaints from friends of mine) that we occasionally call for ingredients that are too exotic, or at least too difficult to find. Not everyone lives in a big or even medium-sized city, and not everyone has access to a health-foods store.

As someone who grew up and still has roots in rural Kentucky, I understand this. However, I would like to encourage you to keep your eyes open for shops beyond your conventional supermarkets, places that could turn out to be real hidden gems. As an example, I present the Kountry Kupboard, an unassuming little place right along U.S. Highway 127 in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. My parents and I checked it out a few years ago on a quest for Christmas ham, and I was completely blown away by the selection of unusual ingredients, particularly cheeses, spices, baking items, and whole grains. Oh my goodness, the whole grains. I saw pretty much everything I had ever heard of. On a trip just last week, I spotted bulgur, buckwheat groats, quinoa, spelt, millet, Kamut, and a variety of flours made from these grains. They also carried a few other health-food standbys such as wheat bran, wheat germ, and ground flaxseed. I picked up some steel-cut oats, bulgur, and pearl barley (technically not a whole grain, but still righteous), as well as some dried diced papaya and a big homemade oatmeal cream pie. (It’s all about balance, people.) And most of the prices were lower than anything I find at my usual supermarkets. I love this store and try to visit and stock up any time I’m in the area.

I can’t promise that you’ll be able to find spelt flour and organic Kamut in every community. I just want to encourage you to keep your eyes peeled and perhaps check out that small bulk-food store by the side of the road. You just might find a wealth of goodness.

 

 Do you have a hidden gem of a grocery store in your area that you’d like to share?

We’ve already established that figuring out what constitutes a whole grain can be tricky (honestly, if they were a category on Jeopardy!, I might not take home the grand prize). What I’ve been noticing increasingly, however, is the overall attitude about whole grains is shifting to one of pride.

Whole grains are no longer necessarily something that has to be snuck into your family’s food (when we first started talking about them, I felt like I was supposed to just dim the lights and hope that my dining companions didn’t notice their normally boring white rice was suddenly a nice shade of brown). We knew from the start of the whole grain craze that they are good for us, but now we know they can taste really good—whole grains add a nutty, toasty, complex note that I’ve come to love and crave.

Old school pantry staples like the aforementioned white rice or plain pasta feel like a boring waste of my calorie budget now. I love this month’s featured recipes because they shine a proud spotlight on whole grains. If you’re still getting to know your friendly whole grain, there are options in there for you, too. Check out our collection of Whole-Grain Recipes. 

My favorite tip from this month’s Healthy Habits challenge was to cook in bulk. A good base like plain cooked bulgur, brown rice, or quinoa can easily transform into a different side dish each night with a few different stir-ins (edamame, cherry tomatoes, a handful of fresh herbs, or whatever else my garden has decided to provide).

Pictured: Black Bean-Quinoa Salad with Basil-Lemon Dressing

For the average person who has no dietary restrictions, getting the recommended 48 grams of whole grains a day can be a challenge. But what about the 3 million Americans with celiac disease who can’t eat gluten, a protein in wheat and related grains such as barley, rye, spelt and kamut? It takes more effort. And there are many people who do not have celiac disease, but may be allergic to wheat or are gluten sensitive and have to avoid all forms of wheat.

Celiac disease runs in my family and even though a blood test was negative, I was curious to know if I had a gluten sensitivity. The best way to find out was to go a few weeks of eliminating the gluten stressors in my diet. I was surprised that some of my symptoms such as achy joints and nasal congestion improved. I’m not advocating everyone going on a gluten-free diet, especially if you have no family history or symptoms of gluten intolerance. When I realized I had to give up my chewy New York style bagel, crusty baguette, and basmati rice, I wondered, “What would replace my favorite carbohydrates?”

I took baby steps and started at the grocery store. With a little trial and error I found some tasty discoveries—a gluten-free whole-grain bread and English muffins. A few slices of whole-grain toast for breakfast contributed to my Healthy Habits goal of getting 3 more servings of whole grains a day. But mealtime was more of a challenge. No more pasta? We recently tried several brown rice pastas in our test kitchens, and I was impressed with the nutty flavors and tenderness of the noodles. That would be an easy swap to serve with Italian sauce recipes. I’m anxious to make these little, tapas-style appetizers for my next party: Polenta Squares with Gorgonzola and Pine Nuts. The cornmeal polenta subs for the usual bruschetta as a base in this easy, make-ahead dish.

As long as I was giving up white starches like noodles and pasta, it made sense to replace plain white rice with a more nutritious grain. Brown rice and wild rice blends are even more flavorful on their own. Brown rice, like most whole grains, requires a longer cooking time than its refined version. This month, I’ve enjoyed trying recipes with brown rice and quinoa. Sesame Brown Rice Salad with Shredded Chicken and Peanuts makes great leftovers and Quinoa and Parsley Salad (pictured above) works in my menus as a starch and a salad. Quinoa cooks relatively quickly and can replace rice in most recipes, so it is a good first choice if you’re a newbie trying to switch over to gluten-free whole grains. It’s known for its exceptional nutritional profile because it has a protein profile similar to cow’s milk. It is also an excellent source of iron, calcium, magnesium, B vitamins, and fiber. They’re now two of my go-to recipes when I need an easy weeknight supper or unique side dish.

Next on my list of whole grains to try: millet and amaranth. The gluten-free whole grain replacements have added not only variety and more nutrition to my meals but inspired me to think beyond wheat bread and white rice.

- Learn more about gluten-free diets.

So we’ve spent all this time telling you how to incorporate more whole grains into your diet: learning to decode labels, weeding through the falsely “enriched” flours, and deciphering stamps, claims, and tricky advertising. As we began to delve into the heart of whole grains here at the magazine, I found myself to be the go-to “yes/ no” informant of the grain world. Yes, this bag of popcorn is a whole grain. No, this box of cheesy (addictive and mighty delicious) wheat crackers is not. Complex as this can be, I came to one huge realization.  When it came to many of the whole grains, I had no idea how to cook them! I could talk yes and no all day long, but when it came time to face that bulky bin of whole grains, I was clueless.

How many times have you walked past the bulk bins at your local health food store thinking, who in the world actually buys from that?  My husband brews his own beer so he’s bought the stuff. My routine is to bypass the bulk and walk straight to the rice aisle… buy the instant boil-in-bag brown rice, couscous, and oatmeal, give myself a pat on the back and head home. No sweat.

I never dreamed such diversity existed in the world of whole grains. Brown rice, oatmeal, popcorn, and anything made with whole-wheat pretty much dominated my whole grain spectrum. As I began to discover this new world of ancient grains (how’s that for an oxymoron) I realized that the word “instant” was completely foreign to most of these bulk-bin bites… along with instructions.

Heather is doing just fine on the whole grain front. 3 servings a day, no problem. But when I started coaching  Heather, she almost asked to postpone our coaching a different month; she hates whole grains that much.

And now, she enjoys whole grain toast for breakfast, and either enjoys some corn, popcorn, or tries a new whole grain recipe for dinner. She’s feeling good, confident, and is a heck of a lot more regular.

But just a few weeks ago, she wasn’t interested. Sort of like the way she feels about seeing a trainer at the gym.

But since she gave me a shot, she gave him one, too. She signed up for some personal training sessions a week ago, and trained so hard she re-awoke an old sleeping giant, several leg injuries. While she was working out, she told the trainer it was too advanced for her, but he didn't listen. “For three days, I couldn’t walk,” said Heather.

She went in for another session; an eating plan. She filled out a questionnaire about her favorite foods, then was handed a pre-printed “what to eat” sheet. It listed foods she should be eating, like brown rice and steamed fish. Heather’s response: “Do you think I’m stupid? If I could eat this way I wouldn’t be here. I have a college degree, you know!” And most distressingly, “I don’t want to go back, for anything in the world.”

So why did Heather modify her behavior to incorporate a new whole grains Healthy Habit (that she wasn’t even interested in), but she’s having such a bad experience with a trainer?

In order to change or modify a behavior that isn’t working for you, you have to build a system around you. Your likes and dislikes, your proclivities, your desires. It makes a lot more sense to customize a solution to meet your needs than to slap a one-size-fits all solution to the problem. You have to plug yourself in for a solution to work.

Heather is eager to make a physical change after her success with whole grains. She has seen how simple it is to incorporate a new Healthy Habit into her life. And now, she wants to add exercise into her routine, but instead of taking an approach that doesn’t work, she’s going to add it the Healthy Habits way.

This month, she’s turning the calendar back to February, when our Healthy Habit was 20-minutes of exercise, 3 times a week. Once she’s comfortable with that, she’s going to increase her exercising, but in a way that works for her.

"I have to make it right for me," said Heather.

Heather is the kind of woman who laughs a lot (she's the @foodhussy, afterall!). Now she knows if she isn’t smiling; it’s not the right solution for her. 

Look, the Hussy is a tough sell. When we started, whole grains were like kryptonite to her. I could come at her with a spoonful and she'd bob and weave her head and tighten her lips. It just wouldn't go in.

My hope after working with the Hussy for a couple weeks was that her hate-hate relationship with whole grains would evolve the more she got to know them.

And boy has it. First of all, she's so into quinoa now she's proselytizing to her mother and close friends saying, "It's just like the white rice we love, except it's better for you. Protein and stuff." Quinoa is a new staple in her home. And Larry likes it too. Her most recent win was this Shrimp and Quinoa recipe.

Speaking of rice, she's giving brown rice a shot this week. I told her about our editor's favorite, boil-in-bag brown rice, and she's agree to give it a shot. No more using "it takes too long" as an excuse; this product found many new fans when we put conducted our Taste Test Awards last year.

But here's the best part, and the first time @foodhussy actually used the word "love" to describe how she felt about a whole grain. Corn is one of Heather's favorite foods, but she'd been staying away from it because she heard it was full of empty calories. But corn kept showing up on all the whole grain lists. Seemed too good to be true, so I checked in with our resident Registered Dietitian, Sidney Fry. And here's what she said:

"While fresh corn is often classified as a vegetable, it is also a grain, and is a whole grain in its full form.  I spoke with a member of the Whole Grains Council, who investigated to find that a USDA serving of whole kernel corn (which is about 82 grams, or ½ cup) has about 20 grams of whole grains.  If eating canned corn, make sure the corn is drained before measuring. Grits, hominy, cornmeal, and corn flour are NOT always whole grain, and anything 'degerminated' is not a whole grain."

That was great news for Heather: 20 grams of whole grain in a 1/2 cup serving! An ear of corn will yield at least a cup of kernels; and remember, Heather's goal is 3 servings a day. Suddenly the challenge of whole grains isn't a challenge at all: it's a reason to eat the food that Heather loves anyway.  

When it comes to shopping for groceries, food marketers can make deciphering labels a breeze or it can leave you feeling beaten and frustrated. We've all witnessed the cereal boxes laden with colorful check marks, plus signs, pictures of grains, and vitamin claims. Not to mention the artificially inflated adjectives used to describe their products, such as good, great, excellent... I'm figuring out how to sift through all of this to get to the good stuff, whole grains.

In my attempt over the past couple weeks to de-code the food I am buying, I have learned 2-1/2 ways to "read the labels." The first and easiest way is to look for the whole-grain stamp. Basically, a company has to pay to join a club full of other companies who love whole grains, The Whole Grains Council. If you are a member of the Whole Grains Council, you can put a stamp on your product. The stamp will tell you how many grams of whole grains are in one serving. For example, Honey Nut Cherrios have 8 grams per serving (the same as Count Chocula), which is the minimum amount of whole grains allowed to be able to stamp the product. Frosted Mini-Wheats have 49 grams per serving, 1 gram more then the recommend 48 grams per day.

Because companies have to pay to be able to place a stamp on their product, not all products that are chock-full of whole grains will have a stamp. These products are usually the cheaper store-brand version of the stamped product. To understand these products, look at the list of ingredients.* The ingredient "100% whole grain _____," is what you are looking for. If you don't see this, just look for the term " whole grain ____." 100% whole grain is where you get the most bang for your buck (Frosted Mini-Wheats), but whole grain ingredients are a great start.

The last 1/2 way I learned, was to remember that certain grains are almost always 100% whole grain. The common ones are corn (including popcorn), oatmeal, and any non-white rice.

I have found that it helps to get a good start on whole grains in the morning. Allison Fishman wrote a great blog recommending  Crock Pot Oatmeal for the morning. Check out Syma's comment for a easy tip.

*Read Decoding Whole-Grain Food Labeling by our staff RD, Sidney Fry, for a deeper look into the world of food labels.

The hussy is a woman of her word, and has successfully made the Bulgur and Lamb meatballs and the Shrimp Quinoa.

She liked them. Her husband Larry (who does not eat vegetables) cleaned his plate. And yet, when Heather sees a whole grain, her first thought is: "I know I'm not going to like you."

Sorta being rough on the little guys, aren't you, Heather? We discussed ways to wrap whole grains like quinoa in another flavor, like a drizzle of her favorite vinaigrette or pesto, and using the dressed grain as part of a salad.

But the key question for Heather is this: Why eat whole grains?

Health is something that is important to Heather. She is vibrant and enthusiastic, but she finds herself getting tired very easily. A newlywed, Heather's life priorities are shifting away from partying with the girls, and moving toward setting up home and enjoying gardening and other outdoor activities with her husband.

But these days, after gardening for an hour, or even taking a walk, she is exhausted and feels like she needs a nap. "I'd like not to be tired," says Heather.

For the last few months, I've been stalked by a hussy. A @foodhussy, to be precise.

Heather Johnson, who uses that twitter handle has been trying to get my attention for the past few months to be a Healthy Habits coaching client. And this month, I called and said, "Whole grains is your month, Heather."

But Heather, being a call-it-like-she-sees it gal, was pretty disappointed. Whole grains. Big whup. She was all excited for a month of "Cooking More,"  or even "Exercising," but adding three servings of whole grains every day? It just didn't have the sexiness of those other months for Heather.

You see, Heather loves to eat. When we spoke, she had started her day with a cinnamon bun and lunch was a hot dog. "Three servings? Where am I going to find room for three servings of whole grains?" she asked.

So we broke it down: whole-grain toast is a great way to start the day. And tell you what, put a little butter and your favorite jam on it. Make it taste good. We're not taking anything AWAY, we're just adding. If you have two slices, that's two servings.

Another easy to swallow whole grain: popcorn. Really. 1 cup of popcorn and another serving down.

So that got a big "Oh. I can do this," from Heather. And with that, my little hussy picked three whole grain recipes that she promised to try this week. And believe it or not, she's already made one of them and loved it; feel free to read about it on her blog.

Here are the recipes Heather has selected:

Bulgar & Lamb Meatballs (this is the one she made; and loved!)

Greek Chicken & Barley Salad

Shrimp Quinoa

Oh, and one other thing. Heather's husband is...how do I say this...extremely attractive. In fact, Heather calls him her trophy husband. He's a personal trainer and works out at the gym 5 days a week. Heather is 5'5", 240 pounds and pretty hot herself. But she wants to lose some weight so that she can better keep up with him. She lost 60 pounds a couple years ago; and tortured herself to do it. It came back fast, after a lot of hard work. I think there's a better way to get herself to her ideal get-up-and-go weight, and so does she.

That's something else we'll be talking about this month, since adding whole grains suddenly seems very doable. Come back and visit and give the hussy a holler!