Annie's Organic Whole Wheat Shells and White Cheddar
This macaroni and cheese is really good, easy to make, and 100% whole wheat. I use it to make one of my favorite meals; Veggie Mac and Cheese! Here's what I do:
Boil the water as directed on the box. When you add the pasta to the water, also add whatever chopped vegetables you want; spinach, green beans, broccoli, squash, carrots, zucchini - almost anything works! Cook the pasta and veggies together for 8-10 minutes as directed on box. I like my sauce a little creamier and spicy so, along with the cheese packet, I use 1/4 milk, 2 tablespoons butter, and a couple dashes of cayenne pepper. I also sometimes throw in some cream cheese or shredded cheddar to make it a bit cheesier. It's a pretty fail-proof meal (how can you go wrong with pasta and cheese?), so get creative!
These crackers are amazing! The taste is slightly sweet and salty, with a nice buttery crunch - kind of like a healthy version of Ritz Crackers. They are perfect with almost any kind of cheese, and are practically a nightly snack at our house. These crackers contain enriched flour (white flour, so they are not completely whole grain), oatmeal, inulin (an all-natural, soluble, prebiotic fiber), rye flour, a multi-grain flour blend (containing wheat, triticale, barley, corn, millet, rice, flax, durum wheat and oats), and wheat germ. That's a whole bunch of tasty whole grains!
La Tortilla Factory Hand Made Style Corn Tortillas
These tortillas are awesome because they contain some corn and some wheat, but they feel like flour tortillas. They are not hard or dry like most corn tortillas. The ingredients include stone ground corn masa flour and wheat gluten. I use these in another one of my favorite meals; Veggie Wraps!
To make veggie wraps, I cook veggies (usually frozen spinach, broccoli and bell peppers, but again, almost anything works) in a pan with some olive oil. While those are cooking, lay out some tortillas and put shredded cheese (Monterey Jack works great) on top. Once the veggies are done, put a good size spoonful on each tortilla until the veggies are all out of the pan, but leave the burner on. Add a bit more oil to the pan and lay the tortillas on one or two at a time until the cheese melts. Remove them, fold them up and enjoy!
This is a big ball of dough which makes great pizzas, and can also be used for calzones, empenadas, breadsticks and anything else you can come up with. It is not 100% whole wheat, but it tastes good and is easy to work with. It can be found in the refrigerated section of Trader Joe's.
What to Look for in the Grocery Store
There are a lot of terms and tricks out there that make incorporating true whole grains into your diet a challenge. Words like "multi-grain", "stone ground", and "wheat" are buzz-words used to help sell products. The key lies in the word "whole".
- Bread: Many "wheat" or "7-grain" breads have enriched flour as the first ingredient, which is another term for refined white flour. Whole wheat flour is the first and only flour in true whole wheat bread.
- Cereal: Special K
has a healthy reputation, but it is made from white rice. Cheerios
, on the other hand, have whole grain oats at the top of the list
- Tortilla Chips: Although corn is a whole grain, many products use refined corn that has been stripped of it's nutrients. Look for "whole corn".
- Crackers: Whole Wheat Ritz crackers
have enriched flour at the top of the ingredient list. However, Whole Grain Wheat Thins
and Triscuits
are 100% whole grain.
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