More Books

Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating

This book is the single most influential book on my diet. It is a straight-forward guide to healthy eating for a long, happy life and was the first book that got me really excited about healthy eating. Dr. Willett tears apart the USDA food pyramid and prescribes a brand new pyramid; one that places fruits and vegetables, whole grains and healthy fats at the bottom, along with daily exercise. The book contains solid, in-depth explanations of a variety of foods, including whole grains and vitamins. It also includes some great recipes. This is a must-read for anybody interested in the food they eat!

Food Rules: An Eater's Manual

Michael Pollan's Food Rules is a small, $6 book that everybody should read. Pollan presents 64 simple rules about food in a very easy-to-understand format. Some of my favorites include:
#2 Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food
#22 Eat mostly plants, especially leaves

and best of all:
#43 Have a glass of wine with dinner.

His "rules" make complete sense, and if you're committed to a healthy lifestyle, are quite easy to follow.

The New Glucose Revolution: The Authoritative Guide to the Glycemic Index - the Dietary Solution for Lifelong Health

This is the book that I use to get many of the glycemic index values of ingredients used in my recipes. It is perfect for anybody interested in the glycemic load and glycemic index and how they affect us in every-day life.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life

This is a really fun book by Barbara Kingsolver that chronicles her family's year eating locally, including many foods grown in her own backyard. Kingsolver writes about the importance of eating whole, organic, in-season fruits and vegetables. The book also makes you appreciate the hard work involved in the lost art of farming. This is a great gift for people who love to read Kingsolver's novels, but haven't quite made the switch to local, organic and sustainable eating. For more information and great recipes, check out www.animalvegetablemiracle.com.

Peach Apricot Oatmeal Bread

Expectation: To use up some freshly picked apricots in tasty whole grain breakfast bread!

Winning Recipe: Peach Apricot Oatmeal Bread

I was looking for something to make for breakfast over 4th of July weekend, and this recipe stuck out because it seemed perfect for the family gathering, yet also completely fresh and new. Once again, I found the recipe in my King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking book. I intended to make the bread with only peaches from the farmers market, but on a walk the morning of July 3rd, we stumbled upon three gorgeous trees overflowing with bright orange apricots. We picked as many as we could stuff in our pockets, and I decided to make the bread with half peaches and half apricots. It was such a hit that I went back to the tree for more apricots and made three more loaves a few days later. 

I experimented with a couple things. First, the flour. The first time, I used only white whole wheat flour. The second time, I used half white whole wheat flour and half traditional whole wheat flour. The white whole wheat flour was amazing. I didn't taste a hint of whole grain. The second batch was also really light and moist, but with a slight "whole wheat" taste. If you don't mind this taste, then don't be afraid to use regular whole wheat flour. If you're trying to hide the whole grains, white whole wheat is the way to go. 

My other experiment was leaving the skins on the apricots in the second batch. The bread had a nice tangy taste, and the fruit had a more central role. Once again, if you're trying to hide the fruit, then definitely remove the skins. If you like a tangy, fruity taste, leave them on. Plus, you get more fiber and nutrients that way! The end result in either case is a light and moist, slightly sweet and tangy bread with a hint of almond. It definitely exceeded my expectations, and will fit right in with pumpkin bread and banana bread as another one of my favorite breakfast breads. 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sliced peaches and/or apricots (peeled or not, depending on taste)
• 2 cups traditional whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour (how to measure flour)
• 3/4 cup unbleached bread flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• If you like nuts (which I do!), 1 cup chopped walnuts

Preparations:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Cut the peaches and/or apricots into small pieces and place in a strainer or paper towel to drain. Stir together the flours, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices in a large mixing bowl.

Add the oats, fruit and walnuts; stir to coat the fruit. Beat together the eggs, milk, oil and almond extract in a separate bowl. Add to the flour mixture, stirring just until evenly moistened.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45 minutes. Test the loaf for doneness; if a toothpick inserted in the center doesn't come out clean, cover the top of the bread with foil and bake in 5-10 minute increments until it does. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, if the bread does not come out of the pan easily, run a table knife around the edges of the loaf, then turn it out of the pan and return it to the rack to cool completely before slicing. 

I highly recommend using a non-stick pan for this bread. I had a slight disaster when, even though I had sprayed it with non-stick cooking spray, the bread stuck to the bottom of the old (not non-stick) pan I was using. 

Nutrition facts for one slice:

198 calories

5g fat

35g carbohydrate

3g fiber

GI 64

GL 27

About the grains:

White Whole Wheat Flour is produced from a hard, white variety of the wheat plant. It tastes and appears more like refined flour, even though it has almost the same nutrient content as red whole wheat. You can substitute 25 to 50% (depending on your taste) of the all-purpose flour in cookie, brownie and pancake recipes. I purchased a five pound bag of King Arthur Flour Organic White Whole Wheat Flour for $7.99 at Whole Foods). See how I also used it in coffeecake.

Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats are oat groats that have been steamed and flattened by a roller.  Rolled oats cannot be eaten raw, but are the main ingredient in minimally cooked recipes, like granola.  I bought a two pound bag of Bob's Red Mill Organic Old Fashioned Rolled Oats at Whole Foods for $4.39. Rolled Oats have a GI of 58. See how I used them in coffeecake.

Cornbread

Expectation: To learn more about corn and bake a delicious, healthier cornbread!

Winning Recipe: Whole Grain Cornbread with Honey Butter

I chose to try out some cornbread since it's such a classic summer treat. I found a great recipe in the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking book, which had a lot of variations that sounded interesting. I made the basic recipe and it turned out really well. Then I tried my own variation to use some fresh corn that came in our veggie box. The end result both times exceeded my expectations, and was better than any cornbread I had ever had. The trick is in the whole cornmeal (read more about this at the bottom of this post), which is much more substantial (not to mention healthier) then regular cornmeal. The bread is heavy, and very satisfying, with a strong corn taste. When you eat a piece, you feel like you're getting a lot of bang for your buck - a filling treat instead of empty calories. 

To find the basic cornbread recipe, buy this book. The recipe I came up with is a bit sweeter and includes fresh corn kernels:.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole grain cornmeal
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (how to measure flour)
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups buttermilk (if you like it extra moist, replace 1/2 cup with heavy cream)
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/4-1/3 cup brown sugar (to taste - I used 1/4 cup, and it was just slightly sweet)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup fresh corn kernels (optional)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon butter for pan
• butter and honey for honey butter

Preparations:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Place the 9-inch square pan or cast-iron skillet in the oven to preheat. (Cornbread is best made in cast-iron, which I don't own. These directions work for either.)

Whisk together the cornmeal, flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together the buttermilk, honey, brown sugar, eggs, corn kernels and melted butter in a separate bowl. Add, all at once, to the dry ingredients, stirring quickly and lightly just until the batter is evenly combined. 

Remove the pan or skillet from the oven and place the tablespoon of butter into it. Swirl the pan around so the butter melts and covers the bottom and sides. Carefully transfer the batter to the hot pan, and return it to the oven to bake until the top is golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve warm. 

To make the honey butter, mix one part butter with one part honey.

Nutrition facts for one serving (1/9 of recipe):

409 calories

13g fat

55g carbohydrate

6g fiber

GI 76

GL 35

About the grains and ingredients:

Whole Cornmeal retains its nutrients and fiber, unlike the more common cornmeal, found at most grocery stores, which has had it's germ removed to assure a longer shelf life. Whole cornmeal is gritty, and has a rich, round flavor. It is a great source of vitamin A, manganese and potassium. It can be found at most health food grocery stores (I found it at Whole Foods). 

Whole Wheat Pastry Flour comes from the same grain as regular whole wheat flour, but is made from a softer variety and milled to a finer texture. It has a higher starch content, but is lower in gluten and protein. The end product is lighter and more tender than that of regular whole wheat flour. Whole wheat pastry flour can be found at most health food grocery stores (I found it at Whole Foods).

Easy Whole Grains

A lot of my readers (all three of them) have requested information about ways to add whole grains to their diets without all the work of baking. Here are some of my favorite products that are super tasty and full of healthy whole grains:

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!

Trader Joe's 12 Grain Mini Snack Crackers

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!

Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

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. 

Blueberry Buckle Coffeecake

Expectation: To make an amazing whole-grain coffeecake.

Winning Recipe: Blueberry Buckle Coffeecake

I decided to take on this coffeecake because we were looking for a way to use some blueberries that came in our veggie box. The King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Book, where I found the recipe, made some pretty hefty claims about it, promising that "Blueberry Buckle Coffeecake is rarely still around for more than an hour out of the oven, but should you have admirable restraint, it will still be just as delicious later for dessert, under a scoop of ice cream." It certainly lived up to my expectation, and I couldn't taste even a hint of whole wheat. I can't say that the cake is particularly "healthy", but you can feel a little better about it knowing you are getting the extra nutrients and health benefits of whole grains. 

First, a little explanation. I had no idea what a buckle coffeecake was, and I thought for sure that it would be explained here at ochef.com, where they describe the difference between betty, clafoutis, cobbler, crisp, crumble, grunt, pandowdy, and slump (I promise these are all baked goods and not diseases). But, alas, the buckle was left out. I did find a bit of an explanation at cooks.com, which states that "a classic buckle is made by covering a layer of fruit with a cake batter and sweet crumbs. A coffeecake made 'buckle fashion' will buckle and crack as it bakes." The cake we ended up with might be better described as a crisp, but I am certainly not complaining.

I made the recipe exactly as written in the book, and it was pretty easy to do. I did have to go out and buy some white whole wheat flour, which I will explain further below.

Ingredients:

Streusel

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour (how to measure flour)
• 1/4 cup unbleached (preferably) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened

Buckle

• 2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen- I used fresh)

Preparations:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease and flour a 9-inch square pan.

To make the Streusel: Whisk together the sugar, flours, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium bowl. Add the butter and mix to make medium-size crumbs. (Here I am pictured grinding fresh nutmeg - yummy!) We found it works best to cut the butter up into small pieces before adding it to the dry ingredients, then cut it in with a pastry knife or two butter knives.

To make the Buckle: Whisk together the flours, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Cream together the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy, then add the eggs, one at a time, stopping to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl between additions.

Stir in half the dry ingredients, then the milk and vanilla, scraping down the sides. Stir in the remaining dry ingredients, then gently fold in the blueberries. Spread the batter in the prepared pan, and sprinkle the streusel evenly over the top. 

Bake the buckle until a cake tester (in other words: toothpick) inserted in the center comes out clean, 45-50 minutes. Remove it from the oven and let it cool, in the pan, on a rack. The book also says that this recipe can be made with any berry you like, or cherries, or diced stone fruits, such as peaches, plums or nectarines. 

Nutrition facts for one serving (one 2 1/4 inch square):

252 calories

8g fat

43g carbohydrate

3g fiber

GI 68

GL 27

About the grains and ingredients:

Unbleached Flour comes from exactly the same thing as bleached flour, only it is bleached naturally as it ages instead of being mixed with a bleaching agent. A bleaching agent is typically added to flour to give it a whiter appearance, and to oxidize the surface of the flour grains. Known bleaching agents include benzoyl peroxide, calcium peroxide, nitrogen dioxide, and chlorine dioxide (which, incidentally, produces alloxan, a contaminant that has been identified as a possible cause of type-1 diabetes). Unbleached flour is supposedly best for yeast breads and pastries, whereas bleached is best for more typical baked goods like cookies and pancakes, because it gives foods more volume and finer grain. 

White Whole Wheat Flour is produced from a hard, white (instead of red) variety of the wheat plant. It tastes and appears more like refined flour, even though it has almost the same nutrient content as red whole wheat. It can be found at most health food grocery stores (I found it at Whole Foods). 

Whole Wheat Pastry Flour comes from the same grain as regular whole wheat flour, but is made from a softer variety and milled to a finer texture. It has a higher starch content, but is lower in gluten and protein. The end product is lighter and more tender than that of regular whole wheat flour. Whole wheat pastry flour can be found at most health food grocery stores (I found it at Whole Foods).

Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats are oat groats that have been steamed and flattened by a roller. Oat grains have an outer husk when they come off the plant which must be removed to uncover the whole oat kernel called groats. Rolled oats cannot be eaten raw, but are the main ingredient in minimally cooked recipes, like granola. Oats are a top source of soluble fiber, which can help lower cholesterol levels. Oat bran also contains beta glucan, which has been shown to enhance the immune system's response to bacterial infection. They also contain a large amount of protein and healthy fats.

Quaker Oats Oatmeal Pancake Mix

The other day at Safeway I stumbled upon a new product, Quaker Oats Oatmeal Pancake Mix. The mix is 100% whole grain, containing oat flour and whole wheat flour. On the back of the box there are recipes for Heart Healthy Pancakes and Waffles (with skim milk and egg white) and Traditional Pancakes and Waffles (with 2% milk, a whole egg, and oil.)

I made the traditional pancakes and was quite pleased! They were very easy to make, and the final product was light, fluffy, moist and had great flavor.

The recipe said it would make 7-9 pancakes, but I ended up with 4 (mine were each 4-5 inches large, not dollar pancakes). After eating two (with tasty banana topping and eggs on the side), I felt like I had eaten a substantial meal, without feeling tired or too full. I definitely recommend this mix as an easy way to add whole grain to your weekend breakfast, without sacrificing flavor!

The nutrition facts for 1/3 cup mix (each of my pancakes were 1/4 cup) are:
150 Calories
2 g Fat
31g Carbohydrates
4g Fiber

Pretzels

Expectation: That yet again the dough wouldn't rise. 

Winner: Whole Wheat Soft Pretzels

As you know from the great pretzel failure and more lessons learned, we had been working on pretzels all week. I'm actually surprised we even bothered one more time, but we came across a recipe that looked promising (and this one had reviews written by real people who actually made them), and we were determined. 

I found the recipe at BakingBites.com, and the original recipe can be found here. One thing I really liked about the recipe is that it has check points throughout the process so that you can tell things are working. And, unlike the first recipe we tried, it is 100 percent whole grain. 

The end product was actually a lot more delicious than I expected. The pretzels did not have a dry "whole wheat" taste, but were moist, substantial and really tasted like pretzels! We dipped a few in pub cheese, dunked some in mustard, and made one awesome turkey-melted Gouda-apple-pretzel sandwich. They were also really fun to make, although it was more or less an all day activity (including gathering the ingredients, waiting for the dough to rise and shaping the dough).

My best estimate of the nutrition facts for one pretzel:

181 calories

1g fat

37g carbohydrate

5g fiber

GI 67

GL 22

About the grains:

Vital Wheat Gluten is the natural protein found in wheat. The flour (found in most grocery stores), is wheat flour with the starch and bran removed (leaving mostly the protein). A small amount added to yeast bread recipes improves the texture and elasticity of the dough. It gives structure to yeast breads and helps them rise. Wheat gluten is also used as a meat substitute in many vegetarian dishes. 

Whole Wheat Flour contains the macro nutrients of the wheat's bran and germ (the whole kernel). It is hearty and more robust than white flour and a good source of calcium, iron and fiber. It can be substituted for some or all of the white flour in most recipes, and found in most grocery stores.