Sneak in whole oats

Oatmeal is not the only way to eat oats anymore. Get outside of that oatmeal box and try a few things. Whole oats are of course, better than instant, and quick oats. Due to the amount of fiber in whole oats. They may not be as tastey to some people though. But try a few of these ideas to sneak in the whole oats so you can get the much needed fiber into your diet and without having to eat oatmeal all the time.

Mix them in your meatloaf recipe

Instead of bread crumbs, try mixing in whole oats. You may never know the difference!

Add them as toppings for coffee cakes or cobblers

Whole oats are wonderful when added to the toppings, mixed in with the butter, sugar, and flour, mmmm.

Make your own Granola

There are lots of good granola recipes out there. It's not too hard to make so give it a try.

Oatmeal Cookies

This one's my favorite! Chocolate, or oatmeal raisin! There are some recipes out there that are amazing!

There's lots of ways you can sneak in your whole whole oats. Test out different ways, and you may be able to come up with some very delicious concoctions!

Technorati Tags: Whole Oats, Oatmeal, Oats, Dietary Fiber

Fiber and Grain

Fiber is in whole grains, there's no doubting that. It is in the bran, which is the exterior of the kernel.

Fiber is a very important component that is missing quite a bit in today's diet. So eating more WHOLE grains instead of refined grains is very beneficial to your health. Why? Because of the fiber.

Dietary fiber has been shown to reduce the incidence of some forms of cancer, diabetes, coronary heart disease, digestive system diseases, and obesity. Whole grains have as much as four times the amount of fiber that refined grains do. Four times! So why aren't we eating more whole grains? Maybe we just haven't given them a try. They really aren't that awful tasting. They are quite tastey. At least try to eat more whole grains instead of refined ones, you'll feel a lot better. So just try them.

Whole oats are a good choice, as well as brown rice and wild rice. Choose the whole versions. Instead of the instant quick oats, try the whole oats. Brown rice and wild rice aren't so bad versus the white rice, especially if you factor in the nutritional value. There's all sorts of different whole grains out there that you can try. Pick up a wheat loaf of bread over the white bread. (Making your own bread at home is even healthier since there aren't as many chemicals and preservatives, but we'll get into that later...). It's not that hard. Just give whole grains a chance.

Technorati Tags: Whole Grains, Dietary Fiber, Bran

Spelt Tortillas

For those who are sensitive to wheat and gluten, it can be a series of depravations that can set you up to just binge on that wheat that is so harmful to your digestion. Don't let 'store bought' items catch you off guard, when you can prepare your own grains (spelt, kamut, millet) and make a whole grain spelt tortilla for easy and fast replacements to regular bread or wheat tortillas.

Find a good wheat recipe for tortillas and simply replace one grain for another. You may have to adjust the water in the recipe and pour in small amounts at a time into your freshly ground grain. The water absorption rate differs for different types of grain, so take your time and make sure you don't add too much water. We made spelt tortillas out of our freshly ground whole spelt grain flour the other day, and the kids actually prefer the spelt grain tortillas to the wheat grain ones!

Happy Eating!