Because Debbie asked....WHOLE GRAIN CARB OPTIONS

1. Whole grains simply cooked in water or broth in whole state (oat groats, wheat berries, brown rice, millet, barley, quinoa, etc) can be served with something over them, like stir-fry, cooked seasoned beans, pasta sauce, salsa and cheese, etc. You can also eat these for breakfast with a little honey or maple syrup. You can make them into a fruity salad with diced fruit and yogurt. Or make them into a savory salad with diced veggies and dressing. In any recipe that calls for cooked rice, try using different grains. Millet, barley, and quinoa have some excellent nutritional benefits. If you like them, use them.

2. Whole grains that have been cut up in some way, but not completely ground into flour (like oatmeal, bulgur wheat, cream of wheat, corn meal) can simply be cooked in water and made into porridge for breakfast. Cornmeal can be made into porridge and then poured into a bread pan and then sliced. Some people like to fry these slices in a little butter and eat it with syrup. Or you can fry it in olive oil and serve a sauce over it. I'm not a fan, but I'm not knocking it. I don't like polenta, either, which is pretty much the same thing. Polenta is a great whole-grain food.

3. Whole grains that have been ground into flour and then prepared to make baked goods are another great source. If YOU prepare muffins, biscuits, pancakes, breads, pita, crackers, etc... at home, you KNOW what goes into them. You can take any recipe and tweak it to follow our rules. I've made cakes and replaced the white flour with whole wheat, the shortening with butter, and the sugar with honey. You don't end up with the same result, but you usually end up with a good one. I recommend my baking mix, posted in my earlier entry for pancakes with strawberry sauce. Try flours made from other grains, too. If you have a wheat grinder, use it to make brown rice into flour. If you use 3/4 whole wheat flour and 1/4 brown rice flour in a recipe, it makes the product lighter. Other flours don't have gluten like wheat does, so you can't replace it cup-for-cup.

If you are NOT the baker, you need to be careful. I don't purchase ANY baked goods unless I can see that the first ingredient is whole wheat flour. It can't just say WHEAT flour. It must say WHOLE wheat. (99% of the flour used to make foods is wheat flour. But it is not WHOLE. It is usually just enriched white flour. It doesn't have wheat germ or wheat bran in it. It has probably also been bleached.) I look for baked goods that have fewer than 5-7 ingredients in them and I need to recognize them as real foods. Beware of hydrogenated oil and high fructose corn syrup, particularly if they are listed as one of the first 3 ingredients. If they come later in the list, there isn't that much of them so if you need to compromise to save the budget, go ahead. It isn't ideal, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do!

Some of my favorites to prepare on my own:
brown rice for any meal or snack; it can be sweet or savory.
quinoa, for savory meals. It isn't so good for breakfast. (cooks in 20 minutes like white rice)
Old Fashioned oats (not quick) for breakfast.
Whole wheat baking mix (for muffins, pancakes, and biscuits)
Whole wheat tortillas (I have a great recipe. Time consuming but better than store-bought)

Some of my favorites to buy at the store:
Wheat Montana Honey Whole Wheat Bread
Franz 100% whole wheat bread (my compromise bread)
Triscuits (the only cracker I'll buy)
Flat-out multi grain with flax sandwich wraps
Barilla Whole Grain pastas (they are only 51% whole grain; a compromise for taste)

Things I want to learn to make:
whole grain pie crust that I like, without shortening
whole grain crackers
whole grain pita bread
a cookie I like that follows my rules