Healthy Starts with Whole Grains: A Family Guide to Real Food

The following post includes Amazon affiliate links.  That means a small portion of your purchase will be paid to me as a commission.  The price is the same for you.  I like to share these links to help support the cost of running this blog and to be a resource to you.  I like to make things easy for you and as always…..keep it real.

The Real Food Experience is a systematic approach to eliminating the harmful ingredients found in fast and processed food from your diet and focusing on eating real food.  Real food that is closer to nature than it is to science.  It’s a great time to focus on eating delicious and nutrient-dense food.  A healthy body has more energy for things that matter most in life. You can join us this week and get caught up by checking out our other weekly challenges. Here is the Week 1 Challenge. 

This week, we are focusing on whole grains. This week I challenge you to dump your white bread, rice and pasta and switch to whole grains. Make a plan to switch out the highly processed grains you usually eat and switch to nutritious whole grains.

Why switch to whole grains? Grains are made of bran, germ, and an endosperm. Refined grains remove the germ and bran which eliminates nearly all of the beneficial fiber and many other nutrients. Refining grains results in a finer texture and longer shelf life. That’s good but removing the bulk of the nutrition is not.  We are focusing on whole grains this week to maximize nutrition for our families. Some easy to find whole grains include:

• Barley
• Quinoa
• Black rice
• Brown rice
• Red rice
• Wild rice
• Oatmeal
• Popcorn
• Whole-wheat flour

It’s time to start thinking about the food we eat as fuel for our bodies. Let’s put the focus on eating the most nutritious food.  For some people this is a radical change in thought. We all grew up talking about what tastes good. There isn’t too much focus on the nutrition or lack thereof that each food item brings to your body. Just imagine how good you will feel when your body is full of the nutrition it needs. 

OK……..let’s start looking for whole grains at the grocery store.  I can’t wait to hear about your progress.  Let us know what questions you have and I’ll be back later this week with some additional support.  There is a lot of confusing information out there.  I’ll help you weed through the confusion and make informed decisions about your food purchases.

For simple recipes your family is sure to love make sure you check out my recipe index.  I am adding new recipes all of the time so make sure you check back often.  You will also want to grab my free meal-planning printable calendar to make your meal planning easier.  It has areas to plan your daily activities and your evening meal prep.