Wholegrains...

We all know the importance of adding whole grains to our diets, but sometimes it is hard to actually incorporate many into a face-paced lifestyle. I have two suggestions that are relatively easy and very tasty.

The first is to use brown Basmati rice instead of white or par-boiled rice. It has a rich, nutty flavor and has the most nutrition of any type of rice. I make it when we have black beans and rice for supper and then use the left over rice for rice pudding. It cooks up great in a rice cooker, just use 2 parts water to 1 part rice. I usually rinse it before I put it in the water to rinse off a bit of the starch. It is delicious! You will never go back to boring old white rice again. You can buy basmati rice at health food stores and many bulk food stores. It is more expensive than white or brown rice, but still a food bargain.

The second suggestion is to make your own whole grain pancakes. Topped with applesauce, this is about as healthy as breakfast gets. My favorite recipe comes from The Sue Gregg Cookbooks--and all you need is some grain and a blender.

Five Minute Pancakes

In blender place in order listed and blend on high speed for 3 minutes.
[Warning, you will need a good quality blender]

1 1/2 C buttermilk, or fruit juice or water [to make buttermilk you can add 1.5 Tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice in a measuring cup and then add enough regular milk to make 1 1/2 Cups]
1 egg, optional
2 Tablespoons olive or canola oil [for crispness]
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Cup of grain in group 1 and 1/2 C grain from group 2 [or use 1/2 C of three different grains]

Use 1 Cup from Group 1:

• Kamut
• millet [especially light]
• brown rice [light]
• corn [dry whole, not corn meal]
• wheat [soft wheat pastry type]
• kasha [roasted buckwheat]
• spelt
• barley

AND use 1/2 Cup of Group 2:

• oats [rolled or whole]
• millet
• brown rice
• kamut
• corn
• wheat
• kasha
• spelt
• barley

Blend for 3 minutes at high. Heat frying pan [about 325 degrees if you are using an electric frying pan] and spray with a cooking oil spray. When your pan is hot, blend into the grain mixture for about 5-10 seconds:

1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
[batter will start to rise, so quickly pour some into frying pan]

Optional: For lighter cakes, separate 2 eggs, add yolks to blender. Beat whites separately until stiff and then fold into batter just before baking.

This may sound a bit complicated, but really it is easy if you have a good blender. The pancakes are light and tasty. If you don't have any whole grains, go to a bulk food or health food store and buy a pound of a few varieties [usually in health food stores you can buy them in bulk]. I like to use soft wheat, oats, kamut and spelt, but have used rice and buckwheat. I have saved the batter in a jar in the fridge and fryed it up days later with good results.

Take care,
Jill