Take the Wholegrain Goodness challenge: testers can win £250 – NON TESTERS: chance to win £150. NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

Try something different for your new year's resolutions this year - take part in the WholegrainGoodness.com challenge and be in with a chance of winning supermarket vouchers worth up to £250.

Here's what WholegrainGoodness.com, a not-for-profit campaign aiming to inspire people to eat more wholegrain, say about the challenge: "Most of us know it's important to eat at least five portions of fruit and veg every day, but did you know you should be eating more wholegrain to keep you healthy too? Nutritionists encourage eating at least three servings of wholegrain a day. But despite the nutritional benefits, national surveys show that 95% of adults don't do this, and almost a third don't eat any at all. So take part in our wholegrain challenge to help us inspire mums to get more nutritious wholegrain into their family's diet and we'll enter you into a prize draw"

The challenge is to include wholegrain in at least ONE meal or snack for the family per day for two weeks and then to add your feedback here by Sunday 9th February to be entered into a prize draw.

• "Official testers" (already selected) can win a £250 supermarket voucher of their choice

• "Non-official testers" (open to all UK MNers with at least one child aged between 2 and 16 living at home) can win a £150 supermarket voucher of their choice

You can use the variety of wholegrain foods available, such as wholegrain breads, breakfast cereals, pasta, rice, flour and even popcorn. And feel free to take part if you and your family already eat wholegrains. Visit WholegrainGoodness.com if you need help finding out what wholegrains are and to see what a serving of wholegrain looks like, as well as to get recipe ideas for inspiration and some top tips. If you have any further questions about wholegrain, ask their independent registered dietitian or go to the wholegrain FAQs (frequently asked questions) page, which we'll keep updating. You can get a free recipe booklet and sign up to their e-news alerts too.

Please add your feedback here on the following:

~ Let us know what you think of wholegrains and if you knew about the benefits already or not

~ Have you tried out any WholegrainGoodness.com recipes? How did you and your family find them?

~ Please add any other comments, recipes, tips or ideas you have too - we'd love to hear from you at various stages of the challenge

Thanks
MNHQ

Please note: comments made on this thread may be reproduced by Wholegrain Goodness (AHDB)

Over for us too. It's been a pleasure to do. With a history of bowel cancer in my family, eating as much wholegrain is very important to us. We are still finding out if it's a genetic condition or partly lifestyle, and since I can't change genetics, I can change our eating and excercise. So that is what we have done. This challenge has given me the kick I needed to make a complete swap. I will only now buy whole grain flour, for pizzas, bread, baking etc, wholegrain cereals, pasta and so on. I have found it inspiring to read how much everyone has managed to do it, so thanks all and keep it up!!

Thanks for choosing me. It will remain part of my families day to day life to eat as much fibre and wholegrain as we can. An additional benefit is I have lost some weight, and we are eating more fruit and veg! So it's win win.

So today is the last day and what have I learnt - I was just really greedy before and didn't need to eat all the junk throughout the day because eating wholegrain and making sure I eat breakfast has stopped me feeling hungry, woo hoo! Oh and even the 17 year old has stopped complaining, well almost.

I would love to say that I have more energy but after one DD2 having a bug and being up at night, and an almost 3 year old who feels the need to get up at least once at night because a) he needs a wee, b) he needs to blow his nose or c) he can't find his bunny - I don't really feel much more energetic. Hopefully that will come as we continue our change in diet and as an added plus lose a few pounds.

We will definitely be continuing with adding wholegrain to our diet as much as possible and intend to buy wholemeal pasta and rice as a part of our usual shopping from now on. I must say I'm not sure about the quinoa (DH and DS1 liked it) but maybe I just need to try it a few different ways. I always have wholegrain flour in the cupboard but it sometimes gets overlooked for pizzas, scones etc but I will endeavour to make good use of it - it might just have to wait until the weather warms as our house is so cold dough won't rise properly!

Thank you for the voucher and letting me take part, it's been fun.

I've done it! I've made the cake! It's chocolate cake using wholemeal sr flour. The ganache icing probably counteracts any goodness gained from the flour but it's better than nothing. It's really very tasty. Once you know there's wholemeal flour in it you can taste it and it has a nice nutty twang. I will certainly make it again.

Day 13 has not been as easy as the other days.
We had been out since the mid morning and only had our breakfast at home before we went away for the night.
We all had our wholegrain serving at breakfast but unfortunately did not have any more.
It is easy making sure that we have our wholegrain servings when at home but when we are out it is not so easy.
However there are always going to be days when you don't have as many wholegrain servings or vitamins as is recommended but I feel that is ok. As long as you have what you need the majority of the time the odd day off is ok!

Hijacked By Twins Wholegrain Goodness Challenge Day 13

I've not posted for a few days, but we've kept up with the challenge. We've managed at least two servings of wholegrain per day, if not three. Over the fortnight, I would say we have had wholegrains at breakfast AND lunch each day. Oatcakes are a normal snack in our house too, so they are consummed on a daily basis. We've not managed wholegrains in our main evening meal every day (I would say 9/14 days). However, all of us have enjoyed the meals and I will definitely switch to using more wholewheat flour in cakes (this has been a revelation to me).

One of our favourite meals has been crepes made using buckwheat flour.I filled them with emmenthal, ham and mushrooms. I would definitely recommend giving these a try.

The only possible downside is that my IBS has flared up for the first time in a year. I obviously can't put it down to the change in diet (and don't want to as I've enjoyed the food!) but it might be worth me playing around a bit more with what I eat. I will definitely be feeding DH and the children more wholegrains though.

Thanks for the opportunity to do this and for the very helpful voucher!

islet what a good idea to make crepes! That's what we'll have tonight!

Thank you for the voucher. We have certainly put it to good use. I've enjoyed focussing on the wholegrains we have in our diet and have been able to amend various family favourites such as shepherds pie to incorporate a serving on whole grain.

We don't eat meat so couldn't use many of the recipes in the booklet but really loved the cheese scones ( had some more at lunch to go with leek & potato soup).

The hardest part was eating out and also in DS's school dinners which seem to include very few wholegrain options at all. Maybe a plan for a future campaign??

I'm with everyone else who said this isn't the end. We will definitely continue to wholegrain where possible and to be more conscious of what we are eating..

I've also enjoyed reading everyone else's updates and ideas on this thread.

Thanks!

We'll definitely be switching bread from now on, have really enjoyed wholemeal bread with seeds in. Have just bought oatmeal bread for the first time and it seems like that will be a good compromise for the DCs as it's light in colour and very soft - I don't think they'll notice that it's not 'white'. The next step is of course to start baking my own bread!

I added a large handful of split red lentils to my shepherd's pie and to my lasagna this week and I have to say they were both absolutely delicious and a good way to bulk out the dishes and make a small amount of mince go a lot further. The lentils gave a really creamy texture and they were very moorish. Everyone commented that they were the best ones I'd ever made. Will definitely continue to use the lentils.

Will also stick with brown rice and brown spaghetti as that's such an easy switch to make.

Still not 100% sure what constitutes 'wholegrain' though, think I'll need to do a bit more reading up on the subject so they become everyday items.

I find bread and pasta something I need to watch as it doesn't agree with me.

Therefore when I eat them I like nice stuff so wholegrain it is.

DP not keen but children don't mind

We've just finished off our challenge with apple crumble, the crumble made with wholemeal flour and oats mmmmmmmmmmmmmm now I am stuffed and can't move from this chair for another hour!!!!!

on our last day DP made vast amounts of pizza base using half and half flour, so we'll definitely keep eating wholegrain in the future.

I have come to the end of the challenge unscathed. Today I still found myself buying both types of pasta (to do half and half), wholemeal bread, half and half thins and wholegrain cereals. I went back to white rice though.

The changes were easy to make and have encouraged us to examine our diet more carefully. Although not particularly unhealthy, a few tweaks here and there have not gone amiss, so we will continue to eat more wholegrain in the future.

Thank you for including us in the challenge.
:)

Well, find report from me is that uber-fussy DCs ate whole wheat pasta without really noticing. That'll be a keeper for us I think. Also going to stick to porridge in the mornings instead of toast. I've tried my best to love brown rice, but as a vegetarian child of the 80s I have too many bad memories of it. White basmati for me, I'm afraid.
However have really enjoyed the challenge and feel like I've made some positive changes.

We have really enjoyed the whole grain challenge . The biggest thing that I wanted to do was to try and provide healthier snacks for my family as I was fed up of the processed , sugary stuff they would choose . I made the fat free fruit loaf from the website . This was a big hit with my dh , he took it to work with him. My ds (9) took it to school with him and liked it but my ds (4) was not keen, he is quite fussy though so was not surprised.
The boys have been having Shreddies for breakfast which they love anyway and I have been having Hovis Nimble Malted Wholegrain Bread instead of white bread.
We have also enjoyed making our own popcorn and finding different flavour combinations , cinnamon vanilla sugar was our favourite.
Throughout the challenge I have made quite a few different recipes from the website - Baked Barley & Butternut Squash Risotto, Winter Salad with Warm Pesto Wholegrain Croutons and the Savoury Mince Crumble which I added pearl barley too as we'll . My nan loved this and she said it really filled her up and she wasn't hungry later on like she normally would be.
I will definitely keep up with the Challenge , some of the recipes will be a permanent fixture on our meal plans and even when I doing the weekly shop I found myself looking for the Wholegrain alternatives .

OFFICIAL TESTER FEEDBACK

~ Let us know what you think of wholegrains and if you knew about the benefits already or not

I don't think that it advertised widly enough the benefits of wholegrains. Like many people I know that we need 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day, I know that we need essential vitamins and minerals for a healthy diet. However I was not aware that te daily recommended amount of wholegrain servings is 3 a day. I have spoken to friends who were also unaware of this. I feel that people need to be made more aware of how wholegrains are not only good for the digestive system but also that wholegrain intake can reduce the risk of heart disease!

We have loved trying the new wholegrain alternatives and I feel that, food budget depending, this will be a change that we will continue with. The only negative feedback that I do have is regarding the huge increase in cost for wholegrain products. Surely if a food is beneficial for good health it should be accessible for everyone and I know that a lot of families that run on a tight food budget would automatically go for the cheaper "white/non wholegrain" choice purely because they could not afford the extra expense.

~ Have you tried out any WholegrainGoodness.com recipes? How did you and your family find them?

Unfortunatley I did not try any of the wholegrain recipes that were available but I did look at them to get ideas to create my own meals!

~ Please add any other comments, recipes, tips or ideas you have too - we'd love to hear from you at various stages of the challenge

Throughout he challenge I have tried, apapted and created new recipes which can be found on my blog Hijacked By Twins

Well, we have now completed the wholegrain goodness challenge!
As we found on the others days, day 14 was a successful day.
This is how we got on...

Wholegrain Goodness Challenge Day 14

Breakfast
The twins and hubby had hot oats for their breakfasts while Joseph and I enjoyed some wholemeal toast.

Lunch
All 5 of us had wholemeal pitta breads for our lunches.

Dinner
As it was Sunday we were out at my parents for our dinner. Which did not contain any wholegrain but during the day we had all had 2 wholegrain servings.

Hijacked By Twins Day 14 and Overall Feedback

Let us know what you think of wholegrains and if you knew about the benefits already or not

The benefits we knew of were that they had more fibre and so helped keep bowels in good condition, and that they had more nutrients than processed grains.
I hadn't expected them to be far more filling. Also embarrassed to admit that I had no idea so many things were classified as whole grain: popcorn, oats etc.

~ Have you tried out any WholegrainGoodness.com recipes? How did you and your family find them?
No we didn't. We made our own. Intended to - and still will try the oaty pork and the lamb burgers but not tried them yet.

~ Please add any other comments, recipes, tips or ideas you have too - we'd love to hear from you at various stages of the challenge.

By the end of the challenge the DC were dreaming of French bread but we've now swapped over to wholegrain couscous, noodles, bagels and rice permanently. DH found dried brown basmati which we tried for the initial challenge and we loved it.

The best thing about it for me was the effect on DS2 - he was eating a lot of fast carbs and craving sugar before the challenge. This challenge made him health conscious, but also I've noticed he's had no sugar cravings for two weeks. Would love to find out more about why this is. It has really been beneficial for him.

We're actually keeping on with it. They had wholemeal toast for breakfast and we're having whole wheat noodles in stir fry tonight. But I'd like now to try a wider variety of whole grains. We didn't do any recipes with quinoa or red/wild rice and would like to try them too now.

Porridge for breakfast, the ultimate healthy start, (Mine is equal by volume of oats, milk and water)
One of the best whole grain tips I've been given to introduce more whole grain into DCs diet is to mix white pasta and wholemeal pasta in a proportion that suits, 50:50 to begin with.

Second round of feedback:

~ Let us know what you think of wholegrains and if you knew about the benefits already or not

I knew wholegrains gave more slow-release energy, which is better for keeping a steady blood sugar level and avoiding dips in energy and hunger. Other benefits were more vague.

~ Have you tried out any WholegrainGoodness.com recipes? How did you and your family find them?

We tried the oat-topped mackerel with added wheatgerm, bacon and potato salad (again with wheatbran and wheatgerm!) and the Middle Eastern lamb and quinoa patties. My usual supermarket didn't stock mackerel so we used cod instead and it was very tasty. We liked the bacon and potato salad so much that I made a big batch of it as part of a pot-luck baby shower, which went down well. I wasn't so keen on the patties - they tasted ok but the texture was a bit slimy. I'd probably make them again but ditch the quinoa and just keep the wholewheat bread.

~ Please add any other comments, recipes, tips or ideas you have too - we'd love to hear from you at various stages of the challenge

I found it surprisingly easy to incorporate more wholegrains into my family's usual diet. I thought we were doing quite well already but this challenge helped nudge me into making more switches to wholegrain versions of pasta, rice and various breads.

Thanks!

things i will take from this challenge:

adding pumpkin seeds to sauces so that they soften
adding oats as a thickener to sauces.
a new accidently made up recipe based on some of the principles of the wholegrin goodness recipes.

What a great challenge this has been; it really hasn't been difficult switching to wholegrain bread (which admittedly we have regularly anyway), rice and pasta. I was uncertain of the family's response to the rice and pasta but they have been upbeat and keen to eat healthier. I have offered popcorn alongside fruit as an afternoon snack after school which was positively received as opposed to the usual biscuit. We will continue with this as the health benefits are well documented. The potato and bacon salad was delicious! Thank you for the opportunity to take part.

All in all, I enjoyed the challenge but my husband and son did a lot of complaining! I would like to continue to have the wholemeal bread but both said they didn't like the taste. They said the same with the rice and pasta!

We as a family have been surprised at how much we have enjoyed this challenge.
I was worried that my 6yr old would not entertain a change from the norm but she has really enjoyed it.
I got her more involved with the cooking side, and it has worked!
We now only buy wholemeal bread and rice, pasta is more of a challenge for my 2 dc, but i'm working on it.
I don't seem to be a sluggish now after meals, I'm not sure if that is in my head or whether its no white bread/rice etc.
I haven't banned sugary cereals but now limit them to the weekend, dc and dh are having shredded wheat, weetabix or porridge for breakfast and they seem to have accepted it without a fuss.
We are going to bake at the weekend using wholemeal flour, Hope it is a nice as white! :)

Well Ive remembered why I cut out the wholegrain bread, 3 visits to the dentist and root canal treatment later...
Advice from my dentist for my dodgy teeth.

However were still going strong with the porridge (all I could eat for a while), and Im going to stick with it.

Adding grains to soups was a disaster, only I liked them & Ive got to chuck out half a pot of chicken broth.
Already used brown rice and will continue to seek out new grains to try.
Overall OK I suppose, but not a roaring success.

I am trying this to hopefully encourage my teenage son to eat a little more healthily when he is out and about with friends and for when he is older and living away from home.
Like many teenagers encouraging a change away from processed white bread, rice and pasta was a monosyallabic discussion and included the words "its not fair."
However, he was persuaded to come on a shopping trip and despite the hunched shoulders, dragged heels and hoodie pulled well over his head and face we did manage to get some wholegrains into the shopping trolley without too many arguements.
He was surprised that popcorn was a whole grain - so snack for movie night in was sorted. He even offered to help making toppings for popcorn and we did sort of bond in a mother son way over the saucepan of popping kernels.
We have made homemade wholegrain pizza bases which he and a couple of his friends appeared to enjoy finishing with their own choice of topping and he hasn't turned up his nose at the brown pasta I have used over the weekend.
He objected a little more to brown rice saying that it was too nutty but we have comprimised by agreeingto mix half white, half brown rice next time.
Tonights meal will be a soup made with leftover roast chicken and vegetable form Sunday lunch together with pearl barley (which he already loves and demands in all soups/stews etc) plus some oats and some wholemeal pitta breads to dip in.
My partner is joining in the wholegrain challenge by having porridge for breakfast with various fresh fruits chopped into it rather than having sugar or the flavoured porridge oats that you can by.
So far, it has been very easy to tweak what we would normally eat and on a couple of occassions we've had a positive comment from my son regarding a nicer taste!