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)

[AugustRose]

Hello

I was so pleased to be selected and get my voucher. I did a cupboard check before shopping and realised that the kids and DH already eat wholegrain for breakfast 6/7 days a week. I on the otherhand don't. We have also slipped a bit on the wholemeal bread (beans on toast and egg sandwiches are so much better on white - I am so healthy aren't I!) and we only eat it about 70% of the time now. So anyway off we went shopping and bought:

Cereals
Wholemeal bread
Wholewheat pasta
Brown Rice

I already have wholemeal flour, crackers and other stuff in the cupboard.

So the plan is for me to eat wholegrain breakfast every day and to add wholegrain to our evening meal (3 of the 4 kids are at school so I don't have a lot of control over what they eat at lunch time). Let's see how it goes :)

[HappyMum4]

Day 2 of The Challenge: slow cooker porridge this morning, set it off before bedtime, fantastic to have it ready to come down to, really saved time too, always one of those things I meant to do, one of great things about the challenge, pushes you to do things and try things you wouldn't normally. Lunch will be lentil and bacon soup which to be fair is a regular on our menu anyway, got one of those soup making machines, chops, blends, cooks, so easy, if it was a choice between husband or soup maker.....well, I really like soup, what can I say. Tonight's tea will be beef and pasta bake but with wholewheat pasta which we've never tried before, just chucked a load of veg in slow cooker along with cooked mince and cooked pasta, some tomatoes, condensed tomato soup and passata, few herbs and forget about it till they come in from school. Chose to convert another family favourite, ease family in gently so they don't realise they're eating brown and wholewheat products, then as week goes on, I'll get a bit more adventurous, gonna try the Thai turkey burgers tomorrow, whole meal flour at the ready to have a go at making baps.Krisprolls still a massive hit - who knew!

[kirstyphillipsonlowe]

Wholegrain Goodness Challenge Day 1

We have completed day one of our Wholegrain Goodness Challenge and we have all had at least one serving of wholegrain.
To be honest, changing the way we eat was not as hard or as challenging as I thought it would be.
Just substituting plain, white options for brown, wholemeal gave us the servings that we needed.
This is how we did...

Wholegrain Goodness Challenge - Day 1

Breakfasts

The twins and hubby stuck to their regular breakfast of wheat biscuits and banana.
Joseph kick started his wholegrain day with a bowl of Shreddies!
As for me, I'm naughty and don't have breakfast, just coffee!

Lunch

Joseph has school dinners so he did miss a serving of wholegrain at lunch.
The twins and I had a lovely lunch of savoury pancakes made with wholemeal flour filled with turkey, tomatoes and cheese! I also had a packet of wholegrain Sunbites!
The hubby, who takes a packed lunch, had his serving of wholegrain with his sandwiches made of homemade wholemeal bread.

Dinner

The twins didn't have any wholegrain in this meal as they had leftover vegetables from the Sunday dinner.
I cooked a delicious meal of beef steak strips in a creamy wholegrain mustard sauce on a bed of brown wholegrain rice. The wholegrain rice has a lovely nutty taste and I found to be a lot easier to cook. I really do not like cooking white rice as it can often go sticky, whereas the brown rice stayed separated and had a lovely texture! This will be a dish that I will be cooking again!

Snacks

The twins shared a bag of wholemeal Sunbites as a snack and Joseph also had a bag as an after school snack! Hubby had a snack of my homemade wholemeal cinnamon and 2 honey cake.

Day 1 Results

Twins - 2 wholegrain servings
Joseph - 3 wholegrain servings
Hubby - 3 wholegrain servings
Me - 3 wholegrain servings

We all had our minimum of 1 serving so far so good!
We'll see how today goes.

Day 1 Wholegrain Goodness Challenge Blog Post

[Bubble80]

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

I had an idea of the benefits, but like everything I let it slide. Then last year my mum was diagnosed with advanced bowel cancer and we are undergoing genetic testing to see if it's in our genes, or down to diet. I realised I can't change my genes but I can change my diet. And I know a high fibre diet is a huge reductor in bowel cancer.

We eat our 18grams a day if we can (that's fibre not whole grain) because I now see how important this is. Fibre is in whole grain products and switching is part of our life now.

We tried the Thai burgers, they were lovely and low fat. Breakfast is porridge, fruit and honey! Lovely warm start to the day.
Lunch today is banana on wholemeal seeded toast!

Will report back later.

[kirstyphillipsonlowe]

My recipe for Beef Steak in a Creamy Wholegrain Mustard Sauce served on a bed of Wholegrain Brown Rice
Beef In A Creamy Wholegrain Mustard Sauce

[lorka]

Just been to the supermarket to top up on some wholegrain foods. We already eat wholegrain bread and cereals so bought some pasta, rice and Ryvita. :)

[majjsu]

So excited to take part in this challenge, as would like my hubby to eat more healthy, as he is a snack monster. My little girl is off colour, so is off food at the moment. Am going to start with BREAKFAST:

Porridge oats - wow love this, it fills me up for most of the morning

Ready brek - got this for my LO, said it was yukky, but could be as she is not well. I tried it, not bad but much prefer the porridge oats

Weetabix - tasty and a hit with hubby and LO

Cheerios - a hit with my LO, tasted a bit sweet for me

Wholemeal bread - toast, I usually have this but nice to have a change!

[DinoSnores]

We only ever use wholegrain bread, but I've started using more wholewheat pasta, brown rice etc over the last few months. This is good at making me think a little further though about how I can add more in rather than just relying on sultana bran and bread! The children love oatcakes - does making cranachan for our Burns' Supper on Saturday count?!

[Glitterfairys]

Some excellent ideas here , I'm looking forward to trying some new recipes this week .
We made popcorn last night which was a big hit with my boys . I sprinkled a bit of cinnamon onto it so now I'm looking for some different flavours to add next time

[Letitsnow9]

I've switched breakfast from toast to oats (sometimes porridge, sometimes with dried fruit, coconut and milk (not heated)), I'm not getting the hunger pangs I normally do mid morning

[csmony]

Day 2 of our wholegrain challenge:

We had a healthy bowl of cholate banana oat porridge this morning.


The benifits of incorporating wholegrain food into daily diets are laudable.There are scintific evidence of benifits to cardiovascular and digestive healths.Especially obesity being a recurring theme and epidemic ,replacing fatty foods with wholegrain food is definetely worth a try.

I have also received the recipie book from wholegrain goodness,I am sure its going to be a firm family favourite.

[MummaWalker]

This is a bit of what I had to say on my blog (while inviting people to the challenge):

3 portions of wholegrain every day. Think over what you eat in a day... are you getting them all in?

If you're anything like my husband you're going to be exclaiming "how on earth am I supposed to eat all that?" but it is easier than you might think. Just a few simple changes in your shopping list and everyone will be eating wholegrain without even thinking about it!

Cereal - The big brands like Kellogg's and and Nestle all do wholegrain cereals, and naturally the smaller and supermarket home-brands follow suit. Even if you have picky kids who only like sugary cereal you'd be surprised how many are still made with wholegrain! Check the boxes, research on-line, you'd be amazed! And don't forget the more obvious choices like porridge oats.

Bread - Maybe this is obvious? Wholemeal bread has to be one of the simplest ways to get your wholegrain in. Toast for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, easy! I know a lot of kids (and adults too) only like white bread, so why not compromise with some of the half and half breads like Kingsmill's 50/50 or Warburtons Half and Half?

That's breakfast and lunch taken care of. Two portions down with out even thinking about it. But what about that third portion? How can you work wholegrain into that evening meal?

Again this can be so much easier than you might realise. Do you like rice? Brown rice is a wholegrain! Pasta? You can get brown/wholegrain pasta. Ditto with cous cous. We made this switch before Christmas and honestly we can't tell the difference in flavour at all so don't let that possibility put you off.

(more: blog.family-walker.co.uk/2014/01/wholegrain-goodness-challenge.html

[CaramelisedOnion]

So last night we had wholegrain pizza....made fresh pizza dough with Sainsburys wholegrain flour. My son helped make it and he chose sausage and banana as his toppings....but then he is 2! Went down very well indeed! I was already aware of the benefits of wholegrains but perhaps had been a bit lax in including enough of them. The recipe I used for the pizza dough was really easy....250g of seeded wholegrain flour, 15g butter mixed together then add 15g of fresh yeast in 175ml of tepid water abd ones a bit. I made a tomato sauce with tinned tomatoes, tomato puree and red onions with basil and oregano, garlic, salt and pepper. I then topped with mozzarella (44p a ball in aldi! ) and toppings to suit. DS had sausage and banana (!) as mentioned and I went for aubergine, spinach and red onion. Pinched a bit of DS's sossies also :) cooked at 220 for about 10 minutes but grilled the sausages and the aubergine first before using them as toppings if that makes sense! That recipe made enough dough for 3 medium sized pizzas so might make some garlic bread with the remainder tonight. I'm making smoked haddock kedgeree with brown rice tonight...and will use leftover tomato sauce with brown spaghetti on Wednesday. I like the nuttiness if the wholegrain options u must say! And DS seems unfazed by the change. So far all good!

[IsletsOfLangerhans]

I made a minestrone type soup last night (carrots, celery,leek, cabbage, half tin of tomatoes, stock) but added some cooked Farro instead of pasta. Went down very, very well with DH and 2 DDs. Highly recommend using farro for a change! Today, we started with porridge, then wholemeal bread sandwiches for lunch. I'm just making a raspberry and apple cake for tea, using half wholemeal flour and a crumble topping with some oats in. Hope it works out....

[jesmond2505]

We are already a wholegrain eating family and have been for sometime. Keeping my children & husband healthy and fuller for longer! We make our own wholegrain bread and museli for even healthier options. My children take a packed lunch to school and love a tasty wholewheat pasta or couscous lunch instead of the traditional sandwich. Wholewheat couscous, brown & wild rice, quinoa, oats, wholewheat pasta are in our daily diet. As a treat we make our own popcorn. Weather being what it is at the moment, there is nothing nicer than snuggling up on the sofa watching a film eating a treat you know is good for you :)

[CaramelisedOnion]

So last night we had wholegrain pizza....made fresh pizza dough with Sainsburys wholegrain flour. My son helped make it and he chose sausage and banana as his toppings....but then he is 2! Went down very well indeed! I was already aware of the benefits of wholegrains but perhaps had been a bit lax in including enough of them. The recipe I used for the pizza dough was really easy....250g of seeded wholegrain flour, 15g butter mixed together then add 15g of fresh yeast in 175ml of tepid water abd ones a bit. I made a tomato sauce with tinned tomatoes, tomato puree and red onions with basil and oregano, garlic, salt and pepper. I then topped with mozzarella (44p a ball in aldi! ) and toppings to suit. DS had sausage and banana (!) as mentioned and I went for aubergine, spinach and red onion. Pinched a bit of DS's sossies also :) cooked at 220 for about 10 minutes but grilled the sausages and the aubergine first before using them as toppings if that makes sense! That recipe made enough dough for 3 medium sized pizzas so might make some garlic bread with the remainder tonight. I'm making smoked haddock kedgeree with brown rice tonight...and will use leftover tomato sauce with brown spaghetti on Wednesday. I like the nuttiness if the wholegrain options u must say! And DS seems unfazed by the change. So far all good!

[mumsbe]

I have started the challenge and replaced all that is white with brown I forgot how much brown bread tastes better than white and have been replacing cornflakes with fruit and fiber which also has more taste. Brown paster I found has been much more filling and snackingon popcorn has been an Iteresting altalternative. I will be trying some recipes soon for the family and will let you know how we get on

[MrsKwazii]

Following a BBC Good Food tip, I've started adding oats to my homemade turkey burgers and pork burgers instead of breadcrumbs. Makes them lovely and moist and filling - dead easy way to sneak a portion of wholegrain into everyone too!

[ILoveMyCaravan]

Last night's spaghetti bolognaise went down well, swapping white pasta for wholemeal. I found it was cheaper than the usual white pasta I normally buy - I normally pay £2 per packet for bronze die white pasta but the wholemeal pasta was only £1.

The wholemeal pasta didn't look any different to the white once the sauce had mingled into it. The texture was more al dente than normal, but it was nice and the kids didn't even notice! Although they did say they felt full quicker.

I also fried the onions in a little rapeseed oil rather than olive oil. I didn't notice any difference, so if it's healthier to use rapeseed I will continue to do so.

Will definitely be using wholemeal spaghetti from now on.

The only thing I was wondering is why don't restaurants offer you a choice of white or brown pasta/rice? Now we've made the changes I will be hard pressed to go back to white again.

[chocolateshoes]

we had wholemeal pasta tonight. I find that it needs quite a gutsy flavour with it so we had a Sicilean Cauliflower recipe which has chillis and anchovies, and it was delish. Waitrose used to do a fresh wholemeal tagliatelle which was very good - we don't live enar one though so don't know if the still stock it. I agree with you Ilovemycaravan - I find white pasta too sickly now.

I've bought some wholemeal flour so when I make sauces for lasagne etc I can use that.

Must buy some farro to try...

[peronel]

Having just discovered the delights of wholegrain bread, I'm trying to encourage the kids. Sneakily, none of their white bread is left, so they have to try wholegrain granary. Brown rice is easy to swap, hardly noticed.

[ArriettyC]

We were excited to get chosen for the challenge. We already eat wholemeal (same as wholegrain?) bread, so that was no change. I have been trying to have oats in porridge every day, and also got some steelcut chunky oats (which were not quite so nice - bit gritty to eat even after hours in the slow cooker). I already knew whole grain was healthier.
We won't be trying any of the recipes in the book because there were no vegetarian main meals, and we are veggies. So the book was no use to me sadly. We eat tons of pasta, so we will buy some wholegrain pasta this weekend. Anyone had any success persuading children to eat it?

[dragonmummy]

Aargh! I'm a wholegrain failure already! Three of us in the house and we're all eating different meals at different times, so it's been hard to wholegrain the main meals. We are eating wholemeal bread though, for breakfast toast and choc spread sarnies for snack for DS. DS and I have eaten muesli for breakfast and/or supper. I had oatcakes and porridge bars for lunch and snack at work, with home-made carrot and lentil soup. DH had the soup for lunch too. Hey, I'm doing better than I thought! Fish fingers n chips for DS's tea last night, though - late home, long stretch at after school club, I had to work all evening - sometimes fast freezer food is the right thing to do.

[Elliemayclampett]

Thanks for the voucher! I knew there was some advice to eat whole grain but wasn't too sure of the health benefits. The pack was great and the recipes look gorgeous. I will try some at the weekend, don't tend to cook from scratch during the working week.

I started by replacing DS cereal with Weetos, which he loved and since I normally have a chocolate bar for breakfast at about 11 am I bought shredded wheat for myself.
I replaced the white bread rolls for DH and I for lunch with wholemeal bread - it actually tasted so much nicer and there was no comment from DH so I assume no complaints!

Last night, instead of munching on crisps while we watched the football on TV (our usual treat) we had a big bowl of popcorn to share. DS loved the treat!

So far so good then. I've bought Breakaway biscuits which say they are made with wholemeal and oat flour to sneak in a bit more