Whole grains made easy ... and delicious!

September/October 2008 Issue | Posted by Danielle Bean in Home Front

NUTRITION

by Danielle

Whole Grain, Whole Health

Does the mention of “healthy whole grain” make you lose your appetite? If so, you’re not alone. Even though diets rich in whole grains have been proven to reduce risk of heart disease and lower rates of obesity, few Americans actually eat the three whole-grain servings per day recommended by USDA dietary guidelines. Adding whole grain to your diet need not be complicated or painful, though. Here, some health-boosting tips for getting the grains you need:

Read carefully.

Labels that say “multi-grain” or “wheat” can be misleading. Be sure the list of ingredients begins with “whole-wheat flour” not just “wheat flour” (which is the refined, fiberless white stuff). Also, check the dietary fiber content. Whole-grain breads should contain at least 3 grams per serving.

Try new products.

Today’s whole-grain pasta is not the chewy, grainy stuff found in health food stores years ago. Whole-grain pastas are now easy to find in most supermarkets and taste significantly better than older versions. If your taste buds still balk, however, try mixing some white pasta in with whole grain until you get accustomed to the difference.

Prepare ahead.

Many whole grains take longer to cook than their highly processed counterparts, but there’s no need to let convenience trump your healthy diet. Most cooked whole grains will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator. Cook several meals’ worth of brown or wild rice at once and then store in the fridge for reheating in a hurry.

Bake a treat.

Even my “whole-grain-suspicious” husband enjoys these yummy muffins with a bit of strawberry jam:

Easy Whole-Wheat Muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup white sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin tin with 12 baking cups. Combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix well. In a small bowl, combine milk, oil, and egg; blend well. Add to dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Fill baking cups 2/3 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm.

— Visit Danielle at DanielleBean.com

SELF

by Mary

Bargain Basement

Work from a wardrobe plan.

Begin by shopping in your own closet for your wardrobe’s core pieces (tops, bottoms, dresses). Write down the items you actually need to buy to complete a mix-and-match wardrobe, and budget accordingly. You might just find that with a dash of creativity, you only require a couple of core pieces and a handful of accessories.

Time your shopping with the season’s reductions.

These days, fashion selling seasons are tight and new items may be greatly reduced in only a matter of weeks. Read circulars, get email notifications from your favorite retailers, and keep your ear to the ground for rock-bottom prices. Also, choose quality over quantity by shopping department and specialty stores, off-price retailers, customer-friendly Internet sites, and choosy second-hand shops rather than deep discounters who trade in low-quality goods and tempt consumers to binge-buy.

Shop only when you look your best.

There’s nothing worse than feeling a need for self-improvement every time you spot your reflection at the mall. It’s bad enough that fashion marketing aims at exactly this very human feeling of inadequacy with its air-brushed models and impossibly crisp displays. You don’t need your own bed head adding to the pressure — make up, dress up, and pep up before you shop!

Quick Tip: Like everything else in life, prudent shopping is greatly aided by the right accessory. I use the FranklinCovey (FranklinCovey.com) zippered travel wallet because of its ability to keep everything — money, checks, receipts, coupons, and wardrobe plans — safe and neatly arranged.

— Visit Mary at MarySheehanWarren.com

HOME

By Lisa Dwan

Smart Study Tips

Help your kids make the grade this fall with these simple steps to smarter studying:

1. Read and Highlight.

First, read vertically through the notes that need to be covered. Look for main headings and key ideas, and see the overall picture. Then, read through more slowly and highlight main titles, subtitles, key points or terms, and definitions as you go — each category in a different color. This helps keep the information organized in a way that is easy to process as a whole.

2. Reflect.

Once you have read through the material, step back and ask various questions that make the information something to be understood rather than memorized. What is the main idea in this chapter? What are the problems presented and their solutions? How does this information fit into the context of the rest of the course? What are the main points I need to know?

3. Summarize and Memorize.

Without looking at the notes, try to write out a short summary of what you have learned in your own words. Pretend you need to teach it to someone else or answer questions on a self-made quiz. It is much easier to memorize something that makes sense and is logical, as opposed to pure repetition. Make a visual scheme that presents what you have learned in a diagram, chart, or picture that helps you remember the topic as a whole.

4. Apply the Knowlege.

Finally, take what you have learned and try to apply it to everyday life situations. It might be difficult to see how the history of the French Revolution applies today, but you can look at the contributing factors to see if they are still present in our modern world or if perhaps the consequences of history are still being felt today. This helps you process the information you’ve taken in and makes it “real” to you.

— Lisa Dwan

MONEY

Fight Fraud

Credit card fraud is an increasingly common crime — don’t become a victim. Use common sense and follow these rules:

1. Keep a close eye on your credit card whenever you use it. Be sure the clerk swipes it only once on one machine, and then get it back into your wallet.

2. Shred — don’t just toss out — all credit card applications you receive in the mail.

3. Carry only those credit cards you use frequently. Having little-used cards in your wallet only compounds your troubles if it gets lost or stolen.

4.  If you receive an email from what looks like your financial institution, do not reply. Verify the correspondence by calling your institution.

For more information about how to protect yourself from identity theft and Internet scams, check out ScamBusters.org

Textbook Treasures

Don’t let the price of college textbooks send you into sticker shock. Many online bookstores specialize in used textbooks and will comparison-shop a number of different online retailers to find you the best price on the books you need. Try these:

Campusi.com
Alibris.com
Half.com
BigWords.com
CampusBooks.com
DirectTextBook.com
BetterWorld.com
BookMarc.com
BooksPrice.com
AbeBooks.com

Other Options:

• At Chegg.com students can rent books at a reduced rate and then return them at the end of the semester — think Netflix for textbooks!

• At iChapters.com you’ll find e-book versions of most textbooks for lower prices than the printed versions — buy only the chapters you need!