Whole Grains for the Holidays

Holidays are a great time to share special foods with people you care about.

If you're a whole grain lover, now's the time to introduce your friends and family to some of your favorite whole grains. Like many people, they may be surprised to find that they don't have to choose between "tastes good" and "good for you" – they can have it all with whole grains.

Cookbooks: the Gift that Keeps on Giving

Give your favorite home cook one of the many new whole grain cookbooks introduced this year. With any luck, she'll invite you over to sample some of her favorites in January.

We've created a list of the best whole grain cookbooks here on our website, including these titles by WGC culinary advisors and members:

• Betty Crocker Whole Grains: Easy Everyday Recipes

• Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor

• Robin Asbell's The New Whole Grains Cookbook

• Lorna Sass's Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way

• Hodgson Mill Whole Grain Baking

• King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking: Delicious Recipes Using Nutritious Whole Grains

• Dun Gifford & Sara Baer-Sinnott's The Oldways Table

The Oldways Table is a lot more than a whole grains cookbook – it's a great compendium of engaging conversations and narratives about food, including stories and recipes from leading chefs, cheese-makers, vintners and bakers around the world. But of course – with a great section on whole grains!

Wrap Up Some Home-made Treats

Home-made treats make some of the best gifts. As a bonus, you can make them with your kids. Who knows – you may even start a new family tradition! If you haven't had the chance to get a new whole grain cookbook for yourself yet, here are links to some great giftable recipes here on the WGC website:

Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies

Blonde Brownies

Swedish Apple-Cranberry Pie

Black Forest Cake

Cranberry-Orange Chex® Mix

If you'd like to make Whole Grain Gingerbread Men, like those pictured above, our friend Heidi Swanson has a great recipe on her 101cookbooks.com website.

Give Yourself the Gift of Good Health

Don't forget yourself, in the middle of the busy holidays. Whole grains have been shown to offer an incredible array of health benefits. Make sure to get a serving of whole grain at every meal, every day. Here are some easy ideas for the whole grain part of each meal:

	Breakfast	Lunch	Snack	Dinner
Monday	whole grain bagel	stuffed whole grain pita	popcorn	brown rice stir fry
Tuesday	whole grain raisin toast	sandwich on rye bread	whole grain crackers	whole grain pasta
Wednesday	whole grain cereal	whole grain wrap	oatmeal cookie	tacos in corn tortillas
Thursday	oatmeal	sub sandwich on whole grain roll	whole grain chips	wild rice
Friday	whole grain English muffin	whole grain veggie burger	whole grain granola bar	bulgur pilaf
Saturday	whole grain waffles	hamburger on whole grain bun	whole grain graham crackers	homemade pizza on whole grain pita crust
Sunday	whole grain pancakes	barley mushroom soup	whole grain pretzels	whole grain cornbread

Check out our list of whole grain grocery products and our recipes for help implementing the ideas above.

Click here if you'd like to download a printer-friendly PDF of the table above, along with other tips for whole grains.