Challenge Of The Month: April

It may be April Fools Day, but this is no joke!

Take on April’s Whole Grain Challenge and win a FREE week of food and recipes provided by HelloFresh, delivered straight to your doorstep! And the winner of the slogan competition (see below) will additionally win a FoodFight visit to their classroom and a whole grain cooking demo for their students.

The rules are simple. Participate in one or all of the tasks below and be entered to win these awesome prizes. The more you participate, the more “entries” you have in the raffle and the greater your chances of winning. Winners will be announced at the end of the month.

• Snap a picture of a meal you made or bought containing your favorite whole grain.
• For the amateur chefs in all of us, share your favorite whole grain recipe.
• When you go to the grocery store or bodega, snap a picture of a “fake” whole grain product - something that makes it sound like whole grains but is really just false advertising. (see below)
• Competition: Involve your students in the challenge (see lesson plan below). Work together to come up with a slogan for whole grains. Example: “Don’t be afraid of the dark - Whole Grains are ‘holy’ foods”
  
  —-> Post your pictures, recipes or slogans on any of our social media platforms (Facebook or Twitter) and make sure to include @foodfightorg,@hellofresh, #monthlychallenge, #foodfighter in the post.

So, this April, get in the habit of making half your grains whole and win free food for a week! Read on for Whole Grain tips and information:

April Challenge: Make Half Your Grains Whole!

The over-consumption of carbs has a pretty bad reputation for causing weight gain, but a study at Penn State University shows that a whole-grain enriched diet results in a lower body weight, waist circumference and percentage body fat.

So what’s so special about whole grains? While refined grains retain only the endosperm of a grain, whole grains contain the entire kernel: the bran, germ and endosperm. These parts of the kernel have lots of nutrients and health benefits. Check out this picture for a visual.

• The vitamins and minerals reduce our risk for heart disease, lung cancer, and diabetes.
• The fiber and protein from the bran and germ provide us with a more constant source of energy and can help us feel full for longer.

For this month’s challenge, we encourage FoodFighters to make at least make half your grains whole. When undertaking this challenge: here are a few tips to keep in mind:

 

Make Sure It’s Actually Whole Grain.

Sounds like a simple task, but you’ll be surprised by how deceptive packaging can be. Remember, you can’t assume brown-colored bread to be whole grain. In fact, often times that brown you see comes from caramel coloring! Breads with the labels ”seven-grain,” “multigrain,” “whole wheat,” or “bran,” are not the same thing as whole grain. These breads (like white bread) have gone through a series of refining processes that strip away most of their nutritional value. Make sure the first ingredient is a whole wheat. You can also click on the video to the left to learn more about companies that are not telling the whole truth.

 

Look For Whole Grains You Like.

When you hear “whole grain,” you might think of a dry, brown, funny-tasting bread, but more foods are whole grain than most people realize: brown rice, oatmeal, wild rice, quinoa, and rye. Even lots of cereals are made with whole grains: Grape Nuts, Cheerios, Fiber One Honey Clusters, and Post’s Shredded Wheat. If you don’t like whole grain bread, look for the whole grains you do like. Meanwhile, here are a few great bread options.

 

Compromise.

You might choose not to eat whole grains because of the difference in taste and texture, but incorporating whole grains into your diet can start small. When you cook pasta for dinner, put in half whole wheat pasta and half white pasta. If you order a burrito at Chipotle, ask the server to give you half brown rice and half white rice. This way, you can complete the challenge of the month without noticing a huge difference in your food’s texture. It’s all about compromise!

 

Read up on Recipes.

If you’re in the mood to browse through some recipes, check out some extremely appetizing whole grain recipes at Whole Grain Gourmet. Motivate yourself to cook with whole grains by looking at the yummy photos in this online cookbook. And yes, they have dessert.

 

Lesson Plan: Bring the Challenge to the Classroom

A great way to keep up with the challenge is to get your students involved, too. Use The Whole Truth About Whole Grains Lesson from our FoodFight In The Classroom curriculum and teach your students how to identify whole grains and their importance in our diet. Use this Whole Grains Diagram and Fiber Slide. If you’re interested in our full curriculum, email [email protected]