"WholeWheat" news and stories

Avoiding being left in the dust of the new health wave, as propelled by Mrs. Obama's meeting with major food markets in May, Kraft announced Monday that it will be pumping up its whole grain content in more than 100 of its products over the next three years.

This move comes after four years of development, the company says, in an effort to increase the use of whole grain without sacrificing the taste consumers have come to know. Despite industry skepticism, Kraft and other major food companies, including ConAgra and Del Monte, recently claimed they've made reductions in sodium; others, in sugar. Last June, Kellogg claimed it would increase fiber by the end of 2010 and last week introduced a line of FiberPlus cereals.

The term "whole grain" signifies an unadulterated product of wheat, something that became less common as major food companies realized that stripping the grain's kernel of its bran, endosperm and germ (all of its nutritional fiber, iron and vitamin content) would produce a finer texture and increase shelf life.

Alright, full disclosure time: I made this rockin' buckwheat waffle from *cough* a mix *cough*. But the cinnamon-sugar apples? Totally my own.

I wanted to supplement the waffle with something from the fruit and veggie group, hence the apple addition. I rough-chopped and simmered the apple (an organic Gala) in a 1/4 cup of water until the pieces were soft, and then sprinkled it with a pinch each of nutmeg, cinnamon, granulated sugar and cloves, and them simmered for another minute or two. I drained the apples on a paper towel, lest the waffle get soggy.

Obviously, dear readers, I am in desperate need of a mix-less recipe for whole wheat or buckwheat waffles. Any suggestions?

Here is the second baked pasta dish I made over the weekend (you can find the first one here). This one is more traditional, being that it uses sauteed onions, garlic and peppers. I made this one especially for the omnivores in the crowd, although I used turkey sausage instead of pork to keep the amount of fat a little lower. Especially since it used three different kinds of cheese.

The thing to remember about recipes like these is that you should feel free to make them your own. If you don't like peppers, leave them out. If you've got a friend who is allergic to ricotta cheese, use cottage or farmer's cheese instead. Feel like using three different kinds of cheese is sort of excessive? Cut out the parmesan. It's a technique more than an exact recipe and you can bend and shape it to your tastes.

In most cases, we look at finished products as Food Porn -- a colorful salad, a steaming soup, a steak with herb butter melting over the edges. In the case of food blog 101 Cookbooks, I suppose the first picture of the finished pizza topped with potatoes, cheese, and herbs in Heidi Swanson's post about pizza made of white whole wheat pizza dough is the natural pick.

However, I was totally drawn to the photo of the white whole wheat pizza dough -- perfect pillows of softly "buff"-colored dough flecked with herbs, resting, definitely qualify as "raw" porn. Heidi goes on to say that with this pizza dough, she got close to something she was looking for: "chewy, soft, and unstructured."

More on white whole wheat:
The definition of "white whole wheat"
Sara Lee's hot dog and hamburger buns made with white whole wheat

The sales of White Whole Wheat Flour have increased dramatically this year over previous years and as consumer interest has grown, so have supplies. More grocery stores, large and small, now carry the flour. While the product is not new, having been available for more than a decade, its sale is no longer limited to specialty stores and it is far more widely available than ever before. This increased availability means that more people are exposed to it but many are still unfamiliar with the product.

White whole wheat flour is made from a naturally occurring albino variety of wheat. The wheat does not have the tannins or phenolic acid that are found in the outer bran of ordinary red wheat, so not only does it lack the color, but it does not any of the slightly bitter taste that is often associated with whole wheat flour. The flavor is mild and sweet, very similar to that out plain or all-purpose flour, though it does have a hint of the nuttiness of whole wheat.