Wednesdays - Whole Grain Bread Day

Dining Services offers a variety of whole grain breads in our Places & Markets and you can also find whole grain breads at the deli areas. Why not make Wednesdays your whole grain bread day too?

How do you know if a bread is a whole grain?

• Look for this stamp on the package:

(Image Courtesy Oldways and the Whole Grains Council, wholegrainscouncil.org)

• Or read the ingredients: if the first ingredients says, "whole grain" or "whole wheat," that's a whole grain bread.
• Look on the front of the package - sometimes the product will claim, "100% Whole Grain Bread" - you can still double-check the ingredients but unless the manufacturer is unscrupulous, a bold claim like that should be good
• check out a long list of whole grain bread products from the Whole Grains Council: http://www.wholegrainscouncil.org/find-whole-grains/breads

What else makes a healthy sandwich besides the bread?

• add veggies! Some of my faves found in Dining Services - pepperocinis, spinach leaves, tomatoes
• lean, lower-sodium deli meat (examples: turkey, ham as opposed to bologna)
• watch the portion, especially of meat and cheese. Keep the total meat/cheese to 3oz or less.
• consider hummus or guacamole as a healthy spread - more nutritious than mayo and more tasty too...if you ask me!

Happy Whole Grain Bread Wednesday.

Whole Grains Challenge

It occurred to me that I've been yapping for weeks about the Whole Grains Challenge that Dining Services is participating in all month and that some of you might have no idea what it's all about.

If you're interested in learning more about the Whole Grains Challenge, check out: http://wholegrainscouncil.org/newsroom/whole-grains-council-kicks-off-5th-annual-whole-grains-challenge

UC San Diego Dining Services hopes that you've been enjoying the increased whole grain choices during October and the increased visibility of these options. Dining is committed to healthy choices of all kinds all year 'round and we love the opportunity to focus in on certain topics. It's especially fun when there is a contest involved!

There is only 1 week of October left but it's not too late for you to take on the Whole Grains Challenge for yourself! Get to it - get to the Whole Grains!

Corn - Friday's Featured Whole Grain, October's Featured Whole Grain

Corn is Dining's Friday featured whole grain and October is Whole Grains Month. Dining Services continues in the month-long Whole Grains Challenge, which involves serving at least one whole grain dish per day in all five residential dining restaurants (Plaza Cafe, Pines, OVT, Cafe V and Canyon Vista). Fridays are Corn Day!

The Whole Grains Council (http://wholegrainscouncil.org/ ) chose corn as the featured whole grain of October: http://www.wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101/corn-october-grain-of-the-month .

You might wonder, why corn? Well, it's true that corn has gotten a bit of a bad rep as of late in the U.S. due to hotly debated topics such as high-fructose corn syrup and the nature of the U.S. food system. But...those are topics for another day. Actual corn can definitely be part of a healthy diet!

You might also wonder whether corn is a grain at all - or is it a vegetable? Well, who cares really? But basically fresh corn is considered a starchy vegetable (is that confusing enough for you?) and dried corn is considered a grain. But here's the Real Deal, the Whole Grains Council chose corn as its featured Whole Grain during Whole Grain Month so I'm going with that!

What else is cool about corn?

• it's high in vitamin A
• it's gluten-free
• popcorn kernels can pop up to 3 feet in the air
• most of the world refers to corn as maize and I don't know if it's an American thing like we measure our weight in pounds unlike anywhere else. On another side note, if you're a fan of Modern Family, you will remember Cam posing as a Native American to get his daughter into a prestigious pre-school and referring to corn as "maize" - it's a great scene.

Happy Corn Day - is that corny? Oh gosh...

Whole Grains Month - UC Eats Real

October is Whole Grains Month. In honor of whole grain goodness, Dining Services will be featuring daily whole grain choices in Residential Dining and in our Places & Markets. Look for the UC Eats Real logo above in Dining Services.

You can also find Whole Grain stamps (also pictured above) on packaged goods that contain whole grains.

Today's feature in Dining Services? POPCORN! Yes, popcorn is a whole grain and a really fun one if I may say so. Dining will be offering popcorn in two really yummy ways today: cracker-jack style and white cheddar cheese popcorn. Ok, ok, so plain popcorn is the healthier way to eat it but we're trying to have some fun with our whole grains.

Eat whole grains, eat well!