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I recently realized that during the summertime, our children’s normally healthy eating habits can fall by the wayside. Regular routines get relaxed along with carefully planned menus. Long afternoons spent at the pool or beach lend themselves to easy dinners like pizza or hot dogs. Plus there are all kinds of treats like toasted marshmallows and ice cream sundaes with all the fixings. What would childhood be without these things?
One way that we can ensure our children do still eat somewhat healthily during the summer is by sticking with mostly whole grains. The USDA Food Guide pyramid recommends two to three servings a day of whole grains for kids, or that at least half of their grain servings come from whole grain sources. Whole grains are so good for us in many ways: they help with weight management and disease prevention; they are an important source of nutrients that add more fiber to our diets.
While many of us grew up eating white Wonder Bread and wouldn’t dream of making a pb & j on anything else (including my husband), many of today’s kids grow used to whole wheat bread. For those of us who refuse to give up our trusty white bread, there is now white whole wheat bread available. It may not be traditional to as many of us, but if our kids grow up accustomed to eating mostly whole grain products, they’ll just accept the darker bread products since that is what they’re used to. While I still can’t admit that I am in love with whole wheat pasta and wouldn’t even think of serving whole wheat garlic bread with it, when my son eats pasta, it’s usually the whole grain kind. Make that the whole grain kind including omega 3s and that is high in fiber and protein!
Our little boy doesn’t know of such a thing as white bread or white rice. Up until this point, we have only given him whole grain items like brown rice, whole wheat bread and multigrain tortillas, and he only has the more processed versions while we are out at restaurants or friend’s houses. I feel like a bit of a killjoy when I buy whole wheat hot dog buns, but he truly doesn’t know the difference, or miss the good old white bread version that we grew up with.
Switching your kids over to eating more whole grains is fairly painless. Whole grain pasta (and even whole wheat macaroni and cheese) is readily available. You can also replace regular all purpose flour with healthier whole wheat or white whole wheat flour at a one to one ratio for healthier baked goods. A few other healthy choices to add to the diet include whole wheat couscous and traditional whole grain sources such as quinoa, barley, kasha, millet, wheat berries, spelt, oat groats (steel cut oats), wild rice, and brown rice. Play around with some of them and see what your kids like.
It’s pretty easy to stick with mostly whole grains when feeding kids with choices like the ubiquitous O’ shaped cereal (already whole grain), and now snacks such as pretzels, goldfish crackers and cookies come in a multigrain variety. Did you know popcorn is also a whole grain?
So keep your kids healthy eating habits on track this summer with a few of these and other whole grain choices!
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/pamela-chester/1069-whole-grain/
Going With the (Whole) Grain
I recently realized that during the summertime, our children’s normally healthy eating habits can fall by the wayside. Regular routines get relaxed along with carefully planned menus. Long afternoons spent at the pool or beach lend themselves to easy dinners like pizza or hot dogs. Plus there are all kinds of treats like toasted marshmallows and ice cream sundaes with all the fixings. What would childhood be without these things?
One way that we can ensure our children do still eat somewhat healthily during the summer is by sticking with mostly whole grains. The USDA Food Guide pyramid recommends two to three servings a day of whole grains for kids, or that at least half of their grain servings come from whole grain sources. Whole grains are so good for us in many ways: they help with weight management and disease prevention; they are an important source of nutrients that add more fiber to our diets.
While many of us grew up eating white Wonder Bread and wouldn’t dream of making a pb & j on anything else (including my husband), many of today’s kids grow used to whole wheat bread. For those of us who refuse to give up our trusty white bread, there is now white whole wheat bread available. It may not be traditional to as many of us, but if our kids grow up accustomed to eating mostly whole grain products, they’ll just accept the darker bread products since that is what they’re used to. While I still can’t admit that I am in love with whole wheat pasta and wouldn’t even think of serving whole wheat garlic bread with it, when my son eats pasta, it’s usually the whole grain kind. Make that the whole grain kind including omega 3s and that is high in fiber and protein!
Our little boy doesn’t know of such a thing as white bread or white rice. Up until this point, we have only given him whole grain items like brown rice, whole wheat bread and multigrain tortillas, and he only has the more processed versions while we are out at restaurants or friend’s houses. I feel like a bit of a killjoy when I buy whole wheat hot dog buns, but he truly doesn’t know the difference, or miss the good old white bread version that we grew up with.
Switching your kids over to eating more whole grains is fairly painless. Whole grain pasta (and even whole wheat macaroni and cheese) is readily available. You can also replace regular all purpose flour with healthier whole wheat or white whole wheat flour at a one to one ratio for healthier baked goods. A few other healthy choices to add to the diet include whole wheat couscous and traditional whole grain sources such as quinoa, barley, kasha, millet, wheat berries, spelt, oat groats (steel cut oats), wild rice, and brown rice. Play around with some of them and see what your kids like.
It’s pretty easy to stick with mostly whole grains when feeding kids with choices like the ubiquitous O’ shaped cereal (already whole grain), and now snacks such as pretzels, goldfish crackers and cookies come in a multigrain variety. Did you know popcorn is also a whole grain?
So keep your kids healthy eating habits on track this summer with a few of these and other whole grain choices!
Honey Whole Grain Bread
Made with salt, active dry yeast, vegetable oil, whole wheat flour, milk, all-purpose flour, honey
Made with salt, active dry yeast, vegetable oil, whole wheat flour, milk, all-purpose flour, honey
Serves/Makes: 8
- 3 cups whole wheat flour, divided
- 2 cups warm (not hot) whole milk
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, divided (more as needed)
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 package (.25 ounce size) active dry yeast
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
Spray 1-quart casserole, souffle dish or other high-sided baking pan that fits into slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.
Combine 1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour, milk, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, honey, oil, yeast and salt in large bowl. Beat with electric mixer at medium speed 2 minutes.
Add remaining 1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour and 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup all-purpose flour until dough is no longer sticky. (If mixer has difficulty mixing dough, mix in remaining flours with wooden spoon.) Transfer to prepared dish.
Make foil handles out of long pieces of twisted aluminum foil and place crossing bottom of crock pot (so handles extend out over the edges). Place dish in slow cooker on top of foil. Cover; cook on HIGH 3 hours or until edges are browned.
Use foil handles to lift dish from slow cooker. Let stand 5 minutes. Unmold on wire rack to cool.
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©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/pamela-chester/1069-whole-grain/