Oldways

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Thank you to Oldways for sponsoring this healthy giveaway! The winner is Caitlin; please email me at traveleatlove (@) gmail.com with your contact information. Don’t forget to participate in Whole Grain Sampling Day on April 3, and add some new whole grains to your diet!

Whole Grain Sampling Day, created by Oldways’ Whole Grain Council, is April 3.

What is Whole Grain Sampling Day? Here’s a bit from the Oldways website:

What if there were one day when, everywhere you went, there were opportunities to try delicious whole grain foods? That’s what happens every year on the first Wednesday in April, when the Whole Grains Council holds its annual Whole Grain Sampling Day. Our goal, at the end of the day, is to have people everywhere saying, “That tasted great! Where have you been all my life?” Use the resources in this ONE Toolkit to celebrate with us on April 3, 2013 — or to promote whole grains on the other 364 days of the year.

We are a whole grains household; you won’t find white rice or pasta or bread anywhere in our cabinets. We know it’s healthy, but white carbs make me crash and generally feel awful so making the change to whole grain was pretty easy and necessary. I’m always excited to receive emails from Oldways, and when they offered to send me some whole grain samples, I instantly said yes.

 

whole grains council

whole grain sampling day

 

Little did I know that it was going to be a huge box of full sized samples of whole grain treats. From Real McCoy’s chips to Bob’s Red Mill Muesli to Freekehlicious Freekeh (a cereal made from green wheat), the heavy box was chock full of healthy delicious goodness. There are bags of pasta,Way Better  sweet potato chips, Tasty Bite garlic brown  rice, Barbara’s shredded oats cereal . . . so much goodness in one box. We’re still working our way through it!

 

whole grain samples

brown rice Triscuit

Brown Rice Sea Salt and Black Pepper Triscuits

 

wheat berry chili

wheat berry chili – this week’s lunch

 

Evan's Heavenly Cookie Mix

Spelt Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Plant Strong Crackers

Yummy Plant Strong Crackers

I know that my body loves whole grains, but I had no idea just how good they are for you. Oldways’ Whole Grains Council offers up some more information on their Whole Grains 101 page. I had no idea that whole grains are fantastic sources of antioxidants. As I’m turning the big 33 this week, I am looking for ways to stay feeling and looking young, and whole grains should definitely play a part in that, in addition to fruits and veggies. And as the Whole Grains Council website states, “The medical evidence is clear that whole grains reduce risks of heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and obesity. Few foods can offer such diverse benefits.” More whole grains for everyone!

facts about whole grains

On April 3, you can take part in Whole Grain Sampling Day on Twitter; follow the hashtag #SampleWholeGrains, and join in at noon Eastern time for a toast to whole grains. Then go and find a new, delicious whole grain to sample.

To make that a little easier for one reader, Oldways has given me one sample box full of the items pictured above to give away to a Travel, Wine, and Dine reader. I think whoever wins will be as excited as I was; who doesn’t love a box of food delivered to their door?

To enter, leave a comment on this post letting me know how you incorporate whole grains into your life or how you’d like to. Be sure you are following Oldways on Twitter as well, so you can keep up with all of the delicious, healthy initiatives they have going on.

I will choose a winner a week from today on March 26. Good luck!

Tags: Food, giveaway, Oldways, Oldways Whole Grain Council, whole grains

A Med Month recipe and a giveaway! As I mentioned in yesterday’s eggplant dip post, I am celebrating National Mediterranean Diet Month with Oldways. If you haven’t heard of Oldways, I would suggest checking out their site. They are all about changing lives through real food, and their various programs offer something for everyone.

When planning my grocery shopping this week, I had the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid in mind and decided to whip up a dinner of fresh Mediterranean-style lettuce wraps for our Meatless Monday dinner.

I started with a couple of simple ingredients, a large bag of red lentils, soaked in several cups of water for a couple hours, mixed with a box of Near East Taboule wheat salad mix. Once I added the Taboule (Tabouli? The box says Taboule, but it looks strange to me!), I added a little more water, stirred in the seasoning packet that came in the Taboule box, and refrigerated the lentil mixture until we were ready to eat.

red lentils

That’s right, we ate the lentils raw. There is something about red lentils, just soaked in enough water, that I love. They have a sweet pea flavor and a nice little crunch.

Preparing the rest of the meal was simple. I mixed up the eggplant dip and left that at room temperature, then chopped and grilled a rainbow of bell peppers. I hope you don’t get tired of seeing my grill pan; I love the way food cooked on it tastes!

grilled peppers

Everything is more fun eaten in a lettuce wrap, so large romaine leaves were the base of this meal. Once the peppers were grilled and chopped, I added scoops of the lentil and bulgur mixture to the lettuce, and then we topped them as we wanted.

lettuce wraps

To my lettuce wraps, I added a spoonful each of the eggplant dip and Fage Greek Yogurt, then I rolled them up and enjoyed a nice crunch!

Fage Greek Yogurt

Our dinner incorporated elements from many parts of the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid, including two vegetables, a grain, a legume, and yogurt. It certainly felt like a well rounded, healthy meal while also being filling, inexpensive, and flavorful.

To celebrate Oldways and Mediterranean Month, Oldways is giving me a copy of their book The Oldways Table to give to one lucky Travel, Wine, and Dine reader.

Enter to win!

1) Follow @oldwayspt on Twitter and tweet “I want to win The Oldways Table from @traveleatlovemm & @oldwayspt” with a link back to this post.

2) Leave a comment with your favorite ingredient/s from the Mediterranean  Diet Pyramid

3) Check back on Monday morning for the announcement of the winner. I will post the winner here, and if I don’t hear from him/her in 48 hours, I will choose another winner.

Good luck!

Tags: Food, healthy recipe, Med Month, Oldways, recipe, vegan, Vegetarian

Happy Monday! I am not usually a lover of Mondays, but I love today for two reasons, because I only have one more Monday at my current full time job before I start on a whole new, unknown adventure in food, wine, and travel, and also because today is the launch party for Red White Boston. I have loved working with Red White Boston, and I am excited for tonight to meet everyone who is coming to the party and to spread the word about this really excellent iPhone app.

Yesterday was highly productive. After a disappointing Boston Lobster Party and delicious Myers + Chang lunch and dinner on Saturday, we had the best night’s sleep ever. I woke up Sunday feeling more rested than I have in MONTHS. I got to the MSPCA to walk some dogs and to celebrate Adopt a Pit Bull Month (they are seriously amazing dogs with a bad media rap, trust me!!), met a kitten with a hot pink cast 🙁 and finally got myself home for a day of fall cleaning. We swapped out our summer clothes for warmer ones, keeping the summer ones close by in case we decide on an impromptu Caribbean vacation.

After a walk around Castle Island in the glorious fall sunshine, I got to work on dinner, a recipe that I made in honor of Oldways and the upcoming World Pasta Day, October 25. I am hell bent on making excellent, completely whole wheat pasta and baked goods, so I went ahead and used 100% whole wheat flour.

First, I got out the pasta machine and wiped it down with a clean cloth.

Pasta Maker

I used a simple whole wheat pasta recipe that combined 2 cups whole wheat flour from King Arthur Flour, 2 large eggs, a sprinkle of salt, and enough water to make it into a ball of dough.

pasta ingredients

While the pasta dough was chilling in the freezer, I started on the sauce which was a simple mix of 1 can roasted tomatoes, a few dashes chili oil, some chopped garlic, and 2 cod filets.

cod with tomatoes

I cooked these ingredients on low for about an hour, until the cod flaked and completely blended in with the tomatoes and spices. Rather than having cod with a side of pasta, I turned it into a spicy seafood tomato sauce.

My best intentions were to make fettucine using the pasta maker, but I just could not get it to cut the pasta. It sort of scored it but never cut it into the neat little ribbons I hoped for. Maybe it was too thick? Maybe I am a dough dunce?

At any rate, the word rustic, one of my favorites for when my delicious food turns kinda un-pretty, came into play, and I hand cut the pasta dough, boiled it, and then tossed it into the sauce.

whole wheat pasta with cod

I most definitely noticed a difference using a rolling pin to roll out the dough over a bottle of wine. The thinner dough, even hand cut, made for a lighter, fluffier pasta that actually tasted like pasta and not a dumpling. The sauce coated it perfectly and created a nutritious and filling meal. We both went back for seconds!

I was thinking of all of you while walking dogs yesterday. I know a lot about the foodie tendencies of my blog readers and bloggers I read, but I would love to know your other passions. Besides cooking/eating/drinking, what are your favorite things to do?

Please check out the Bauer Wines Howl-o-ween giveaway if you are in the Boston area! Great wine store, beautiful location, and fun Halloween event, you can’t go wrong!

Tags: cod, Food, Oldways, pasta, recipe

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