Healthy Ways to Use Breads, Cereals and other Grain Products

Vary the taste and texture by choosing among whole-wheat, oatmeal, pumpernickel, rye, and cornmeal products. Try some of the flavored pastas available, spinach noodles or whole-wheat spaghetti. Brown rice gives added texture, fiber, and flavor to many dishes.

Home baking
Use two egg whites in place of each whole egg in quick breads, cookies, and cakes and use lowfat or skim milk. Add a small amount of vanilla, cinnamon, or nutmeg to sweet baked products to enhance flavor when you reduce sugars. Use 3 tablespoons cocoa in place of each ounce of baking chocolate. If fat is needed, to replace the fat in chocolate in baked goods, use 1 tablespoon or less of vegetable oil or margarine (in which the first ingredient on the ingredient label is a liquid as opposed to a hydrogenated solid fat). Some yeast breads, such as English muffins and French bread, can be made without any fat. Salt is a part of most baking products (baking powder and baking soda) so reduce the amount used or use only half the amount of salt called for in baked products.