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Grains

© 2021 Texas Woman’s University!Jessica Barnes, PhD, RDN, LD, author. | Cynthia Warren, PhD, author!Read by Deborah SouthThis institution is an equal opportunity provider.This material was funded by USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — SNAP

Grains help make a healthy plate. !We need to eat them every day!to help our bodies grow!

There are lots of different grains we can cook and eat. These are just a few.WheatRice

CornAmaranthOats

Grains like wheat !grow from the ground.

Once the grains are big enough, they can be harvested by farmers and used to make foods for us to eat!

Grains of wheat are ground into flour to make foods like pasta, bread, tortillas, and morePastaBreadTo rtillas

After oats are picked, they can be used to make foods like oatmeal and baked in breads and cereal.OatmealRaw oats for bakingOat cereal

Corn can be dried and popped into popcorn. It can also be ground into cornmeal and used to make corn tortillas and gorditas.Corn TortillaPopcornGordita

Rice is hard when harvested. When you cook it in water, it softens so you can eat it. Rice can also be used to make noodlesWhite riceBrown rice

Quinoa is a grain that has a lot of fiber and protein to help our bodies grow.

Here are a few more examples of grain foods.

Grains have an inside, a middle and an outside. Grains with all three parts are called whole grains.

Sometimes, parts of the grain are taken away before it is turned into food. Foods made with whole grains are the healthiest of the grain foods.Whole grain foods can be darker than grain foods that are not whole. Can you tell which bread is made from whole grains?

Whole grain foods have many vitamins and minerals to help our bodies grow.They also have fiber. !It is important to eat fiber to help keep our hearts and tummies healthy.

Here are some whole grain foods.PopcornBrown RiceWhole wheat rollsWhole wheat pasta

Grains give us energy to help our bodies move and play!

Grains keep our tummies full so we can focus and learn in school.

We need to eat whole grains every day to help our bodies grow!

Grains