Growing boys need more whole grains

My boys need more whole grains. All because they are bucking my system and asking me to 86 sandwiches from their packed school lunches. Once fans of peanut butter on whole wheat bread, they now like yogurt and cottage cheese (at least it's low-fat) as their main lunch items. They still get pretty healthy lunches -- fruit, sometimes veggies, flavored water, and a small treat are tag-alongs in their respective Superman and camouflage boxes -- but I'm worried about the absent whole grains. They need at least two to three servings per day, after all, and I'm not sure they're getting them.

I've been doing some digging and have found some alternative methods for sneaking incorporating whole grains into my boys' diets. Here's what I plan to do.

• Stir a handful of oats into yogurt for a quick crunch -- ah, good idea.
• Add three-quarters of a cup of uncooked oats for each pound of ground beef or turkey when making meatballs, burgers, or meatloaf -- we have turkey meatballs once a week, so this will work.
• Use whole-grain pasta -- aha, we already do.
• Serve whole-grain cereals for breakfast -- we'll hunt some down next time we go shopping.
• Serve whole-grain toast for breakfast too -- the bread's already here, just need to whip up some tasty toast.
• Serve popcorn for a snack (no butter, no salt, air popped) -- they like popcorn: Score!

A good start, I think. And if I can try to feed them something whole-grain at every meal -- this is good advice for adults too, you know: Eat whole grains at every meal -- then they'll be growing in just the right healthy direction.