Ode to Breakfast Cereal
From time to time, I will consider the “Desert Island” question as it applies to a particular food. There are, for me, a surprising number of foods which I would be pretty happy eating exclusively for the rest of my life. Peanut butter sandwiches? Check. Burritos (provided they come from one of my favorite taco shops)? Check. Fish tacos? Checkity check! (I really love fish tacos)
There is only one food, however, that actually kinda wish I’d get desert islanded with: Breakfast cereal. I love breakfast cereal. I would gladly eat it day in and day out, every meal for the rest of my life. If there were a desert island with nothing but breakfast cereal to eat, I would move to that desert island and then build a fort complete with a parapet, from which I would defend myself from any ne’er-do-wells who think I might want rescuing.
Preemptive Dismissal of Naysayers
Oh, I know what some of you are thinking. “Breakfast cereal isn’t just one food, like a peanut butter sandwich. It’s a whole aisle in the grocery store.”
To you, I say, “Pfff.” This is my desert island fantasy, and in this fantasy island (which is much different than Fantasy Island, because I want nothing to do with Mr. Rork or Tattoo on my Island of Breakfast Cereal Delight), there is a mysterious, enormously large cache of my favorite breakfast cereals. Oh, and also there’s a milkman who drops off five gallons of 1% milk every week. And there’s a nice, working fridge.
Oh, don’t roll your eyes. It’s no sillier or unrealistic an island than Lost. Quite a bit less silly, actually.
The Best of All Possible Cereals
Originally, I planned to call this post “7 Perfect Breakfast Cereals,” but then I realized my love for cereal doesn’t really break out that way. There are about 5000 kinds of cereal, most of which are delicious.
That said, there are two breakfast cereals which somehow stand out from the field, rise above the noise, and are otherwise objectively perfect.
- Honey Bunches of Oats: It’s got flakes! It’s got oats! It’s got crunchy clusters of sugary goodness! It’s purportedly low in fat and has 9 essential vitamins and minerals! This cereal is so delicious I would happily eat it six times per day, which may explain why a box of it never lasts through the day at my house. Note: The original is the best. The others — with Almonds, with Strawberries, with Peaches, with Bananas — are like drawing a fancy hat on the Mona Lisa: not necessary, and probably not an improvement.
- Reese’s Puffs: These are actually best as a snack. But mercy, what a snack. There are other peanut butter cereals out there (Peanut Butter Cap’n Crunch, for example), but none of them come close to this one. How does Reese do it? That dude’s a genius, I tell you.
I am prepared to hear arguments for other cereals I should try, provided you are willing to vow, under threat of severe ridicule, that your favorite breakfast cereal is every bit as good as my favorite breakfast cereals.
Also, I’d be interested in hearing from anyone who doesn’t like breakfast cereal, just so I can observe and pity you, much as I would a two-headed calf at the county fair.
PS: I hereby declare that Autumn has begun one week early. Monday I shall provide proof. In any case, let the annual weight gain commence! Huzzah!
Comment by bradk | 09.14.2007 | 4:28 am
kashi crunch
Comment by gewwez | 09.14.2007 | 4:31 am
We get none of those back here. Weetabix and Alpen every morning for me
Comment by Susan (another one) | 09.14.2007 | 4:43 am
kashi good friends
Comment by Demonic1 | 09.14.2007 | 4:51 am
Whole Grain Cheerios- and Crispix. No milk necessary. No need for a fridge or a milk man.
Then there’s Sugar Pops- the cheap bagged ones- they need milk though.
Comment by Berre | 09.14.2007 | 4:52 am
I haven’t tried the two you mentioned, but for me it would be Cap’n Crunch (original) and Golden Grahams.
16 years ago i moved from Singapore back to Denmark. Thats 16 futile years of looking for a danish importer of either cereal. Seems i got stuck on the cereal-less desert island.
Comment by Born 4 Lycra | 09.14.2007 | 4:52 am
Cereal especially breakfast cereal is the only meal I can cook. All Bran check, Milk check, Bowl check, brown sugar check, ummmm oh yeah spoon check. Throw it all in the bowl except for the bowl I know from experience that does not work and que sera the cooking, preparation and presentation is done. No measuring, weighing or recipe reading it’s all done by eye. If you are really good and really lick the bowl and spoon there is even no washing up. Wifey just clipped me across the head so must confess I do wash up but otherwise it’s all true. Cereals Rule OK.
Comment by Mike Roadie | 09.14.2007 | 4:52 am
Froot Loops….of course. Interesting that the ads at the side are touting Fiber One!!!!! Yeeeech!!! Lucky Charms is right up there and don’t forget Cocoa Puffs! If you are going for the annual fall-winter weight gain, go right, or don’t go at all!!! I’m not sayin’……..I’m just sayin’
Actually right now, I am on a kick for Nature’s Path Optimum Slim, cause I’m still training for the LiveStrong Challenge, Ride for the Roses and a couple of local November and December centuries—–FLA….warm weather.
Please help support me and Clydesteve as we raise money to honor FC’s Susan and other family and friends in their fight against cancer—-a fight we must WIN!!! http://austin07.livestrong.org/mlevin
Man, I wish I had some Froot Loops right now!
Good luck again on the scan results!!!!
Comment by cyclingphun.blogspot.com | 09.14.2007 | 4:53 am
Wow… Reese’s… Yeah, see the problem with Peanut Butter Crunch is the ‘gums shredding coating’ that they put on it that fills your mouth, not only, with it’s peanut buttery goodness, but also with the blood of your shredded gums… AND THERES CHOCOLATE!! I do have to also sound off for all of my brothers and sisters and agree with Kashi anything. Kashi makes some good cereal. Cheerios are also the BOMB! Dry with a glass of milk! I’ve also got to admit I’ve added Muesli to my breakfast arsenal. Love that stuff!
Comment by Lowrydr | 09.14.2007 | 4:56 am
Frosted Flakes all the way for me!!!! But then again Crispix are a great back-up just incase the flakes are out. Hmmmm, must go to store, need cereal. No wait, it’s Honey Combs, won’t you be my baby.
Comment by Weean | 09.14.2007 | 5:07 am
Porridge. There’s nothing oatier. That’s some long-chain carbohydrates you’re putting away there.
You can add some short-chain carbs if you want to, but that’s just wrong. Or, if you’re as hard as my dad, you can make it with just water & salt & get some electrolytes in there. It’s the perfect race-day food.
Comment by wndnh2o | 09.14.2007 | 5:10 am
Cracklin’ Oat Bran
Comment by TheLurker | 09.14.2007 | 5:16 am
Weetabix, but only with lots of sugar and enough milk to turn it to porridge…hmmm nursery food don’t you just love it? :)
Comment by Craig | 09.14.2007 | 5:26 am
Hmm…..lets see..
12 grams of sugar in each’serving’ of Reese’s Puffs….
4 ’servings’ of Reese’s Puffs in each actual serving…..
Add in the sugar in 1.5 cups of 1% milk (18grams)
and that equals eventual diabetes.
I submit to you the simplest of cereals…the steel cut oat.
Add fruit and maybe some honey.
Comment by Mike Roadie | 09.14.2007 | 5:32 am
WOW!!! Our diets are NO FUN!!!!
No wonder FC takes a winter “break” in order to enjoy the goodies!!!!
http://austin07.livestrong.org/mlevin
Comment by William | 09.14.2007 | 5:33 am
I like to mix whole oats, some healthy museli stuff with something sugary preferably with strawberry bits in it together. The oats and healthy museli are always there and I switch the sugary one depending on my mood discounts! Best food ever. Before being parents we ate breakfast twice a day and had a proper lunch at work each to try and avoinf getting fat (…er in my case)
Comment by miles archer | 09.14.2007 | 5:46 am
Call me crazy, but I prefer uncooked oatmeal, preferably in lowfat fruit yogurt. If there is some granola or something like it in the house, a little of that mixed in is good too.
Comment by fatty | 09.14.2007 | 5:48 am
berre – you totally nailed it with golden grahams. that should have been number three on my list.
Comment by Sprocketboy | 09.14.2007 | 6:03 am
What? You rank mere boxed cereal above Bircher Muesli, Food of the Gods? The insanely delicious food that you can eat six times a day and still lose weight with? Shame on yiz!
Comment by Henrik | 09.14.2007 | 6:10 am
What’s up with all the sugary cereals? Do your kids get the same kind? Man, they must be full of energy during the morning and lazy/tired after the sugar rush is over :-)
When I was a kid all we got for breakfast was gravel. And not the good gravel, it’s was the gravel that had broken glass and rusty bits of nails in it.
Anyway, these days I treat myself to low fat yogurt (0.5%) mixed with oats.
Comment by sans auto | 09.14.2007 | 6:21 am
Did you know that adding table sugar to about 99% of cold cereals will actually LOWER the glycemic index (meaning that adding table sugar will cause less of a sugar spike in your blood). We’re talking diabetes in a box.
We eat a 9 grain cooked cereal, it takes about 45 minutes to cook, unless you don’t like it crunchy, then it takes over an hour. Served with soy milk and raisins it tastes… well it’s bearable. But boy does it keep you regular.
(and if nobody’s looking, I REALLY like fruit loops)
Comment by Gillian | 09.14.2007 | 6:40 am
Oh’s. I eat them crunchy for dessert, and with milk for any other meal. They go GREAT with boxed wine.
Comment by Boz | 09.14.2007 | 6:41 am
Quaker Life – Mikey likes it, what else can you say ?
Also Cheapo Walmart brand Great Value Nature’s Grains tastes great and is easy on the wallet at $1.88 a box. Nice crunch and tastes better w/o sweeteners.
http://diabetictifosi.spaces.live.com/
Comment by Rachel | 09.14.2007 | 6:42 am
Not only will I agree with you on Reese’s Puffs and Golden Grahams, I’ll add my favorite: Multigrain Cheerios with milk or regular ol’ Cheerios with whatever fruit is in season: blueberries, strawberries, peaches. Oh, the possibilities!
I did find it interesting that you chose one fairly healthy cereal and one bottom of the barrel cereal (as far as health and nutrition goes, excepting the added vitamins and minerals, of course).
Comment by mark | 09.14.2007 | 6:42 am
While I like the diabetes in a box from time to time, I am partial first and foremost to Rachel’s granola (http://kitchenaddiction.blogspot.com/2006/10/best-meal-of-day.html), followed by oatmeal with blueberries and soy milk or cheerios with soy milk and a blueberry smoothie chaser (something about oats and blueberries in the morning just works for me).
Comment by BurkeInTheOzarks | 09.14.2007 | 6:43 am
Back in the day, I liked ‘em all – Cap’n Crunch Froot Loop Honeycomb Golden Graham Apple Jack goodness. I liked the variety packs so I could plow through a few assorted tastes each morning. Now, I’m hooked on Kashi – all of ‘em! Good stuff.
My kids, on the other hand, are completely fixated on Peanut Butter Crunch (and turn their noses up at Reese’s – go figure). They also will eat Cheerois with banana if we’re out of the Cap’n. Other than breakfast they really are good, healthy eaters. No, really!
Comment by KP | 09.14.2007 | 6:52 am
“surprising number of foods I would be pretty happy eating exclusively for the rest of my life.” a surprising number? wait, am I in the right place? this the Fat Cyclist website right? I gotta go with Cocoa Pebbles because when you are done eating the cereal you have CHOCOLATE MILK!
Comment by Rick S. | 09.14.2007 | 7:07 am
Maple n Brown Sugar Mini Wheats. The perfect pre-ride meal.
Comment by Dave | 09.14.2007 | 7:09 am
My favorite is a toss up between two Malt O Meal bagged cereals: Cocoa Dino bites and Fruity Dino bites. Yes it’s the cheap version of the Fred Flintstone stuff but you get 4 times the cereal for the same price. It all depends if I’m in a chocolatey mood or fruity mood. Either way, I like to eat a huge bowl after dinner and after the kids go to bed. Nothing like eating 500+ calories of sugar right before bed to keep you lean.
Everyone has a had a rice crispy treat (the only way I’ll eat rice crispies) But, for the best “crispy” cookie you ever eat. Make them with the Fruity Pebbles or Fruity Dino Bites. The butter and marshmallow with really enhances the fruity flavor. Just be sure to buy enough ingrediants to make two batches because the first one will be gone before anyone else gets any.
Morning fuel for the ride is Corn Flakes with a tablespoon of sugar (yawn).
Comment by rogarr | 09.14.2007 | 7:16 am
Lately I have been on an Total Raisin Bran kick. Its forbidden to the kids, but I think they must secretly take bowls of it down to the basement and I think their mother is in on it. There is no way I am eating it that fast. I sadly miss the old Honeycomb cereal. They’ve changed so I wont go near it now, but in the old days, forget about variety on the desert isle. It was the perfect food, with milk or dry.
Comment by mocougfan | 09.14.2007 | 7:18 am
Definately Grape nuts mixed with a little yogurt. Fruit Loops at night for a fat snack.
Comment by Metronome | 09.14.2007 | 7:23 am
I am also a huge breakfast cereal industry supporter. I would have to agree with Fatty that cereal is the food of the Gods! I would suggest you try the Malt-O-Meal brand version of Cap’n Crunch Berries. Huge bag, huge value. Soooooo good! I eat a bowl before I ride in the mornings; for some reason, they seem to help me sustain higher levels of energy than most simple sugar foods. It’s magical.
Comment by TG | 09.14.2007 | 7:23 am
This is like asking me which of my children I love more!!!! My cereal choices often reflect my mood. CoCo Puffs, Pebbles, and Krispies for after a bad day at work. Honey Bunches of Oats and Frosted Mini Wheats when I want to fool myself that I am having a healthy, yet tasty breakfast. Kashi Go Lean Cruch (otherwise known as rocks in a box) or Fiber One when I am damn serious that I want a healthy breakfast. Cream of Rice with milk, sugar, and butter, when I’m not feeling well and need a big there-there. It’s comfort in a bowl. Frosted Flakes and Corn Pops (notice I didn’t call them Sugar Pops), and Fruity Pebbles when I crave a sickeningly sweet bowl of crunch. Cereal could be the answer to all of life’s problems.
Comment by saquatch | 09.14.2007 | 7:24 am
Anyone who uses this comment section to warn us all of the dangers of sugary breakfast cereal, even in the face of this inspired love letter to sugarbliss crunch, will eventually die and go straight to Earnest Heaven, a magical place where the Horn of Plenty shall be eternally gorged with steel cut oats and the bottomless reed-woven goblet will perpetually slosh with the finest filtered water. Good times.
Comment by Liz | 09.14.2007 | 7:30 am
Cinnamon Toast Crunch. A nirvana of crunch and sweetness (when not in the mood for peanut buttery goodness).
Comment by Thom | 09.14.2007 | 7:31 am
Granola and yogurt. I eat it all day long.
Comment by Badder | 09.14.2007 | 7:32 am
Alphabits all the way!
And since we have a milkman coming every week with fresh milk maybe he could drop off a pound of butter to spread on some Weetabix!
Comment by Thom | 09.14.2007 | 7:35 am
But my all-time favorite is Chocolate Covered Sugar Bombs!
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/2/28/Sweetcfsb2.jpg
Comment by Tim D | 09.14.2007 | 7:38 am
Week days I alwasy have Corn Flakes and All Bran. My wife has dry Weetabix with honey on. Weekends – scrambled eggs, bacon, fried mushrooms, black pudding on toast. Breakfast of Champions!
Comment by Marrock | 09.14.2007 | 7:42 am
Cap’n Crunch’s Peanut Butter Crunch with Hershey’s chocolate milk, or Yoo-Hoo if you want to go skim.
Froot Loops.
Honeycomb, used to eat them by the box without milk, back in the day.
Sugar Pops, before they were Sugar Corn Pops or just Corn Pops.
Cheerios.
And last, but far from least, good old Corn Flakes, great for the midnight munchies.
Comment by Lowrydr | 09.14.2007 | 7:44 am
Anything with Yourgert don’t count even as cereal, it’s like spoiled milk or something isn’t it? Now have to go back to the store and get another bag of Malt-o-Meal version of Honeycombs. OOh, and Cream of Wheat with Brown Sugar and Cinnamon and a dab of milk it the Winter just before a short ride is so good!!!!!! Of course the big bowl after getting back is even better with a dab of butter too.
Comment by Orbea Girl | 09.14.2007 | 7:50 am
Sorry FC but I really don’t like boxed cereal and neither does my husband. The only stuff I’ll eat is porridge made with water and a pinch of salt. However, my husband is partial to my home made granola served with yoghurt. But that’s it.
Comment by Steve Nordstrom | 09.14.2007 | 7:54 am
Fatty, if you like Reese’s Puffs, you might save a few $s by trying the Kroger brand “Peanut Butter Fusion”. Aside from the awesome name, I actually prefer it to the Reese’s Puffs. I had a bowl of the Fusion this morning, and loved it, as usual.
I hear you about the cereal, man. I must have variety, however; I can’t stand to eat the same cereal day in, day out. For some really good eats, I recommend the dirty dozen:
1) Post Selects Maple Pecan Crunch
2) Kellogg’s All-Bran Yogurt Bites
3) Kellogg’s Toasted Honey Crunch
4) Kellogg’s Mini-Wheats Frosted Vanilla Creme Bite Size
5) Multi Grain Cheerios
6) Total Cranberry Crunch
7) Quaker 100% Natural Granola, Oats, Honey & Raisins, mixed with Corn Flakes
8) Count Chocula
9) Malt-o-Meal Blueberry Muffin Tops, also sold as Disney Blueberry Monster Crunch
10) Malt-o-Meal Marshmallow Mateys, also sold as Kroger Marshmallow Treasures (better than Lucky Charms!)
11) Cocoa Pebbles (way better than Cocoa Krispies)
12) Everything else, of course: Golden Grahams, Pops, Honey Smacks, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Trix, etc.
BTW, does anyone remember Peanut Butter Toast Crunch? This has got to be one of the best discontinued cereals ever! Fatty, its like having cereal AND peanut butter sandwiches, all in one!
Comment by KeepYerBag | 09.14.2007 | 8:00 am
Rarely a day goes by when I don’t have a bowl of cereal for breakfast, but whenever I attach myself to a favorite I can be sure that either (1) they’ll start jacking around with its recipe or, (2) I’m the only person on earth that likes it so it gets pulled off the market.
Cracklin’ Oat Bran: When I first saw it I thought it looked like dog food, but one taste and arf! I was hooked. That is until they ruined it for me by making it sweeter, less crunchy and adding cinammon.
Fortunately, Kellogs introduced “Oatbake.” It was the original Cracklin’ Oat Bran recipe, but the ‘kibbles’ were a little smaller. Hurray! I didn’t care what they called it so long as it had that semi-sweet taste of crunchy bran goodness.
They quit selling Oatbake within a year of its introduction.
Comment by mocougfan | 09.14.2007 | 8:09 am
KeepYerBag….stick with Fruit Loops.
Comment by graisseux | 09.14.2007 | 8:10 am
I rarely eat cereal. Not because I don’t like it. I actually quite enjoy just about every cereal that exists. It simply isn’t filling enough. I honestly have never eaten cereal to the point of satiety. I believe this is because it would take at least an entire box–or two–to fill me up. At $3.50, a bajillion calories, and 3 trillion grams of sugar per box for the kind of cereal I really like (Kellog’s Smorz), that’s a pretty expensive, diabetic-coma-inducing kind of habit.
That being said, I make exception for a kind of cereal I have only found in France and Spain. I shamelessly use my mother as a sort of “cereal mule” to smuggle the cereal into the US for me. She makes several trips to France a year and I make sure to have her bring some back for me. It’s a chocolate muesli/granola cereal with bits of chocolate in it–none of the icky dried fruits and nuts found in conventional muesli/granola based cereals. It’s like eating bits of tasty granola bars with milk. So delicious! It’s hard trying to make one box last 2-3 months.
Comment by John Daigle | 09.14.2007 | 8:24 am
two words: cinnamon life.
Comment by KT | 09.14.2007 | 8:28 am
Grape Nuts Trail Mix Crunch. It’s got the little rocks o’ grape nuts (I don’t understand the name either, there’s no grapes in there), cunchy kibbley bits, almond slices, raisins, and a touch of sweet honey for yummy goodness. Pour on the vanilla soy milk or the regular skim milk, and you’ve got a bowl of energy that’ll last at least a couple of hours. ( I’ll still get hungry around 10:30am, it’s just the way I am.)
Plain ol’ grape nuts are good on yogurt. Deeeee-lish!
Oh wait, I think I figured out the grape nuts name. It’s an adult joke! Ha! Ha! I didn’t know grapes came equiped like that!
#2 would be Cinnamon Toast Crunch, I could eat that stuff by the handful. Yummy, splorp!
Cheerios are good for snacking. Yummy yummy yum.
Capn Crunch is only good for shredding your soft bits inside your mouth (like your gums, soft palate, tongue, tuvula,etc), so as a weapon of torture, it’s a winner.
Comment by LeMyke | 09.14.2007 | 8:33 am
I agree with the Honey Bunches of Oats being number 1 on your list but I like the ones with Almonds for a couple of reasons. Number 1 is that the almonds add more protein and isn’t that supposed to help your body absorb or process all the carbs more efficiently? Number 2 is that they have the giant boxes of Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds at Costco so I can eat as much as I want.
Comment by LeMyke | 09.14.2007 | 8:41 am
Do they still sell Sugar Smacks?
Comment by GenghisKhan | 09.14.2007 | 8:41 am
Graisseux — I think I used to eat that in France! Yummy, yummy stuff! GK
Comment by Mrs. Coach | 09.14.2007 | 8:41 am
I love Basic 4, those little yogurt covered nuts are awesome!
And Cinnamon Life, you just have to eat it fast so it doesn’t get soggy.
Lastly, Quaker Oat Squares, I love the crunch inside while the milk has made it a little soft on the outside.
But if I was just going to splurge PB Cap’n Crunch. Though to be fair, I haven’t tried the Reese’s thing, and now I’m starting to wonder why.
Comment by Kris | 09.14.2007 | 8:48 am
I love cereal. Other breakfast foods are probably better for me, but I don’t care – gotta start my day with a bowl of cereal with milk. My favorite used to be Apple Cinnamon Cheerioes, oh they were good, but I can’t find them in stores any more – shame. I could probably eat Rice Chex very day, yum.
For variety I like the usual sugar-bombs: Lucky Charms (they ARE magically delicious!), Frosted Flakes (they’rrrre great!), Cap’n Crunch with Crunch Berries (mmm, sugar and bleeding gums and roof of mouth), Golden Crisp (formerly Sugar Crisp, but you can’t use the S-word anymore). But I can’t do some of the cereals my kids like (sorry Fatty): Reeses Puffs (just too much sweetness) and Cookie Crisp (might as well just pour real cookies in a bowl).
Used to be big on Raisin Bran, and I’d eat Grape Nuts on occasion (they taste good, but I always felt like my mouth was a rock crusher). When I was a kid, the coveted cereal was Fruity Pebbles – oh, the sugar high!
Here’s a big list of cereals – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_breakfast_cereals
My favorite: Bill & Ted’s Excellent Cereal (http://www.wingnuttoons.com/biltedCer.jpg)
Comment by Timb | 09.14.2007 | 8:50 am
You must try this.
http://www.kashi.com/products/golean_crunch_original
Comment by Willie Nelson | 09.14.2007 | 8:55 am
WHEATIES! The Breakfast of Champions!! Hello?! I don’t know why I love them, they are brown, lack the mouth shreading capability of most beloved cereals, have never ever offered a free prize inside, they are just flakes and they haven’t really altered their box in years. BORING. BUT SUPER GOOD. In high school I used to eat a whole box in one sitting. My mom hated it, they were expensive for a family of 5 boys. But man, do I love Wheaties with SKIM MILK and NO SUGAR.
Comment by Blue | 09.14.2007 | 9:02 am
I feel that I must add to the cereal small talk and pay homage to the all that is cereal: ‘a little bit of heaven on earth’
1) Granola!!!! Totally Rocks! anytime, anywhere
2) Special K with Yogurt and Berries
3) Mini Frosted Shredded Wheat (Bite Size)
4) Normal Shredded Wheat with Bran and Brown Sugar :)
5) Zoom or Cracked Wheat (again with Brown Sugar)
6) Instant Oatmeal when you’re out backpacking in the High Country,
7) Wheat Chex
8) Cinnamon Toast Crunch
9) Raisin Bran
KeepYerBag I here you with Cracklin Oat Bran that’s been a favorite since I was 7
When I was dating my wife, she thought it was so funny that I still ate cereal as an adult, apparently that’s something that only kids should enjoy. Thanks for helping me come out of the closet with my cereal dependency.
Comment by chtrich | 09.14.2007 | 9:02 am
I also love the Reese’s Puffs. In fact all during the LONG B7 challenge I would watch my kids eat the Reese’s Puffs and would crave it so. I have eaten several bowls since. So delicious!!
For healthy and filling, Quaker makes a nice granola cereal that fits the bill.
I also enjoy a Museli recipe someone posted in the forums back at the beginning of the B7 challenge. – Thanks whoever that was!
Comment by chtrich | 09.14.2007 | 9:04 am
Mrs. Coach – if you love PB Cap’n Crunch and if you like chocolate at all you must go out and buy yourself a box of the Reese’s Puffs and try them. You’ll thank yourself afterwards.
Comment by PeteDMeat | 09.14.2007 | 9:08 am
Fatty,
Your inclusion of Reese’s Puffs leaves you able to take on the greatest possible breakfast cereal.
1/2 Reese’s Puffs
1/2 Kix
It is GLORIOUS. Add in a banana and possibly strawberries to the mix and you may just have God’s gift to mankind.
Comment by Sean | 09.14.2007 | 9:09 am
I am partial to Kashi Heart to Heart Honey Toasted Oat. They are a lot like Cheerios, but with bigger O’s. Lately I’ve been into mix different cereals together. For instance H2H Oats with Special K Red Berries. The freeze dried strawberries provide a nice flavor contrast and are textually different from the rest of the cereal.
Honestly though, since we are talking breakfast, I’d rather have a waffle. Got one of those waffle makers. The kids love it when I make waffles for dinner.
Comment by Bob | 09.14.2007 | 9:10 am
If I had a Swiss Army Knife, a coconut friend, and an unlimited supply of Quisp cereal, I’d be content.
Comment by Marrock | 09.14.2007 | 9:10 am
Ok, it has absolutely nothing to do with cycling but everything to do with cereal…
How many mascots can you remember?
http://www.webcomicsnation.com/poyorick/
Comment by Clydesteve | 09.14.2007 | 9:59 am
Well, Thom already jumped on my choice for sugar cereals – Chocolate covered Sugar Bombs. Cap’n Crunch Peant Butter? Used to like it. I ate two bowls one morning when I was 16. That night, I was checked into ER with a ruptured appendix. Ever since then, they gag me.
Now-a-days, and you will not believe this, my favorite is shredded mini-wheats, plus fruit, with minimal sugar. 2% milk. Really. (I sneak frosted mini-wheats when I want the diabetes rush.
~~~~~~~
Mike Roadie is going to Ride for the Roses in Austin, and maybe I am. But for sure I am riding against cancer in the Portland LIVESTRONG Challenge. But you knew that. http://portland07.livestrong.org/spete
Steve
Comment by jill | 09.14.2007 | 9:59 am
I think what really makes Reeses puffs so great is that 100% authentic sugar-peanut-butter coating slatered around each and every crunchy little ball. The thought of beind stranded on a tropical island with endless boxes of peanut butter puffs actually brought a tear to my eye.
I would also bring along every shape, size and variety of Cherrios. You may have your honey oats. I will gorge on circular carbo goodness.
Comment by Clydesteve | 09.14.2007 | 10:01 am
Ya know Eldon, on one hand you distainfully tell people who put sugar on their grapefruit: “eat grapefruit plain – Embrace the bitterness!”, but OTOH, you eat Sugar Bombs.
What’s up with that?
Comment by Big Mike In Oz | 09.14.2007 | 10:18 am
Froot Loops and Weet Bix. All the way.
I had something witty and meaningful to say but I surfed your wiki link and right at the bottom of the page was a listing that completely destroyed my train of thought. Yummy Mummys indeed.
Comment by UpNorth | 09.14.2007 | 10:25 am
Seriously, has no one mentioned Shreddies??? Do they not exist in your world?
Comment by BotchedExperiment | 09.14.2007 | 10:48 am
Interestingly, and coincidentally, Honey Bunches of Oats used to be my favorite cereal until the 4th time I found myself chewing on some extraneous matter. Once it was a piece of rubber (not that kind, thankfully). Once it was a piece of plastic. The third time it was a piece of cloth. The fourth time I couldn’t tell what it was I was chewing on.
In retrospect, I now realize I was probably eating Jimmy Hoffa.
Comment by rexinsea | 09.14.2007 | 11:07 am
mmmm… Honey Nut Cheerios! I eat them almost every day.
They have just enough sugar yet you can still pretend their healthy. I wonder if they are still healthy when I eat half a box in a sitting?
Comment by chtrich | 09.14.2007 | 11:13 am
PeteDMeat, I like Kix for what Kix has got and as stated above I love Reese’s Puffs. I am going to have to try your combination. It sounds yummy. Kix are the best fake healthy cereal around.
Comment by hobgoblin | 09.14.2007 | 11:22 am
I always have Weetabix and then a bowl of Kashi Crunch every morning. My dog also loves Kashi Crunch, and as soon as he hears me open the box, he’s there, waiting for a couple of nuggets. Very good stuff!
Comment by Dave | 09.14.2007 | 11:26 am
Post #2:
Willie mentioned Wheaties not ever offering a prize and that’s too bad. Last year kellogs was offering free dvd’s with five movie ticket coupons on the back of the box. The very first movie listed was Breaking Away. I immediately showed my wife the box and the challenge set before me. Her response was less than enthusiastic as mine. But week after week I would buy Corn Flakes with my mission in mind. It was a good thing that, a: I liked them and b: I was buying them anyway. This was just more of a bonus.
So thanks to Kellogs I now have a copy of Breaking Away, a movie that would always inspire me to ride my “10 speed” as a young teenager.
Comment by bikemike | 09.14.2007 | 11:31 am
Do they still make Sugar Smacks? The name says it all doesn’t it!
Lucky Charms are magically delicious so they’ll do in a pinch.
Pretty much anything with sugar is where we’re going with this, i guess.
Comment by Born 4 Lycra | 09.14.2007 | 1:23 pm
It’s 6.45am on Saturday Morning – HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSAN!!! – Have a great day and many more birthdays to come. Team FC spoil Mum rotten and enjoy the cake …………mmmmm cake. Time for breakfast.
Have a good weekend everybody.
Comment by yancy | 09.14.2007 | 1:38 pm
Quaker Old-Fashioned Oats – So, simple. . . yet delicious!
Comment by Mrs. Coach | 09.14.2007 | 1:38 pm
PeteD, i’d vote u 4 pres. on that alone. How could the world go wrong with a breakfast that right?
Comment by Travel Girl | 09.14.2007 | 2:30 pm
Crazy for Coco Puffs!
Comment by anne | 09.14.2007 | 2:50 pm
life cereal (in all incarnations EXCEPT cinnamon) is the standard by which all cereals should be judged. even the dust at the bottom of the box is sublime. mikey knew a good thing when he tasted one. yeay for life!!
Comment by Suzanne@Team Optimistic | 09.14.2007 | 3:27 pm
OK, I can’t resist weighing in on this one.
1) Raisin Bran CRUNCH – They took a good thing and made it better with little granola crunchies…YUM! They also added a ton of calories and fat…YUMYUM!
2) Cookie Crisp – better with milk
3) Coco Puffs
4) Lucky Charms…especially now that they’ve flipped around the marshmallow to grain ratio to be in marshmallow’s favor.
Comment by cyclingphun.blogspot.com | 09.14.2007 | 3:33 pm
QUISP!! Quisp is the best stuff on Earth!.. When you can find it (sadly)
Comment by andrew | 09.14.2007 | 4:04 pm
Fatty invited someone to play the two headed calf, or at least someone willing to forgo hedonistic pleasure…
so I will reluctantly step into the shoes of the “double-barreled-moo”
although I have had my love affairs with those muses known as Honeycomb, Golden Grahams, and Tony the Tiger, I hate to say it, but whenever I eat them reguarly, I slowly & surely gain weight.. same thing with drinking normal soda (as opposed to diet soda)
I must admit its one of my failings to be an extremely competitive person, so I place being a lean, mean, cycling & speedskating machine over daily hosannas to a hundred grams of sugar & simple carbs..
so for me, nothing can replace a protein centric breakfast… no matter how many boxes of lucky charms, boo-berry, and count chocula I need to cast aside..
eggs & coffee and I seem to stay lean…
juice & cereal, however tasty, and my body slowly and surely aquires a rounder, slower shape…..
Comment by Karst | 09.14.2007 | 5:53 pm
Fatty,
You should tell us your current weight, so that we can compare it to your winter high, and your next summer low.
Comment by Dan | 09.14.2007 | 5:57 pm
Cinnamon Life is the thing! Special K and Crispix are also high on my list.
Comment by RoadRash | 09.14.2007 | 6:23 pm
Cocoa Krispies… You pour on the skim milk with that pasty blue tint and voila! rick, tasty chocolate milk!
Comment by Debamundo | 09.14.2007 | 6:27 pm
Quaker Oatmeal Squares, delicious straight from the box. I just had several handfuls as a snack before heading upstairs to check email and read blogs. Ok, and sometimes a get a big glob of peanut butter on a spoon, and dip each Oatmeal Square in it before popping it in my mouth. Yum!
Comment by northstar | 09.14.2007 | 7:13 pm
Never commented before..
When in Canada you must indeed try Shreddies. I smuggle them back whenever I visit North of the border..
Comment by gmgs31 | 09.14.2007 | 7:44 pm
I don’t really like cereal, and we are actually headed to the fair in the morning!
Comment by Kathy | 09.14.2007 | 7:48 pm
Sugar Smacks fans should try the Kashi Crunch. It has the same flavor, but in a healthier version (I’m hoping). Look at the picture on the box. You can SEE the Sugar Smacks in there!
Comment by Bones | 09.14.2007 | 9:32 pm
SANS AUTO and others cooking whole unprocessed grains, here’s how to wake up to Already Cooked Cereal! Get a timer that can handle 15 amps and a crock pot, load in the cereal and liquid the night before, plug crock pot into timer, set timer to start an hour before breakfast, and enjoy your already done cereal!
I prefer Bircher Muesli, usually with rolled spelt and or rye and or other grains, and make it myself. Also love Kashi Crunch!
Comment by Chris | 09.14.2007 | 10:12 pm
South Africa has crappy cereal, I have a major jones for some Golden Grahams.
Comment by Eric | 09.15.2007 | 1:46 am
As I read this, it is 5:45 and I’m eating Total dry out of the bowl. I love wheaty grainy cereals, the crunchier and the grainier the better. In fact, if someone makes a cereal out of dry crunchy wheat stalks and corn husks, I would probably love it!
Comment by flossy | 09.15.2007 | 3:28 am
I have to go on the record as destesting all cereals. This then leads to the search for a breakfast alternative. Sadly, I am still searching and continue to experiment on a daily basis although peanut paste or vegemite on toast aren’t bad.
My husband votes for weetbix and soakes them in water first (urgh!) before adding hot milk (double urgh!) and has recently re-discovered oats. I’m still not convinced.
Comment by Yukirin Boy | 09.15.2007 | 3:51 am
When I was a kid it was Golden nuggets – that turned the milk green! and Ready Brek too – though I am sure that was dangerous to your lungs like asbestos. Now I have to say nothing beats a good bowl of porridge. Weetabix with hot milk comes a close second.
Comment by The Cosh | 09.15.2007 | 3:54 am
I can’t claim not to like breakfast cereal (Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes are my weapon of choice, although one box lasts me about six months) but I absolutely detest peanut butter.
Comment by Rachel | 09.15.2007 | 5:52 am
Kashi Go Lean (with chocolate milk but it still rocks even with skim)
Comment by Col | 09.15.2007 | 7:03 am
I’m showing my age, but does anyone remember a cereal called Jets? I remember them as being round and the coating was irregular and shredded the mouth a bit–a verry crunchy cereal.
Comment by conejita | 09.15.2007 | 12:30 pm
First of all, any one out there who chokes down 1/4 cup of tasteless bran flakes with fat free milk should be shot. Breakfast is not only the most important meal of the day it is the best meal of the day because no matter how much sugary goodness you consume, you can think of it as “jump starting” your metabolismfor the day, at least thats what I tell myself. Anyways, here goes:
1. Kix- they’re kid tested mother approved
2. Pops- these are delicious with their sweet coating
3. Smacks- come on, frogs like them
4. strawberries in the middle- apparently these are only available in canada but oh how i miss them
5.
Comment by lmouse | 09.15.2007 | 1:15 pm
Of course I remember Jets. And all the others, too. And I remember the first energy bars. They were called Space Food Sticks. Pure plastic, of course, but the concept was brilliant. But I digress.
Let’s face it. Most American cereal is nothing more than little cookies dumped into a bowl and covered with milk. It has all the nutrition of … well, milk. But who cares? It’s yummy, goes down quick and easy, requires no cooking and very little clean up. Smash cereal into a rectangular blob, and you’ve got a Cliff bar–cereal you can eat on the go! Cereal, the perfect food.
These days my fave is Kashi Go Lean Hi Pro. Pretty dull by itself, but throw in a few extras, and you’ve got a taste treat to rival Froot Loops!
Comment by KatieA | 09.15.2007 | 3:30 pm
I will spread vegemite on a weetbix and eat it as a snack.
Is that weird? :)
Comment by Boz | 09.15.2007 | 3:40 pm
Not that this really has anything to do w/ cereal, but Jess Lalonde won the Cheq 40 today on a single speed 29er. Must have ate his Wheaties.
Greg LeMonde and Gary Fisher also ran the 40. Cool event, as usual.
Comment by Kathy | 09.15.2007 | 7:31 pm
I remember Space Food Stix. A little like a tootsie roll only longer and softer. My Mom got them once for us, then wised up. What the heck is a weetbix?
Comment by Henry | 09.15.2007 | 9:33 pm
I have been eating rolled oats in some form (thick rolled, rolled, quick, extra-quick-sugar-infused, but primarily the former) since I was 5; for more than twenty years, oatmeal is my favorite food. Raw fish comes in a close second, but I think I could eat oatmeal more frequently and would choose it as my desert-island food. Note I haven’t said “breakfast” yet; oatmeal is anytime food.
By “oatmeal” I don’t mean boiled-to-gray gruel with some crisco thrown in for good measure. My ideal bowl of oatmeal consists of a thick blanket of oats filling a large bowl halfway, soaked in boiling water (but not boiled; I like to chew, see); raisins (or other dried fruit in small bits); walnuts (or other nutmeat or seeds); some yogurt on top, along with soy milk or whole milk; and a glop of peanut butter on the side.
Recently I’ve been putting ground-up flax seeds and coconut flakes in with the oats prior to the hot-water phase, and I add cooked grains now and then, like brown rice or millet. The possibilities are many, I experiment and enjoy most of them, but the heart of it all is rolled oats. Oatmeal is a big reason I get up in the morning. That, and taking the liberty to bike to work.
Comment by Fan of Susan | 09.16.2007 | 6:38 am
Kashi fans – have you tried their cookies yet? The oatmeal dark chocolate is quite yummy (cereal in a cookie form?).
Comment by Brewinman | 09.16.2007 | 7:11 am
I love to top my Kashi GoLEan Crunch! with Cinnamon Toast Crunch. It’s splorptastic! I eat it plentysix times a day, which explains why it is so difficult for me to get anywhere close to a decent weight…
Comment by aussie kev | 09.16.2007 | 2:17 pm
diet coke and a snickers bar – breakfast of champions ( and me !!!)
Comment by Nancy | 09.16.2007 | 6:00 pm
Chocolate Malt O Meal, only problem is you have to cook it.
Comment by Ian Hopper | 09.16.2007 | 9:21 pm
Thom on Sept 14th at 7:35am got it wrong: it’s CHOCOLATE FROSTED SUGAR BOMBS! Hey, see that that “nollij” in my blog title? I’ve been a C&H (Calvin & Hobbs, not California & Hawaii) fan for a LOOOOONG time and you can’t sneak one past me!
My favorite (and I’m no longer allowed to eat it) is Cocoa Pebbles… like someone else said, when you’re done, you get to drink the chocolate milk! YEAH!
I do really like the bircher mueslix, though for the next 2 weeks, it’s off my diet as well. DOH!
Comment by turnonthejets | 09.17.2007 | 5:13 am
Homemade granola mixed with bran, diced apples or grapes, and unsweetened soy milk….drool drool. We eat it every day and still look forward to it every morning!
Comment by TimK | 09.17.2007 | 5:27 am
Kashi Organic Promise Autumn Wheat or granola with yogurt and jam.
All these kid cereals on here tear up the inside of my mouth and leave a nasty after taste.
Comment by Kerri | 09.17.2007 | 12:53 pm
All this talk of breakfast cereal makes me think about a place I read about soon after it opened in Chicago called Cereality. It’s a cereal-themed “cafe” where pajama-clad “Cereologists” mix up a bowl for you ice-cream-shop style with toppings and such. Checking their website, I see they are a chain, available to be franchised.
I’m surprised no one’s mentioned Kellogg’s Smart Start. Kind of like Honey Bunches of Oats, but a little crunchier.
Comment by WMdeR | 09.17.2007 | 3:28 pm
Breakfast Cereals?
1. Grits with Butter and Salt (and Bacon if not vegetarian).
2. Steel Cut oats with salt, maple syrup and seasonal dried fruit (no, no citrus).
3. Shredded wheat with enough milk to make it the consistency of a soft mattress and blueberries.
4. Granola with fresh fruit.
5. Muesli.
6. bran flakes and raisins (not commercial raisin brans, which all seem to coat the raisins with corn syrup, ewww).
7. Grits with sharp cheddar cheese.
But I’m a salt-and-fat kinda guy, not a sugar fiend….
Comment by Adam | 09.17.2007 | 7:52 pm
I think kashi golean crunch is what you want. But it’s seriously addictive.
As for me I’m a yogurt on grapenuts sorta guy when I eat breakfast cereal — which is seldom at breakfast. Normally I make a 6 egg-white omelet. I do the grapenuts and blueberry yogurt in the evening as a snack. YUM
Comment by Mike | 09.18.2007 | 2:33 pm
Oatmeal…throw in a chocolate chip cookie and a lot of raisins…lot of raisins and a shot of half and half.
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[...] Ode to Breakfast Cereal [...]
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