Breakfast Blogging- literally

[mizarchivist]

If you eat cold cereal as part of your regular routine, this one is for you. My entire youth was cereal-centric. Then I lost interest, then lost the option when I was lactose intolerant.* Now, though, I'm drifting around trying to find something that suits me.
What's your favorite- what are your critera?
Mine-
1. Stays relatively crunchy for the duration of the meal
2. NO raisins. Bleh.
3. Less sugar is better- The current one I didn't check, and it has 14g/serving. I thought I would go into sugar shock.
4. Cheerios smell weird.
5. I wouldn't mind something that has a bit protein

No current favorites- there was one a few weeks ago via the health food aisle that had something like "slim" or "fit" in it and was a combo of all sorts of shapes and flavors. That's been the closest. I thought I'd do something prosaic like Special K next.

The chai (brewed by me, not from a box) instead of coffee continues. I still haven't made it strong enough, I think. I did discover adding chai + peach lemonade is awesome, though.

ETA: I have acquired 2 boxes of Puffins. A bit of a gamble? (But not a gambol) Perhaps. But I know I have liked them a lot in the past. Let's see how that works out.

*This happened early on in college, probably from some anti-biotics. I also acquired allergies while I was there. Thanks, OU. I went through the Lactagen program (twice) and now I consider myself tolerant again. Ping me if you want further information.

Comments

[milknut.livejournal.com]

Have you tried Kashi Go Lean? I like the Crunch version... definitely stays crunchy, packed with fiber and protein. The first few days I eat it though, it makes my belly noisy, but then I get used to it. It is sweet, which I like, but it may be too sweet for you. I did not like the Kashi Heart to Heart and when I tried to feed it to the birds by sprinkling it on my deck, not only did the birds not go for it, it stayed out there, through snow storms, without degrading at all. SCARY. I had to sweep it up after the snow melted. :P

[tamidon.livejournal.com]

I love the crunch too, just got a bunch for a good deal on amazon oddly enough

[beah.livejournal.com]

I am obsessed with Quaker Oat Squares. Their only flaw is that they're only sold in one box-size, and I go through it *way* too quickly. They're not too sweet, stay moderately crunchy, and are awesome as a dry snack too.

[cintyber.livejournal.com]

The other thing to watch for is high fructose corn syrup, which special K has.

I like Kashi Go lean honey
The organic version of quaker oat squares ( I will find the name for you)
I tend to stay with the organics to avoid the corn syrup.

I usually make a big batch of oatmeal at the start of the week and reheat it at work. I toss in some toasted wheat germ, some berries and a small amount of honey after I heat it.

[mizarchivist]

I do oatmeal in the winter- summer seems less great. I'm definitely very conscious of corn syrups in general, so thanks for that reminder.

[drwex]

Yes on crunchy, but I don't like the tree-bark texture of most shredded-wheat cereals.

My current favorites are the variants on the corn puff cereals from Trader Joe's (sold under the "Puffins" name, with cute animals on the boxes).

I'd be interested in trying your chai+lemonade mix. Would you make me some?

[tisana.livejournal.com]

I seem to recall Puffins was pretty good--crunchy enough, tasty, and decent amount of fiber. I can't recall any of the other cereals I used to eat, though.

[mizarchivist]

Ah yes, Puffins. I've liked them in the past. I'll think about that one, too.
Sure, I'll make you some tea.

[dreda.livejournal.com]

I find all the Kashi stuff to be weirdly sweet. I do quite like Trader Joe's high-fiber with almonds and cranberries (the one that looks like twigs) - it's cheaper than Kashi, has more fiber, and doesn't taste glue-y sweet. I eat it with plain yogurt, too, which I like a lot.

Alternatively, I make my own granola. The Harvard nutritionist didn't like it as an everyday food (too high fat), but YMMV and I am happy to share the really easy recipe.

[mizarchivist]

Sure- send me the recipe. I'm lazy about making granola most times- I've thought about it on several occasions but never actually *do*.

TJ's is awesome for cereal options, but it's not part of my regular shopping routine. Perhaps I could stock up if I found a worthy candidate.
Thanks

[dreda.livejournal.com]

Dead easy, and not particularly precise. ;)

Take one of the big canisters of Quaker old-fashioned oats (I think they're 48oz), or some other brand you like. (Not the quick-cook kind, because it goes all weird.) Dump in the biggest bowl you have. Add nuts and dried fruit that you like (most often I use walnuts, almonds, cashews, cherries, raisins, cranberries, currants, unsweetened coconut, and sunflower seeds, but whatever you like - the strawberries and apple slices weren't so great, though). Use lots! I usually wind up at least half oats / half other stuff, or even 1/3 oats, 2/3 other stuff, but do what you like. I also dump in wheat germ, and sometimes soy powder or soy granules if I want them/can find them.

Add 1 1/2 cup veg oil, 1 1/2 cup honey, and 1 cup boiling water. (Again, precision is not key here, but going in that order helps distribution.) There should be enough that it looks well-distributed, but not particularly wet.

Spread out on jelly-roll pans or large roasting pan or whatever wide thing you've got, and put in a 275-degree oven. Cook for about 50 minutes, stirring halfway through. The shallower the pan, the faster it will cook; deeper pans will get you steaming granola. ;) I tend to like mine rather crunchy, so I bake longer, but squishy is fine, too - it'll just be a bit sticky.

One more thing - get it off the pans pretty quickly. The cooked honey residue will start to seriously stick as it cools and you may wind up swearing and scattering oats all over the kitchen while you scrape it off. I usually dump it back into the mixing bowl to cool for a while, and then store it in big glass jars. Freezes like a dream, too - make lots!

[mizarchivist]

Thanks- that sounds reasonably do-able.

[supercheesegirl.livejournal.com]

I love Post's line of healthy cereals. Banana Nut Crunch, Cranberry Walnut Crunch, Maple Walnut Crunch, and Blueberry Morning are all great. (The other one in that series is Great Grains, which may have raisins--or they could be dates. Great Grains is my current favorite, but you don't like raisins. If they're actually dates, though, go for it.)

Post also has a new series of Trail Mix Crunch cereals that I'm liking a lot. There's a raisin one, of course, but there's also a cranberry vanilla and another one. I finished the box of the cran vanilla this morning. Yum.

[supercheesegirl.livejournal.com]

I like the Special K vanilla almond particularly. The Special K with red berries is also good. Avoid the Special K with chocolate chunks, because it is spectacularly unsuccessful: the chocolate chunks are heavy and they all fall to the bottom.

[mizarchivist]

Chocolate for breakfast? It wouldn't even enter into my mind as an option.
Thanks for your contribution

[keyne.livejournal.com]

We tend to go with the basics: shredded wheat (frosted), raisin bran. I've had some marvelous gourmet granola with cranberries or dried strawberries or the like, but it tends to be too expensive to buy often -- maybe I'll try dreda's recipe. We also like some of the TJ's options.