It’s no secret that I love my oatmeal…
Eggy bananafied steel cut oats with cottage cheese…
… and a dollop of almond butter…
Mmm mmm good.
And while we’ve been going steady for several years now, and I can’t see our love affair ending anytime soon, I also can’t deny that I have a huge soft spot in my heart for cereal…
Plain Greek yogurt mixed with coconut milk, banana, Kashi Honey Sunshine.
Me and cereal go way back – childhood sweethearts, if you will. I remember spending countless Saturday mornings watching cartoons with a big bowl of cereal in front of me, looking forward to slurping up that last bit of sugary, and sometimes colorful, milk at the bottom of the bowl.
Back then, our relationship was rather playful. Lucky Charms. Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Fruit Loops. Cap’n Crunch. Sweet and fun was the name of the game.
Then things started to get more serious. Raisin Bran. Mini Wheats. Cheerios. Fiber One. We were taking our relationship to a whole new level.
And then we broke up.
Just like that, our romance was over. One day I just up and decided that cereal wasn’t worth my time anymore, and it was at that point that I started cozying up to other things… bigger and better things…
This separation lasted for several years, and while I initially thought I was happy, and tried to convince myself that I didn’t miss my beloved beau, the truth was that my heart ached for him.
His sweet crunch. The way he’d get perfectly soggy in milk. The comfort he would provide me with. I began to realize that he was irreplaceable.
So I went back to him, and slowly our relationship began to mend. But it could never be the same as it was. No. Those days were over. We needed to start out fresh, take a different approach.
So we tried new things…
… got a little more comfortable and adventurous…
… and I’d like to think that we’re currently in a pretty good [read: tasty] place…
I may never go back to being a cereal-for-breakfast kind of girl, but I’m definitely a must-have-cereal-everyday kind of girl. It’s become my snack of choice as of late, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Weetabix soaked in almond milk, with almond butter and wild blueberries.
. – . – . – .
Breakfast: cereal or oatmeal?… or… neither? 😯
What’s your current favorite cereal? What about when you were a kid?
Oatmeal for breakfast and cereal for snack – unless I’m REALLY rushed of course, then sometimes cereal makes a breakfast appearance. But those exceptions are pretty few and far between.
This post is amazing. Favorite breakfast cereal is definitely cheerios, though I do love me some oatmeal!
I love cereal. The only problem I have with it is once i start i cannot stop. I am not allowed to keep a box in my desk @ work just for this reason!
This is the first time i’ve been to your blog. Question, you mentioned you had ‘eggy’ oats at the beginning of this post. How do you do that?
I add egg whites to my oats while I cook them. I have a tutorial for how to do it if you’re interested http://runwithspoons.wordpress.com/for-spoons/steel-cut-oats-base-tutorial/ 😀 They’re life changing.
It’s impossible to choose….I love both. I went through a “cereal is bad” phase and never felt like I had any control over cereal if I started on it. I’m in a much better place now and love it all over again, thankfully!
I like anything tbh! I love Weetabix so much I think it’s becoming an obsession!
I love all those granola-type things you tried…they look like perfect oatmeal toppings which, let’s face it, is the best of both worlds!
Hi Amanda! I love cereal and have it every single morning. I wake up so excited to have my bowl. I realized recently that I hadn’t been eating the healthiest cereals and started an ‘experiment’ to test cereals for taste and nutrition. I am not just trying to blog promote (promise!), but thought you really may enjoy my cereal experiment (http://mylessseriouslife.blogspot.com/2011/07/cereal-experiment.html), which is still in progress. I notice a couple of your Kashi choices are top in my ratings so far! For the most recent results check out the latest post (http://mylessseriouslife.blogspot.com/2011/08/cereal-experiement-fiber-one-frosted.html).
Anyways, I hope you enjoy and I’m am certainly glad that you and cereal are back to being friends. 🙂
-Sara-
LOVEDDD everything about this post! I am still on my cereal kick with pretty much the same combination I have all of the time- Kashi Go Lean and Go Lean Crunch, blueberries, milk, greek yogurt, flax, all mixed together into one rather delishhh combination
As a kid, I literally enjoyed every single sugary cereal that was out! There were no kinds I didn’t like- Cocoa Krispies, Frosted Flakes, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cinnamon Life, Honey Bunches of Oats, all had special places in my heart 🙂
Cereal AND oatmeal!! But more often cereal… because it’s faster and easier. And I am going to skip answering the last question, since I once did an entire post dedicated to answering it. 😉
(Side note: I think it’s really funny that you posted this just now.)
<3 <3
😆 Agreed. This post was long overdue.
Oatmeal in the mornig, cereal as evening snacklet! Sorry to hear you and cereal went through a rocky patch, glad things are back on track! When I was little I loved crunchy nut but now I’m a branflake girl. Only you can make soggy weetabix look amazing – that’s talent!
Oatmeal in the mornig, cereal as evening snacklet! Sorry to hear you and cereal went through a rocky patch, glad things are back on track! When I was little I loved crunchy nut but now I’m a branflake girl. Oly you can make soggy weetabix look amazing – that’s talent!
Ahh I’m drooling over those drizzling almond butter pics 😉
I loveddd Cinnamon Toast Crunch as a kid and secretly still do! Every once in a while I’ll buy it and indulge- and usually finish the box in three sittings- yikes!
I’ve been wanting to try Kashi cereal, but there’s so many options I don’t know where to start. What is your favorite?
Honestly, you can’t really go wrong with Kashi, but I LOVE the Honey Sunshine right now… and I’ve always had a soft spot for Cinnamon Harvest as well, just because it reminds me of Mini Wheats 😀
I’m not a big cereal fan.. so I would prefer oatmeal.
If I had to pick a fave cereal? I’m going with Cinnamon Toast Crunch! 🙂
I love good, hearty cereal. And I could eat it all day. SOmetimes I do have cravings for the sugary stuff (like captn crunch or cinnamon toast crunch) but usually I crave good kashi cereals or bran cereal. I think it may be the crunch that I want the most!
I always have eggs and pita bread for breakfast, but I used to love oats in the mornings. I’m not much of a cereal person now but oh man.. I could tear of some Fruity Pebbles when I was a kid! haha :]
I can relate! I love cereal–went from Cinnamon toast crunch to Kashi Honey Sunshine and puffins 🙂 I still need my morning oats though!
For stuff like that for breakfast I usually prefer muesli over cereal, but then sometimes nothing beats a huge bowl of crunchy cereal with fruit and milk, so yummy! I’ve even started putting it on my green smoothies!
I’m actually eating a bowl of cereal for breakfast right now! I love cereal + milk every so often, but my favourite breakfasts are definitely oatmeal or cereal + Greek yogurt. I like that I can take longer to enjoy them since if I eat cereal with milk, it gets soggy so quickly so I have to wolf it down!
My favourite cereal is Kashi Honey Almond Flax. I discovered it about 2 years ago and I’ve been obsessed with it ever since. 😀 As a kid I actually really liked fairly healthy cereals like Cheerios and Mini Wheats. Or maybe my parents just brainwashed me into thinking I liked them because they never bought me sugary cereals. 😛
Wow, you and cereal have a very similar relationship to me and cereal….I didn’t know I was being cheated on!!!!! lol 😛
I prefer cold cereal – I somehow can’t get myself to like the texture of oatmeal 🙁 but as you are an oatmeal lover, do you have any preparation or add-in tips for me?
My favorites now are Nature’s Path Organic Optimum Slim, Kashi GoLean Honey Almond Crunch, Kashi GoLean, Kashi Cinnamon Harvest, and Total (taste isn’t fantastic, but the iron content is great b/c I hate taking pills). When I was a kid? My parents didn’t ever let me have the really sugary stuff like Lucky Charms or Count Chocula, but I was allllll about the Fruit Loops (Froot Loops?)!
Oatmeal can definitely be kind of nasty if not prepped properly – I can’t stand having it runny. Eugh. My favorite kind of oatmeal is steel-cut, so I cook a serving of that in 1 cup of water/milk and when most of the liquid has been absorbed, I whip in an egg white, let it cook for a while, and then add in some sliced banana. The egg white makes the oats soooo fluffy and cake like. And my favorite toppings are almond butter and pudding 😉 But you could always toss some cereal/granola on there for extra crunch.
Hahaha, I love how you write your posts Amanda! Always makes me smile, nomatter what the topic are 🙂
I have actually never been to big on cereal!But I do remember I used to love Weetabix, so that photo actually reminded me that I might have to try them again 🙂 But I would not eat it for breakfast! I find oatmal so much more filling!
I’M THE SAME!! Oatmeal for breakfast, and cereal for snacks! Face cereal=PB Puffins!! They are addictive!! When I was a kid, I used to LOVE Cinnamon Toast Crunch! I went through a stage of having it for every meal! 😛
OMG is it possible to not like either cereal or oatmeal?! The thought upsets me.
My favourite cereal at the moment would have to be…hmmm…wow I don’t know! I know for sure that as a kid my fav was cocoa chex. Cocoa anything really. I rarely ever was allowed to have it because of its sugar content but when I could, the box was gone within a day!
xxx
I had an abrupt breakup with cereal as well. Several years passed and I didn’t go anywhere near those cardboard boxes.Then I discovered Fiber One, which seemed like a miracle food to me. Just a half cup left me full for HOURS, and thanks to the Hungry Girl website, I discovered new ways to incorporate it into practically every meal (“breading” for chicken, “croutons” on salad, “flour” in baked goods etc). Talk about fiber overload! In fact, I think my overconsumption of Fiber One played a major role in my GI issues, which were alleviated once I gave up wheat products.
Like you, I rarely eat cereal for breakfast (it doesn’t have the staying power that my typical egg or pancake breakfasts provide!), but find it to be a satisfying midday snack. I enjoy munching on Puffins, Udi’s granola, Kay’s Naturals protein cereal (vanilla almond), and puffed rice/millet.
Favorite cereal when I was young: Anything with lots of sugar! Cinnamon Toast Crunch was a highly anticipated treat, only allowed on annual camping trips. Otherwise the sweetest they came in my house was Life (love!) and Kix. 🙂
oatmeal!! i honestly am NOt a fan of cereal! it never sits well in my stomach!!
I absolutely LOVE cereal and have ever since I was a kid. I did like you and tried to convince myself I didnt like it anymore. For a while all I ate was puffed wheat unsweetened cereal (cardboard) Now I love honeycomb and the new fiber one honey squares. As a kid I loved Golden Grahams and Coco Puffs!!!
Don’t hate on me… but not fussed on cereal at all. Give me oats, all day, every day, any time.
I used to love the sugary ones as a kid too and snacked on them all the time, straight from the box. Frosties (I can’t believe now I was allowed to eat those for breakfast!) and Nutri-grain (do you guys have this one?) were childhood staples. And I remember when on holidays in the US as a child, my parents bought my sister and I Lucky Charms and we just thought they were the best thing! Remembering that marshmellow taste brings back such sweet memories 🙂
Woah, that´s a pretty cool cereal collection 🙂 I used to eat them when I was little, but I haven´t had a bowl of cereal in ages. Probably because there is no variety in cereals here. Just the “kids” cereals – i.e. extra sugary, extra sweet, with a lot of artificial stuff stuffed in them… Nothing for me 🙁 So I am all for oatmeal 🙂
Oats for breaky & cereal for snacks/lunch/dinnner.
At one point in my ed cereal became one of my safest food, but of course the lowest calorie/healthy kind, and a small portion. Not Good.
Current fav = good ol’ cheerios topped with blueberrries and soy.
As a yongin i patricularly enjoyed corn pops, french toast crunch, and honeynut. My parents aloud/bought the sugary stuff 🙂
You kinda just took the words outta my mouth! LOVE cereal…oatmeal will always have my heart where breakfast is concerned but nothing beats a big bowl of cereal and yogurt/milk (or both) as a snack!! Even topping-less, it always hits the spot!
Cereal all the wayyyyy! As a kid my favourite was grape nuts…had mountains of that stuff every day; now however I’m all about the puffins and the kashi honey sunshine and instead of milk i do kefir, yoghurt, and cinnamon! Mmmmm 🙂
love! I’ve never really been a cereal-for-breakfast person, but snacks? bring it on! Lately I’ve discovered chocolate PB puffins… but I used to be a huge sucker for grape nuts. Don’t think I’d ever go back to those, though – not sure how much processed / artificial stuff is in there, and i’m not so sure I want to find out.
wooaaah does the ice cream know about this???
i’m an oatmeal girl all the way… its what i ate as a kid and kinda stuck. In fact I’m eating some right now… mmm yum yum.
😆 Ice cream, unfortunately, is all gone 🙁 Maybe I’m trying to replace the void in my heart with copious amounts of cereal 😉
Lately I’ve been going nuts for cereal! Having bowls of it every morning with a mixture of three different kinds. I actually bought a new combination for this week. 🙂 I love the honey sunshine, Kashi puffs and cinnamon puffins…mmmm. 🙂 I need to start loving oats more though!
BOTH 🙂 i eat them both religiously for breakfast. i should really start making pancakes more tho, just to spice it up a bit 🙂
I usually never eat one kind of cereal tho..i always have to mix them–if i just eat one kind alone that means im super hooked on it. and pretty much married to it too… 🙂
even though most days I eat oatmeal for breakfast now, I must admit that I’ll always be a cereal girl at heart<3
Cereal! but not for breakfast, only a snack. I have at least two bowls of cereal after dinner without fail 🙂 But oatmeal is a fabulous breakfast! I don’t really remember eating cereal as a kid, I think our relationship started when I started going away to camp, I could seriously down like 6 bowls and not even bat an eye. Anything crunchy and light is my kinda thing, and some times I’ll throw some granola in there for more staying power. Question: do you use coconut milk from a carton or the can type? Oh jeez, the can type mixed with yogurt and cereal sounds lush, thanks for the idea now!
I use the kind from a can. It makes it sooooo creamy and delicious. The stuff from a carton feels like funny tasting water to me.
I used to always have cereal for breakfast, but now I’m more of an oats-for-breakfast kind of girl. But hardly a day goes by without some cereal.
When I was little, I used to love Honey Bunches of Oats, because I wasn’t ever allowed to have those fun cereals like Lucky Charms. Now I love Kashi Strawberry Fields and Honey Sunshine, Cascadian Farms Fruitful O’s, all kinds of Puffins and Bear Naked Fit granola. Oh, and I’m a total cereal mixer–I rarely eat a bowl that has just one type of cereal in it!
I’m a mixer too, for the most part. My favorite combo as of late has been Kashi Honey Sunshine, puffed wheat, and Cinnamon Puffins; but I think it’s time to do some more experimenting.
I’ve always loved cereal. I just don’t find it to be the most filling thing ever so I usually leave it for snack time. When I was younger, my mom wouldn’t let us buy cereal that had sugar as the first or second ingredient so that pretty much left Cheerios and Kix. Now I’m a Crunchy Vanilla Sunrise girl. If I could afford Puffins I’d probably go that route instead 🙂
I love cereal AND oatmeal. I probably don’t love oatmeal as much as you :), but I love cereal. Right now I got back into shredded wheat, and I still love Quaker Oatmeal Squares and Honey Bunches of Oats.
I love me some oatmeal for breakfast, and cereal for a night time snack 🙂 My childhood fave was prolly Raisin Bran or Frosted Shredded Mini Wheats!
Oh cereal. The things we have been through together. There was a time when we had a normal relationship. Then ED came along and made me break up with him for many years. In the hospital, we were forced back together and when I got home, I used to lovingly choose from a multitude I could now eat again in my cupboards. That sly ED snuck back in though, and convinced me that carbs were awful, even telling me that veggies belonged at breakfast (sweet potatoes, yes, broccoli? no). I’m only working my way back to mr. cereal again. More in the form of oatmeal, but occasionally in the form of cereal himself. Mr. Granola is next to be conquered. This post reminds me about the goodness of just eating what I want and feeling satisfied. Love it all
Current favourite? I’m loving on oat bran and kashi golean.
when I was a child, I loved millet rice flakes. We never bought the sugary cereals so I’ve never liked them much. (except perhaps reeces puffs which my mom bought the sibs for junk food day? )
i also looooveee cereal. i am alllabout puffins, kashi cinnamon harvest, and nature’s path mesa sunrise (to name just the ones currently residing in my dorm room) but ocassionally i will have lucky charms, or cinnamon toast crunch….amanda, you should try it sometime 🙂 you might be surprised at just how good they STILL tast
Hehe you’re probably right. Although I hope I wouldn’t just pick out the marshmallows and try to toss the cereal like I did when I was little 😉