When my sister and I were kids, Thursday was the designated grocery shopping day by my Mom. It was also the day we got to pick the breakfast cereal, alternating Thursdays--one week it was my turn to choose the next my sisters. Fights could generally ensue on the days my sister and I were off school and had to go along--I would ususally try to coerce her to my cereal "way of thinking" by telling her I'd let her take my pick next week...which I never did.
Of course we would always beg for all the sugariest cereals, usually to no avail; Froot Loops, Captain Crunch, Frosted Flakes, Cocoa Crispies and Count Chocula (those were both great because they left you with chocolate milk in your bowl), Sugar Pops, Alpha Bits were all off limits. Mom would cave once in a while and let us get Cap'n Crunch (who hasn't eaten Cap'n Crunch or Froot Loops until the roof of your mouth is hamburger?) or Frosted Flakes and occasionally Sugar Pops and Apple Jacks but never Fruit Loops, Alpha Bits or Count Chocula. I wasn't allowed to have Coke or Pepsi either and my teeth are in pretty good shape today.
The cereals we were allowed to have were the brands lower in sugar; Cheerios, Rice Krispies, Shreddies, Puffed Wheat (gross), Corn Flakes and Raisin Bran (which reminds me, Mom would let me have Glossette Raisins but never Glossette Peanuts--she said I'd choke on them). The stupidest thing about all of this was on weekend mornings. Sis and I would be up early tormenting my parents probable hangovers with the cartoons cranked and clattering in the kitchen getting our bowls of cereal.
Even though it may have only been Cheerios or Rice Krispies, I would pour about three tablespoons of white sugar on each bowl and scoop up the syrupy sweetness at the bottom, crunching it between my teeth--a full half inch of milk and sugar. There was probably more sugar in that one bowl of that cereal than a whole box of Froot Loops--and then when Mom finally got up she would be totally pissed at us because we had gotten sugar all over the floor and it stuck to the bottom of her bare feet.
It's funny as many cereals as there are today, there still don't seem to be enough choices and even though I can have whatever I want, I usually stick with the healthier ones now-- although I did eat a few boxes of Froot Loops for dinner in my twenties...
5 comments:
i used to beg for the sugary ones as a kid -- fruit loops and frosted flakes. but mom made us make do with cheerios and wheaties. and it is funny, i still grab the cheerios now. :)
If I was a religious person, tonight would feel like confession. I was a big fan of Nestle Quik -- but not to make chocolate milk. What I would do was put half the box into my glass of 2% milk(we were ahead of our time), let it settle on the bottom and then, with spoon in hand, scoop out sludge of slightly wet Quik and devour. It was deliriously delicious. But Cap'n Crunch -- now there's a cereal! I was actually shocked last week to discover they still sell it. We should have a "really bad for you cereal" brunch some Sunday. How many do you think you could eat? Honey Combs, Frosted Flakes, Coco Puffs, Count Chocula, Lucky Charms, Fruit Loops, Trix (silly rabbit), Crispy Critters, Jets (Rocky & Bullwinkle sold this one) and for all us writers out there, let's not forget Alpha Bits. Oh, the fun of spelling naughty words like "poo" then eating it. Hahaha --
Ha! I'm craving Cap'n Grunch right now..but I know I won't do it--now it's some type of granola or Alpen. I will occasionally buy the Honey Nut Cheerios. Nestle Quik was waay off limits but I do remember having Strawberry Quik at a friends house after school...
I'm still up on the cereal scene cuz of my boys. Cap'n Crunch, Honeycomb are the perennial faves, apparently for a couple of generations, anyway. (We rarely got the 'fancy' cereals when I was kid). I Iiked Puffed Wheat (can't get enough of that sugar bear. Puffed wheat, so sweet), Corn flakes or Shreddies with lots of brown (not white) sugar and soaked for a bit so it wouldn't hurt my mouth--breakfast of champions. You still can't make me eat porridge, a winter staple on the cold prairies; I think it's a texture thing.
I don't sweat it too much when the boys pick their cereals; it just has to be on sale (it's as expensive per kilo as beef) and it can't turn the milk chocolate. I think back to when I was a kid and how much sugar I put on my cereals (an inch of syropy milk at the end; you know what I'm talking about) and I figure they might as well have it built in--don't have to buy sugar and I will also avoid 'sticky floor syndrome', thus reducing the number of times I have to wash my floor. It's really all about me.
I try to steer them in the right direction and for the most part, I do ok (pop, chocolate, candies, chips etc. are kept as occasional treats, I cook fresh and pack their lunches with something from every food group) so letting go of the reins a bit for breakfast is no biggy. Besides, they eventually will grow out of it and it avoids lots of kvetching in the mornings.
My family used to eat sugary cereals, but now I now rely on quality breakfast cereals from Serial Cereals for an easy way for my family to easily eat healthy.
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