Cereal Folly
June 9, 2010
THE AMERICAN food consumer is ignorant, lazy and infatuated with novelty, all of which makes him an easy target of marketing. Nothing exemplifies this more than the enormous sums Americans spend on breakfast cereals. People say they cannot possibly live on one income per family, but they cart huge boxes of expensive prefab grains home from the supermarket, tossing money to the breeze and subjecting their families to dietary impoverishment.
If you are raising a family, I urge you to break the cereal habit. Replace boxed cereal with homemade muffins, granola or hot oatmeal, bought in bulk. Millet with butter and sugar is cheap and easy. If you are the parent of 12 children, teach your children to make these things, which also serve as affordable snack foods.
Habitual consumption of boxed cereal makes it hard to appreciate the subtle pleasures of homemade cereals and muffins.
For granola, combine four cups of rolled oats with half a cup of vegetable oil mixed with half a cup (more or less) of maple syrup, honey or brown sugar that has been liquefied in a quarter cup of hot water. Add half a cup each of nonfat dry milk and whole wheat flour; half a teaspoon cinnamon and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Add any nuts you prefer and coconut if you wish. Toast mixture in a single layer at 350 degrees until lightly brown, stirring once or twice. Cool and add dried fruit. This is healthy and nourishing, much more so than any cereal you can buy, and fills the house with a nice aroma. There you have a concoction that will cost you ten dollars a pound at a coffee bar.
This is a variation on a recipe from Fine Cooking, a magazine which until recently was my favorite cooking magazine. It has been substantially dumbed down, with enormous photos and graphics, in the past year or so. The magazine recipe includes less oil and more maple syrup. You can fool with the proportions to get the mixture you like.
— Comments —
Karen I. writes:
Thank you for the suggestions and recipes. I hate to say it, but I buy that awful sugar cereal for my kids because that is what they will eat. It is very hard to get young children to eat healthy things once they get used to junk, but I am trying. You seem to be know a lot about food and nutrition and I hope you continue to post things like this. Some of us raised by working mothers never ate anything but cold cereal every morning for years on end.
One thing I would caution mothers of young children about is to not start giving them sugar cereal if they can possibly avoid it. It may seem like a great thing when a toddler is super-picky and you come across a cereal they will eat. That is how I got one of my children into the cereal habit and now that she is a few years older, I see her eating a cold bowl of what amounts to pure sugar before school and I truly wish I had not given in to the pleas for junk cereal when she was a toddler.
Laura writes:
You don’t buy it; they can’t eat it. It’s as simple as that. No child has died of voluntary starvation.
By the way, it initially seems a real pain to make these things yourself, but if you do it enough it becomes second nature and you can proceed mindlessly, or with your mind on other things, which is the ultimate goal when it comes to mechanical labor.
Sheila C. writes:
Growing up, my mother bought us only Cheerios and Rice Krispies (she softened her stance with my younger sister and indulged in Lucky Charms) so I was never accustomed to eating sugary cereal. My own children, although extremely different, have also grown accustomed to a healthy breakfast – no pop tarts in the car on the way to daycare (I can’t bear to say how often I’ve seen that, even at my kids’ private Christian preschool years ago). Everyone begins their day with fresh fruit (I usually cut up a mix of banana, pineapple, canteloupe, strawberries, and blueberries). My older son used to enjoy oatmeal (after initially buying the presweetened kind, I moved on to regular mixed with baby food peach puree – and added protein powder, too!) ; my younger will not eat hot cereal and only rarely an egg, but he finishes his plate of fruit and cheese cubes and only then does he request something sweet – either a cookie with milk, or a frozen waffle. It’s really no great trouble, since I get up to cook my husband breakfast anyhow (even in the summer when I don’t have to get up to rush anyone to school) and I feel a certain sense of satisfaction in knowing my family has started the day with a healthy meal. I suppose this sounds terribly quaint to some, but I actually prefer cooking breakfast to dinner – I have more energy and less stress in the morning, and prefer to begin the day with a sense of accomplishment (breakfast cooked, dishes washed, beds made, etc.) before indulging myself in your wonderful website or some other personal pursuit.
Brenda writes:
I must weigh in on your cereal discussion. No parent should be held hostage by a young child’s desire to eat only sweetened cereal for breakfast. It is a habit and, like all habits, can be changed. The first several days of any change in routine will be the hardest….weaning oneself or one’s children from a favorite (though not very nutritious) food may take time, if you want to go the less abrupt way. Or, as Laura has pointed out, simply don’t buy the items in question. Besides, most of them are just candy with some vitamins sprayed on.
I do not find making granola to be very troublesome. In fact, making breakfast, at all, is an enjoyable chore for me. There are so many delicious options, things that make my mouth water just to think about them! Eggs, and meat, and muffins, and bagels, and pancakes, to name just a few. In the summer months we make a lot of smoothies. My family loves these. Good, cheap, and nourishing! :o)
Laura writes:
Smoothies are another great option, made with yogurt and fresh fruit.
In my opinion, even healthy store bought cereal is not a good choice. It’s just too expensive.
Kimberly writes:
Since most of our country seems to drink coffee in the morning, I thought I’d throw in a cheer for tea! I buy organic green tea in bulk, and a fruity flavor for the kids. My boys love it! I use stevia to sweeten it, which seems expensive, but it’s so concentrated, I really don’t know. It’s definitely no more expensive than “Splenda”, and much better for you. I also add a tiny spoon of coconut oil- which is a miracle oil, good for the body and brain. Tea also aids in digestion, especially mint or ginger tea, and that’s a good way to start the day.
When we wake up, our bodies are dehydrated, which is why so many people rush for the milk and cereal. It would be much wiser to have a glass of water with lemon while you’re cooking some wholesome millet or quinoa, and to ditch the coffee, which dehydrates all the more, for some tea. The water retained in the grains will hydrate in a healthier way than the milk in cereal. You can buy lots of wholesome grains in bulk for dirt cheap! And beware of wicked white bread in disguise! Bagels, pastries, even muffins are usually just made from white flour, and not much better than cereal. Opt for adding or buying whole wheat, or gluten-free flour.
I know how hard it is to avoid coffee. I love it still, myself. I take a nap with my nursing baby and toddler every afternoon, so I really don’t need it, but when I know I’m not going to be getting a nap, I wait until I’ve been up for a few hours, and then I’ll make some coffee. I feel better if I let myself wake up by rehydration, and not by the jolt of caffine.
