Do you consider breakfast cereal real food?

[Ravenlunatic]

I am talking about any kind really, packaged and processed. I am curious what others thing of this 'food'.

[Jaxinator]

I consider it delicious (Cinnamon Life with bananas!) but it definitely would not be my go-to for healthy eating.

[tifpaul]

No, I don't. There are currently two boxes of it in my house, however. I'm scheming on getting rid of it.

I venture that there are some exceptions. Or some that are less-bad. Shredded wheat? Rice puffs? I'm thinking just a couple ingredients. But I think part of the problem is the way they are made into cereal.

I am sure someone around here can clarify it.

[weliveintheforest]

No, for me it's more of a dessert But really, even the good ones are not that good after all the processing and additives. The high temperatures used for puffing, and all the grinding and drying and reshaping has to have a toll.
we rarely buy it, and when I do I usually wonder what I was thinking.

[KatWrangler]

No I don't. Unless it's some sort of healthy version. Shoot some of the cereals out there you might as well sit down and eat a straight bowl of sugar.

[Magelet]

No, I consider cold breakfast cereal (your standard cereals, from cherrios to rice krispies to shredded wheat, granola and oatmeal are different, and can be very healthy) to be "non-edibles". There are some processed foods that I will, on very rare occasion if I feel like it, it, but think of them as "non-food". These cereals I consider non-food, but also non-edible, completely, because of the destruction of nutrition caused by the extrusion process and the fact that I suspect are actually bad for you, and not just nutritionally deficient(and not just the sugars from them). Even special k, and other "good for you cereals" I don't trust.

[ollyoxenfree]

Do you mean commercially produced, boxed cereals like Cheerios, Corn Flakes and Cocoa Puffs? Because I've always referred to oatmeal and other hot porridges etc. as breakfast cereals too - they are cereal foods and in this family, we serve them at breakfast.

I've always referred to the sugary cereals like Lucky Charms and Cocoa Puffs as "candy". As in this was a typical conversation in the supermarket cereal aisle:

"Mom, can we get some Lucky Charms?"

"We don't eat candy for breakfast. If we get some, it's for an occasional snack, maybe after school some days."

[MissinNYC]

Well, sheesh, with the way you phrase the question, one is scared to say yes, eh?

Yes, I consider cold cereal to be perfectly healthy food, as long as it's something like shredded wheat (no sugar coating), Joe's Os (cheerios from TJs), or puffed rice (no sugar).

These cereals have tons of nutrients in them, and are a whole grain. No, they may not be as good as a spinach salad or a piece of salmon, but they are what my kids will happily and quickly eat. They are inexpensive (I only buy at 2/box or udner) and quick.

But my kids also like eating granola and yogurt, frittatas, toast, eggs, french toast, etc.

[GardenStream]

Nope, they're not real food.

On occasion you will find a box of Kashi, Cheerios or granola in our house, but it's rare. It's been at least 6 months since I bought any boxed cereal. I'm not totally against them, but as long as I keep them out of the house, then I'm not tempted to be lazy and feed them to my kids. If we were visiting family or someone else, I would feed my kids the healthiest of my choices and be fine with it.

[Pinoikoi]

In my house cold cereal is a snack.

On the other hand, I used organic raisin bran as a basis for a bread recipe I tried. I would make it again.

[Vancouver Mommy]

I don't, but the rest of my family certainly does. My dh loves a huge bowl of mini-wheats every day for breakfast and so does dd. I would prefer it didn't exist in my home, but short of getting up early and cooking eggs or oatmeal for everybody, it seems like a losing battle.

[pjs]

no.

[Pinoikoi]

Originally Posted by Vancouver Mommy

I would prefer it didn't exist in my home, but short of getting up early and cooking eggs or oatmeal for everybody, it seems like a losing battle.

9 days out of 10 dp is up early scrambling eggs or flipping pancakes.. I know, I'm spoiled.

(day 10- for the record, I either serve fruit and fresh baked bread or make a big pot of oatmeal). I just can't make pancakes like he does!

[Sayward]

Oatmeal? Totally.

Sugar crisped white flour bits? Not even a little bit.

But the question is phrased pretty ambiguously. Not all cereals are created equal (for example, are you referring to the common vernacular definition of cereal, aka Lucky Charms and Cocoa Puffs etc, or are you referring to the literal definition of cereal, aka the caryopsis fruit of grasses?)

[ShadowMoon]

Processed sugary cereal or corn based cereals, (Lucky Charms, Rice Crispies, Cocoa Puffs, etc), I consider snacks or junk food, not "real" food.

Oatmeal, most of Kashi brand cereals, or any cereal packed with whole grains natural fiber, and made without processed ingrediants I do consider food.

[isabchi]

Nop..Processed cereal is just candy.

[sweetcheeks]

Cold cereal is a snack in our house and is not considered a proper meal kind of food, KWIM? I do not serve it for brekkie b/c an hour later, my older 2 will be grumping about how hungry they are already. So they get a bowl after school to hold them over until supper's ready around 5:30.

[hollytheteacher]

I think there are such a wide variety of cereals that they are so completely different from each other it's hard to lump them all as one evil non-food.

We buy Organic O's and my son loves to eat them in yogurt with fruit cut up...sort of like a parfait i guess but with o's instead of granola (which he also likes).

i don't think it's bad at all. I think it's way better than a bowl of lucky charms!

[columbusmomma]

Pretty much just processed vs. real food. I rarely have it myself for breakfast and prefer the kids have something like eggs,oatmeal,pancakes(homemade and healthy)sausage,etc. Recently DS has been eating Kashi Island Vanilla. It has tons of fiber, which is something we struggle with so I've been letting him help himself to it. I do like him to have something besides that though too. Basically cereal to me is a munchy snack.

[mommy2maya]

I find it faster to serve scrambled eggs for breakfast than cold cereal. That is not to say I don't buy it.