Do you consider breakfast cereal real food? - Page 3

[goldenwillow]

My husband and I make eggnog with raw milk, honey, raw eggs, cinnamon and nutmeg. I love ceral but it is not a good source of nutrition.

[JollyGG]

Originally Posted by 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.

This.

My husband and I have had an ongoing argument since we got married 10 years ago about eating leftover cake, cookies, desserts for breakfast. I consider it completely acceptable upon occasion. He never feels its acceptable. I argue that if he'll feed the kids cereal or the like for breakfast why can't I occasionally let them have leftover cake and milk.

I think he's slowly coming around to my way of thinking. The other day I recounted a story from a co-worker who was upset at her husband because he'd given her daughter animal crackers for breakfast instead of fruit loops. He responded that she should check the box. The animal crackers may be healthier.

But since the only way to get my kids to stop eating cold cereal for breakfast is to get up in time to actually cook something, they eat cold cereal. I just try to find the healthiest versions the kids will actually eat. Right now they are eating cheerios and fiber one (not together as my son tried that this morning and reports it's gross)

[Pinoikoi]

I LOVE rice pudding for breakfast. I don't think it is particularly good for me, either.

[SophieAnn]

One breakfast cereal we always had growing up seemed really healthy, and was not extruded.... but I see from the US version of the website that the cereal is probably only in Canada (Quaker Harvest Crunch). I just read the ingredient list and it looks darn good - no wonder mom bought it.
http://www.quakeroats.ca/en/products...-original.aspx

Typical cold cereal - no, it's not real food, but it's a convenient snack that makes me feel a bit less guilty than some other snacks (i.e. ice cream, chips, etc.).

A friend once pointed me to a study where mice were divided into 2 groups. One group was fed the breakfast cereal, one group was fed the cardboard box it came in.... the mice eating cardboard were actually healthier at the end of it.

Edited to add: whoops - the study I mentioned above is in PPs link about extrusion.

[BedHead]

I don't consider it food, but no one else listens to me about it. My 2 boys and dh eat boxes and boxes of it.

[Ravenlunatic]

This is all so completely gratifying to me because I, the OP, do not consider cereal 'real' food. That is not to say I don't love it, or eat it on occaision but at this stage and age in my life I don't consider it real food. I wish I did.

[StephandOwen]

Is it "real food"? Well, sure. Of course it is. If that was all a child had, he could survive (not thrive, but survive). Is it the most nutritious food a child could eat for breakfast? Certainly not. But it's better than nothing, which is the alternative for some children.

[sahmmie]

Originally Posted by stephienoodle

Anything extruded is not food in my book. The extrusion process damages those cereals that have "healthy" ingredients making them unhealthy. Whether you're talking Cheerios, Friskies dry cat food, Cocoa Puffs, a high-dollar all-natural dog kibble or shredded wheat, extrusion is bad news. Read about extrusion.

I'm guessing that there might be a granola-type cereal or two out there that I'd consider food because none of the ingredients are extruded and there's no junk like HFCS, but I don't know of any off hand. I don't really eat much in the way of grains, but I do make a soaked and dehydrated granola for my husband.

Yikes! Thanks for posting that link. I had no idea! So what can you eat that is whole grain without extrusion? We eat very little cereal around here but my kids love Kashi Granola Bars. Sheesh! Hope those aren't bad too. There's an interesting book I just started reading called, In Defense of Food (Michael Pollan) which talks a lot about the dangers of processed food. I'll have to keep reading...

[redvlagrl]

We don't buy processed cereal here, mainly because I don't like it, but also because I don't consider it 'real' food. The closest we come is homemade muesli (raw rolled oats, dried fruit and nuts and seeds), oatmeal - steel cut and rolled, and occasionally homemade granola which is basically muesli which I coat with some oil and honey and then bake.

When DD is older I am sure she will beg for disgusting cereals and I will buy them for her on occasion, but only for afternoon snacks, not breakfast.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by SophieAnn

One breakfast cereal we always had growing up seemed really healthy, and was not extruded.... but I see from the US version of the website that the cereal is probably only in Canada (Quaker Harvest Crunch). I just read the ingredient list and it looks darn good - no wonder mom bought it.
http://www.quakeroats.ca/en/products...-original.aspx

I love Harvest Crunch, but I don't buy it, anymore. It's loaded with sugar. My stepdad has blood sugar issues (probably from the cholesterol medication he's on, but that's another issue entirely) and the dietitian jumped all over Harvest Crunch. The sugar is pretty high. At least it doesn't have all the chemically crap (dyes, etc.) that you find in Froot Loops (yes - the brand name ones have the cutesy spelling), Lucky Charms, etc.

ETA: I actually like Harvest Crunch with some milk better as a bedtime snack than as breakfast...it's even better with cream.