One of my all-time favouritest foods is cereal. I start my day with it, then have some more after lunch as a snack, and I may even indulge in another bowl after dinner if I’m still hungry.
For most of my childhood, I remained loyal to Honey Nut Cheerios, but in my teenage years I developed a sweet tooth and quickly became addicted to Corn Pops, Frosted Flakes and Capitaine Crounche (if you’re Canadian, you’ll understand why I have to use its French name). During first year at university, I entered a monogamous relationship with Weetabix, but by the following year I was rebounding with Crispix, Honey Bunches of Oats and Special K.
Recently, I strayed from the cereal path with instant organic oatmeal because without a fridge it’s hard to keep milk, but after finding a soy substitute that lasts for a few days at room temperature, I’m back off the wagon and somewhere in between infatuated and obsessed with Kashi Go-Lean Crunch.
Needless to say, when a new cereal bar opened in Toronto, I shed a silent tear and felt like somebody finally understood me.
Sadly, though, cereal almost always comes in plastic bags and cardboard boxes, so after I finish my current stash, I’m going to restrict myself to whatever I can find in bulk bins (which for some reason almost always seems to be dusty mueslix or imitation Cornflakes).
I figure I can make things more interesting by adding coconut, walnuts, cinnamon, berries and other fun stuff, but if anyone has any ideas — or, better yet, a recipe for how to make homemade cereal taste like processed cereal — feel free to let me know!
Photo courtesy of Thomas Hawk on Flickr
June 28, 2007 at 9:12 am |
Just curious here – you mentioned a soy substitute that stays freshish at room temp for a few days. Mind sharing the name of the product? I’m thinking of going fridgeless, and milk is a major glitch in my plan (although i’m looking forward to our canadian winters – a cooler outside on the patio!)
June 28, 2007 at 2:54 pm |
You are the only other person that I’ve heard ever mention liking Weetabix…It is still one of the cereals I always have in the cupboard.
The best thing about this cereal is every bit of the packaging is recyclable. It comes in a box with two paper sleeves holding the cereal. They used to use that thin plastic for the sleeves but it’s been paper for a long time and I dig it!
Cereal is by far the best food…I’ve been told I feel that way because I’m lazy and uncreative when it comes to making my meals
June 28, 2007 at 2:56 pm |
The response is: make your own granola – it is really not difficult, you can vary the amount of honey you put in to sweeten it, and the ingredients. I buy all ingredients in bulk, i.e. oats, dried fruit, shredded coconut, flax seeds etc. You can throw pretty much everything in, mix it with a mixture of honey and canola oil (or more environmentally friendly oil?) and put it in the oven for 30 minutes, turning it once or more often until it is a nice light brown and somewhat crunchy (it gets crunchier once it has cooled down). I remember, however, that you turned off your oven recently, so that might not work for you. When I am too lazy to make granola, I just make “Swiss style” muesli – simply mix the above ingredients with cold milk, and voila. Tastes better with some fresh fruit or joghurt. But it does not taste like the store bought stuff, and sometimes I break down and buy a box of Honeybunches of Oats ….
Enjoy,
Alexandra
June 28, 2007 at 3:16 pm |
Oh, sorry Sarah — I meant to link to that! I use Natura unsweetened soy milk. I find the other brands are all too sweet and sickly. It lasts for about three days unrefrigerated, and with the amount of cereal I eat I have no problem finishing it up.
And Morgan — I had no idea Weetabix came with paper packages inside! If I ever break down and need to cheat on this or something, I’ll make sure it’s with Weetabix.
June 28, 2007 at 5:58 pm |
great blog! you could always make your own granola using rolled oats, nuts, raisons, coconut flakes etc. you toast it in the oven with some maple syrup, oil (of your choice – peanut, olive, grapeseed…). it’s really yummy that way
June 28, 2007 at 6:15 pm |
ya, i was going to suggest the museli option too, since you are sans oven. but i feel like you will be able to find no-name bulk fruit loops if you hit up an offical “Bulk Barn” which i know are hard to find downtown but there is one in the eastend and one in fairview mall, i think.
June 28, 2007 at 7:09 pm |
Hi, have really enjoyed reading your blog. I make my own granola a few times a week from this recipe.
2 tbsp veg oil
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups large flake oats
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Heat the veg oil, honey and vanilla until liquidified. Add nuts and oats. Bake in 350 oven , for 20 minutes, stirring for every five minutes. The stirring point is really important, otherwise, you’ll end up with squirrel food. It burns pretty easily.
Let cool, add cranberries and raisins. Of course, you can change the nuts and fruit to your liking.
June 28, 2007 at 8:07 pm |
Muesli:
juice from 3 oranges and 1 lemon
zest/peel from 1 orange and 1 lemon
3+ cups of oatmeal
1.5 cups of steel cut oats (or barley or whatever)
1 cup prunes, chopped
1 cup raisins
walnuts, chopped
Mix everything but walnuts together, cover, and put aside overnight. When the oats and steel cut oats are soft enough to be edible, you can put in the walnuts. This is super good with soy milk.
You can also vary it with grapefruit or dried apricots or what ever.
June 28, 2007 at 9:17 pm |
Apparently we have cereal in common. It has been my main food all my life
I’m a peanut butter panda puffs kid these days. I feel your pain though as it comes in such small boxes that I go through one box every couple days.
June 28, 2007 at 9:47 pm |
Mmmm, your noters have good taste. The recipes in the comments sound yummy.
June 28, 2007 at 10:08 pm |
No kidding! Thanks for the delish recipes Stella and Kim… I’ll have to find a way to make them using my stove or something. I’m sure I could just cover a pot and stir it occasionally and it would work just as well.
Cheers!
June 29, 2007 at 2:01 am |
Stove top Granola
1 1/4 c oatmeal (not instant)
1/3 c chopped nuts
1/4 c wheat germ
1/3 c sesame seeds
1/3 c shredded coconut
1/4 c raisins
1/2 t ground cinnamon
Place oatmeal and nuts in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Stir constantly for about 5 min. Add wheat germ, sesame seeds, and coconut. Stir occasionally another 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Add raisins and cinnamon and stir.
I think I always leave out the wheat germ though. I have no idea what wheat germ looks like.
June 29, 2007 at 3:52 pm |
Oh man how I love cereal! It will be my environmental downfall!!! I eat it for dinner a lot, it drives DH crazy.
June 30, 2007 at 8:40 pm |
[...] uses for an empty cereal box? The other day it became more difficult to ignore the amount of waste generated from one delicious box of cereal. In my little mind I can keep eating [...]
July 1, 2007 at 1:53 am |
That Kashi Go Lean Crunch isn’t so great for you anyway. textured soy protein concentrate (a key ingredient) is scary, scary stuff, especially if you’re drinking it with soy milk. Seriously stay away…the planet (cause of the plastic) and your thyroid will thank you.
July 13, 2007 at 11:11 am |
In case you read this: we buy the Nature’s Path cereal in the Eco-Pack. At least there is no box. You can probably find it at most stores (Loblaws and Superstore have it in the organic section, in addition to all the health food stores). We like the Multi-Grain Flakes with Raisins, it’s kinda like Raisin Bran. There is a whole assortment to choose from.