I am conducting an unofficial poll today on the hot topic of COLD CEREAL:
Does your family eat a lot of cold cereal? I mean, the kind out of a box from the grocery store. If so, like how often? Daily? Multiple times daily?
and…
If you remove cold cereal from your home, would there be a potential uprising?
I need to know these things so I might determine where my family falls on the spectrum of normal.
Or more likely abnormal.
**Feel free to skip the drama, and find the recipe for this delicious and nutritious coconut peanut butter granola at the bottom.
It all began about a month ago.
In an effort to cut back on costs, and general junky eating habits, Dave requested that I quit buying cold cereal for a while.
So I did. It didn’t bother me, I rarely eat cold cereal.
But from the boys’ reaction, it became clear that we have cold-cereal-addictions going on in this house. Suddenly, every morning began with emotionally-charged complaints of, “There is NO FOOD in this house!” and other dramatic commentary, all in an effort to make me believe that some of my children might be…
…dying.
You’d think we just took away fresh water.
Or air.
I have been making hot cereal a couple times a week, mostly to prove to the kids that there is life after cold cereal. And one or two of the boys eat it with a decent attitude. Others, however, don’t believe that hot cereal counts as food.
Kids these days.
So, I point them to toast, yogurt, or fruit. Help yourself, there is plenty of food.
But there is a new dilemma we face, now that this family experiment has begun: Without cold cereal available, there is a new demand for Mom to get in the kitchen and whip up HOT BREAKFASTS almost every day: Pancakes, eggs, french toast, crepes…
And once again, I ask you–my objective audience: Who is it that pays the real price for these family lifestyle improvements?
Mom does, of course.
While Dave, who started this whole thing, goes off to work each morning, I am left with the complaining kids who are “starving,” and suddenly “need” Mom to make them something hot off the griddle to help fend off their cravings for cold cereal.
The moral of the story? Moms cannot win.
Well, to be fair, I AM on Dave’s side. I agree that we were abusing the cold cereal habit, and honestly the stuff is expensive. (at least here in Hawaii.) Though I’ve never gone all out into the Fruit Loops or Cocoa Puffs zone, the cereal we used to buy was filled with more sugar and less natural ingredients than I wanted to acknowledge.
This change has been good. Even if a bit painful.
Now I doubt we’ll ban cold cereal forever, but the experiment has been healthy.
And so far, no one has actually died.
Now back to the GRANOLA:
Perhaps the most positive thing that has come out of this entire family drama is that I have invested extra time into creating my own granola recipes. And I don’t think any boxed cold cereal in the world could be better than a good homemade granola.
I have tried a few different recipes for granola; Tropical, Maple, Pumpkin, and nutty plain, and I love them all. But really–combining coconut and peanut butter is just about as good as it could possibly get. I am in love with this combination!
Packed with flavor, protein and healthy fats, this granola is my new favorite!
So weigh in, would you? Are you a cold cereal family, or how do you manage breakfast on a daily basis.
How often do you cook a hot meal?
What do your kids eat most days?
Thanks for chatting.
Much Aloha,
Grommom
PS We’ll be celebrating Levi’s birthday this weekend down in Waikiki, so don’t forget to follow along on Instagram and other social medias! 🙂 (links above right.) Have an awesome LONG weekend!!
Coconut Peanut Butter Granola
Ingredients
- 3 cups oatmeal uncooked
- 1/2 cup peanut butter your choice
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 cup agave nectar
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut
- 1/3 cup or your choice, slivered almonds or other nut
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- Spray a shallow baking pan with cooking spray, and set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the peanut butter, agave nectar, coconut oil, and vanilla. Stir well, until smooth. Add shredded coconut, and nuts.
- Place dry oatmeal in a medium bowl, and pour the wet ingredient mixture into the oats. Combine well. Pour mixture onto the cookie sheet, and place in oven.
- Cook for 15 minutes, stirring midway through. Granola is done when it is golden brown, and a little crispy, but not burnt. It may need to cook for 20-25 minutes, depending on your oven.
- Let it cool, then store in an airtight container.
- Great with milk, use it to top yogurt, or eat by the handful. 🙂
- ENJOY!
Are you using sweetened or unsweetened shredded coconut?
In this recipe it was sweetened. I am sure it would be just as good unsweetened though, so if you try it, let me know. 🙂 Thanks for asking–Sorry I didn’t mention! Aloha
This sounds delicious! If I’m feeling bold I may try almond butter as a variation. Always looking for yummy, healthy recipes because my son is a picky eater. Luckily he loves fruit and yogurt so I try to serve that a lot for breakfast. And I love fruit, yogurt and granola together so our family will enjoy this, thanks!
I started serving only whole foods from day one with my girls. My daughters preschool teacher was surprised that my daughters favorite food was oatmeal. We make it with dried fruit, fresh fruit, peanut butter, yogurt even chocolate soy milk. I think the boxed stuff is a waste of money and full of sugar. The only kind I buy is puffed rice, etc. full fiber and organic. I have to admitt I buy pre made granola, and it is a treat. I think feeding kids junk is so wrong, but once in a while they need to indulge. I don’t have as big a family as you though.
Your post made me chuckle. (How Dave suggested this new experiment and then went to work!) Nick has done similar things like taking away all screen time as a punishment on a hot summer day. Then goes to work. And I am left with very unhappy boys for an entire day. haha?
Is Josiah cooking yet? I bet he could make everyone a hot breakfast. And then knowing him, he would clean the kitchen! 🙂
Nick? Really?…nahhh. hahah! Maybe I should have added “men these days.” 🙂
Actually Jonah and Luke can both cook a few breakfast items…and they do pretty often lately. I just need to wake them up a bit earlier, ha…and then I need to get Josiah in there to clean it up! 🙂
At first I cheered when my sons FINALLY started eating cold cereal. You see, for good eaters in general, my boys turned their noses up at cereal, toast, oatmeal,eggs, pancakes, waffles and bagels. Weird kids asked for dinner left overs and sandwiches for breakfast. Yogurt , smoothies, and kefir were our breakfast champions. Oh, and fruit.
Now, fast forward a few months to when my oldest started before school care- a program that has tasty treats like cinnamon toast crunch. Great big sigh… my cheerios and rice krispies don’t hold the same allure. The boys want things like Lucky Charms ( where did they even try those?) and I want to avoid feeding my kids what I think should be dessert for breakfast.
So, our love affair with cold cereal has ended. I’m not that mean, though. They can pick ANY cereal they want… once a year on vacation; eaten as dessert.
Now, if we are EVER out of yogurt and kefir at the same time- watch out!
Monica, Oh how thankful I am to read this post. My boys are like yours and think they might die if there was no cold cereal in our house. And it IS TOTALLY too expensive and less than healthy for them…so, I am going to give your delicious looking recipe a go. I can’t wait to try it. We went gluten free a year ago so I know they CAN give up certain types of food. It’s just not always an easy process. But once we get through it, life does goes on. Thank you so much for this post and for sharing your recipe. I’ve been bothered lately by our morning breakfast routine. You’ve encouraged me to take the plunge and create a healthier cold cereal substitute for the store cereal they’ve all been eating.
Love Megan
Good Morning-
My son does eat cold cereal but I will only buy cereals with less than 9-10 grams of sugar like Kashi. My son ( who is 12
And type1 diabetic ) always makes his own breakfast. He can cook his own eggs, turkey sausage,omelette a with cheese, taster waffles( Kashi) Greek yogurt with granola or cereal, eggs in low carbs wraps…. The list is as infinite as his imagination. This morning he had two waffles with sugar free syrup and a protein shake. If he does eat cereal he puts a protein shake on it for the “milk” because is really just. Bowl of carbs without…. Happy Birthday to Levi!!!
I do enjoy a good cold cereal here and there, But usually I head down to the hospital cafeteria for breakfast, or I skip. I know, I know, its bad.
But I also like making up a big batch of pancakes and throwing them in the fridge so I can reheat as I need.