Nutritious Breakfast Cereals

Tracy9377

I have been fighting with my kids to get them to eat things like shredded wheat and Cheerios instead of frosted this or chocolate that. Giving kids a load of sugar, simple carbohydrates, and food dyes and expecting them to go to school, sit still, and concentrate is kind of a joke. Now that I feel like I have won the battle, and they are accepting the less sugary cereals, I find out that those cereals really aren't very good for you - they don't have as much fiber as they say they do. They've already stripped out most of the vitamins, and they have almost no protein. Does anyone know of a cereal comparison chart for a lot of different standards of nutrition?

JennW130

i ate lucky charms and fruit loops as a kid and i sat down for class, and stayed still. I didnt become a chunky butt until adult hood, after having babies, and drinking lots of beer :drinker:

questionablemethods

Could you get them to eat something besides cereal? I mean, I think Cheerios is better than Lucky Charms, but how about vegetable egg "cupcakes" or something? They can be made ahead of time and reheated.

sarah_ep

I ate a lot of oatmeal growing up.

bizco

I don't, sorry. You will probably have to do the legwork yourself by looking at and comparing the nutrition panels of different cereals. It's great that you're looking at the sugar and fiber content! Remember this rule:

One teaspoon of granulated white sugar is equal to 4.2 grams. Many cold cereals can have 14 grams (or more) of sugar in a single serving. That's more than 3 teaspoons of sugar! (14/4.2 = 3.33) Plus, if you weigh your cereal using a digital food scale you'll be amazed at how small a serving really is. Put the measuring cups away, they're deceitful!

Cereals that contain fruit (raisins, etc.) will be higher in sugar due in part to the natural sugars, but the manufacturers totally screw up a good thing by coating the fruit in refined sugars and preservatives, so I personally stay away from these cereals. You can always add your own fresh fruit.

Some lower sugar cereals I've eaten: Kashi Autumn Wheat, Kashi 7 whole grain flakes, Fiber One Original, Total (original). All are delicious without adding any sugar.

Tracy9377

Ooo .... vegetable egg cupcakes? You have my attention ... what is that and how do you make it?

questionablemethods

Ooo .... vegetable egg cupcakes? You have my attention ... what is that and how do you make it?

I've seen quite a few recipes on different blogs. Here's one from a blog that I read occasionally: http://everydaypaleo.com/2010/03/24/egg-cupcakes/

Tracy9377

I don't, sorry. You will probably have to do the legwork yourself by looking at and comparing the nutrition panels of different cereals. It's great that you're looking at the sugar and fiber content! Remember this rule:

One teaspoon of granulated white sugar is equal to 4.2 grams. Many cold cereals can have 14 grams (or more) of sugar in a single serving. That's more than 3 teaspoons of sugar! (14/4.2 = 3.33) Plus, if you weigh your cereal using a digital food scale you'll be amazed at how small a serving really is. Put the measuring cups away, they're deceitful!

Cereals that contain fruit (raisins, etc.) will be higher in sugar due in part to the natural sugars, but the manufacturers totally screw up a good thing by coating the fruit in refined sugars and preservatives, so I personally stay away from these cereals. You can always add your own fresh fruit.

Some lower sugar cereals I've eaten: Kashi Autumn Wheat, Kashi 7 whole grain flakes, Fiber One Original, Total (original). All are delicious without adding any sugar.

You're right ... I guess I was trying to find an easy route and see if anyone else had done the legwork already.
The USDA says that children should have around 21 major vitamins, minerals, and nutrients each day (http://www.iom.edu/Activities/Nutrition/SummaryDRIs/~/media/Files/Activity Files/Nutrition/DRIs/5_Summary Table Tables 1-4.pdf) ........ that can't all come from lunch and dinner, and those gummy bear and flintstones vitamins don't even come close to providing enough. Kids' brains are developing and growing rapidly until about age 25. Complex carbohydrates include the thin layers between the fruit of the grain and the hull, which have numerous nutrients, including trace nutrients which are important, but are too numerous to make it to the comparison charts. Complete proteins and fiber make the difference between feeding them stuff that their body will use for fuel and feeding them stuff their body won't even recognize as food. I know lots of people hate animal protein, but it is complete, and much easier than trying to balance all the artificial proteins or trying to make all the plant proteins usable. Besides, kids actually need much more fat than adults. They are forming the neurons and sheaths around the nerves which help to communicate with one-another. These sheaths are made of fat. After age 25, we have all of these that we are going to have, so we need to decrease our fat intake (except for a few individuals with extreme miracle stories). Eggs with whole-wheat toast and fruit, low-fat cottage cheese and fruit, lean meat, yougart (plain with honey or with fresh fruit - the flavored yougarts have rediculous amounts of sugar) - that seems to be the best way to go. Cereal seems like it should be more of a treat or a side-dish than a meal, and pancakes or waffles with syrup, or pop-tarts are a joke. I know most will have stopped reading this post by now, but I guess that's ok. I hope you got something good out of it.

Tracy9377

Thanx!

liatski

Kashi Puffs are pretty Healthy

Tracy9377

Ooo .... vegetable egg cupcakes? You have my attention ... what is that and how do you make it?

I've seen quite a few recipes on different blogs. Here's one from a blog that I read occasionally: http://everydaypaleo.com/2010/03/24/egg-cupcakes/

I made them the other day. They were awesome! I baked them in my step-daughter's heart-shaped silicone muffin mold. They were adorable. Thanks!!

liveyourlifex

i usually don't eat cereal for breakfast everyday, i eat oatmeal. but some of the cereal i have here at home is kashi go lean crunch, chocolate cheerios, honey nut cheerios, and quaker oatmeal squares.

backstreet1008

I'm more of an oatmeal person, but I do like Rice Chex, which are very low in sugar and still taste really good.

epona_mus

My kids eat a lot of oatmeal and homemade granola. If they will eat oatmeal, try baking it... my kids loved this and it's easy to make ahead and freeze (and easy to make veg*n, if you don't do eggs/dairy)

Baked Oatmeal

2 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I cut this in half - it's very sweet with the applesauce
1/3 cup fruit (try raisins, frozen blueberries, dried cranberries, chopped apple)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups fat-free milk (or non-dairy milk to make veg*n)
1/2 cup applesauce (unsweetened is best - if you use sweetened oatmeal, you may need to reduce sugar even more)
2 tablespoons butter or margerine, melted
1 large egg, beaten (I use En R G egg substitute)
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375°.
Combine the first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl. Combine the milk, applesauce, butter, and egg. Add milk mixture to oat mixture; stir well. Pour oat mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes. Serve warm.

I cut this into 9 squares and freeze them in individual ziplocs. Kids can grab them and reheat easily.

stephabef

Oatmeal! But I also love Envirokidz Panda Puffs and Barbara's Peanut Butter Puffins - both are lower in sugar

nickscutie

cinnamon cheerios have a reasonable amount of fiber. You just really need to spend some time in the cereal aisle and read everything. You could feed them some fiber one cereals, or look for some more natural brands like Barbara's and Nature's Path that they sell at whole foods - they sell some of the same brands at Target. You may be able to find something, I am not sure of the values on those cereals.