What Cereals Do You Offer?
 

Does anyone have cereal on their breakfast menu once or twice a week or more? What are the main cereals you offer?

Do you offer a choice the morning you serve it or do you only offer this cereal this day and this cereal this day, that's it?

Lately we've been stuck on cheerios, honey nut cheerios, kix, corn chex, cinnamon chex, or raisin bran. We usually only have 1 or 2 of those at a time (and I guard the cinnamon chex with my life! so they're rarely on the menu, lol) and I don't really offer a choice.

I'm on the WIC program and so I've always got a LOT of stored up and healthy cereal on hand for my kiddos. I give them Cheerios, Kix, Crispex, Grape Nuts (depending on age of course), Frosted Mini Wheats, Special K, Rice Krispies, Honey Bunches of Oats, etc.

If I could afford other cereal, I might get Raisin Bran, but that's just because I love it so much! :)

Because I'm on the food program, and because I want everyone to eat the same thing, I don't offer a choice. I try to keep it varied so that everyone gets their favorites as well as trying new things.

I have cold cereal available every morning along with the hot menu item for the day. I always have Cheerios and Rice Krispies in the cereal dispenser (which the kids love, btw ;)), and then I'll have Frosted Mini Wheats or Shreddies if they're on sale because my own kids love them and they're the only thing my second son will eat.

I'm in Canada so no food program to abide by. I did start out offering "treat" cereals as I call them -- the ones that are more sugar than anything else. But then I realized that there was no need to, it's healthier not to, and hey, it's cheaper to buy the healthy cereals anyway!

I have cereal on my breakfast menu once/week. The kids get their choice of Cheerios, Rice Krispies, Corn Chex or Kix - those are the only cold cereals that I ever offer.

Our favorite snack cereals are Honey Nut Cheerios, Multigrain Cheerios and Kellogg's Crackling Oat Bran...:Sunny:

Now, I know the Oat Bran sounds....:( and looks like catfood...But it tastes like lightly sweetened cinnamon oatmeal cookies. Yum!!! I love to munch on it while watching movies, too..:) I am not fond of it in milk, though...turns to paste :rolleyes:

I use this brand called Mom's Best Naturals and get the versions similar to Honey Nut Cheerios, Honey and Oats and Frosted Mini Wheats.

They sell large boxes at out local Sprouts store 2 for $5 so the price is great for the amount I get. I also get whatever bulk granola is on sale each week. They get to choose which cereal or combination they want.

We do cereal usually twice a week.

http://momsbestnaturals.com/

well it depends what is on sale. But I always have cheerios, mulitgrain cheerios, rice krispies and fruit loops. Now, my favorite cereal is apple jacks and NO ONE is allowed to eat them (they do not sell them in canada, if I'm lucky I will see it once in a while) my ds will sneek and eat them cause he knows that its my favorite.

we have cereal 2 or 3 times a week and I will pick up whatever is on sale.

In the fall/winter we don't have cold cereals on the menu but use them as backup in case hot breakfast doesn't happen. In the summer we typically have cereal choice at least 3 days a week. I have a couple different dispensers so depending on the kids we have anywhere from 2 to 6 choices but usually only 2. I have the turn the knob dispensers and they love doing that on their own. The other dispensers are just bins with lids and scoops which they love but it's usually a mess.

I only offer low sugar cereals so it's usually cheerios, kix, rice krispies. There are others but these are the steady ones.

Originally Posted by Catherder:
Our favorite snack cereals are Honey Nut Cheerios, Multigrain Cheerios and Kellogg's Crackling Oat Bran...:Sunny:

Now, I know the Oat Bran sounds....:( and looks like catfood...But it tastes like lightly sweetened cinnamon oatmeal cookies. Yum!!! I love to munch on it while watching movies, too..:) I am not fond of it in milk, though...turns to paste :rolleyes:

oooohhhh, not fair! I absolutely LOVE Cracklin' Oat Bran but I can't have it and there's no gluten free clone of it, nuch to my chagrin :(. Now I'm craving some though...mmmm...

Originally Posted by countrymom:
well it depends what is on sale. But I always have cheerios, mulitgrain cheerios, rice krispies and fruit loops. Now, my favorite cereal is apple jacks and NO ONE is allowed to eat them (they do not sell them in canada, if I'm lucky I will see it once in a while) my ds will sneek and eat them cause he knows that its my favorite.

Our local Zehrs sells Apple Jacks regularly

Cheerios, Rice Krispies, Cream of Wheat, Oatmeal. Very Rarely I offer a more sugary cereal like Lucky Charms or Fruit loops.

I dont really offer them as a choice, I have them on my weekly menu.

cheerios, rasin bran, rice chex and oatmeal

Cheerios, Oat Bran, and sometimes Kix. I used to offer raisin bran, but one day we were in the store and one of my boys asked for cinnamon toast crunch...I said no and tried to explain how much sugar it has. We then noticed that the raisin bran actual had MORE sugar than the cinnamon toast crunch. Crazy!

I bought fruit loops at Christmas one year and I was excited to see the kid's faces. One little girl said, "ahhh, it doesn't even have marshmallows!" At that point I decided these kids eat enough crap at home, I'll stick to healthy here. Sure we have treats sometimes, but they are for snack, not a meal.

Originally Posted by Symphony:
Cheerios, Oat Bran, and sometimes Kix. I used to offer raisin bran, but one day we were in the store and one of my boys asked for cinnamon toast crunch...I said no and tried to explain how much sugar it has. We then noticed that the raisin bran actual had MORE sugar than the cinnamon toast crunch. Crazy!

I bought fruit loops at Christmas one year and I was excited to see the kid's faces. One little girl said, "ahhh, it doesn't even have marshmallows!" At that point I decided these kids eat enough crap at home, I'll stick to healthy here. Sure we have treats sometimes, but they are for snack, not a meal.

that is because raisins are high in sugar, but it is a natural sugar. Grapes are one of the highest in sugar fruits and should be eaten in small amounts.

Originally Posted by Catherder:
Our favorite snack cereals are Honey Nut Cheerios, Multigrain Cheerios and Kellogg's Crackling Oat Bran...:Sunny:

Now, I know the Oat Bran sounds....:( and looks like catfood...But it tastes like lightly sweetened cinnamon oatmeal cookies. Yum!!! I love to munch on it while watching movies, too..:) I am not fond of it in milk, though...turns to paste :rolleyes:

REALLY? I have never tried it because it looks nasty!!! Huh! I think I might have to give that a try.

Cheerios, Kix, Multi Grain Cheerios, and hone nut o's (mom's brest brand). Then we add fruit usually.
Hot cereal is - Maple Brown Sugar (Low sugar kind) Oatmeal. It's the only kind my kids will eat. :(

I don't do cereal that much, I actually use it more as a dry snack at snack time, but I serve, Life, Cinnamon life, Banana nut cheerios. those are really the only ones I buy, I just always stick to the ones that are 9grams or less of sugar.

We switch between Kix, Cheerios, and Life. Those are the only 3 ever offered, and we have one cereal on the menu once per week. I serve cereal with fruit (usually banana.) We also have oatmeal (unflavored but with raisins and a touch of brown sugar) regularly in the winter, but I think you were talking about cold cereal.

NONE! These kids only want HOT food and they're not crazy about cold milk. Maybe I should try warming up some milk and pouring it over Mini Wheats.:(

We don't do much cereal as breakfast....usually only as dry snack food. The cereals I do buy and offer are Cheerio's, multi grain Cheerios, banana Cheerio's, cinnamon Cheerio's and apple/cinnamon Cheerio's. Can you tell we LOVE Cheerio's!?!? :)

The cereals we do have at breakfast are Steel cut oats and Malt-O-Meal or Cream of Wheat.

I have cold cereal on the menu about once a week. My main ones are Kix, Cheerios, Rice/Wheat/Corn Chex, Rice Krispies, Pufffed Wheat/Rice, Corn Flakes. I will serve any cereal that is on sale that has 3 grams of sugar or less.

Originally Posted by jen:
REALLY? I have never tried it because it looks nasty!!! Huh! I think I might have to give that a try.

My doc told me to try it for some pregnancy related issues :o, IYKWIM :lol:

I got hooked.... It is not too sweet, but sweet and crunchy enough to be the perfect guilt free "munchy" snack.

My teens and DH are hooked, too. I can barely keep it in the house. :ouch:

It really, really, does not do well with milk though. Nasty texture issue, IMHO...:p

For those who create menus every month and post it, do you have it say the specific cereal or do you put choice of cereal as the menu option?

Originally Posted by countrymom:
well it depends what is on sale. But I always have cheerios, mulitgrain cheerios, rice krispies and fruit loops. Now, my favorite cereal is apple jacks and NO ONE is allowed to eat them (they do not sell them in canada, if I'm lucky I will see it once in a while) my ds will sneek and eat them cause he knows that its my favorite.

I LOVE apple jacks! Not a huge cheerio person, but those are the best!

Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
We don't do much cereal as breakfast....usually only as dry snack food. The cereals I do buy and offer are Cheerio's, multi grain Cheerios, banana Cheerio's, cinnamon Cheerio's and apple/cinnamon Cheerio's. Can you tell we LOVE Cheerio's!?!? :)

The cereals we do have at breakfast are Steel cut oats and Malt-O-Meal or Cream of Wheat.

LOL....cheerios, cheerios, cheerios.....:lol:

Originally Posted by Abigail:
For those who create menus every month and post it, do you have it say the specific cereal or do you put choice of cereal as the menu option?

Just says cereal. My menu rarely even specifies the fruit and veggies that are at each meal, leaving it up to availability, sales, seasons, and whims.

Originally Posted by Abigail:
For those who create menus every month and post it, do you have it say the specific cereal or do you put choice of cereal as the menu option?

I have the hot menu item listed (eg. pancakes or whatever) and then "Cold cereal with milk, seasonal fruit, milk (to drink)" -- that way it's open to whatever I have at the time, and whatever the kids choose. SO much easier that way!

Mmmmm....I love Cracklin' Oat Bran. Definitely try it-it tastes MUCH better than it looks!

Crackling oat bran.
 

I love Kellogs Crackling Oat Bran but I can't buy it in Canada. Why??

Giant Eagle's organic O's
I have cereal unless I get ambitious and make something else. If they want a bagel I will get it for them. I usually make something once a week. But honestly, I have little ones and they want cereal and banana and will eat it everyday!

Originally Posted by MrsSteinel'sHouse:
Giant Eagle's organic O's
I have cereal unless I get ambitious and make something else. If they want a bagel I will get it for them. I usually make something once a week. But honestly, I have little ones and they want cereal and banana and will eat it everyday!

we must have the same kids, because thats what I do too. Do you offer it dry, because thats what I do. I find that they love cereal and banana's (my own kids are crazy for banana's) but today I also gave them waffles, but they ate the cereal and asked for more. I buy all sorts now, even my own kids like to eat them as a snack.

I love Reese's Puffs. The kids MIGHT get them once a month. I have all of the low sugar cereals, but the kids don't really eat them.

My cereals have to be under 6g of sugar per serving. (This even eliminates honey nut cheerios) so regular & multigrain cheerios, ric crispies, corn flakes, kix, regular life, etc. I have 10-12 boxes in my daycare pantry. We have cereal on Monday and it's an option to the hot breakfast Tue-Fri. Plus we make homemade cereal bars for snacks. :)

The trick with cereal is to purchase something that has more than 10% of your DV in fiber and does not list sugar/sugar alternative (such as high fructose corn syrup) as one of the first 3 ingredients. You will find that this combination is nearly impossible.

I figure the fiber is most important when shopping for cereals, so I try to at least meet that goal. Usually, we end up with Cheerios, Frosted Mini Wheats, or Raisin Bran. Lately, I have been spoiling the kids with Multi Grain Cheerios, which is nowhere near as healthy as regular Cheerios.

I am bad I do alot of the big g cereals they only get cereal once a week for breakfast otherwise we use it as a snack every now and then but yeah... lucky charms, boo berry, franken berry,and the apple cinnamon cheerios. My kids wont eat "healthier" cereals. But we don't eat much cereal here... there favorites are pancakes or french toast sticks.

My food program only allows cereal with 6g or less of sugar.

I also have to state what the food is that I am serving on my menu.

My family is grain-free (we basically follow a paleo diet) and while i don't currently have any DCKs here for breakfast, I don't intend to serve cereal or other grains to those I might have int he future. I'm not on the food program so I don't have to.

I offer a choice of honey oats or cheerios.

my kids love mixed cereal. I take the container of Kix or cheerios when it is 1/2 gone and add maybe 1/4 of a sugar cereal.. froot loops or trix is a favorite... and then anything that is left in the other ceral container . Usually cheerios... mix together and they think it is WONDERFUL yet they really do not have that much sugar.

Cheerios, multigrain cheerios, kix, or oatmeal. Occassionally we have rice krispies but I hate cleaning them up so thats rare and only if the store is giving them away!

Thats it! happyface