Does everyone avoid cereal, or are there any that pass the test (in various areas, not just fortified iron)? Extra points if it’s something an 8-year-old would eat.
Does everyone avoid cereal, or are there any that pass the test (in various areas, not just fortified iron)? Extra points if it’s something an 8-year-old would eat.
Answers ( 15 )
We don't do cereal. We do a lot of eggs and bacon. My 2 1/2-year-old daughter hates cereal and has bananas every morning, and sometimes with eggs or bacon. Occasionally oatmeal.
Fruit would be a good breakfast for an 8-year-old as the gut is shut down by high cortisol levels in the morning. Fructose is absorbed passively without activating the gut.
We do oatmeal, steel-cut oats, Scottish oats – for some variety. You can make porridge with other grains too – kasha, quinoa, I make those only occasionally as my son does not like them too much.
1 cup of oats to 2 cups water, and cinnamon and honey or maple syrup for a light taste. Cook away all the water, and they will be good and done, add a little half & half or milk to help cool. I can not stand half-cooked oats. I also add prunes, raw cacao nibs, seeds, nuts, seasonal fruits, clove, nutmeg to make it tasty.
Any recommendations for gluten-free cold oatmeal?
We love these Rolled Naked Oats by Manitoba. These are 100% gluten-free and Manitoba is a trustable brand.
Box cereals yes, I've been trying to get my kids away from them. I noticed recently that organic ones aren't fortified with iron. I've been making granola and bars etc. as an alternative for a healthier, cheaper snack.
I buy only organic. I guess I'm also wondering how you can tell if a cereal has been fortified or just naturally contains iron.
By the amount of iron in the nutrition info and also it's in the ingredients. Naturally, grains have some iron. The amounts added in most commercial cereals are insane, as much as 90% daily value.
I make muesli/granola with quinoa flakes instead of oats. Mix in favorite nuts, seeds, fruit if desired. I like coconut oil or ghee and a little honey, then bake.
Homemade granola is super easy to make, many recipes online, and it is kid-approved cereal here. Oatmeal bars (like pumpkin) are another one here, easy on the go food, and can be crumbled up to eat as a cereal. Otherwise, cereal has never been bought in this house for as long as my son has been born, four years, and so he doesn't know otherwise. Fruit and toast are other breakfast foods he eats.
I make my own. Bag crushed unsweetened plantain, toasted coconut, and raisins. I add cinnamon sometimes. I use coconut cream diluted with water for milk.
That looks like a good trail mix but isn't good enough to replace a couple of yard eggs for breakfast.
Allergic to eggs. But not to uncured bacon!! Allergic to grains too. I use "cereal" as a snack, not a meal.
I have not purchased cereal in years. We have been on the Paleo diet (no grains, dairy, etc.) due to my son's PANDAS. Our doctor told us that most breakfast foods have grains, are processed, or have sugar in them.
He suggested that we eat dinner foods for breakfast. So we began eating foods like chicken, broccoli, and sweet potato or whatever we had for dinner the night before.
My son, who is 11 yrs old, said that he had more energy during school and wasn't starving by the time lunch rolled around.
No cereals here. Have an 8-year old for whom I make brekkie biscuits
or raw cake or pancakes (with sorghum or spelt),
or breakfast icecream ( coconut raw honey and liquid minerals and raw cacao or beetroot powder),
or eggs,
or flapjack,
or coconut yogurt,
or fruit sticks (literally kebab sticks with fruit on it),
or melon,
or fruit plates.
I make breakfast porridge:
Let soak overnight and serve topped with fresh fruit and walnuts. Makes several servings.
I make stovetop granola around once a week during the school year (search google for recipes; I just eyeball things at this point). My son needs to eat ASAP when he wakes up, so I keep a box of Nature's Path Heritage Flakes (box cereal) where he can reach them.
Bob Red Mill's has gluten-free oatmeal. I have to go to either Sprouts or Earth Fare to find it. My regular grocery stores used to carry it, but lately, I haven't been able to find it at Krogers or Publix.
We avoid boxed cereals. It's not just the iron; it's the extrusion process that makes them anti-nutrient. But following a WAPF diet, we do eat grains. We just soak or sprout them. I buy one degree sprouted wheat or spelt flours for pancakes, waffles, and baking. We do oatmeal and French toast with traditionally prepared sourdough. And of course, we do pastured eggs, bacon, sausage. Also, goats yogurt with raw local honey.
Most cereals are extruded under high heat/high pressure. This renders your fats rancid. If your cereal is a whole grain (like most organic), then that is even worse as the grains still have their oils. We used to eat grains (homemade- soaked pancakes, porridge, etc.) most days for breakfast, but my kids now prefer eggs most days.
Eggs with pesto, eggs with cheese and sauerkraut, eggs with a kefir smoothie, when we get tired of eggs, we take a day off and make a grain-free pancake or crepes or sourdough pancakes if we have the starter going. I really like the cashew waffle recipe from against all grain.
Flaxseed cinnamon muffins are a yummy alternative to cereals or yogurt with berries and flaked almonds or chopped pecans or toasted walnuts and a drizzle of maple syrup if a little sweetness is needed!