I was recently talking to a friend of mine about cereal. Sure there are the adult variety like Honey Bunches of Oats or even some of the Kashi cereals that are not only healthy (and uber fiber-filled), but pretty tasty too. But what we were talking about were the good cereals. The kinds you had as a kid (if you're mom allowed it). The kind that were more colorful than a rainbow, sweeter than a sugar cube and guaranteed to have some sort of cutesy animal on the box.
As a kid, my mom was semi strict when it came to cereals. For the most part, no obvious sugar cereals. So something like Frosted Flakes (which is nothing more than Corn Flakes with six crates of sugar poured in) was a no no. Yet, something like Alpha-Bits was fine. Maybe it was the educational value of it. Marshmallow cereals like Lucky Charms were oddly enough okay too. As were the occasional Fruit Loops, Trix or Apple Jacks. The one hard and fast rule, though, was: "No chocolate cereals!"
"But mom, you make us chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast on the weekends," I'd say. Or rather, whine.
"No."
"But moooooom, there's a funny looking bird on the box who's going cuckoo!"
"No."
"But Chris has it every morning for breakfast and when I sleep over I get to have some!"
"I said no!"
"But mom, there's actually LESS sugar in this chocolate cereal than in the Fruit Loops you always buy us."
Yeah, those were the days we came home with real boring cereals like plain old icky Wheaties.
Lately I've been craving some old standbys that I probably haven't eaten in seriously over a decade. Golden Grahams. Honeycomb. Super Sugar Crisp. (Which I think has since dropped the "super" in its title and gone "Golden.") Sugar Pops. (Which I know has dropped the "sugar" in its name for obvious reasons. Too bad they didn't do that when I was a kid!) Oh, and especially Fruity Pebbles! I used to only get those when I slept over my friend Chris' house. Yeah, he had the best cereal collection around.
And now that I think of it, I doubt I've ever even tried Cocoa Puffs in my entire life. I was such a deprived child, wasn't I? I may have to make it a new life goal to try a box. I know, I know. Talk about insane.
COUPON TIME:
Ah, cereal. The ultimate meal that literally any guy can cook. So in honor of the perfect anytime food, here's a list of some great food coupons. I figured I'd mix it up a bit and include some coupons for stores selling cooking utensils, some selling prepared food ready to eat or cook, and some selling pretty big discounts on local restaurants. Eat up!
$15 off a purchase of $100 or more at Cooking.com
Use this link to get the coupon code and terms of the offer.
Valid through: December 31, 2008
$5 off orders over $29 at DavidsCookies.com
Plus free shipping
Use coupon code HWNLS529A.
Valid through: October 31, 2008
1
0% off online orders at Legal Seafoods
Use coupon code AFL1928.
Valid through: November 30, 2008
Save up to 65% & get THREE FREE GIFTS at OmahaSteaks.com
Free Gifts are: 6 FREE Omaha Steaks Burgers, a FREE 6-Piece Cutlery Set and a FREE Cutting Board.
Use this link to activate the offer. Valid through: December 31, 2008
$5 off orders at ThePopcornFactory.com
Use promotion code SPOOKY5 at checkout.
Valid through: October 31, 2008
Cannot be combined with any other offer.
Extra 60% off Dining Certificates at Restaurant.com
Use discount code SAVOR.
Valid through: October 26, 2008 11:59pm CT
This discount is in addition to the everyday discounts at Restaurants.com. So if you buy a $25 Certificate for $10 and use a 60% off coupon, you pay only $4! The $10 gift applies to every order, not to every certificate purchase. Gift code will automatically appear on order confirmation.
6 Responses to “Cereal Killer”
Thanks for the memories! I remember doing the cereal aisle whine as well over Froot Loops saying "but Mom, it has fruit in it!" and my Mom's counter-argument was, "Fruit is spelt Froot on the box, no way it can be good for you!" It was hard to argue with that one. But her rule of thumb was that sugar could not be one of the top 3 ingredients. That pretty much left us with Cheerios and something that was like chewing on cardboard.
@Kyle - Hah. Nice try on the fruit! And yeah, I think we had the "first ingredient can't be sugar" rule too. You had the top 3, though. That's like super tough!
I did manage to convince my mom that "King Vitamin" was a nutritious cereal. It was yummy too. I think the first five ingredients were sugar.
after read your post, now I know how lucky I am that my parents never forbid me,
which cereal I want to choose...
but fyi, only a few of various cereal that sold in my country...
hehehee
My mom would NEVER let us get anything other than like raisin bran or special k. Now as an adult I buy all the bad for you cereals they have. My favorites are Pops and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Hmmm....now I have to go eat a bowl of cereal this post and commenting made me hungry. lol
Thanks for the memories. I still have my cheerios and alpha-bits - it must have been knocked into me because I no longer have any interest in the sugary types. I remember how the cerial companies put toys or some "collectable" trinket in the box to entice us. My mother knew that as soon as the toy was found the cereal box would be gathering dust.