Important Question for the Day

[Avatar]

Oh god Vain, that's revolting.

--A

[Vader]

I don't really eat cereal.

--A

[peter]

The point for me is that I have always....always..... eaten cereal last thing at night prior to going to bed. A recent program I saw on sleeping dissorders seemed to confirm that this was the correct time of day since studies showed that the consumption of 'calorific' foodstuffs [starches and sugars] tended to promote sleep, where consumption of high protein foods prior to bed-time seemed to intefere with restfull sleep.

But how to eat the stuff [the fact that the 'anti-salt' lobby's effect of having the salt content of cereals reduced to the point where what remains on the shelves is bland tasteless pap not withstanding] - I say emphatically With sufficient [but not copious] milk and lots of sugar [a heaped dessertspoon in a decent sized bowl]. There should always be sufficient milk that there remains plenty for drinking at the end - if the cereal and the milk dissapear together at the last spoonfull you have overly stinted on it. The sugar should *always* be added after the milk to prevent washing to the bottom of the bowl. The milk should be ice cold and very fresh. Lastly - any 'cereal' that is composed of 'dust' that has been recompressed back into a ring, nugget, cluster or lump should be taken to the back door and hurled as far as human might can achieve into the middle distance. There are only four types of cereal worthy of the name; cornflakes, rice crispies, weatabix, shredded wheat and sugar-puffs [and variations on a theme such as frosties or riceicles]; the rest is mulch.

[ChoChiyo]

Lastly - any 'cereal' that is composed of 'dust' that has been recompressed back into a ring, nugget, cluster or lump should be taken to the back door and hurled as far as human might can achieve into the middle distance. There are only four types of cereal worthy of the name; cornflakes, rice crispies, weatabix, shredded wheat and sugar-puffs [and variations on a theme such as frosties or riceicles]; the rest is mulch.

I agree...but I would add granola to the list of acceptable cereals--especially if it has dried fruit and nuts in it. I like that plain as well as with milk.

I also like to eat cereal for my evening meal.

[I'm Murrin]

Corn Flakes hardly count. They're just empty carbs, don't even have any fibre.

[ussusimiel]

Didn't they have to add 'nutrients' to them after some research found that rats did better being fed the cardboard boxes that the cornflakes came in rather than the cereal itself

Only ever eat the crunchy nut kind since I heard that little factlet!

u.

[StevieG]

I was pretty much a Weetbix kid and then eventually branched into cereals like Just Right, Sustain and the like. I don't really care if it's got extra sugar or whatever - as long as I'm not eating a meat pie and chips for brekkie, it's good enough for me.

[Vraith]

The point for me is that I have always....always..... eaten cereal last thing at night prior to going to bed.

That makes perfect sense, since you Brits seem to think baked bean-looking stuff belongs at breakfast.

And I have to say that if the anti-salt lobby makes your breakfast taste like crap, there is something wrong with the FOOD.

I'd even say that, at the level of usage today, the definition of cane sugar and table salt should be changed to officially mean: 1)granulated poison that makes a pile of sh)& seem desirable. For similar, see "beer goggles."

[Sorus]

Oh god Vain, that's revolting.

--A

Agreed.

[lurch]

Grape Nuts...now theres a cereal that'll make a man out of ya!!..No sugar and as crunchy and nasty as they come. Mom use to pour milk into our bowls of GrapeNuts a week ahead of time. Yeaa, thats how long it took for those hardcore granules to soften up in milk for a kids teeth to crunch 'em down. And if consumed without enough milk, they could be nasty coming out as well.

Then,,there was that opposite, Cream of Wheat..with sugar and maybe some butter mixed in to taste,,on a cold winters morning..like soup but better. I even got mom to let me try..what was it?..Maypo..maple syrup flavored kinda like Cream of Wheat..that didn't work...Cream of Wheat tho..in the winter,,and Grape Nuts in the summer..I think I actually lost a baby tooth to GrapeNuts.

[Savor Dam]

Ah, finally the conversation turns to hot cereals!

Cream of Wheat was best when either made with reduced liquid or cooked long enough to evaporate off the excess, so that it was thicker...almost like grits. (Not that I knew anything about grits until the last decade or so. I am no Southerner...but I have become acquainted with a G.R.I.T.S. and learned a few things thereby...)

Of course, I am the same way about oatmeal. Thin, it is truly grueling...make it thick! No added milk, just cinnamon and brown sugar...or scallions and soy.

Or the highest form of hot breakfast carbs: cheesy pastina with a light sprinkle of creole spice.

Does not appeal? Good. More for me.

[ChoChiyo]

Old Fashioned oatmeal with coarsely chopped pecans, raisins, dried cherries, or sliced bananas with a little milk or (if you are feelign decadent) some half and half and some brown sugar and cinnamon. it's better than cake!

[Damelon]

Grape Nuts had the capability of wearing teeth down.

I had a bowl of Cream of Wheat the other morning. No milk, just butter and maple syrup with it.

[I'm Murrin]

You people are taking this silly topic way further than I expected.

[MsMary]

Too little. Crunchy is better than soggy.

This.

Though in practice I seem to usually put too much. But I eat the cereal fast enough that it stays crunchy. Then drink the rest of the milk.

[MsMary]

Sugared cereals were verboten when I was growing up, and I think I was in my teens the first time I had one. Frosted wheats.

Oh, goodness, me, too.

Oh god Vain, that's revolting.

--A

Agreed.

And thirded.

[peter]

That 'the box has more nutritional value than the cornflakes' tale is just an urban legend that grows in the telling year on year. In years gone by Kellogs Cornflakes were a comfort food of truly epic proportions [that is when it had it's proper salt quotient V. ] - in fact as late night 'pot-head munchie fodder' it was unsurpassable. As to it's nutritional value - I defy any two of you to raise me more than four inches from the ground and that mass was built almost solely on the stuff!

[MsMary]

On that note:

I just finished my daily bowl of oatmeal. Why don't I feel full?

[I'm Murrin]

Too little. Crunchy is better than soggy.

This.

Though in practice I seem to usually put too much. But I eat the cereal fast enough that it stays crunchy. Then drink the rest of the milk.

Heh. I put my milk on before I iron my shirt for work. By the time I'm done it's nicely soaked.

[Frostheart Grueburn]

Heh. I put my milk on before I iron my shirt for work. By the time I'm done it's nicely soaked.

You dress in milk before your workshirt? How does that work?
Also what is nicely soaked?