I was raised in a cereal family and have a cereal family of my own now. That means we eat a lot of breakfast cereal and not just for breakfast! Cereal is often a snack food and yes, sometimes, even a dinner food on really hectic days. Just like with other things though we are learning that we need to improve on some classics to make it easier to include them in our healthier food choices. Recently Big G sent my family three of the new cereals to try out.
Honey Nut Cheerios Medley Crunch is a combination of Honey Nut O’s, flakes, and clusters. For those that can never make up their mind, this is the cereal for you! Fiber One Chocolate has the fewest calories per serving out of all they sent, just 80 calories for 3/4 cup (cereal only) as compared to 120 calories for 3/4 cup (cereal only) for the other two. The name, Fiber One, clues you in that this is a bit higher in fiber with 9g of dietary fiber which is 35% of our recommended daily amount needed. Hubby wasn’t a huge fan of this one, but that doesn’t surprise me. Having said that, when I try it will probably be the one I like best. The Peanut Butter Toast Crunch was the favorite in our house, Hubby and T are both peanut butter fanatics, this box was finished off first! Hubby notices that these cereals aren’t like what we grew up with as kids which were super sugary, but they still have a good taste. T does not notice the difference as much because cereals have been changing for the better his entire lifetime.
All of these Big G cereals have whole grain as the first ingredient, this is a good thing! Whole grains are better for us! All Big G cereals have at least 9 grams on whole grain per serving – it is recommended we get 48 grams per day. Now all of these cereals have sugar also, but not like what we used to see at all. All of these things let us keep cereal in our diets and feel better about the choices we are making.
Another big thing is portion size. All of us need to be more mindful of this. My tip to help with portion size on cereal is to use plastic containers to pour cereal into for storage. Make sure they have a wide enough opening though to put in your hand and a 3/4 cup scoop, do not use the pour spout type. Use smaller bowls also – bowls in servingware sets have really gone up in size – find smaller ones that fit the correct portion size better. This helps adults and kids be more aware of food portions!
For those curious about me and cereals since my surgery, currently I cannot have them, but I will be able to eat cereal again down the road. Low to zero sugar added will be my best choices. Cheerios and Chex are actually mentioned by name as good choices in much of the literature. Since I was on a liquid diet for a while before surgery I did not have a chance to taste these cereals yet myself, but I assure you Hubby and T are good about sharing their opinions!
What is your favorite Big G Cereal and what is your favorite time of day to eat it?
Disclosure: As mentioned, I was provided samples of these foods for review. Opinions are my own.
© 2013, Robyn Wright. All rights reserved.
