What's your favorite breakfast cereal?

[unclemick]

On 'good days' - two slices of 100% whole wheat toast with honey and green tea with an orange.

On my 'bad to the bone days(usually 3 times a week)' - a golden glaze apple Fritter/black coffee and a big bowl of B.S - with fellow retirees down at the the doughnut shop.



heh heh heh -

 

[Arc]

Yes Arc.. I was devastated when Quisp disappeared. I mourned him. (Quake, OTOH was a pointless re-creation of Captain Crunch).

ladelfina - interesting that you mentioned Captain Crunch - it became a staple after Quisp disappeared. Another one in the rotation was Count Chocula! I think I've actually seen that still on the shelves.

Now I feel guilty for yelling at my kids for eating "sugar cereal." Going to go get them a box of Quisp!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Eh, the "bad" cereal isnt that bad anymore. On our last trip to the grocery store, I chose a box of nice organic cereal in an earth friendly box from the natural foods aisle for him, but when we were in the cereal aisle getting honey, he insisted on the box of "dora the explorer" cereal that he saw.

On getting home and looking at the ingredients and nutritional content, his pick won. The stuff I got was primarily corn and sugar syrup, the stuff he bought was whole grain/multigrain, vitamin and mineral enriched, had more fiber and was otherwise nutritionally superior in every way.

Oh, and it was half the price. :

 

[Dreamer]

On my 'bad to the bone days(usually 3 times a week)' - a golden glaze apple Fritter/black coffee and a big bowl of B.S - with fellow retirees down at the the doughnut shop.



heh heh heh -

Having an Apple Fritter 3 days a week, might not be that healthy (to put it nicely), but being social and having friends is healthy. Besides, we need you guys to solve the problems of the world!!

 

[calmloki]

Cooking technique with oatmeal?

After seeing Khan's post on not cooking at 400 degrees if you can't open windows.... What i've been doing since the summer, when i didn't really want to be boiling a pot of water for 10 minutes, is to bring the water and craisins or raisins to a boil, toss in the oatmeal and bring back to a full boil, and then turn off the gas and cover for an appropriate time. Doesn't waste gas or add unwanted heat and humidity to the house, and makes for a really easy to clean pot - no sticking, no problem if you space the fact that you are cooking! How do you all cook your openmeal? Anyone make great quantities and then nuke the leftover as a neighbor does?

 

[ladelfina]

Arc, but bizarrely.. (according to memory and confirmed by the Quisp site so kindly provided by Razor) QUAKE demolished Quisp in the company's "voting" and in theory would have been on the market longer, in direct competition with the Captain! Cap'n /Captain Crunch I know has had a much longer recent life than Quake. I don't recall seeing much of Quake after Quisp went up the river.

I never got the Count Chocula vibe. I preferred the rice-based Cocoa Krispies (turned the milk into chocolate milk!), or in a pinch, Cocoa Puffs ("I'm Coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs!"). Isn't Count Chocula just a copy of Cocoa Puffs with a more attention-grabbing mascot? Correct me if I'm wrong.

Life was not bad at all.. I'm happily surprised it's still around.

I also enjoyed Sugar Pops (which became Corn Pops) and Sugar Smacks (which became Honey Smacks). We also had Lucky Charms from time to time.. but I wavered off & on between thinking the dried marshmallow bits were yummy or were skeevy/slimy. The oat base was ok and I still am one of the few people who will happily eat oatmeal. There's not really any oatmeal of any kind available in our area of Italy. It's just not eaten, so when/if I do come across it I am wary of its freshness; I just don't bother with it anymore.


I'll let you all in on a failed experiment:
I do like oatmeal.. and I wondered why it wasn't as popular as other cereals like wheat, rice, corn, etc. So I cooked up a bunch of plain oatmeal and seasoned it with everything under the sun (well, everything in my pantry). Cheese and oats? sux. Curry and oats? sux. Various herbs and oats? Unh-uh. Tomato-based stuff and oats? Plain butter 'n' salt? neh.

Basically anything savory that would work with most grains just failed to fill the bill when it came to oats. All the other grains can kinda "swing both ways". Has anyone found otherwise? Outside of the Scottish dish haggis, I have never heard of a savory oat recipe. Not ever having tried, nor being about to clamor for, haggis.. any other indications, anyone?


Calmloki, I used to use your technique for oatmeal and use it now for rice and it works great.

 

[Goonie]

Fruit Loops.. Come on you know you like em.

When we're on vacation and stay in a hotel that has the little boxes of cereal, if they have Fruit Loops I grab a box (or 2) to take with us. They make a nice snack to munch on whiling cruising down the highway. I never really cared for them with milk though.....just dry.

 

[W2R]

You can make oatmeal cookies and you can make spaghetti with marinara, but you can't make oatmeal marinara or spaghetti cookies.

Glad to be of help.

 

[P.S.]

Calmloki, I used to use your technique for oatmeal and use it now for rice and it works great.

Wah?!!
Ladelfina: If I had the luxury of being you, I would have a yummy pasta and tall glass of cafe latte every morning.

* To get fiber into your diet painlessly, grate an apple into the oatmeal while it's cooking. This also gives you something to do besides just stir.

* And no, I can't eat fruit Loops or any cereal like that without actually feeling large molecules of sugar attacking the enamel on my teeth.

 

[ladelfina]

Ladelfina: If I had the luxury of being you, I would have a yummy pasta and tall glass of cafe latte every morning.

P.S. .. and what is stopping you now, wherever you are, from doing just that?


Last I saw (not much more than a month ago) in the (East Coast) Stop&Shop and the A&P there was Barilla/DeCecco/DelVerde pasta and Lavazza ground coffee.

"the luxury of being me".. I'll have to cogitate on that. Depends on what the "deprivation" of being You is!!!
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A GREAT breakfast/brunch dish I could easily countenance (aside from re-heated pizza) is a nice spaghetti carbonara. Anyone in the US can make it. tho' the taste of bacon is a bit different than either "pancetta" or the more traditional "guanciale". Forget CFB's cream.. completely unauthentic and an extra complication.

For two healthy portions:
First, set a big bunch a water a boiling.

Start frying up several slices of bacon cut in little strips or squares (about 4 oz.... 1/4 pound). While this starts you can either a.) ignore it beyond the odd stir or so.. or b.) dice up 1/2 an onion and add it right quick. If you opt for the non-onion version you can try tossing a tablespoon or two of cider vinegar in the frying bacon. In theory this "crisps" it faster. I like both versions yet have never tried BOTH onion AND vinegar.

Then measure out (for 2 good portions) a half-pound of spaghetti.
Some use rigatoni or ziti.

NOW go get a medium or big bowl. This will be the "serving bowl"' or "a" large bowl to be used by one of the commensals. For two people, put in one whole egg and one yolk and beat until homogenous. NOW (the water is boiling, right..? so put in your spaghetti; De Cecco 12 minutes.. AND a half-tablespoon of salt, more or less-- the water should be salty like the sea.) Keep an eye on the bacon! Turn off the heat when it starts getting brown/crispy a bit (to taste). NOW grate into the beaten egg a BIG handful of Parmesan Cheese (almost two handfuls) and mix it in. The consistency should be like a pancake/cake batter. More or less won't hurt, necessarily, but a good medium is "batter"-like. Grind in a nice wad of black pepper. Ignore the (now off-the heat so not-burning, right?) bacon or bacon/onion mixture UNTIL the pasta timer bell rings and the pasta is done and you drain the spaghetti well and quickly throw it into the dish with the cheese/egg mixture and stir like the devil so that the eggs stay nice and silky and don't have time or means to coagulate into little annoying scrambled-egg lumps.. and THEN you throw in your nicely-browned bacon or bacon/onion mix and stir stir stir stir stir and eat and it is heaven!
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Time required (as with all basic pasta sauces) = 20-25min: the time for the water to boil and the pasta to cook. The sauce is done in parallel.


I opt these days for a slice of toasted bread (preferably IMPORTED FROM ROME/LAZIO since Tuscan bread has no salt) with a slice of prosciutto from more or less anywhere in Italy, as it happens, sometimes with "fresh" (packaged) mozzarella.

AND American "long" coffee (Italian DH's choice over the "short" moka/espresso) made in a $19 Braun coffeemaker that cost us about $80 here! Argh. I used to like coffee w/cream but no sugar/sweetener. Now I go for black w/ a bit of sugar. Don't think I could ever get used to "straight" black coffee.

I know what you mean about the sugar. I lost my sweet tooth long ago.