Why I Stopped Buying Boxed Cereal…
Even though we talk a lot about food and what food bring to our body we are human beings with desires. Desires around food. Our kids like all kids want to eat candy, fast food, boxed Mac and Cheese and pizza pops. Do you know what I say YES. I know how horrendous they are nutritionally. I know that they are laden with anti-nutrients and chemicals. I also know they eat them seldom. I also belief in teaching our kids to have a healthy relationship with ALL foods. To not fear foods and to understand what affects that they have on their body. I belief in teaching moderation and that absence makes the heart grow founder!
That being said this summer I said good BYE to boxed cereal as being a regular staple in our pantry. This breakfast food became a slippery slope in our house. I loved that it gave our kids independence and me and my husband a bit of flexibility in our morning routines. However, as I watched my son pour himself a cauldron sized bowl of cereal and my youngest begging for a second bowl full because she was STARRRRVING. I stood there wide eyed. I wanted to scold my son for the amount that he poured (queue shame) and tell my daughter there was no way that she was hungry again already (she probably was). I realised we had lost moderation and a healthy relationship with this food. Moods were flailing and ability to concentrate was dwindling. I decided I had to step in and make a change.
Is breakfast really that big of a deal.
YES! Breakfast set us up for a successful day. Helps to improve concentration, ability to learn and to regulate emotions. There are piles of studies on adults that indicate that eating a savoury breakfast can stabilises ones blood sugar and prevent a cascade cravings, hunger and lagging energy through your day. Starting your day with a breakfast high in protein, good portion of nourishing fats (1-2tbsp) and fibre sets you up for success. While I know this sounds like a lot or even impossible I decided to try even if it meant meeting them half way.
The problem with boxed cereal.
When I started paying attention to what was in the long list of ingredients on the back of our kids favourite cereal; even the organic ones. It was highly processed grains and sugar (sugar and sugar). Along with chemicals to preserve these shelf stable foods, dyes to make them fun, articial flavours and in the non-organic brands there are more and reports to traces of herbicides and pesticides. YUCK!
Where the problem is, is that these are quickly digested and break down into glucose and fructose. Hmmm….. this was an invitation to jump abort the glucose rollercoaster. Even if their little bodies could metabolise the sugars effectively there was nothing in there to sustain their energy, focus or mood through the morning to snack time. No protein. No fat.
So what do I feed our kids.
I did say that I met them halfway. I first asked them. If you didn’t have cereal what would you eat? I got bagel and butter, peanut butter and toast, yoghurt, homemade granola, eggs and toast, pancakes, French taost. While these aren’t all perfect and are not containing the full triad of fibre, fat and protein. They are all way better than sugar and sugar. Bagels while they are still a processed grain they do go mouldy so there are more living nutrients and less chemical than a box of cereal. Add some butter (fat) and an egg (protein) we are 2/3 of the way there. Cooked oats is another favourite. Instead of water to cook it I use milk. Add a dollop of nut butter (fat) and add some raw cacao and flax seed (fibre) at the very end. I then top it with hemp seeds (protein). In the spirit of encouraging balance and positive relationships with food we have introduce foods that our kids still enjoy and want to eat but set them up better for the day.
While I am not big on eliminating foods from ones diet. We have removed boxed cereal from our DAILY rotation for the foreseeable future. I have been surprised how smooth the transition has been. Our girls now wake up and instead of pouring a bowl of cereal they make porridge or scramble up some eggs. It just shows when given an oppurtunity we can rise if we so choose.
Do you struggle with breakfast food ideas? Check out our New Online cooking class Breakfast Basics coming in February! Until then checkout some of my favourite recipes for breakfast:
