Sneaky Cereal Fun
My kids love Honey Nut Cheerios.
I don’t.
Have you ever read the label? Honey Nut Cheerios is chuck full of of sugar. It only has slightly less sugar than Honeycombs, Lucky Charms or Golden Grahams- all cereals I would put in the dessert rather than healthy breakfast category. Cheerios only has 1 gram of sugar for a cup vs. 9 grams from Honey Nut for a 3/4 cup.
The only problem is… I can hardly get my kids to eat regular Cheerios when I buy it.
Several weeks ago, I had the box of regular Cheerios languishing in my cupboard, when my husband brought home a new box of Honey Cheerios from Costco. Next to the Honey Nut that poor old box of regular didn’t stand a chance.
Then I had a brainwave. I mixed the two cereals half and half in my plastic cereal container and didn’t say a word.
Much to my delight and surprise, no one, not even my husband detected the deception. They are the same size and color after all. And the half Honey Nut provided plenty of that sweet taste they love.
Now I’m the first to admit… this still isn’t the ideal breakfast, but with half the sugar than it used to have… I’m pretty darn happy about the compromise.
I make Mary Margaret eat the whole grain Cheerios. She’s been eating them so long she doesn’t know they’re the “healthy” Cheerios. :-)
Had to smile when I read your entry today. My sons are 30, 28, and 26 now, but I did the same thing with the Cheerios when they were young. As a dental hygienist, I had the same concerns that you have with the regular Cheerios. My adult sons jokingly use this as an example of how “bad” I was as a mother, along with other sugary things they were “deprived” of. Of course, I reply that they are healthy and handsome today because of me!!
Awesome!! That’s a great trick!
Pretty clever! Isn’t it great when you trick them into eating a little bit healthier? ha ha I’m diabetic so I eat healthy Cheerio’s all the time but with a little splenda.
ohh, I love this!! I am going to try it,, and swipe your idea for my next tupperware party :D if you dont’ mind
I love this and have done the same thing combining a favorite high-sugar cereal with a “less appealing” variety. I’d love to get rid of them all personally and stick with hot cereals and other breakfast foods, but I think that will take some miracle working. SIGH
Awesome – I love it! Just don’t let them catch on!!! :)
Brilliant – I am so doing this! Thanks for sharing.
we love the multigrain cheerios around here. and I cut them approximately 50-50 with the regular ones.
You ARE sneaky ~ and so smart!
I switch several things and my husband has never caught on:
~ decaf coffee in the old regular coffee can ;)
~ veggie crumbles instead of ground beef in the chili (I heard him telling a friend on the phone about the great chili I made!)
~ low fat cream cheese and sugar free strawberry jam instead of the real deal (he did catch me on that one and was very surprised that he couldn’t tell the difference.) :)
I do the half & half mix, too. We love it. It’s a great compromise between the near-zero sugar and the higher sugar content.
On that note, I’ll divulge the fact that this year, the Easter bunny is bringing each of our kids their own box of sugary cereal. A *huge* treat in our household.
Oh smarty pants you! Great idea. Luckily “we” still dig the regular “O O’s” as we call them here…but I am sure soon she will discover the others. Will certainly keep this in mind.