No colors & No flavoring.....What cereal do you buy?

L D

I was grocery shopping and reading labels on the cereal boxes.  What kids cereal (if there are any) is a good kind to buy?  All of my kids regular favs are now on the long list of nos.  Which is fine because just taking out the junky cereal and the fruit snacks I have seen a difference in how agressive and over active L is.  

Also, I am really new to this what other things do you look out for other than dyes and flavoring?  The only whole foods store near us is about 30mins away.  Not a problem when I was working that way but I havent been there in probably 3-4wks.  I guess I could start making a trip once a month and stock up on some things.  Snacks and cereal seem to be my issue right now.  I found dye & flavor free gatorade at Walmart so thats a plus.  

 ETA: Also yougurt?  My kids love it but Im not sure what to buy.  They have never had Greek yogurt so I bought some for them to try.  Its rather $$ though for the amount they like to eat.  (usually one for bfast and if not for a snack later in the day)  So basically 3 a day, 7days a week.  

 

ghm

Auntie's right--you've got envirokids, which is usually rather cheap. Also, cascadian farms is always on sale at my Kroger.

We eat a lot of oatmeal--I buy a big bag of frozen fruit and make a huge batch of it each week.

Yogurt--I buy either stonyfield farms or dannon natural. I sometimes buy greek yogurt for Bella, but it's more expensive so I generally stay away. I make my own yogurt, too (not always, this is something I go through in spurts). I can tell you how if you'd like. I then can sweeten it with whatever I want, and sometimes puree fruit to go in there. 

juniper19

Cheerios. And oatmeal is even better. Real oatmeal, not the packets you just add water too.You can get Greek yogurt in large tubs - that should save some money. There are also different brands, so make sure you're getting the cheapest.

Bride2b2004

juniper19:

Cheerios.

 This.

Melett

My kids eat cheerios-they are probably so sick of them now tho..I do make oatmeal a lot too for me and DD, ds doesn't like it. I make the old fashioned kind not the packs..

femmegem

Oatmeal is my favorite, too. I like the conventional kind,  but I've heard good things about steel cut oats as well. Make sure they're not the quick cooking kind. Those aren't as healthy. I add milk (well, soy milk since I'm lactose intolerant), honey, and then whatever fruit we have around, typically strawberries or blueberries. I often use the frozen berries because they stay longer. Also bananas. I switch it up sometimes and use brown sugar and cinnamon. I love oatmeal and so does DS1, who's VERY picky. It's so yummy, but also really healthy.

penguingrrl

We do cheerios, bran flakes, raisin bran, steel cut oatmeal. No "kids" cereals since those are often really sugary. We buy Trader Joe's brand, which is really cheap and has no added ingredients, but that only works if you have a TJs near you. As far as yogurt, I again buy TJs brand, but usually buy theirs as seed and make my own. I would love to do all greek yogurt, but it's too expensive at the amount my kids and I eat it as well. It is heavenly  though. We do plain yogurt and serve with fruit and granola to sweeten it up. DH and DD1 sometimes add a touch of honey as well. DD2 doesn't like yogurt at all.

AggieCouple

Honey nut cheerios is a good option available at mainstream markets.  Whole Foods actually carries it in their cereal aisle, and they're super picky about their choices.  We also do the Annie's bunny cereal, but for some reason, it is not good with milk, so they eat it and drink the milk.

I've actually started baking a lot of fruit (apple, blueberry, banana) or zucchini muffins.  I cut the sugar by about half, and replace half the flour with whole wheat.  Flour actually contains a pretty good amount of protein, particularly if you use a brand like King Arthur, and muffins are more mobile.  I bake them in the mini muffin pans so they pack easily.  It's actually the only way I can get TB to eat banana (he has no idea).  So I can pack both protein and fruit/veg into their breakfast.

JellymanKelly

We like Annie's Bunny O's. They have more sugar than Cheerios (7g compared with 1g), so we like to alternate them. Plus, DS (the baby, since the big one won't eat cereal) gets tired of cheerios if he has them too often. The Annie's cereal is more expensive, though, so I don't know if it might be cost-prohibitive if you are feeding 3 kids. I got mine at Super Target, by the way, but they do sell it in the regular grocery store.

veloelle

We stopped eating cereal. We do whole wheat toast (homemade bread machine) with fruit and cheese or milk. Homemade pancakes, waffles, etc. No syrup because it makes DD a lunatic. I use peanut butter or a little jam for dipping. We'll make large batches on the weekends and throw them in the toaster. I gave her multigrain Cheerios last weekend and she was a disaster all morning. They only get dry cereal as snacks. I've never been one to buy into the whole sugar thing, but it does affect DD.

kittycarr

We buy Cheerios/Honey Nut Cheerios and regular Kix.  I eat, and sometimes they do too, the Fiber One Honey Clusters.  

Temp970088312507122

We do Cheerios or Cascadian Farms when it's on sale. They have natural kids cereals - mine liked the Fruity-O's. We also do a lot of oatmeal and multigrain waffles. I don't use syrup, just fruit spread.