putting the cereal in heart, sole & cereal

a few days ago i saw this cereal survey on amanda's blog. if you haven't read her blog head over there immediately because she is seriously the best. her posts always make me smile and often give me the much needed dose of reality i crave when the rest of the blog world gets a little cray. amanda and i are extremely different cereal eaters - she's a breakfast devotee (though i think she - like me - could eat it for every meal of a day) whereas i prefer to eat my cereal as a nighttime snack. though we might disagree on the optimal timing for cereal consumption i know we agree on one thing - cereal is the bee's knees.

how often do you eat cereal? i go through phases where i sometimes don't have it as a snack, but for the most part i have cereal every single day. a large bowl of cereal in bed is my favorite way to cap off a night.

do you measure out one serving or are you a free pourer? depends on how drunk i am. kidding. (not really). i used to religiously measure but i'm a pretty free pourer now. i also pretty much know about how much makes up a serving size of my various favorites, so i do try to keep myself in check. if anyone's curious: "in check" for me is about three servings at a time. one serving of cereal is obnoxiously small.

what is the last kind of cereal you ate? peanut butter puffins. i think i had half a box last friday night.

what is your favorite "healthy" cereal? anything kashi, but without a doubt my very favorite is kashi go lean crunch. you don't see it on my cereal shelf because i keep a large tub of the stuff on a separate shelf which i refill regularly so that i have the quickest access to it and don't have to fight with a box. if have been known to papercut myself trying to rip into a box of cereal. i can go through 3 boxes a week without batting an eye.

what is your favorite "unhealthy" cereal? i hate labels. what is "unhealthy", anyway? the one's that aren't so good for me are good for my soul so that balances itself out in my book. if i have to name call, i guess i'd say waffle crisp. or reese's puffs.

what is your favorite fruity cereal? i think trix. i don't eat much fruity cereal these days (though kashi go lean crisp toasted berry crumble is tasty) and i HATE berry cereal - dehydrated strawberries creep me out - but i love some fake fruit cereals. fruity pebbles, apple jacks...i'll eat em all.

what is your favorite chocolatey cereal? coooooooookie crisp. i don't really eat a TON of chocolate-y cereal, but i did have a fondness for that back in the day. OH WAIT, would reese's puffs count here? if so, then those.

what is one cereal you can't stand? anything with the word bran in the name. just...no.

what kind of milk do you prefer in your cereal? almond milk all the way. i started using almond milk as a way to cut calories a long time ago but honestly it has nothing to do with that anymore. i don't like cow juice in my cereal anymore. confession time: when i was younger i used half and half in my cereal. i don't know how this came about, and i don't know how my mom let it go on, but i loved it. in college i secretly loved when the 2% and skim milk were out in the milk dispensers because it meant i'd let myself have whole milk which was a reminder of the deliciousness that was my half-n-half past. please, try to still respect me. now i just like the nuttiness almond milk brings to the table. oh and chocolate almond milk? FORGET ABOUT IT. try it now.

what was your favorite cereal as a kid? i loved waffle crisp a LOT. the only person who liked waffle crisp more than me was my boyfriend in college who could not control himself around a box of the stuff. fond memories of eating box upon box whenever we could find it at the store (which was disappointingly rare). i also really liked cinnamon toast crunch and frosted flakes, but i'd have to say my very favorite was quaker 100% natural oats and honey granola.

did you ever buy a box of cereal just for the toy inside? hmmm, i think in the time period in which i really cared about the toy inside the box was a time in which i was not buying my own cereal. i do recall fighting over the toy in the box with my brothers though, so you might say i bought cereal box toys with my blood, sweat and dignity.

what is the most amount of cereal you've eaten in one sitting? a box. it happens sometimes, what can i say. you live, you learn, you try to do better next time. and by better i mean make sure you have more in your stock so you don't have to stop just because you reach the bottom of a box ;)

best cereal for snacking on dry? ooooh this is a tough one. i really like simply maize dry. i also really like puffins dry, but only the peanut butter variety. not a fan of the chocolate. i haven't tried the cinnamon puffins yet but i imagine i'll like those a lot and they will be good dry too. you can't go wrong with waffle crisp or rice krispies treats cereal dry. or, you can go wrong but it's one of those "so wrong it's right" type of situations. i rarely walk past my pantry without snagging a handful of dry cereal.

do you put fruit/sugar/other toppings in/on your cereal? i don't often put toppings on my cereal but i do use cereal AS a topping all the time. i like it on yogurt, i like it on oatmeal, i like it on (or in) my pancakes, on frozen yogurt...you name it, i'll top it with cereal. my favorite cereal-as-a-topper is kashi honey sunshine.

now, go get yourself a box, a bowl and some milk and let's meet for a cereal date.

<3