There was a time in my children’s lives when they were blissfully unaware of sugary cereals. They were too young for Saturday morning TV and PBS, thankfully, didn’t show such things in between “Barney” and “Thomas the Tank Engine”. We served them the healthiest cereals we could find which, back then was quite expensive since “healthy” wasn’t so mainstream. But then one day, the oldest child heard about the honey-coated version of the basic “o’s” they’d been eating and that was it. She was hooked and quickly drew her younger siblings over to the dark, sugary side. Soon, they were demanding cereals with bright colors, swirls, frosting and chocolate chips. “That’s not breakfast!” I’d cry. “That’s dessert!” As a compromise of sorts, I said they could buy one box of “junk” cereal per month, IF it was on sale. But the rest of the time, it was their healthy circles, flakes and pillows of wheaty goodness. It worked to a point but the “good stuff” is a powerful seductress in a bowl, languishing in milk just waiting to be devoured.
For a particularly early staff meeting at Colorado Parent, we decided to set up a cereal bar. Being curious about Mom’s Best Natural cereals (available only at Albertsons in Colorado), we went to town trying them out*. I liked the idea that Mom’s Best has their own healthier versions of some of the more “recognizable” cereals but without artificial colors, hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup. That meant I stood a chance of convincing my kids to try them.
Being the environmentally-conscious lot that we are at work, we also approved of the fact that the company packages all of its cereals in recycled paperboard and purchases 100 percent of the electricity consumed by cereal production from a network of wind turbines.
Yes, one can get much of that from the “healthier” cereals but Mom’s Best is cheaper by close to 10 cents per ounce which does add up when you have major cereal-eaters like I do both at home and at the office. We tried Toasted Cinnamon Squares, Honey-ful Wheat, Honey Grahams and Mallow-Oats, being kids at heart. In every case, we liked the Mom’s Best version better or as well as the “big name” versions we were used to. In order to have any left to test out on my children, I had to rip the boxes out of my co-workers’ hands!
The kiddos agreed with the adults and gobbled up the cereals that saying they liked the light texture and that they weren’t too sweet. They particularly liked the flavor of the milk after the Cinnamon Squares. They admitted that the more colorful boxes and prizes in the big-brand cereals were more enticing but all agreed that since the taste was basically the same (or better), they’d be perfectly happy having the cheaper, healthier, better-for-the-environment Mom’s Best cereals. Good kids!
* We received samples of the cereals from Mom’s Best Naturals.
Everyone Around the Table 
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