Have I told you that my #1 favorite food is cereal? I think there’s something genetic about this love that I have, because it is shared by most of my siblings. We can (and will) eat cereal any time of the day, any day of the week, any week of the year. It is completely acceptable for breakfast, lunch or dinner, and also as a snack throughout the day. I’m a fairly picky eater and really have issues with eating the same meal more than twice in a row (once for dinner, and once for lunch the following day). But cereal is something that NEVER gets old to me.
I’ve actually always felt rather smug about my chosen favorite food. I mean, it isn’t cheesecake or chocolate or pasta with Alfredo sauce…it’s cereal. Cereal is good for you. My go-to meal is healthy! Hooray!
Well, not exactly.
What I haven’t mentioned is that I eat kid cereal. I’ll eat more grown-up stuff if needed. But if I’m the one buying, what goes in my cart are things like Lucky Charms, Cocoa Puffs and Cap’n Crunch (and their generic equivalents, hello budget!). While there are definitely worse things that I could be eating, those cereals are LOADED with sugar and they don’t have as many vitamins and minerals or as much fiber as I always assumed they did. It won’t be too terribly long before Darah is eating cereal, and I don’t think I’m doing her any favors if I put Cinnamon Toast Crunch down in front of her. Something’s got to change, I think!
I’ve found a brand of breakfast foods that is surprisingly delicious and that really is good for you! Check out Nature’s Path, North America’s #1 organic cereal manufacturer! I was sent a variety of products to sample, and I’m so excited to get to tell you all about them.
The cereals I tried, first and foremost, had the most satisfying crunch that I have ever experienced in a cereal (and folks, I’ve had A LOT of cereal in my 29 years on this planet). I absolutely loved how well this stuff could hold its own in a bowl of milk! Everything also tasted delicious, though I will say that most everything was not as sweet as my beloved Lucky Charms. I found myself putting half sweet stuff and half Nature’s path into a bowl, and that was a real treat. I think I’ve found the magic ticket to weaning myself off the sugar!
One cereal that I really want to highlight, though, is their Crunchy Vanilla Sunrise. Now this cereal totally knocked my socks off. It had so many different textures and it was sweet without being too sweet. I will most definitely be buying this cereal the very next time I see it in a store, and I suggest you do the same. Just trust the cereal connoisseur on this one, folks.
I also got to try out their oatmeal (totally as delicious as Quaker Oats!) and their granola bars. I was really impressed with the flavor selection they offer: Lotta Apricotta, Sunny Hemp, Peanut Buddy, Peanut Choco, Chococonut, Pumpkin – n- Spice. And they are scrumptious. They are really the perfect thing to throw in your bag when you are headed out the door to work or to run errands.
There’s one other important thing that I haven’t mentioned about Nature’s Path that is really cool. Their products are gluten free! For real! About 15% of the population (including my fabulous mother-in-law) have a gluten sensitivity. That’s a whole lot of people, and Nature’s Path is doing their part to make sure those folks still have a place at the breakfast table. Even for folks like me who don’t have a gluten allergy, these products are wonderful to incorporate into my diet, because they use really amazing grains I might not otherwise get, like quinoa, flax seed and whole grain oats. This stuff is so good, and so good for you!
Buy it!: Nature’s Path is available nation-wide. Check out their website to locate a retailer near you! or try Amazon
Edit: This giveaway is CLOSED!
Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader is going to win a selection of cold cereals and granola bars from Nature’s Path. Get ready for a breakfast revolution at your house! Woo hoo! The contest will run until July 17th at 7:59pm CST when a winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to their winning email before the prize is forfeited and a new winner will be drawn. Limit one entrant per household, please. Open to residents of the United States and Canada.
Mandatory entry: Tell me something you learned about the values of Nature’s Path, or the minifesto of the company or something you learned about organic food from the Nature’s Path site.
Additional entries:
1. “Like” Stuff Parents Need on Facebook
2. “Like” Nature’s Path on Facebook
3. Follow Stuff Parents Need on Twitter
4. Follow Nature’s Path on Twitter
5. Subscribe to Stuff Parents Need by RSS, email or Google Friend Connect (only one extra entry, even if you subscribe multiple ways)
Be sure to enter the other giveaways on my site (they can be found on the sidebar of my main page).
Disclosure: I received complimentary products for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own. This post may contain affiliate links.