It's been a while since I did any reconnaissance work at the grocery store. How about we talk about breakfast cereal for the last day of NaBloPoMo?
Except for my very early childhood (where I can remember eating homemade bran muffins for breakfast), cereal has been the standard first meal of the day. I guess you could almost say I was addicted to the stuff - if I didn't have a bowl of some kind of flaked or squared or circled grain in a bowl with milk, it was like my day hadn't started yet.
There are a lot of food situations in foreign countries that I've adapted to with considerable aplomb. Weaning myself off breakfast cereal hasn't been one of them. In Russia, we ate weird European mueslis but it was close enough. In Syria, the pickings were very, very slim, and it says a lot about my dedication to breakfast cereal that we choked down ghastly Egyptian cornflakes each morning while we lived there. In Jordan, we reaped a bountiful harvest of expired Lucky Charms boxes that lasted us for a few months. Those were good times.
Here in the UAE, there is more breakfast cereal selection than I've ever seen in my entire existence abroad. There may even be more than in the US. And yet. It's a shame that a lot of it is stuff like this:
Have you ever seen such a large collection of unabashedly sugary cereals? I submit that you have not, because AYE CARAMBA. It was bad enough when we first moved here, but ever since I read What to Eat, I can't look at these things without experiencing a wave of horror at what is considered to be a breakfast food (or a food, period).
The selection continues. I tend to stick with Multigrain Cheerios, Shreddies, and sometimes Rice Krispies, because those cereals at least give the appearance of being non-sugary (just don't look at the nutrition label).
Farther down, you start moving into bran flakes territory. I have tried a lot of these cereals and they are almost all disgusting. Especially the Carrefour brand stuff, yeesh.
This is the selection of muesli. The Jordan's brand is really good and it has no added anything. The ingredients are just oats and dried fruit. Sometimes I eat it with plain yogurt, and that takes it up a notch.
The abysmal breakfast cereal choices here have finally weaned me from my habit. These days for breakfast, I sometimes have oatmeal or bread with peanut butter. What I never, ever have is Weetabix. That cereal is so horrifyingly disgusting, I cannot even imagine anyone choking it down.
If I go to Spinney's I try to keep a clear eye for shredded wheat, which sometimes deigns to grace the shelves in the breakfast aisle. Sigh. Should I just give in and eat Nestle Crunch cereal for breakfast??
Except for my very early childhood (where I can remember eating homemade bran muffins for breakfast), cereal has been the standard first meal of the day. I guess you could almost say I was addicted to the stuff - if I didn't have a bowl of some kind of flaked or squared or circled grain in a bowl with milk, it was like my day hadn't started yet.
There are a lot of food situations in foreign countries that I've adapted to with considerable aplomb. Weaning myself off breakfast cereal hasn't been one of them. In Russia, we ate weird European mueslis but it was close enough. In Syria, the pickings were very, very slim, and it says a lot about my dedication to breakfast cereal that we choked down ghastly Egyptian cornflakes each morning while we lived there. In Jordan, we reaped a bountiful harvest of expired Lucky Charms boxes that lasted us for a few months. Those were good times.
Here in the UAE, there is more breakfast cereal selection than I've ever seen in my entire existence abroad. There may even be more than in the US. And yet. It's a shame that a lot of it is stuff like this:
The abysmal breakfast cereal choices here have finally weaned me from my habit. These days for breakfast, I sometimes have oatmeal or bread with peanut butter. What I never, ever have is Weetabix. That cereal is so horrifyingly disgusting, I cannot even imagine anyone choking it down.
If I go to Spinney's I try to keep a clear eye for shredded wheat, which sometimes deigns to grace the shelves in the breakfast aisle. Sigh. Should I just give in and eat Nestle Crunch cereal for breakfast??