Cereal for dinner? Recession boosts General Mills

[Newsjock]

Source: Associated Press

Cereal for dinner? It's a tough reality for some cash-strapped people.

Rising popularity of cereal among those looking for a cheap meal combined with plunging ingredient costs boosted the second-quarter profit of Cheerios maker General Mills Inc. 50 percent.

... The increase is a sign of the economic stress still facing families who want to cut spending and save time but don't want to rely on fast food. Food banks are seeing rising demand for cereal as people try to find a nutritious meal that costs as little as possible. That's blurring lines between traditional meals.

... Kellie Hotz and her husband, Jeff, eat cereal for dinner three times a week as they struggle to stretch their budgets and care for a toddler. Hotz said cereal is less expensive than fast food, so she keeps a dozen boxes on hand.

"It's the fastest, easiest and at least somewhat half-nutritious thing to do during the weekdays," said Hotz, 29, of Arlington Heights, Ill.

Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_14020798

[Cassandra]

1. They would be better off...

making a pot of oatmeal and re-heating the leftovers. Cheaper and much healthier.

[SharonAnn]

22. Omelets would be cheaper and better for them.

[Captain Hilts]

2. Breakfast cereal is INSANELY expensive. I've cut down on it. nt

[Enrique]

3. I doubt that's a good idea

is cereal really that cheap for the nutritional content? What about all the sugar?

[Libertas1776]

5. God, I wish it was sugar.

I looked on my box of Kellogg's corn flakes and one of the main ingredients was corn syrup:eyes:

[pitohui]

4. a CHEAP meal? what cereal is this?

good lordy, i'm too lazy to read the clip right now, because cereal in my area is so high that i cut it out years ago

if you're poor, you eat ramen, red beans and rice, hell, even gulf shrimp is low priced this yr

but not cereal, it's a sugar-based carb, and it costs $3-4 a box to start and then it doesn't satisfy so you eat the whole box

i don't know what vegetarians do, but where i'm at, if i can't afford food, ramen, red beans and rice, lentils, chicken, low end pork "steaks" are the way to go -- cereal is way too expensive

even my old stand by from college days (cream of wheat) has gone sky high

[Libertas1776]

7. It's probably that bagged stuff...

that taste like cardboard, as opposed to that moderate to highly priced cereal that tastes like cardboard...with a hint of flavor. And I absolutely despise how cost prohibitive that ambrosia of the gods (I might be exaggerating a little), cream of wheat, has become:grr:

[pitohui]

17. IMHO that bagged stuff is not cheap and tastes identical to the general mills cereals it copies

i've tried both the $6 box of honey nut cheerios and the $3 bag of malt o meal fake honey nut cheerios because a friend is an addict and we were trying to figure out a way to pack cereal for a vacation trip

conclusion -- neither is cheap, both are sugar, you pay an extra $3 to have a box instead of a bag, otherwise they are identical

neither satisfies because neither has enough fat/protein to hit your satiation point and stop you from eating the entire box/bag (i have done both)

if you have any kind of ED history, then cereal is one of the MOST expensive things you can eat, sure, eating it out of the bag saves some money but not much compared to eating say some scrambled eggs

i do miss cream of wheat tho, it just shocks me that something so cheap to produce should have such a jacked up price, but realize hell i shouldn't be eating ANY cereal anyway...

[K8-EEE]

23. Why don't you try the unsweetened kind?

Believe me if you have unsweetened oatmeal with dried fruit and nuts, you will not be hungry later.

[izquierdista]

16. Unprocessed cereal

You know, oatmeal, grits, farina -- stuff you boil up with some watered down milk. Cheap and tasty when you know what to put in it.

[murray hill farm]

6. Cereals??

Soooooooo expensive for that tiny box of cheerios, etc. And then there is that expensive milk! How about rice? or beans and rice? or good ole cook it from scratch oatmeal. Lots of food cheaper than prepared cereals...and much better for you too.

[laughingliberal]

15. I don't know about the people in the article but I do know some who are working long hours for low

wages and having to transfer a couple of times on a crappy bus line may be a wee bit too tired to cook by the time they drag their poor, unappreciated ass in the door in time to catch a few hours sleep before they wake up and do it again.

[Cassandra]

24. Stovetop oatmeal doesn't require a lot of fussing.

If you make a pot (4 servings), you can refrigerate the extra and just reheat.
Oatmeal has an impressive protein content.

[laughingliberal]

28. Fine. I've seen the day when I was too exhausted to open the damned refrigerator and fell into bed

with my clothes on but just go on assuming you know how much stamina each person should have. Yeah, it's great to cook ahead but, sometimes, it is beyond people. I don't generally eat cereal at all. But I know I've skipped eating at times cause I was to tired too fix anything. A lot of times.

[Cassandra]

30. Since the OP was about cost considerations...

certainly cooked steel cut or rolled oats are cheaper than packaged breakfast cereals. If that's too much for you to do at the end of a long day, then not eating is a cheaper option still. There are times I come home and whatever it was I was planning on eating is too much work and I don't bother but I try to remember that if I have the energy to eat crap, I probably have the energy to make something healthier.

[SoCalDem]

34. mmmm. cream of wheat with ganulated brown sugar on top

might tasty on a cold night:)

[hyphenate]

8. I do it pretty frequently myself

Sometimes I don't want to make anything for dinner, and frozen dinners are not always inviting. A quick solution for me is to have oatmeal in the morning and cold cereal for dinner. I try to pick cereals with more traditional "sweeteners" like raisins and nuts. I don't get out to shop as often as I would like to, and so I can't buy as much produce as I want. The months are divided roughly in half--go out more at the beginning and have more salads and fresh foods, and by the second half, I'm eating boxed foods and cereal.

[necso]

9. So,

what was the increase in weight of product sold?

[virgogal]

10. I often gave my kids Cheerios for dinner during very hot spells when

I didn't feel like cooking. They loved them and they survived.

[NNN0LHI]

11. I eat oat meal for dinner even in the best of times

If I can talk my wife into making it for me. She hates the stuff. One of my favorite meals.

Anther goody is Miracle Whip and sweet onion sandwiches. I love them too.

Or beans and cornbread. Now that is a great meal. I am no vegetarian but I avoid meat all the time without hardly trying.

Don

[K8-EEE]

21. Me too! Tip: Make a ton of it and freeze it in cupcake pans!

Then pop them out of the pans when frozen and keep them in the freezer in plastic bags.

Then they are really easy to prepare and already portioned out in half cup servings. So it's easy to have 2 if you're really hungry or 1 as a light snack.

You can just thaw them in the fridge overnight and reheat in the a.m. or nuke them still frozen in the micro.

I love green apples, raisins and almonds with the oatmeal! And you FOR SURE will not be hungry & raiding the fridge an hour after eating it. I think it's the cheapest health food there is!

[csziggy]

25. Cheap generic oatmeal can be cooked in the microwave in single servings

I like mine thick so if you like thinner oatmeal, add more milk:
1/3 C quick cooking oatmeal (you can use old fashioned but it will take at least two or three times as long to cook)
1/2 cup milk (I use fat free)
bare pinch of salt

Set microwave for 50% power and three and a half minutes. Stir occasionally and if not cooked to your taste, cook more. You can cook it at regular power, but you will have to watch for boiling over. I add one teaspoon of butter and sprinkle on Demera sugar for some sweet crunchiness.


I detest cooking oatmeal in a regular pot, and the "instant" stuff tastes horrid and has too much crap in it - and is too expensive.

A two pound 10 ounce box of generic oatmeal costs less than $3 right now and for the size serving I use makes nearly 50 servings. A one pound box of Cheerios is over $4 and only has sixteen servings.

I still buy the Cheerios or other boxed cereals for the days I have no time to cook oatmeal even in the microwave, but most days I have oatmeal. Oh - I also use the other cereals for when I have to take pain meds in the middle of the night and need something on my stomach.

[Ikonoklast]

12. I've eaten oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Nothing beats a cup of tea and hot bowl of oatmeal to warm you up on a cold winter's evening.

But, then again, I love oatmeal. That other crap in a box that passes for cereal these days, they can have.

[pissedoff01]

13. It's either Top Ramen or Maruchan for many people

[Lars39]

14. Saw an elderly lady at Aldis a while back.

2 gallons of milk, 4 dozen eggs and ramen noodles. That was her big shopping day of the month. :cry:

[LiberalFighter]

18. Said cereal is less expensive than fast food? Of course it is.

They shouldn't be eating fast food all time as it apparently what they do (did).

They should be able to make nutritious meals that cost less than fast food.

[pitohui]

19. cereal is MORE expensive than fast food in my area

where i live a double cheeseburger from BK is $1

by the time you buy milk and cereal, it's WAY more than $1 a serving around here

[LiberalFighter]

29. Which is why I limit my eating outside the home to about 3 times a week.

At least once is for lunch. And that one in particular I split for two different days.

[pleah]

20. No shit. That is the way it has been for some time since bushit was in power. n/t

[Akoto]

26. I love Cracklin' Oat Bran.

I started eating more cereal in order to help with some gut issues related to my pain management drugs. Not only has it worked there, it has also paid off in terms of bills! I can get a big box of said cereal for a few bucks, and with reasonable portioning, it lasts quite a while. Certainly not more expensive than fast food, by any means.

In fairness, I should note that I don't eat my cereal with milk, due to lactose intolerance. I kinda prefer it dry, anyhow. :)

[ohheckyeah]

27. At $1.00 a dozen

eggs are about the cheapest food we buy.

[Vinca]

31. We've taken to having soup a couple of times a week for supper.

Not the canned stuff, which I pretty much hate, but a concoction of leftovers or a big pot of split pea soup. I love making soup (in fact I've often said I can make a soup or a pie out of anything) and it's a great way to use up frozen veggies and some of the mystery items people put in small containers and stuff in the freezer.

[Pharlo]

32. PB&J sandwiches.

I live off them. Cost is less than 60 cents per sandwich with fewer than 300 calories and 13 grams of fiber. Then again, I LOVE PB&J sandwiches and can eat them 3 meals a day and not care. Some people enjoy variety, not me. I MUST have my brand of bread, my brand of peanut butter and my brand of jam. The truth is, I could shave the cost down quite a bit by getting cheaper ingredients, but that also increases calorie count, injects high fructose corn syrup into my diet, and decreases overall nutritional value.

The beauty of it is I can make a sandwich and munch on it over a two or three hours - taking a bite or two only when I'm hungry. With cereal or oatmeal, I tend to eat it all at once leaving me hungry in an hour or two.

But, that is just me.

[SoCalDem]

33. Starch & Dairy..yum yum

that said, one of our favorite weekend meals is my scratch-made waffles..

My friend asked me once "Why on earth do you always have buttermilk in your refrigerator"? :rofl:

There are still plenty of inexpensive budget-stretching one-pan meals that can serve many meals for a very low price.

Cheerios is an easy way out, but not all that nutritious...