CEREAL & GRANOLA BARS
Who would have thought it would be hard to find cereal with no added sugar or hidden MSG? What happened to cereal being healthy and nutritious? Here are some cereals you can feel good about eating every day. Healthy, nutritious and delicious, without additives or added sugar. Some of these brands offer a few other additive-free varieties, but these are some of my favorites.
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Whenever possible, especially when it comes to grains, choose organic - importantly, it's the easiest way to know that your cereal has not been drenched with RoundUp. Many non-organic grain crops are killed with RoundUp to allow an earlier, easier and bigger harvest.
Cold cereal:
Nature's Path Kamut Puffs
Ingredients: WHOLE KAMUT KHORASAN WHEAT*. *Organic.
So much tastier than puffed wheat and still just one ingredient. One of my favorite cereals!
Nature's Path Fruit Juice Sweetened Corn Flakes
Ingredients: CORN MEAL* AND/OR YELLOW CORN FLOUR*, GRAPE* AND/OR PEAR* JUICE CONCENTRATE, SEA SALT. *Organic.
Delicious standard corn flakes but sweetened only with fruit juice.
Arrowhead Mills Shredded Wheat
Ingredients: ORGANIC WHOLE GRAIN WHEAT, NATURAL VITAMIN E (TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS).
There's a reason shredded wheat cereal has been around for 100 years. So good and so good for you. This is the best tasting shredded wheat we have tried, and the fact that it's organic does matter especially when it comes to wheat - in particular, conventional crops are typically treated with pre-harvest glyphosate (RoundUp), whereas organic crops are not.
NOTE: Arrowhead Mills recently changed their packaging and it seems like their shredded wheat is longer be organic! I've been trying to contact the company to find out for sure. Be sure to read the ingredients carefully.
Power O's
Ingredients: BEAN BLEND (NAVY BEANS, LENTILS, GARBANZO BEANS), BROWN RICE, SALT, VITAMIN E (MIXED TOCOPHEROLS) ADDED TO MAINTAIN FRESHNESS
This is one of our go-to baby snacks for on the go. Easy to pack as an emergency snack, and easy to clean up even if they eat it in the car! Not only does this cereal have no added sugar or processed ingredients, it's full of high quality plant-based protein in the form of legumes so it's super healthy. I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of the texture when it's mixed with milk - for that I'd go with the One Degree O's instead - but on its own, it's great!
One Degree Sprouted Ancient Grain O's
Ingredients: ORGANIC KHORASAN WHEAT, ORGANIC BROWN RICE, ORGANIC COCONUT PALM SUGAR, UNREFINED SALT, TOCOPHEROLS (VITAMIN E)
One of many fantastic cereals from One Degree. Our kids love these as a dry snack or with milk, and we love them too!
One Degree Sprouted Brown Rice Crisps
Ingredients: ORGANIC BROWN RICE, ORGANIC COCONUT PALM SUGAR, UNREFINED SALT, TOCOPHEROLS (VITAMIN E)
Wish you could have delicious crispy rice cereal but without the additives? Look no further!
One Degree Sprouted Ancient Grain Flakes
Ingredients: ORGANIC KHORASAN WHEAT, ORGANIC BROWN RICE, ORGANIC COCONUT PALM SUGAR, UNREFINED SALT, TOCOPHEROLS (VITAMIN E)
If you love corn-flakes but need a little variety in your breakfast cereal, you'll love these ancient grain flakes.
One Degree Red Fife Raisin Bran
Ingredients: RED FIFE WHEAT, RAISINS, WHEAT BRAN, OATS, SORGHUM, COCONUT PALM SUGAR, VANILLA, TRIPPER CINNAMON, UNREFINED SALT, TOCOPHEROLS (VITAMIN E).
Delicious raisin bran cereal with simple ingredients, sweetened with coconut sugar.
GoGo Quinoa Puffs
Ingredients: CERTIFIED ORGANIC QUINOA
All the goodness of quinoa puffed into cereal. I love including this cereal when I make granola bars especially!
Hot cereal:
Arrowhead Mills Organic Steel Cut Oats
Ingredients: ORGANIC STEEL CUT OATS
Delicious, organic, steel-cut oats. Perfect for warming up on a cold winter morning. I didn't realize just how good oats tasted until I tried steel-cut oats. The fact that this one is organic is important if you are trying to avoid synthetic herbicides in particular.
McCann's Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal
Ingredients: 100% WHOLE GRAIN IRISH OATS
If you're not overly concerned about eating organic, these oats are great. It's very worth the half hour it takes to cook them! If you've never tried steel-cut oats you've been missing out!
Quaker Rolled Oats
Ingredients: 100% NATURAL WHOLE GRAIN QUAKER QUALITY ROLLED OATS
Classic rolled oats are quick and versatile. A warning though: be very careful to choose one of the varieties that is just rolled oats - avoid the flavored varieties and even "Quaker Instant Oatmeal - Original" which contains guar gum and caramel color (hidden MSG)!
Oak Manor 7 Grain Cereal
Ingredients: *OATS, *SPELT, *RYE, *CORN, *FLAX, *MILLET, *SUNFLOWERS (*CERTIFIED ORGANIC)
An awesome combination of delicious organic grains to get your day started right!
Bob's Red Mill 7 Grain Hot Cereal (and other varieties)
Ingredients: WHOLE GRAIN HARD RED WHEAT, RYE, OATS, TRITICALE (WHEAT), BARLEY, BROWN RICE, OAT BRAN, FLAXSEED
Flavorful hot cereal with great texture. Deliciously nutritious. Bob's Red Mill makes a few different hot cereals that are Before Natural but they aren't all, so check the ingredients carefully.
Granola bars:
Freeyumm Honey Apple Oat Bars
Ingredients: ROLLED OATS, OAT FLAKES, HONEY*, MAPLE SYRUP, SUNFLOWER OIL, COCONUT PALM SUGAR*, OAT FLOUR, DRIED APPLES, SUNFLOWER SEEDS, GROUND FLAXSEED, VANILLA EXTRACT*, SALT, CINNAMON. *ORGANIC.
​These granola bars have a few forms of added sugar, but they are relatively unrefined and lower glycemic index than more processed sugars, so I'm including them here. If you're trying to move towards less sugar by choosing lower glycemic index sweeteners, or just avoiding MSG or other additives, not sugar, then these oat bars are a great choice. They have a few other varieties that are also relatively Before Natural as well.