**This delicious cereal recipe is sponsored by General Mills Cereal**
Recently we had a Facebook discussion on DudeMom.com about feeding a family of 5.
That struggle is so totally real, you guys.
Especially when your family includes three super active, still growing Dudes.
I have been working really hard this summer to develop more meaningful diets for them that will help them meet their athletic goals.
Because, as everyone knows, fueling your body is sooooo important. I don’t want lack of good calories to be the reason they aren’t strong enough to compete the way they want to. And, when it comes right down to it, it is the best thing I can do to help them.
I can’t teach them how to dribble, I can’t force them to train, all I can do is drive them to the eleven-billonty places they need to be at each week to practice and play, and make sure they have full bellies to fuel them.
A task is further complicated by the fact that no two people in this house seem to enjoy the same meal on the same day at the same time.
Now, don’t get it twisted, DudeMom does NOT run a restaurant -I serve what I serve and that’s just it.
There’s no fried chicken for one Dude and grilled cheese for another…
They might hem and haw, but when it comes down to it they all eat the same thing at dinnertime -or they starve.
Kidding. No one starves.
Dinner has always been a struggle for us and, while I am still figuring that one out, I can say that the meal I am most committed to anyway is breakfast.
First of all, I love it.
Breakfast foods have always been my jam -bacon, sausage, eggs, toast, cereal, fruit, hash browns, milk, especially chocolate, I love all of that…
And, secondly, I am a firm believer in the science about breakfast being the most important meal.
Fortunately, my kids believe in it too, especially if it means they can eat cereal.
We have a major thing for cereal here. In fact, we partnered with General Mills Cereal to share our story with you here on the blog because it is really just THAT much a part of our daily lives.
This is five boxes of cereal, roughly what they eat in a week (I don’t eat much cereal, because then we’d need to buy even more!).
During the school year though, not during the summer.
Summer is another monster.
They are home all day and they take that opportunity to enjoy cereal for breakfast, and lunch, and sometimes dinner depending on how I mom that day.
They like to snack on it. They eat it with milk or without. They put fruit in it, they put it in yogurt, they take it in the car, they serve it to their friends.
Cereal. Cereal. Cereal.
Of course I work to create a balanced diet up in here, but fact is, when I leave the house and they are hanging around alone looking for something to grub, 9 times out of 10 they are reaching for a box of cereal.
I’m not mad.
At the end of the day they are full and General Mills cereals provide nutrition they need -like whole grain as the first ingredient and real ingredients like real cinnamon in Cinnamon Toast Crunch, honey in Honey Nut Cheerios, cocoa in Cocoa Puffs and more. Plus, we always pair it with fruit, or yogurt, or just good old fashioned milk to ensure that they are getting a balanced meal each time they pour themselves a bowl.
During the school year, cereal for breakfast is life. They all get up at separate times to catch separate buses which means that I get to enjoy their company, one-on-one, each morning over their favorite bowl of cereal. I grab a cup of coffee tea (I gave up coffee this spring and haven’t gone back!), they grab a bowl of their favorite cereal and we chat. We catch up on school and life and other things we don’t seem to get to in the crazy sports-fueled evenings. It is time that I truly cherish and it allows me to reconnect with my kids in such a meaningful way. Plus, there’s always something they can shove in their mouths when mom gets awkward with her girl talk.
Now that it’s summer, I love finding other fun ways for The Dudes to enjoy their favorite cereals and, because Dude 3 loves being my kitchen sidekick, we decided to try a new cereal recipe together -we call it Nut Butter Chocolate Cheerio Surprise, you don’t have to call it that.
Nut Butter Chocolate Cheerio Surprise Cereal Recipe
It’s super quick and easy to make and it’s a perfect on-the-go snack to grab for trips to the pool or the lake this summer. It has been a staple in our beach bag so far this summer and I know it will also make a fun, tasty side for their lunchboxes when school starts back up this fall too.
Best part, this cereal recipe takes less than 10 minutes to throw together!
- 8 cups of Cheerios (Pro tip: Use Honey Cheerios Nut Cheerios instead, the real honey flavor makes it even tastier!)
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- Melt the chocolate chips with the peanut butter and the butter in a bowl in the microwave (about 1 minute).
- Stir to blend.
- Add vanilla.
- Put Cheerios in a big bowl.
- Pour melted chocolate/peanut butter/butter/vanilla mixture over Cheerios.
- Mix well to coat.
- Add powdered sugar.
- Cover bowl and shake what your mama gave you!
- Eat all the cereal!
Disclosure: Today’s post is sponsored by General Mills Cereal, all opinions and kitchen messes are my own.