If you are a frugal-minded mom like me, sometimes we have to resort to a few tricks and secrets when it comes to feeding our family and watching the grocery budget. I’m also a big believer that every little bit adds up.
When we have an odd amount of cereal remaining that is not enough for a full bowl, I like to combine it with another cereal that would complement it well. For example, if your children love Chocolate Krispies, combine with the plain Rice Krispies. The round chocolate puffed cereal would go perfectly with a half a bowl of Kix. If your children love Frosted Flakes, add a few plain corn flakes.
Not only does this stretch the last bit cereal, it is healthier. Sometimes, I will serve the mixed cereal solely to keep sugar consumption lower.
Mommy Secret: Put the full sugar version in the bottom of the bowl so the children will have to eat their way through the healthier cereal for a sweet surprise.
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{ 7 Comments }
I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who uses every last morsel of cereal in the box. LOL! This happens quite frequently in our house. Someone (one of the 4 kids) will leave a spoonful or 2 of cereal in the bottom of the box and the next child who grabs that box is very disappointed. I then usually suggest the combo idea mentioned above and if that doesn’t please them, I put the handful of cereal in a small baggy and someone uses it later on as a crunchy topping for a yogurt or ice cream sundae. I grew up with a grandma who survived the Great Depression, what can I say….
Bestmommy,
The collection of cereal in a small bag is a great idea. I had not thought about ice cream toppings, I’ll have to try that. We also use the leftovers to top yogurt or sometimes add it to homemade trail mix. Thanks for stopping by!
Heather
Ha! Love this idea! Especially the -put the sugary stuff on the bottom so they have to eat through the healthy stuff! I think the chocolate krispies and the rice krispies look quite tasty!
Thanks for linking up to Thrifty Tip Tuesday!
Jamie,
I’m looking forward to participating in your meme each week. It will be fun!
Heather
That is a pretty cool idea. But with an almost 14 year old boy in the house there is never a little bit of anything leftover.
I do this with pasta, too. When I’m running low on spaghetti and ziti noodles I’ll just mix them together and have a spa-ziti night.
Anne,
I love your spa-ziti idea! Sounds like something I would serve.
Thanks for stopping by,
Heather
I love this idea. I have several boxes of cereal that have only an 1/8 left. I might try my own mix. Who knows it might be a hit.
Thanks!
We’ve done this before, and sometimes (like you mentioned), even on purpose. And it works with “big people” cereals as well. We were given several boxes of a high fiber cereal that I didn’t particularly like, but it was actually pretty good mixed with Honey Bunches of Oats!
I always extend my sugar cereals this way. Husband’s fave is Honey Bunches of Oats, and mixed with corn flakes it goes a lot further and still tastes yummy. No need to wait until the end of your cereals. Try it from the beginning and save $ and dentist bills.
We do this with our cereal too. I find that puffed rice and puffed wheat have a very mild taste and are inexpensive so they make good filler for the high sugar cereals. I like addeng them to my bowl because I can increase the serving size without adding too many extra calories.