Help me remember this breakfast cereal
Standing in the cereal aisle today, completely befuddled. I was trying to remember a cereal that I used to like, and after perusing Gorilla Nuggets and a billion kinds of Cheerios, I gave up.
So here's the clues: It was one of the older cereals. Older than Cap'n Crunch. It wasn't sweet. About as much sweet as I want in a cereal is plain Cheerios. Even the multi-grain Cheerios seem too sweet to me. Chex are okay, but that's not what I'm looking for. But nothing honey-glazed, frosted, or flavored.
It was NOT a flake cereal. It was something that would hold up to milk without getting soggy. I think it may have floated.
It definately wasn't shredded wheat or any of those other bale-of-hay cereals.
The cereal, as I remember it, may have had "puffed" or "popped" or something similar in the name. It was a fairly plain flavor. No cinnamon or fake fruit or nuggets or nuts or bits or raisins or chunks or granola.
Last time I had a cereal craving and I didn't buy Cheerios, I tried Kix because that seemed familiar. Way too sweet. But that puffy fluffy texture seems right.
Mom never bought bulk cereals or nameless large generic bags, so I'm certain this was a name-brand item.
Any ideas? Maybe it's not made any more, and that's fine, but I'd still like to remember what the heck it was.
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116 Comments:
corn pops are sweetish, but sound like what you're talking about.
the commercials went: "I gotta have my pops!"
veggieout at 5:46PM on 04/23/09
Puffed rice? Made by Quaker I think.
wildfish at 5:48PM on 04/23/09
Or puffed Wheat? we called it "puffa-puffa" when we were little; still love it. Delicious and absolutely the opposite of sweetened...
BobbieAnne at 6:02PM on 04/23/09
it sounds like puffed wheat or puffed rice to me too
goodcooker at 6:10PM on 04/23/09
I also thought it sounds like puffed rice.
dmcavanagh at 6:29PM on 04/23/09
king vitamin?
VioletCrumble at 6:30PM on 04/23/09
By the way, I often buy a puffed brown rice cereal available it Walmart super centers. It's called Alf's Natural Nutrition and comes in a plastic bag. Very cheap, but very refreshing to eat, fairly healthy also.
dmcavanagh at 6:34PM on 04/23/09
KELLOGG'S CORN POPS
shelley3185 at 6:56PM on 04/23/09
"I tried Kix because that seemed familiar. Way too sweet. "
Pops are sweeter than Kix. Not Pops.
cook au vin at 6:59PM on 04/23/09
Last time I tried Kix, they were a bit like eating styrofoam, bland puffs. Did they change their recipe? Or am I being slow and you meant that it naturally tasted sweeter?
Cassaendra at 7:02PM on 04/23/09
maybe puffed wheat. the texture was the best part, kinda fluffy and nutty without being so sweet.
huneybumper at 7:07PM on 04/23/09
eeewww. puffed rice had the texture of styrofoam pellets.
beth1 at 7:30PM on 04/23/09
puffed wheat. Kashi makes one out of all their "grains"
sweethunibabi at 7:41PM on 04/23/09
Honey Smacks? You might have liked things sweeter when you were little...
Kashi makes a lightly sweetened puffed wild rice cereal, I think.
neuralized at 7:57PM on 04/23/09
Sugar smacks?
Peony at 8:19PM on 04/23/09
@neuralized, I was never fond of sweet cereals, even as a kid. And I've never heard of Honey Smacks. When I was a kid, I made a sweetness exception for Coco Puffs because they turned the milk into chocolate. I guess I liked them a little sweeter back then, because Froot Loops were sometimes edible. But unless there was a darned good toy inside, I preferred Cheerios, Rice Crispies, and the one I'm trying to recall.
The cereal I remember was sort of like a cross between styrofoam and Cheetos in texture. Yeah, that sounds appetizing. But they were puffy like the puffed Cheetos (not the same shape) but they were a little firmer, if I'm recalling correctly. Not as crunchy or dense as Cheerios.
@Cassendra, I bought Kix recently (like a year ago) and I thought they were too sweet for a breakfast cereal. Oddly, I'm fine with eating a hunk of cake for breakfast, or a sweet pastry, but I just don't like sweet cereals. Which is why the cold cereal aisle is not my friend. Except for good old Cheerios. Everything else I've tried in the past few years has seemed too sweet for me.
Maybe I'll try puffed wheat and puffed rice.
dbcurrie at 8:37PM on 04/23/09
quisp?
MoEats at 9:00PM on 04/23/09
It sounds like puffed rice or wheat to me too.
As far as Kix, they changed their formula or something since I was a kid.
They used to be harder and not so hollow inside and they definitely were not as sweet as they are now. They used to be good, now they aren't.
deetroitMI at 9:02PM on 04/23/09
ALPHABITS!!! Without the marshmallows... I wasn't allowed to eat the version with marshmallows as a kid. But looking back, the plain version was perfect.
Goldilox at 9:47PM on 04/23/09
kelloggs puffa puffa rice - that's the commercial jingle I remember - and I think someone shot the cereal out of a cannon, or it came exploding out of a volcano
terrificpig at 9:55PM on 04/23/09
I guess I was thinking what others were thinking--puffed wheat or puffed rice (even though it's really sweet and not necessarily a well-rounded breakfast cereal, I do love those sweetened Puffed Wheat cereals--Golden Crisp, by Post, I think it's called)
luswim06 at 10:21PM on 04/23/09
Ah yes! Cereal that came out of a cannon! That ad sounds familar. Because who doesn't like styrofoam-like puffed grains that has been blasted with gunpowder? What were they thinking? But I guess it worked, because it sounds right. Was there maybe a cannon on the front of the box spewing the cereal?
dbcurrie at 10:30PM on 04/23/09
Is it Sugar Pops? http://bestuff.com/stuff/sugar-pops
gourmetgal at 10:52PM on 04/23/09
Maybe they are Kix when they weren't as sweet. I remember eating Kix as a kid and I liked it because it WASN'T sweet.
jo_wang at 12:01AM on 04/24/09
terrificpig's got it. I think.
Puffa Puffa Rice.
Everybody else is still thinking sweet stuff.
carolrsfMISSESTEXAS at 12:04AM on 04/24/09
No but it did have a volcano on the front of the box.
Is that it?
Amy
Baking and Mistaking
cool2bars at 12:17AM on 04/24/09
Cool volcano, but honestly I don't remember the name "Puffa Puffa" at all. Maybe it was the same stuff made by a competing brand, because the cereal looks like it could be right.
dbcurrie at 12:48AM on 04/24/09
Puffins! Quaker used to make a similar cereal, but I don't remember what it was called. They are brown "corn puffs" and they are not sweet.
deerolope at 1:47AM on 04/24/09
Some of you are just not paying attention! The original poster clearly expresses that she/he does NOT eat sweetened cereal and that the one she/he is seeking IS NOT SWEETENED....it's gotta be either puffed wheat or puffed rice, and it CANNOT be quisp or sugar smacks or corn pops or alpha bits or...
dbcurrie, if it turns out that puffed wheat or rice is what you are looking for, the good news is that there are many brands out there, and they are all alike--while I haven't seen the Kelloggs in YEARS, the generic bagged versions completely meet my reminiscent standard, and these were my cereal of choice as a child--I, too, could not handle sweetened grains for breaky. Blech! And the texture of these really moved me. Good luck reconnecting!
BobbieAnne at 5:33AM on 04/24/09
Life? Do they still make that? I have fond memories of Life cereal. Back in the day when we had a milkman deliver glass bottles full of whole milk twice a week. Good times.
smallkitchen at 6:28AM on 04/24/09
1. Guys.............she DOESN'T WANT SWEET!!!!!!!!
2. The cannon idea has always belonged to Quaker, NOT Kellogg's!
3. Huffa, Puffa, Rice?????????? I just turned 59, baby booming foodie who NEVER heard of that name!
4. Most all cereals 20 or more years ago were loaded with sugar enraging parents, hence "Sugar Pops" turned into "Corn Pops" as well as "Sugar Smacks" turning into "Honey Smacks".
5. Agree with rice puffs being the winner............if you could call flavorless, floating styrofoam pellets [so aptly put by another commenter] a winner!
jackie2830 at 6:52AM on 04/24/09
db go for grapenuts (all time fav) they even make flakes if you want to avoid cracking teeth. They are sweet but its more of a natural sweetness, I dont think they add any sweetner.
huneybumper at 8:06AM on 04/24/09
It sounds like Honeycomb to me, which I vaguely remember being advertised with lots of huffing and puffing and excitement:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDZK6H3d5bk
I liked it as a kid--it wasn't terribly sweet, and like others have said, what seems 'not sweet' as a kid might taste very sweet to a more refined and adult palate.
HeartofGlass at 8:16AM on 04/24/09
There is, however, a difference between "not sweet" and "not sweetened."
BobbieAnne at 8:44AM on 04/24/09
Sounds to me like CORN POPS...But, remember NOTHING TASTES LIKE IT USE TO. I use to really liked cheerios (but now they use CORN SYRUP in EVERYTHING NOW, and it all tastes too sweet to me .) :(
HelloChris at 9:00AM on 04/24/09
Plain old everyday cheerios is still unsweetened--with anything, according to the box sitting in front of me...and with only 21 g of carbs and of that only 1 g of sugar, the label support the taste buds. All of the new variations, though, however "lightly," are sweetened.
BobbieAnne at 9:35AM on 04/24/09
What about Triplex? I think it was around until the mid 90s. I can't remember much about it, other than it came in an aqua colored box and was absolutely delicious.
rdrnr44 at 10:13AM on 04/24/09
The only name brand ones I know of that come (or came) unsweetened are Cheerios, Kix, and Rice Krispies -- outside of generic "puffed" [insert grain].
Cassaendra at 11:50AM on 04/24/09
Quaker Crunchy Corn Bran? It has been around for quite a while and consists of little "puffed" squares
GrimChef at 12:10PM on 04/24/09
Maybe they a health food brand? They sound an awful like Arrowhead Mills puffed corn. I was addicted to the stuff. The only ingredient in it was puffed whole grain yellow corn.
Even if this wasn't it, it does sound like what you're looking for. You might want to check it out.
chisai at 12:21PM on 04/24/09
@All, I'm older than health food brands, and this was before corn syrup was in everything. So maybe it was Kix and the formula has changed that much. But Cheerios seem the same, so I'm holding out some hope.
@BobbieAnne, as far as the not sweet vs. not sweetened, if the cereal itself has a natural sweetness (like corn or carrots are naturally sweet), that's fine. I think what I find myself objecting to is the sugar coating on a lot of the new cereals. I think if there's some sugar in the formula rather than as a coating, it would be less objectionable.
Honestly, I don't buy a lot of cereals, which is why that aisle felt like a foreign land, but now and then we get the single serving boxes as promos delivered with our newspaper, and the ones I've sampled all seem to have a candy coating on the outside. Okay, maybe not that thick, but there's a definate layer of sweetness on the outside. I think of things like frosted flakes, and I just cringe.
I grew up back in the day when people would sprinkle a big spoonful of sugar over the top of their cereal, and that was done on commercials as well. Anyone remember that? I can picture a bowl of flakes on the ads (or maybe even on the box) with a mound of sugar and some strawberries.
I think I'll check out some of the Arrowhead Mills stuff and see. Or maybe the Kashi (7 grains in search of new ways to market themselves!)
dbcurrie at 12:49PM on 04/24/09
I was always a flake lover, but going back, I'm stunned at how sweet some cereals are. Even Raisin Bran tastes like a big bowl of sugar. Plain bran flakes or Special K (or even better, Tesco's knock-off store version, 'Special Flakes') for us.
NotAmerican at 12:49PM on 04/24/09
so, dbcurrie, you're pretty sure it's NOT puffed rice or wheat? 'Cause those are completely unsweetened and come from back in the day--the one you and I share.
BobbieAnne at 1:03PM on 04/24/09
@BobbieAnne, it could have been puffed wheat or puffed rice. The only thing steering me away from that is that in my imagination, I'm seeing a more man-made shape rather than a natural grain that's been exploded. Which is why I tried Kix. They looked right. However, I might be remembering one shape and confusing it with another flavor. Whatever the cereal is/was, I haven't eaten it for so many years it may be extinct.
dbcurrie at 1:18PM on 04/24/09
Honeycombs
eatinphila at 1:20PM on 04/24/09
@dbcurrie--naw, it's gotta be one or the other of the puffs--get a bag this weekend, have a bowl and then report back--I am really caught up in this now, and kinda jonesing for a bowl of each (really, I love them both and would never, never combine them in a single serving--would too disparage the goodness of each!), but I am not-carbing these two weeks, and so they are weel off limits to me. Be a dear and get some, for me? Just be careful not to accidently grab a bag of the sweetened ones, right?
-yours in unsweetened fraternity (or is that sorority?)
BobbieAnne at 1:52PM on 04/24/09
Honeycombs cereal=sweet
deetroitMI at 1:56PM on 04/24/09
if they looked like kix but weren't sweet i would agree with chisai and say puffed corn since they are almost the same size and shape. try it regardless because that stuff is good!
sloppy at 2:04PM on 04/24/09
The first thing I thought of was Corn Bran, as another commenter suggested. We weren't allowed especially sugary cereals when I was kid, but most cereals have a little bit at the very least. We were allowed Corn Bran. And Barbara's Puffins are a close imitation.
oneperfectegg at 2:10PM on 04/24/09
Gotta be puffed wheat from back in the day when the cereal section was one shelf long. Still shake my head in amazement every time I head down the cereal aisle at the market.
porchetta at 2:51PM on 04/24/09
Crispix? I loved that cereal
mandoopandoo at 3:06PM on 04/24/09
Sorry to be of no help on the cereal you are looking for, but your post made me think of this: http://www.qwantz.com/archive/001452.html
If you think it's dumb, tool around the site and read five more. The humor will catch up to you :)
jlbrach at 3:06PM on 04/24/09
When I was a child, I could imagine a flavor that I had never quite tasted, so I experimented and eventually found the closest approximation: rice crispies and milk - no sugar, no fruit, no fooling. Maybe you remember that.
Likeswords at 4:00PM on 04/24/09
Puffins?
flavacrisp at 4:49PM on 04/24/09
its gotta be puffed wheat or puffed rice. i think all the other options have been negated. when my dad gets all nostalgic and talks about the foods of his childhood he always mentions eating puffed wheat for breakfast... he always added like 5 tsp. of table sugar though because it wasn't "sweet enough"...
vanillapudding99 at 4:59PM on 04/24/09
Maybe it was Quisp. I think that was a Quaker cereal
WSLunch at 5:01PM on 04/24/09
Violet Crumble, MoEats, and WS Lunch: I love that you know about Quisp and King Vitamin!! They were the best sugar cereals ever, beside Crunchberries! I have a link to where you can buy both on the recent cereal post on my blog, should you be interested.
dbcurry: What you are describing is mist likely a rice or corn based product. I have had both puffed ground corn and puffed ground rice cereals that meet your textural descriptions.
If I knew what shape they were I might be of more assistance, but I think you will probably have a better chance of finding something similar in a health food store. A few years ago Trader Joe's put out these cripsy brown rice snack rings that were similar in texture to funions and were sweetened with apple juice and cinnamon. They made a perfect cereal that was similar to something available in the 70s.
My general impression is that this is a rice based cereal because you described styrofoam effect that the gluten in rice helps to achieve.
If instead you are talking about puffed whole grains (as opposed to ground puffed grains), then it could be any grain really, but I would go with corn for size and crunchability. Some puffed whole grains have a sugary or honey based coating, and some do not.
Quisp - a sugared cereal - was much less sweet than most sugary cereals, and also matches your textural description. Quisp disappeared from grocery shelves sometime around 1970-1971, but is still available, as mentioned in the cereal post I have linked to above.
I hope this helps.
Cheers,
~ Paula
Paula Maack at 5:47PM on 04/24/09
P.S. Quaker has puffed grain cereal in boxes. Here is a link for their puffed wheat cereal. If you scroll down there is also a link for puffed rice and other cereals.
Paula Maack at 6:06PM on 04/24/09
I want a box of TEAM flakes.....several actually.....
Kenzo at 7:20PM on 04/24/09
You know, if she's saying it isn't Rice Krispies, I think she knows what puffed rice is, right?
I'm trying to think of floatable cereal that isn't too sweet, which is hard! I agree, if you can tell us cereal nerds :) what the shape of the cereal was, we might be more help to you. I'm thinking Quisp or Crispix--but Corn Bran is a good guess. Because she didn't see it in her cereal aisle, I'm betting it isn't Life or Honeycomb?
TheKitchenWitch at 8:05PM on 04/24/09
Is it square? Just remembered that we have Quaker Oatmeal Squares in our pantry, which are not sweet (by American standards) but I don't know how old that cereal is. But it floats! I think all of you who have commented on this are MY kinda people. Here we sit, obsessively thinking about cereal!
TheKitchenWitch at 8:09PM on 04/24/09
I think all the discussion is because the definition of "sweet" varies from person to person...
I say fork over the $10-$15 and sample some cereals... I'd start with the puffed rice/wheat since it's the least sweet of the suggestions and move up from there.
gingercookiewithlime at 8:29PM on 04/24/09
This post is bringing back so many cereal memories......Sugar Pops with the cowboy on the box were my favorite along with Alphabits....and someone mentioned Quisp! yum.
Does anyone remember the cereal FREAKIES? they gave away little rubber toy freaky monsters inside.
Stacey Snacks at 9:38PM on 04/24/09
it's gives me a warm, sugary glow to know that I'm not the only one on the planet who still remembers Quisp fondly! However, I'm going to have to go buy a big bag of puffed rice and a new bag of sugar to eat with it...
susanova at 9:46PM on 04/24/09
@TheKitchenWitch -- Rice Krispies aren't the same as puffed rice. Puffed rice, like I think someone else said, has the texture of styrofoam or maybe a TempurPedic matress. It isn't crunchy, it's pliant.
susanova at 9:49PM on 04/24/09
Okay, I was back in the cereal aisle today. Different store. There were NO puffed wheat or puffed rice cereals of any brand. I picked up a box of the Kashi 7-grain, and if there is a less appetizing depiction of a food product, I haven't seen it. So I put that back.
Did you know that there are giant Rice Crispies? I have no idea how giant they are, but that's what the box said. But I know what rice crispies taste like, so I put those back.
Then, across the aisle (so many cereals, they crossed the street) I found some Gorilla cereal. Can't remember the exact name, but they were round yellowish balls. Made by one of the newer companies with a healthy name. Obviously, they weren;t the ones I ate back then, but they looked pretty close. Had those in my basket when I spied Kashi Honey Sunshine. Less sugar and fewer ingredients than the Gorilla balls. The wrong shape, but the drawing on the front made them look puffy and relatively float-worthy. So I traded the Gorilla for the Sunshine.
Haven't opened the box yet. I had barely enough time to drop the box off at home before I had to scamper out again, and I got home in time for dinner. So I'm not craving right now. Maybe I'll have them for breadfast. Novel idea, that.
Anyway, I'll probably visit Whole Foods tomorrow. I'm hunting for ramps, but maybe they'll have interesting puffy cereals. Now I'm thinking I need to buy puffed wheat AND puffed rice, just for the fun of it.
Oh yeah, and on my way out of the store, I ended up in the snackfood aisle, another place I don't frequent. There were these yellow corn pop things that looked awfully similar to what I remember the cereal looked like.. But these were allegedly cheese coated.
And then I started wondering if my mother, in one of her less, um, motherly, moments, was feeding me snackfood instead of cereal. But no, I'm pretty sure the one I'm thinking of came from a cereal box and they weren't salty or cheesy.
The quest continues tomorrow.
Oh, and I know I've never eaten Quisp or Quake.
dbcurrie at 10:26PM on 04/24/09
If you're in Whole Foods, look for Arrowhead Mills cereal. They make a puffed rice, puffed wheat, and puffed corn cereal (along with some other grains like kamut or something, but I doubt you're thinking of one of those). Unsweetened, and my guess is that it's a version of those...possibly puffed corn based on your description in your last post.
cycorider at 11:49PM on 04/24/09
Team Flakes are one of the best cereals ever made. I don't eat a lot of breakfast stuff, but Team Flakes (with their team of for grains) is by far one of my favorites ever.
I don't meet too many people that know what they are/were.
Helldog at 12:20AM on 04/25/09
*four grains
Helldog at 12:22AM on 04/25/09
@cycorider, I was looking for the Arrowhead Mills today, and didn't see any of them. I know I've seen them in one of the stores around here, but I'll definately check Whole Foods tomorrow. I have no idea why I'm on a cereal kick suddenly. Maybe because the weather is getting warmer and a chilly breakfast sounds like a good idea.
dbcurrie at 12:25AM on 04/25/09
I was thinking Kix or Corn Pops. I don't think you can judge a formerly favorite cereal by how sweet it is now. In many cases, not only has the sweetness be ramped up, but a differerent sweetener is being used.
IndyGal at 8:43AM on 04/25/09
I think it's definitely Cookie Crisp...
(ahem, kidding)
radley24 at 9:29AM on 04/25/09
Holla that, IndyGal--thus new Quisp is "flat" sweet where old Quisp was "buttery" sweet...
BobbieAnne at 10:35AM on 04/25/09
I'm betting those cheesy coated snacks you encountered in Whole Foods is Pirate Booty. Pirate Booty is like CRACK for kids--mine find it irresistible for some reason?
I cannot wait to find out how your cereal tasting goes. Gorilla cereal...huh, what a crazy name!
TheKitchenWitch at 3:32PM on 04/25/09
Perhaps you will find it on this site:
http://www.inthe80s.com/cereal/
Could it be this?
http://www.inthe80s.com/cereal/halfsies0.shtml
I still think it sounds like Honeycomb.
HeartofGlass at 7:18PM on 04/25/09
Puffed Wheat
dksbook at 2:41AM on 04/26/09
puffed corn?
hbaunch at 9:26AM on 04/26/09
My grandmother once got us puffed rice (we asked for rice krispies, she thought they were the same). It came in a bag and not a box. So maybe it's by the bagged cereals...
gingercookiewithlime at 12:48PM on 04/26/09
has to be quisp
StoneColdCrab at 1:26PM on 04/26/09
Okay, I'm taste testing. I bought puffed corn and puffed wheat to go along with the Kashi Honey Sunshine. I looked at the puffed rice, and I'm absolutely sure that isn't the cereal I was looking for.
I'm eating these dry, to get the full effect.
First up, the puffed corn. These little morsels are a cross between popcorn and styrofoam, but in a good way. These are tasty, but not the cereal I was thinking of. I have an irrational urge to put butter and salt on them. Honestly, I don't think I'll eat these with milk, but they'll make a nice snack food. I don't think I'll buy them again, though. Popcorn is cheaper.
Puffed wheat (Arrowhead mills version) is smaller and crunchier than the puffed corn. I think I remember puffed wheat from when I was a kid, but it seems it was a lot bigger then. Maybe it's the brand or maybe I was that much smaller. These have a slightly toasty flavor, but not much else. Oddly, I like them. They remind me of the unpopped corn kernals that you get in popcorn, but obviously less corny since they're wheat. I can see eating these plain as a snack, or with milk. But this isn't the cereal I was looking for. I might actually buy these again.
On to Honey Sunshine. These are much smaller and a lot less yellow than the box leads you to believe. There's a bit of sweetness, but it's not so much that I'd reject these. Oddly, there's not much corn flavor. I expected more corn to come through, considering how few ingredients there are. Of the three of them, I'm going to say that this is the one I'd want to put milk on, rather than eat it straight. They aren't bad, I don't know if I'd buy them again, but I'll happily eat them until they're gone. But they aren't close to the mysterious cereal I was looking for. These are much denser than the cereal I'm after. The original was much airier.
I'm beginning to think that Kix or Corn Pops are the cereal, but that they've gotten sweeter since I last ate them.
Of the three, the puffed corn is probably the closest in flavor, but the cereal I'm thinking of is more of a manufactured texture, rather than being an actual popped grain. More like a cross between the Cheetos puffs and the puffed corn. And although I said the cereal wasn't sweet, it was a tad sweeter than the puffed corn.
So there we have it. If I could get single serving sizes of Corn Pops and Kix, I'd like to give them a side-by-side trial and see if either is close. But I don't want to buy a box of each, unless someone has an interesting recipe for disposing of the remains, if I decide they're too sweet to eat.
dbcurrie at 2:02PM on 04/26/09
and all this talk led me to buy a bag each of puffed wheat and puffed rice. I would have thrown a bag of puffed kamut into the cart, too, if my husband hadn't been watching...;-}
BobbieAnne at 2:37PM on 04/26/09
@Bobbie, I'm thinking there's probably a small upsurge in cereal purchases as people get nostalgic about the ones they used to eat, or they get cravings just because they're reading this.
dbcurrie at 3:56PM on 04/26/09
When I first read your request, my immediate response was Corn Puffs. They were round, yellow and floated and weren't very sweet. I liked them as a kid, along with puffed wheat, rice krispies and cheerios. Then I developed an allergy to milk.....
duncan1205 at 4:01PM on 04/26/09
I'm not sure you're going to be happy buying a box of Corn Pops. They're pretty much a sugar bomb...Kix pretty much taste unsweetened next to them. Heck, HONEY Kix taste unsweetened next to them. However, if you're really dying to find out and need recipes, crush them up as breading for chicken or fish. You're still going to notice the sweetness though. Or if you can do sweets but just not sweet cereal, you could make a Rice Krispies Treat kind of bar with them.
cycorider at 5:31PM on 04/26/09
@cycorider, I like sweets well enough, but for some reason I'm not crazy about sweet cereals. I eat my oatmeal (or grits) with salt and butter, and so far Cheerios are my fav big-brand cold cereal. On the other hand, a slab of cake for breakfast would be just as likely as cold pizza, if I happened to have them on hand. French toast is lovely drenched in maple syrup, but I like my pancakes with just butter.
Yeah, my breakfast foraging is weird. I'm also just as likely to order a BLT for breakfast and scrambled eggs for lunch if I happen to be at that sort of place.
Maybe I'll try Kix again. I'm thinking that what I had before might have been a sample box and for all I know it was Honey Kix and I wasn't paying attention.
dbcurrie at 6:51PM on 04/26/09
I can pretty much guarantee that the cereal you loved was Kix. I loved it, too. However, some time around 1992 or so (I remember where I lived but not the specific date), General Mills changed the Kix formulation and took the tiny amount of sugar out of the cereal and put it and some more sugar on the outside of the puffs. I remember because I was quite unhappy about it (I, too, do not like sweet cereal) so I wrote GM a letter. They wrote back, thanked me for my interest, enclosed a coupon for any GM cereal, and told me to try another one of their products as they were not changing Kix back to the old formula.
susanoa at 10:14PM on 04/26/09
King Vitamin
browngravy at 9:29AM on 04/27/09
Reading all this makes me want to have the only sweet cereal I liked growing up: Honeycombs. I am going to have to buy a box. Tonight.
Butrflygirly at 1:11PM on 04/27/09
@susanoa, I think you may have solved the problem. The sweetness I object to is the sugary coating, but a little sweetness in the cereal itself wouldn't be horrible. It's like the difference between food that's salted in cooking vs food with salt sprinkled on top. One enhances the flavor and the other tastes like salt. If Kix changed their formula in the 90's, that would explain everything.
Bah, humbug.
dbcurrie at 1:48PM on 04/27/09
dbcurrie: It's odd that you have so much interest in a cereal that you have so little actual recollection of. Especially when you claim that you aren't even sure what inspired it.
Perhaps my crazy cereal post inspired you. It has certainly influenced a lot of other Serious Eats readers to go on a cereal binge. If so, please accept my apologies. ;)
My advice: maybe you should just find a new cereal that you like now that you are an adult, and forget about the vague, undefined memories of a long gone cereal that obviously didn't have a very big impact.
Cheers,
~ Paula
Paula Maack at 4:26PM on 04/27/09
Perhaps Quaker Oat Squares. "Puffed," not too sweet, yummy. They invoke a bit of nostalgia for me.
AnaPowell at 5:34PM on 04/27/09
does anyone remember ironman cereal from kelloggs? i remember enjoying that.
dozertx at 5:48PM on 04/27/09
Rice krispies?
gargupie at 7:10PM on 04/27/09
@Paula, I think it was a TV show that did me in. It was one of those "how it's made" segments, and I was thinking that it looked just like some cereal that I used to LOVE when I was a kid. And seeing it brought back the memory of the flavor, even though I hadn't thought about them in years. Of course, watching this show late at night made me want the cereal for breakfast, but that wasn't going to happen.
The thing is that when I was a kid, I didn't have many cereals that I'd want a second box of. So it's not like this was one of many. And I feel the same way now. Most of the ones I've tried haven't made a second appearance.
So I decided that next time I was in the store, I'd have to see if I could find the old cereal again. As much as I like Cheerios, something different would be good. Since I liked this other cereal as a kid, I figured there was a good chance I'd like them now.
Anyhow, I think they might have been Kix, but as was noted above, they changed the formula in the 90s, so what I remember doesn't exist any more. On the plus side, I did follow some suggestions and I found some other cereals that are pretty good.
dbcurrie at 7:47PM on 04/27/09
Crunchy Corn Bran. Delicious.
seikel at 9:49AM on 04/28/09
@ dbcurrie: Phew!!! I'm off the hook. Happy crunching!!! :)
Paula Maack at 3:55PM on 05/02/09
KING VITAMIN. Someone gave you this answer several days ago, it is definitely the cereal you are thinking of...
bitfidget at 11:28PM on 05/02/09
@bitfiget, I've never heard of King Vitamin. So that's not it. I'm pretty sure it was the "old" formula for Kix, pre-1990's. So the cereal still exists, but they don't make it the way they used to.
dbcurrie at 11:56PM on 05/02/09
I really miss Concentrate..............who remembers that one and is there anything remotely similar these days?
BadgerHound at 9:10AM on 05/04/09
Quaker Puffed rice or Puffed wheat. Straight out of the cannons. And if anyone else remembers (I think it was to the tune of the 1812 overture), it was:
The only cereal that's popped from guns
nachoTaco at 10:17AM on 05/04/09
I'll add my vote to those who have said Corn Bran!! It looks like Kashi Honey Sunshine, but much older (from when I was a kid circa 1970-80) and tastes like corn. Not sweet. Try it!
roxygirl at 10:40AM on 05/04/09
Thank you, heartofglass, for the link to 80s stuff. Wow! And they actually have "cereal finder" link and an alphabetic list of which cereals are still available. Sadly, my own personal favorite, Kellogg's Concentrate, seems no long available. Perhaps that was because you could eat the entire tiny box of Concentrate at one sitting rather than the recommended serving size. We loved that stuff, though.
sandydee8 at 12:36PM on 05/04/09
The first thing that came to me was King Vitamin (!!!) then Quisp was a close second - but I realize you're not looking for sweet, sooo.....
Corn Bran also fits your description - it's not as sweet as KV or Quisp, but has such a good flavor, you don't need sugar at all... it's really hard to find Corn Bran these days, I haven't seen it in the major chain stores lately... you can get it online, along with King Vitamin AND Quisp (all Quaker cereals):
http://www.quakeroats.com/products.aspx?view=MoreProducts
CEREAL RULES.
crm1010 at 12:40PM on 05/04/09
The problem is, when cereals were made when we were little, they used sugar to do any sweetening that was needed. They use High Fructose Corn Syrup today and EVERYTHING I liked when I was a kid tastes overly-sweet to me now. I confirmed this recently when my husband bought Coke that was kosher for Passover--It has a yellow cap and is sweetened with sugar. It was delicious--and the first time I've actually LIKED Coke in a very long time. Besides, I'm convinced that if HFCS is not kosher, it MUST be bad for you!!!
Donnamarie at 3:45PM on 05/04/09
A lot of cereals these days have different names than the original names. Some have changed their formulas too.
I was never a cereal person, except for granola OR muesli. My husband is a huge cereal person - the top of our refrigerator looks like Jerry Seinfeld's kitchen on his tv show - a row of boxes. The only one of mine is Life (yes they still make it and they make a Cinnamon flavored one too). I used to eat one by South Beach Diet but they discontinued it. It wasn't overly sweet either. I also make my own Chocolate Granola (made with dark chocolate).
The only non-sweet cereals I can think of are the puffed wheat or rice and the ones that are in puffy squares. Shredded Wheat and also some of the granola cereals aren't very sweet - read the ingredients.
RisaG at 4:54PM on 05/04/09
Maybe it was quisp...quisp used to be my absolute fav...it had a cartoon martian on the box, puffy...just plain good and, sad to say, one that lost porpularity sometime in the 80's or 90's range....
plowlady at 7:27PM on 05/04/09
Cereal Boxes #51 via | buy on eBay | add
Cereal Boxes #52 via | buy on eBay | add
This says gun, but looks like a cannon
queenlalisa at 8:14PM on 05/04/09
# 130 is even better, it has to be it.
queenlalisa at 8:20PM on 05/04/09
http://www.coverbrowser.com/covers/cereal-boxes/3
queenlalisa at 8:21PM on 05/04/09
HONEYCOMB? The people who suggested this either have a really bad memory or an impared ability to register sweetness!
To me all the clues pointed toward puffed wheat too. I have a strange love/hate nostalgic memory of this cereal as well. Today, I would suggest making cereal bars from it, as I would most cereals!
The Gorilla cereal is Gorilla Munch, a healthy rip-off of Corn Pops by Nature's Path kid's line, EnviroKidz. Never been big on kid's cereals. I recommend the Heritage Flakes... especially for cereal bars! lol
http://www.naturespath.com/products/cold%20cereals?tid=5&brand=All&nutri=All
For all you cereal freaks out there, check these sites...
http://www.cereality.com/main.php
http://www.cerealicious.ca/index.asp
Sugar at 11:10PM on 05/04/09
@Donnamarie - HFCS is kosher, just not kosher for passover because it is a corn product. . .if you're really interested in the reasoning, google "kitnyot". . .
I miss Strawberry Rice Krispies. . . we were allowed to have one small dixie cup of it as a snack every once in a while. . .ooooh, so good. . .shaking strawberry quik powder over regular rice krispies is close, but not the same. . .
bgweil at 1:26AM on 05/05/09
You guys crack me up...dbcurrie clearly said at the top that he/she wanted cereal that was not sweet. NOT that it wasn't sweetENED, but NOT SWEET. And yet you kept suggesting honey-this and sugar-that. People just don't listen, do they?
expat39520 at 8:37AM on 05/05/09
I remember a cereal named "JETS" from the 50's that was a puffed orb and not too sweet as I remember could have been a wheat and corn blend I still remember it like it was yesterday but it was 50 years ago. It was the best cereal I've ever eaten or recall but guess there weren't enough of us that liked it. I think it was a General Mills product. They were about the size and shape of Kix but NOT Kix, it was JETS ! Possibily it was a test market product,
shipwreck at 12:58PM on 05/05/09
Jets vs. Kix = the cereal version of West Side Story?
When you're a Jet, you're a Jet all the way...
From your first bowl of milk
To your last soggy flay..k...
dbcurrie at 6:10PM on 05/05/09
to bad we wern't talkin flakes
i miss my post fortified oak flakes
joejoe at 8:22AM on 05/06/09
I loved Kix until they changed the formula. They are airier now and don't have nearly the taste of the old ones.
Judyb80 at 4:29PM on 05/10/09