A Cold Bowl of "Cereal"

I used to plan my life around eating a bowl of cereal.  I grew up lactose intolerant and there were certain dairy products that I could safely eat but there were some that would bring terrible pains to my stomach: sour cream, goat cheese, and milk.  But I loved eating a cold bowl of cereal so much that I would plan a night in just so that I could indulge in a bowl or two. I didn't care about the stomach pains.  It was worth it.

Now that Marshall and I are changing our lifestyle, cereal and milk no longer show up as items on our grocery list.  Most cereals are loaded with sugar and milk has a fair share of sugar in it too.  So our pantry shelves no longer have those colorful, tall boxes on them anymore and I miss them so.

Last week, Ashley and I had a chance to talk to Robert Morton from Power Supply about his lifestyle change.  He talked about how Crossfit changed his life and he talked about integrating the Paelo diet into his family's lifestyle.  I loved that for his kids, it wasn't about pushing them to eat their vegetables. It is on the table and a part of their lives and they enjoy it.  He was leading by example.

Something else caught my attention and it was when he talked about breakfast and something he typically eats.  He assembles a bowl of fruit and walnuts and pours some almond milk on top.  He talked about how the motion of eating this bowl of fruit was similar to eating a bowl of cereal for him.  I thought about this for a long time and it really hit me how much emotion is involved in eating.  Food has so many connections to memories, feelings, and feelings of comfort for me.  The motion of eating a bowl of cereal was so delightful to me because I made it a treat for so long.

For the past few nights and this morning, I made myself a bowl of "cereal." I filled a bowl with blueberries, raspberries, and some slivered almonds and filled it up with cold almond milk.  As I ate the bowl, I thought about how I felt and whether it felt satisfying to me.  The first bite was always a shock to my palate (it literally thought, "what the hell is this?" But after bite number three and bite number four, the sweetness from the berries kicked in and the crunch from the almonds started to register.  It felt like I was eating a bowl of cereal. It tasted good.  It felt good. I felt satisfied.

And, no stomach ache.