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calimacAs a small boy I ate cold cereal for breakfast. I liked sugary treats like Frosted Flakes and Cocoa Puffs, but some cereals like Cap'n Crunch I found over-sugared and would not eat. I also wouldn't touch anything with marshmallow bits in it, so no Lucky Charms.
I ate these dry. At the age of 9 I started finding the taste of milk to be sour and spoiled - I had probably developed a slight allergy - so I simply stopped using it.
As an adult my tastes changed to more boring cereals, like Special K and Product 19. I never much cared for corn flakes, though.
On special occasions, or when eating out for breakfast, I'd go for an omelet or scrambled eggs and sausage. But whatever the breakfast, I never ate very much in the mornings, preferring a large early lunch.
Eventually health reasons led me to give up cereals and I turned to fruit. For a long time this was apples, and I developed a taste for tart but crisp and sweet apples, like Fujis and Braeburns. Occasionally I'd spell these with pears.
But after a while I started finding apples too heavy to eat. I tried other fruits. I liked kiwis, and they're supposed to be good for you, so for a while I ate that. But I found, to my surprise, that while a kiwi as a special treat is great, as a regular diet they quickly palled. I eventually settled on a can of mandarin orange slices. No peeling or tearing up, simple to eat.
That worked fine until I started having trouble swallowing. Oranges would not chew up into mush that I could get down. When I was in the hospital and they put me on a liquid diet, I was surprised to find for breakfast cream of wheat. Did that count as liquid? But I could get it down.
On coming home, I settled on packets of instant cream of wheat. B. has a little kettle that boils water in a jiffy, and a small measuring cup used only for water, so I can fix it easy with a little salt substitute and a lot of margarine added. My dietician approves; she wants the fats and the calories in my otherwise meager diet.
The first time I stopped in at the grocers to buy some more cream of wheat, I discovered to my delight that there was also instant grits. I'm a northerner but I've always had a taste for southern US food, and I love grits. They're basically cream of wheat except with corn (maize). So now I alternate between the two, finishing one box of packets before turning to the other.
And that's my breakfast these days.
I ate these dry. At the age of 9 I started finding the taste of milk to be sour and spoiled - I had probably developed a slight allergy - so I simply stopped using it.
As an adult my tastes changed to more boring cereals, like Special K and Product 19. I never much cared for corn flakes, though.
On special occasions, or when eating out for breakfast, I'd go for an omelet or scrambled eggs and sausage. But whatever the breakfast, I never ate very much in the mornings, preferring a large early lunch.
Eventually health reasons led me to give up cereals and I turned to fruit. For a long time this was apples, and I developed a taste for tart but crisp and sweet apples, like Fujis and Braeburns. Occasionally I'd spell these with pears.
But after a while I started finding apples too heavy to eat. I tried other fruits. I liked kiwis, and they're supposed to be good for you, so for a while I ate that. But I found, to my surprise, that while a kiwi as a special treat is great, as a regular diet they quickly palled. I eventually settled on a can of mandarin orange slices. No peeling or tearing up, simple to eat.
That worked fine until I started having trouble swallowing. Oranges would not chew up into mush that I could get down. When I was in the hospital and they put me on a liquid diet, I was surprised to find for breakfast cream of wheat. Did that count as liquid? But I could get it down.
On coming home, I settled on packets of instant cream of wheat. B. has a little kettle that boils water in a jiffy, and a small measuring cup used only for water, so I can fix it easy with a little salt substitute and a lot of margarine added. My dietician approves; she wants the fats and the calories in my otherwise meager diet.
The first time I stopped in at the grocers to buy some more cream of wheat, I discovered to my delight that there was also instant grits. I'm a northerner but I've always had a taste for southern US food, and I love grits. They're basically cream of wheat except with corn (maize). So now I alternate between the two, finishing one box of packets before turning to the other.
And that's my breakfast these days.
no subject
Date: 2026-03-18 11:21 am (UTC)Cream-of-Wheat I can take or leave.
A few years ago in Atlanta I discovered a dinner item: grits with shrimp and cheese (cheddar I believe) in 'em. Delightful.
My own health has taken something of a turn here in France: bad arthritis in the hip, plus a dry cough that has not gone away after six weeks: and I have to fly on Saturday. Aargh.
no subject
Date: 2026-03-18 01:46 pm (UTC)Shrimp with grits is what I had when dining at Paula Deen's restaurant in Savannah. (This was long before her infamy outstripped her fame.) Delicious.
Right now my eating abilities are in somewhat better shape than the post implies. Good luck with your health issues.
no subject
Date: 2026-03-18 12:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-03-18 04:13 pm (UTC)Variety?
Date: 2026-03-19 12:19 pm (UTC)Re: Variety?
Date: 2026-03-19 01:22 pm (UTC)Re: Variety?
Date: 2026-03-19 05:20 pm (UTC)Re: Variety?
Date: 2026-03-27 05:29 pm (UTC)Re: Variety?
Date: 2026-03-28 06:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-03-28 06:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-03-28 07:54 pm (UTC)