I was never a Cheerios fan growing up; the aftertaste in my mouth just wasn’t that appealing. then Honey-Nut Cheerios came out and I thought, sure, give it a try. Nope. Sweetening up the aftertaste didn’t really do it for me.

Now I have noticed in the last couple of years Cheerios keeps on broadening their line and trying to catch everyone from toddlers on up with their little O’s of goodness. You can get fruity O’s, frosted O’s, clustered O’s, banana O’s, O’s that look like FruitLoops, yoghurty-covered O’s, multigrain O’s and breakfast bar O’s. You can find those adorable little O-shaped snacky containers at the end of store aisles to haul your O’s around in the car.  However, Cheerios hasn’t decided to cash in on the gluten free crowd yet. Is there wheat in Cheerios? Have a look at the box: wheat flour.

Now why do I even bother to write about this? Like I said, never a big fan of Cheerios. But I was sent some of those sample boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios (our postman must think I’m a cheerio addict) and they gave me 4- $1 off coupons for any kind of Cheerio I’d want. That’s nothing to sneeze at. I’ve noticed in this economy (and face it, cereal is like $5 a box if you want anything worth munching on) manufacturers are giving up less and less coupons and those you get, you have to buy 2 of. And that’s a freaking rip. But you can’t sit there and look at cute little boxes of Cheerios and not want some.

And I did. Suddenly and really bloody badly did I want a bowl of Cheerios. So I looked into cereals that are gluten free. I’m a cereal-popcorn fan in that respect: I like it when I like it and when I like it, I like it a LOT.

Unfortunately back in the day when my doctor said, put some more grain in your diet, just eat cerea;, I found out that grain/fibre/whole/goodness meant it tastes like crap. Think about it: FiberOne, WholeGrain Cheerios, Raisin Bran, Bran…Bran…Bran…  It’s flat, unsugared and the colour of, well, poop.  Then we have the organic/good for you versions that try to name their products something fun, funny or ecologically clever for basically the same poopy-coloured cereal that tastes even a little more like cardboard. (And, Quinoa Flakes? Really??)

When I went gluten-free I just dropped cereal for 10 months. Who needs cereal? Then I found a box of Corn Chex. Corn Chex, to my knowledge has never had wheat in it but they feel the need to trumpet this on their shiny new boxes. Whatever. It’s not the best cereal in the world. It’s bland, its not sweet and at least its not the crappy wheaty whole grain goodness colour. The one thing Corn Chex has it crunch and it holds its crunch in milk or recipes. Hallelujah.

Are there other options out there for GF’ers that don’t completely suck?  Well, GlutenFreePost sings the praises of Nature’s Path’s Whole O’s and OnlySometimesClever gives us a whole list of GF cereals from your run of the mill manufacturers like General Mills and the like. Notable mentions here including Dora Stars, Little Einsteins Fruity Stars and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Berry Crunch, Cocoa Puffs and Trix.  I may have to try the Cocoa Puffs next but other than that, I’m grown up enough to be sticking to the Corn Chex when I get a yen.

As for you, Cheerios: keep up!