Yep, you read that right, I am going to take a crack at my top 5 cereals!  As I continue my Tuesday tradition of creating a top 5 list, this one struck my fancy as I gazed over to our kitchen and found myself longing to pour a bowl from the Cinnamon Life box ever so nicely perched on the counter.

The rule: Top 5 Cereals… period.  Not breaking it down by which are the healthiest, which are the best desert cereals or which is the heartiest, just plain and simple, best cereal (and then I’ll tell you why).

Without further ado; the top five:

Honorable Mentions: There are a lot of great cereals out there, a few that barely miss the cut include: Raisin Bran, Lucky Charms, Apple Jacks and a childhood favorite, Fruit Loops (the last two miss the top five because the top of my mouth just started bleeding thinking about the scratches caused by eating them).

Five: Special K with Red Berries. This is probably the healthiest of the lot, and if I were doing the healthy list this one would come in ahead of some of the other healthy cereals I like (including Raisin Bran and good ol’ fashioned Oatmeal).  Special K hit the jackpot by adding some freeze dried strawberries to the box.  You just make the K a lot more special.  In fact, I would probably just call the regular cereal “K” and now that you added the berries you can call it “Special K.”

Four: Cap’n Crunch WITH Crunch Berries.  Don’t get me started on the debate of with or w/o Berries.  Cap’n Crunch w/o Crunch Berries isn’t even in the top 20 cereals.  The Crunch Berries are what propel this cereal into the top 5 status.  Not sure why the Cap’n has messed around with peanut butter and chocolate in the past, stick to what you do best Cap’n and keep throwing in those extra crunchy sugary goodness we call Crunch Berries.

Three: Apple Cinnamon Cheerios. I am fan of all things Cheerios.  They are great for all ages.  Think about it, they are pretty much the first snack we give a baby when they move to any form of a solid (Cheerios melt in the mouth); they serve as a perfect companion to apple juice for PK Sunday School classes. Then they can be made into edible bracelets and necklaces for those younger elementary age classes and finally you add some fruit or some other sugary goodness (honey nut) and they become a great breakfast.  The most recent discoveries in the land of Cheerios is the Apple Cinnamon, Banana Nut and Multi-Grain.  I like them all!  However, if I am picking one for the top 5, I easily go with the Apple Cinnamon.  From this point forward you’ll see a bit of a trend, I have a knack for the sugary sweet/teamed with some Cinnamon.  I know that in Romans 3 it says we all have sin, but didn’t know that I was so prone to Cinn (amon).  Sorry, I am a dad and still sort of a pastor, had to get that joke in there.

Two: Cinnamon Toast Crunch.  This was a shoe-in #1 about three years ago.  But they pulled a late 1980’s Coca-Cola mistake and created a “new” Cinnamon Toast Crunch (one with 25% less sugar).  I’m calling for  “Cinnamon Toast Crunch Classic” to come out now!  Let’s start the campaign!  CTC (as I call it), is still great, but c’mon, you could still be reigning in the number one slot.  CTC not only tastes great, but is the ideal desert cereal as well.  No ice cream on hand for that 10:00 PM episode of Seinfeld?  No worries, your desert is served in the form of some CTC!  This cereal brings back memories of a group of guys I discipled through high school as well; about once every six-to-eight weeks was Cereal night, the star of the show was always CTC!

One: Cinnamon Life.  Mikey still likes it!  Thank you Mr. Quaker for keeping the formula the same.  This is a cereal that debuted in the top 5 and has never fallen away.  I even like your plain-jane “Life.”  But adding the Cinnamon catapults all other competitors and you safely land in the #1 position!  One of the nice things about Cinnamon Life–it’s great with or w/o Milk.  Now, I prefer it with milk, but if you have to go without and just need a quick snack, Cinnamon Life is there for ya!  It’s even good after 10 minutes and each little cracker has soaked up all the milk!  Mmmmm Good.

Are there cereals I missed?  Did I cause a gag-reflex for any of my choices? I want to hear your opinions!  Bring ’em!

Grace,
Brian