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Thursday, August 07, 2008Bugs For BreakfastBreakfast is a special family time for us. I set the table with pretty linens, light our "breakfast candle," and try to offer something better than cereal at least a couple times a week. Things like spinach and mushroom frittatas, veal gravy over homemade biscuits, and breakfast quiche. Of course, there are mornings when cereal suffices. And this was one of those mornings. Naturally we eat organic cereal. Publix carries its own brand of organics, and fortunately their cereals are affordable. So we were munching on a particular variety of Publix Greenwise cereal when it happened. Maggie held up her spoon and said, "What's this?" I looked. There was something dark on one of her flakes. "It looks like a burned bit," I said. "No. It's not burned." Jonathan the Scientist leaned forward. He examined the morsels on Maggie's spoon and confirmed my worst fear. It was a bug. No, it had not fallen into Maggie's bowl from some far-up perch on our kitchen ceiling. It was a squirmy little larvae. And it had come from inside the box. Yes. Inside. And so my children began to examine the bowls of cereal that sat in front of them. And more little squirmy things began to emerge from amidst the flakes and milk. I would not look at mine. I did not, did not, did not want to know. I had eaten three spoonfuls already. Rachel's situation was even worse. She had eaten an entire bowl and was on her second. I quietly dumped my uneaten cereal down the garbage disposal. I didn't watch it as it went down. Ignorance was bliss. Then I took Spencer's bowl and dumped it, too. Poor Spencer. He had been in his own world during our entire conversation. He didn't understand why I had just thrown away his breakfast. He stormed up the steps in a fit of pique. Meanwhile, Jonathan calmly ate the rest of his cereal. (Is this guy actually related to me?) This was after he retrieved a particularly robust specimen from his bowl and placed it in a container with a flake or two, just to see if he could get it to grow to maturity. Because, yanno, we all really wanted to know exactly what we had ingested. To date, I have not been able to bring myself to buy another box of Greenwise cereal. I mean, what if the entire plant has been infested? There's a high likelihood that ours wasn't the only box with little feasting beasties inside it. I feel ill when I walk past the cereal aisle. I feel ill when I think about cereal. I may never eat cereal again. I can't write about this anymore. Bleah. Labels: life, natural foods |
About Me
I am: Mother to five stunningly individualistic children... Writer of young adult fantasy... Passionate advocate for Women At Home... Madly in love with my husband... In need of Organic Gourmet Chocolate on a regular basis. I've got a Paypal account if you'd like to contribute to the cause....
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9of my readers are feeling chatty:
first, i want to know how you can be awake enough to make such elaborate breakfast (weekends maybe)
2nd--i did get a kick out of spencer storming away, oblivious to what was going on (he mustn't be a morning person)
3rd...you mean to tell me you didnt take the box back to the store?! i was waiting to hear how that went :(
Ohhhhhh myyyyyyyyy goshhhhhh!!! I'm just holding back the gag that wants to make its way out....... we eat a lot of organic food here and I have two unopened boxes of organic cereal that may just remain unopened.
I think you should contact the number listed on the back of the cereal box and let them know what you found.
Organic or not, that's just wrong!
I feel sick......
Extra protien.... that's what my dad would say
Oh that made me chuckle! Not at your expense. It's what I would've done too. I would definitely be expecting every spoonful with the next cereal... when you go back to eating it again.
sorry, that was supposed to be inspecting, not expecting.
That is foul. I can not believe that you didn't march into Publix with the creature infested box. I mean...you sent the hideous birthay cake back to the bakery without a second thought!
kristen --
1. I'm an unabashed morning person.
2. Spencer is a morning person, but he is also my Drama King to the Nth degree.
3. Didn't take the box back because...
Bugs in a box can happen anywhere. I've had an infested pantry (Indian meal moths) and had to throw everything away. I've purchased dried peas only to discover weevils in the bag. It happens.
And I sure as heck didn't want another box! LOL I'm not buying any more of that variety until I'm sure that particular lot is gone. There were probably more boxes that had buggies in them.
*shudder*
Dave -- Did you know that earthworms have more protein than chicken?
When we were in Africa I ate fried ants. I also hid a baggie full of them in my suitcase...shhhhh don't tell customs. Rebekah (the 2 year old) ate them with gusto declaring that she wanted more bugs each time her tiny palm was empty. They taste like bacon, by the way.
Beth
Soo... did Jonathan get the bug to grow?
That was my favorite part of the story. :-D
I guess we now know why the Publix organic cereal is reasonably priced.
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