Just wondered what people thought would be the best cereal for keeping handy in hard times?

Total cereal for it's nutrititve content, though not sure the shelf life will hold up.

Grape Nuts never seem to go stale, long as they are kept dry.

Raisin bran can get tough to chew after a couple years I noticed.

Cheerios turn into Styrofoam after a year or so, depending on the humidity level.

Hmmm...I don't eat cereal much, but I suppose Grape Nuts would be a pretty good choice. If you can stomach the stuff oatmeal would probably also be good. Personally I can't stand oatmeal as cereal but it's versatile (great for bread, cookies, filler for meatloaf, etc).

Again, not a big cereal guy but Cream of Wheat is one I like. It would probably keep pretty well if you keep it dry.

That's easy - oatmeal! Extremely nutritious and it never tastes bad, because it never tastes at all. Also extraordinarily cheap if one buys rolled oats in quantity rather than those tiny little packets adulterated with sugar and spice.

I am about to sit down to my typical breakfast of oatmeal, milk, raisins, and various nuts - two minutes in the microwave and it is quite tasty. At any rate,probably a lot better than the Scottish warrior's meal, which was reputed to be a handful of oats dipped in a passing creek - no microwave back in those days!

Cap'n Crunch never seems to go bad and in a SHTF scenario its calories would be crucial....not to mention the morale boost. Just be sure you have toothbrushes, too.
-Blast

Oatmeal w/ blueberries & walnuts -- that's it, no additional sugar or milk. I use the Irish Steel Cut type oatmeal and avoid instant.

I go with Grits and Oatmeal, personally. I can add many different things to either to enhance or give them flavor(s).

I use tinned Hamlyns Pin Head Oatmeal for breakfast Cereal as well as for other recipes such as my home made Wall nut and Cherry Energy/Protein Bars.

http://www.hamlynsoats.co.uk/shop/

I also like Scotts Porridge Old Fashioned oats.

http://www.scottsporage.co.uk/home.php

Both are local producers

I also like the 'Simply Sumptuous Special Muesli Luxury Fruit' 750 grams from the local discount supermarket Lidls. Storage life is improved by vacuum sealing and then put in a sealed mylar bag (2 bags at a time)

I think the best is the one you regularly eat. Keep some in stock and rotate it so it doesn't go bad.

Personally, I'm a fan of granola and muesli. Both are good by themselves, both are good with milk or yogurt.

My first thought was oatmeal too. I'm talking rolled oats - the flat stuff. It can pack VERY dense, which helps with storage. It can be eaten cold or hot, wet or dry (though its tough to whistle with a mouth full of dry oats).

You can buy it in 40 lb bags at feed stores.

If you are going the Cap'n Crunch route, make sure to get the one with Crunch Berries since fruit is a good part of a balanced breakfast. :-)

Grits - unless they are jonny cakes, blech.

Altho, here is a recipe a buddy from the south once gave me -

Take standard serving of grits, throw in 2 horse apples - cook as normal, toss grits, eat horse apples, they taste better. He hated grits too.

On a saner note - whatever cereal you like. Just store it so that air can't get to it. Granola is good. Add some nuts/raisins/dried cranberries/whathaveyou and there ya go. Works even with powdered milk.