The Kid Tested, Mother Approved® and made with All Natural corn messaging attracted my attention to try this cereal. I am always on the lookout for products we can try (and write about) that appear to offer a healthy nutrition to young kids. Although, it was really difficult to locate it on the shelf and I had to ask for help, I was determined to find it after I heard about it from a reader. I should add that until I came across this product, I had never tried Kix before even though it seems to have existed for over 70 years!

Here is what we like about this product -

1. Only 3 g sugar in a 30 g serving (1 1/4 cup).
2. 3 g dietary fiber, made with whole grain corn.
3. Only 110 calories, 150 if you add 1/2 cup of skim milk.
4. No saturated fat, no trans fat, no cholesterol.
5. Added vitamins and minerals especially iron and vitamin D3.
6. Good crunchy taste. The small corn balls captured the fancy of my son who made Mickey ears out of them! It makes a good finger food.

Here is what we don’t like about this product -

1. Contains added salt, 1 serving has 190 mg or 8% of daily recommended value on a 2000 calorie diet.
2. Contains trisodium phosphate – according to nutritiondata.com, it is used as a buffer, emulsifier, foaming agent, neutralizing agent, sequestrant, stabilizer, suspending agent and whipping agent. In short, it helps mix a lot of different things! The description on Wikipedia shows its use in cleaning agents, as a flux and a paint enhancer.
3. The small corn balls, although fun and crunchy, are a choking hazard for young toddlers.
4. Higher cost – boxed cereals, in general are expensive and we mostly buy them on sale. This particular product, although priced at the standard $3.99 contains a slightly lower weight than other similar sized cereals. The net effect is that you are paying a slightly higher amount.

I asked my followers on Twitter and Facebook what they thought about this product. Here are a couple of comments:

Rashmi Nigam @yumkid shared her own review of Kix as she agreed with the good taste:

We just tried Kix last week and reviewed it. It tastes quite yummy.

Registered dietitian Sarah Eastridge Hortman was also positive in her comment on facebook:

Kix is a really great choice. Kid friendly and nutritious without too much sugar! Kix is one of the top choices in my article on Top 8 Kid Friendly Cereals

Dr. Susan Robin @DrSuRu who prefers to serve cooked grain, eggs or dinner leftovers for breakfast, shared her opinion on cereals

My family & I stay away from boxed cereal for many reasons. Health, environment, economy to name a few.

Overall, I think that the best feature of this product is low sugar. A good alternative if you want to see some diversity on your cereal shelf.

Disclaimer – I have not received any sponsorship or free samples of product from General Mills for writing this review. For complete nutritional information and other products, visit Kix website.

©2010 Littlestomaks.com

4 adult servings, 8 toddler servings

The inspiration for this recipe came from the March 2009 issue of Family Fun magazine. We tried it over the weekend with minor changes.

Ingredients

1. 1 lb lean ground beef
2. 3 medium size zucchini, peeled cut into small pieces
3. 2 medium ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
4. 3/4 cup diced red or green bell pepper
5. 1 medium onion, finely chopped
6. 2 cloves garlic, minced
7. 1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
8. 3 tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro
9. 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
10. 1/2 tsp curry powder
11. 2 tbsp tomato paste
12. Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Saute onions in a large frying pan over medium heat until golden brown. Stir in the garlic and saute a few more minutes. Add the meat, curry powder, salt and pepper to the mix and continue to saute until the meat loses its pink color, about 5 minutes. Add zucchini, red (or green) pepper, tomatoes, tomato paste and corn kernels. Cook covered on low heat for another 10 – 15 minutes. Stir in cilantro and remove from heat and let it sit covered for another 5 minutes. Serve over Basmati rice or angel hair pasta.