Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Pan-Fried Coco Wheats -- Vegan Tuesday


Dave has told me at least 1000 times that when he was growing up his favorite breakfast was Cream of Wheat cereal. I don't think I'd even tasted Cream of Wheat until I was an adult and I made it for him. It's okay, but I like oatmeal much better. When I was grocery shopping the other day I saw Coco Wheats--chocolate flavored Cream of Wheat. Neat! I just knew that Dave would love it, so I bought a few boxes. It turns out that Dave prefers the original Cream of Wheat, but I now love the Coco Wheats. Who would've thought?

When I was cooking the Coco Wheats for breakfast over the weekend I was thinking that the cooking method is very similar to polenta. I wondered if it would be possible to cook the Coco Wheats, let it cool, and then pan fry it the way I do with polenta. So, I made a really big batch of Coco Wheats, using less liquid than usual, and saved the majority of it for pan frying the next day. I spread the cooked cereal in a large baking dish so that it was about 3/4" thick, and kept it in the fridge over night.

After the Coco Wheats were chilled and very firm, I cut them into squares and pan fried them in a little bit of oil over medium heat. I cooked them just until the ends were crispy and the middles were nice and hot. I served them with Maple Syrup.

They were SO yummy. I love my pan fried Coco Wheats. I have been making them for dinner because I love them so much. Since I use water instead of milk, and no butter, this is a vegan dish. And, it's not sweet. The Coco Wheats do not have any sugar, just unsweetened cocoa.

Sometimes when I make up recipes things turn out rather badly. This time though we have a winner--well, at least for me. I am really, really loving my Coco Wheats!


20 comments:

  1. I love the original Cream of Wheat. Yum...that makes me think of my childhood too. I used to have that all the time. And I love it with lumps. Thanks for the memories.

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  2. This is very inventive, Michele, and sounds like it would taste delicious, especially with the maple syrup. I don't think I've ever seen CoCo Wheats, but I am going to be on the lookout for it.

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  3. How funny! I haven't seen the chocolate cream of wheat in stores, I'll have to look for it. I haven't had cream of wheat in ages.

    Sounds like a great dish.

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  4. What is cream of wheat, is it semolina?

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  5. I thought I read the title of your post wrong! What a cool idea. I didn't like cream of wheat when I was younger, but I'd probably like it now, especially if it was chocolate flavored!

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  6. Thank you for the nice comments! I've only ever seen the Coco Wheats in one store -- Walmart!

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    1. If you go for the malt-o- meal brand (a little more expensive but still the same thing)you can get original, chocolate, or maple flavored. I grew up in the town malt-o meal is produced and twice a week you could smell the cocoa in the air and once a week you could smell the maple in the air

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  7. Cream of Wheat is farina--finely ground wheat that cooks up to be like a porridge. It's been around since the late 1800s and was a very popular breakfast food when I was growing up.

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  8. My kids LOOOOVE CoCo Wheats! We recently moved to North Carolina, and I couldn't find it ANYWHERE so my mom had to send some down by mail!

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  9. I love themn too! I find them at Wal-mart.

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  10. it's getting harder and harder to find find the co-co wheats thats why... stores aren't carrying it as much. I love the stuff the old fashion way... milk and sugar yum yum.

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  11. That pan fried coco wheats looks like scrapple.

    >:P

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  12. A more than century-old Warsaw company is closing, affecting the future of some 50 workers.

    Little Crow Foods makes mixes for coating chicken, muffins and pancakes, but is probably best-known for creating Co-Co Wheats cereal in 1930.

    Warsaw mayor Joe Thallemer says he is "obviously disappointed" that one of the city's oldest companies is closing and wishes a deal could have been reached to keep Little Crow in Warsaw.

    The family-owned business hasn't released details of the closure.

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  13. I was told by the company that they can ship some and they never mentioned closing and was willing to ship several boxs...I say if you can't find any go online to find their website...Nothing about closing...

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  14. I Love Coco Wheats! Thanks to my mom she interduced them to me. I love them so much! You can also find coco wheats at cub to they have a lot of them in stock. Did u know that when u buy coco wheats that money that you payed for tge price if the coco wheats your money is gived to them


    So hurry up run as fast as u can to cub or walmart to get coco wheats. Run fast

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  15. I really wanna try making this now! I LOVE Coco Wheats. I buy mine at Kroger.

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  16. I really wanna try making this now! Too bad it's almost midnight... Anyways, I LOVE Coco Wheats. I buy mine at Kroger.

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  17. I've been making Coco Wheats with instant pancake mix for years. Love it

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  18. Coco Wheats brand was bought by MOM Foods and is still in production. You can even buy a case on Amazon.com. Since you're vegan, you should try it the way I always had it when growing up - with margarine, or maybe soy/almond milk?

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