Once Upon a Time...

Once upon a time there was a girl who loved candy. She loved cookies, too. And cake, and ice cream and really anything sweet. She ate more sugary treats than real food! Then one day, the girl decided to eat an apple instead of a cookie and something happened. The girl found she liked that apple, so she started eating more apples. Then she started eating berries of all kinds and even some vegetables.

It wasn’t long until the girl started to feel better when she woke up and better when she fell asleep. Then one day, the girl realized she felt better all the time, so she began to make other important changes in what foods she ate as well. She gave up all sugars and even cow’s milk and the yummy cheeses that are made with it.

Even though the girl was happy and satisfied with her new foods, there was one thing she really missed – her cereal with cold milk. Some days she even used to eat it twice. The girl searched and searched for some kind of cereal that would be right for her, but no matter where she looked, she could not find just the right kind. She was sad, but she just ate her hot cereal and waffles with fruit and sighed.

Then one day the girl went shopping in a great land called Whole Foods. In a strange twist, the girl had time to kill because she didn’t want to be 45 minutes early for an event. Since this had never happened to her before, she was confused, but happy to have time to explore this strange new land. The girl, in her cute but too-high summer tan wedge heel sandals, walked slowly up and down the aisles this beautiful place, her eyes full of wonder.

Suddenly, the girl found herself in a place called the “cereal aisle”! Row after row of one of her favorite foods were before her all at once. The girl wondered to herself, “I wonder if there are any cereals for me in this place?” So she searched and searched, carefully reading each label, until she came to a special box. The box was beautiful and it was called “Organic 100% Whole Grain Cereal Crispy Brown Rice.” The name was very strange to her, but the picture on the box showed a beautiful yellow sun rising over a snow covered mountain range, shining its rays onto a spoon full of golden crispy brown rice grains. It just had to be good.

The girl excitedly purchased the box, along with some other much needed items, including a lovely salad for dinner. She went to her event, all the time thinking of that lovely sun shining on that spoonful of cereal. She hurried home, poured her special cereal into her favorite bowl, poured some very cold, unsweetened almond milk over the grains, sprinkled a packet of xylitol sweetener on them and began to eat.

The girl could not believe how tasty this treat was! She began to exclaim to all who would listen, “This is almost like candy!” The girl was happy. She went to bed with a smile on her face and dreamt of the morning, when she would try her new treasure with fresh strawberries and a cup of coffee, sweetened with stevia.

The End.