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Funny, I've just been craving cream of wheat (which = farina, right?) lately! I used to eat it with maple syrup. I liked the way the syrup would sort of "pool" around it--kind of reminded me of creme caramel. Haven't been able to find the equivalent at Trader Joe's, and I haven't yet made it to any other supermarket yet since the craving hit...

Once i was in line getting breakfast at the ATL airport, and the lady in front of me asked for milk for her grits. Both the lady behind the counter and I looked at her like she was nuts, but then i realized I understood because i do the opposite and eat my cream of wheat like grits. It's usually just a little bit of salt, maybe some butter or cheese. I'm pretty sure it's growing up in the south, just like it was being a northerner for her.

i don't eat a lot of hot cereal these days, but it's always been cream of wheat for me. i hate oatmeal's lumpy, soggy, chewiness. cream of wheat maple brown sugar is the best!

MMMMM! I love cream of wheat, but haven't had it recently...I like it with milk and brown sugar.

I used to eat this all the time when I was a kid. My mom made it with whole milk instead of water, and then put butter, brown sugar, and half-and-half on top.

Each bowl was probably a trillion calories, but it was delicious.

Yes to cream of wheat. Also Bear Mush, Malt-O-Meal, oatmeal, and on rare occasions---fried corn meal mush, which is delicious but NOT low calorie.

mmmmm farina :-) love love love it.

My preferred use for farina is in making dumplings for chicken and dumpling stew, in place of flour. A savory application, but the texture is so much better than the usual gluey dumplings.

Milk, sugar and sliced bananas on top.

I love this. I eat oatmeal, cream of wheat and grits all the same way. Tons of milk, and delicious Equal. All are more like an atole than a porridge.

There's this Portuguese restaurant near Boston that serves Farina as past of their breakfast menu, and it's almost sinful how good it is. There's lots of speculation what goes in there, but we're pretty sure there's butter, cinnamon, sugar, and maybe lemon rind?

I was never really a fan of farina. I always had a sneaking suspicion that the surface was the event horizon of a singularity; a black hole of sorts, but one that only took in butter and sugar. Seriously, no matter how much I butter or sugar I put in... I couldn't taste it.

I still haven't gone to steel cut oats. If I ate breakfast at home I'd consider it, but I make my breakfast at work. My Kashi oatmeal packets have done well by me so far.

I *love* Cream of Wheat -- and have eaten it weekly all winter long! When I was a kid, my mom would make it with milk and serve it with butter and maple syrup. These days, I eat with with a dollop of mascarpone and a hefty drizzle of maple syrup. YUM. Perfect on a cold morning.

I adore Cream of Wheat, and I make it frequently for myself and (some of) my kids. We like it cooked with milk instead of water, and topped with butter, brown sugar, and a little splash of milk. Nummy.

I had Malt-o-Meal this morning. Haven't had Cream of Wheat in a while, but I do enjoy it in the winter. Either a bit of maple syrup, or raisins and milk. This mornings Malt-o-meal had some jam (marmalade is good) stirred in.

I'm not a fan because I prefer more texture to my hot cereal (oatmeal, or hot Kashi pilaf). My husband, however, is a huge fan and has it at least a couple of days a week for breakfast. He likes the maple, brown sugar instant variety. My mom likes it, too, with just butter and salt.

I love Cream of Wheat, and thanks to this post, it's going on the shopping list. My absolute favorite way to eat it is with granulated brown sugar - I love that bit of crunch!

:) I haven't had cream of wheat in awhile but when I did I added granola with some brown sugar and milk. It was sooo good on a cold winter morning.

Cream of Wheat reminds me of my childhood. I hated oatmeal as a child (not anymore), so my mom would make this. I love it with a little brown sugar and some greek yogurt for tartness. I don't like it with fruit since I don't like the creamy cereal with chunky pieces in it, but my little girls do.

Our 5 year old is ADDICTED to Cream of Wheat -- if she could have it every morning, she would. Unfortunately, we ran out of actual Cream of Wheat, and are not using the local product, which has a much finer texture, and which I do not enjoy as much.

Anyways, the way we serve it is to melt butter in the center, making a little pool. Then you add sugar, which also melts in (and a tiny bit of salt). When that is melted, you add cocoa powder into the melted pool, until it all combines... and then it is up to the eater how to spread it out -- whether to stir it all in, or dip into the central pool. Milk on the edges is optional.

Mmm...

(and my husband is instructed to come back with 6 boxes the next time he goes home for a business meeting!)

Bear Mush - fabulous.

And the singularity of Cream of Wheat! Ha ha ha! Good one!

Every once in a while I need a bowl of Coco Wheats. Yum! (Though as an adult I now need the "2 servings" size and not the single portion.)

So if Cream of Wheat is essentially a bowl of flour, and eating refined grains is considered less than ideal, what's a good substitute for Cream of Wheat? I like steel cut oats, but like commenters above, I find myself craving Cream of Wheat but feel guilty because I know I should eat something with whole grains.

Thoughts?

I love cream of wheat! And, I will just come out and say it: I love the lumps too. Mmm, glutinous mass of carbohydratey lump.

I like my Cream of Wheat buttery and salty, but then I've enver been a big fan of sweet breakfasts, I never put sugar on my cold cereal either. I haven't had it in a while, but with the atrocious cold weather in NYC, I may have to go get a box.

I have always made mine with brown sugar, cinnamon and dried apple slices, LOVE cream of wheat! Man, I could have used a bowl this morning.

Oddly enough, I ate it this morning at the tiny deli in my midwife's building. The first time I saw it on the menu I thought ah ha! and have been ordering it every since. Tasted like my childhood.

It also did not stop me from eating "Second Breakfast" at the better cafe near my office. Eggs scrambled with tomatoes, feta, and olives served with pixie tangerines and apple slices and a divine biscuit.

Normally we eat steel cut oatmeals mixed with an equal amount of 4 grain hot cereal with flax to up the nutrional profile.

Would you share your farina dumpling recipe? Sounds interesting.

squidlette, a bowl once in awhile (or every morning - whatever) is fine. Plenty of people eat far worse far more often and they're fine. Try not to feel too guilty about eating what you really want every so often. : )

Once in a blue moon especially when I need something comforting. I cook it in milk and add an egg towards the end, constantly mixing to make a custard-y bowl of mush. Not the healthiest but definately filling. My mother would also make farina dumpling for soup which is similar to Matzo balls (I believe you just replace the matzo meal with farina).

I love cream of wheat. I always eat it when I need a comfort food or the weather is gray out.

When I was little, my mom would make Cream of Wheat only on days when I had a sore throat and nothing else would go down easily. Sometimes, she would mix in a bit of honey and brown sugar. Other days, if she had been to the Indian store recently, she would add a bit of rose water and sprinkle some (white) sugar on instead. Yum! I haven't thought about those days in a long time, thanks for reminding me!

I love cream of wheat but i'm a bigger fan of Malt O' Meal which I cant get up here in Canada:(

Cream of wheat with milk and a teaspoon of sugar is second only to custard as comfort food.

I LOVE cream of wheat! But not the instant kind - only the slow cooking kind, made with whole milk, is the real thing. It reminds me of childhood, esp of being sick, when we kids were always served this. So, it's a big-time comfort food. And now, I only have this when I'm home and it's prepared by mom. I like it all different ways. I remember a crust of sugar and cinnamon from childhood; also, with canned fruit. Now, I mostly like to have it plain, with the skin forming on top, maybe with fresh fruit buried underneath, so I can really taste the creamy wheaty taste before anything else.

Another great thing you can do with cream of wheat is to make a finnish fruit pudding. There is a great recipe for this in the first Moosewood Cookbook. It's something like this, but has more ingredients in it:

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1813,158181-244196,00.html

Mmmm I love Cream of Wheat. Little bit of milk and brown sugar (ok a LOT of brown sugar)...delicious.

I use Cream of Wheat to make my favorite Indian breakfast--a savory Cream of Wheat called Upma. It has onions, ginger, peanuts, lentils, chilis, salt, butter, and potatoes, peas if you'd like.

Basically heat some oil, pop a spoon of mustard seed in there and let is sizzle, add some chopped onions, ginger and jalapenos, raw peanuts or cashews, and yellow lentils in there. sautee that until the onions get tender. Add veggies at this point, if using, and add salt to taste. Then add the appropriate amount of water for your finished total, let it boil and add the appropriate amount of cream of wheat. (I use the box proportions). When it is a nicely bubbly mess, add a good dollop of butter (or even better, clarified butter) and squeeze some lime on top.

This is best when eaten with Indian-style pickle. I love the garlic pickle, but most people prefer mango pickle.

It makes me happy to see all these Cream of Wheat lovers. I always keep a box in stock and almost made some last night but ran out of milk. Gonna have some tonight after all reading all of this talk, for sure!

Oh, yeah...Milk, sugar, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Not too sweet but just sweet enough. That's how my momma used to make it in Puerto Rico.

we always had it on hand to make farina dumplings too!

(nice to know it's not a just us)

Thanks for giving a pregnant lady one more thing to crave! lol My mom used to make this for us when we were kids with a pat of butter (or margarine, more likely), some brown sugar and a splash of milk. She called it "mortar" as in "bricks and mortar." I'm not sure exactly where she picked that up though!

Yes! Reminds me of my childhood, too. I'm a brown sugar and cinnamon devotee.

I eat cream of wheat and my toddler loves it plus it is a good source of iron which is important for babies.
Squidlette they make a whole grain cream of wheat now so feel free to indulge.

Has to be made with milk. It just doesn't taste right with water. And NO lumps, 'cause my mom's *never* had lumps. :) I like a touch of butter and brown sugar, or some maple syrup.

As a kid we used to put colored sprinkles in it and stir to watch all the colors swirl in the bowl.

Lately I've been making it on the weekends, especially right before I head to the farmers' market. So nice to have that warm feeling in my stomach on the cold walk.

When my mom was on chemo and radiation her taste buds were all messed up, and she never had much of an appetite, but every morning she wanted cream of wheat. We liked it with brown sugar, and some raisins.

my mom use to make it a lot when i was a kid but whenever i was at my grandma's she would make me atole which to me are kinda like the same thing

I love cream of wheat! My dad used to eat it with milk and butter. My mom is from Italy and when we were very small she used to boil it in a bit of broth and serve it with Parmesan. I love it a little salty with a bit of very good olive oil drizzled over the top and swirled in. Soooo good!

I haven't had Cream of Wheat in years-since I was a kid. I used to love it with chocolate chips spirnkled on top since once you stirred them into the hot cereal, they would get nice and melted. Chocolate for breakfast-what kid doesn't love that?

brooklyn nina - bob's red mill makes a great version (organic) and also you can find farina in any mexican market or russian market and it's super cheap.

the best is a ratio of 2 cups milk, 2 cups water, 1 cup farina.

for truly decadent cream of wheat experience i modified something i saw on allrecipes.com when i was looking for the proportion of wheat to water.

melt butter and brown sugar in a saucepan. add chopped bananas and pecans and mix in to simmering farina. die and go to heaven.

but maple syrup or even just plain butter and salt work fine too if you're in a hurry :)

squidlette - i do believe that cream of wheat is the whole grain or most of it. there's lots of brown bits in it.

malt o meal is also awesome. a little browner - maybe more healthy?

also if you are cooking it in 1/2 milk 1/2 water - the milk and grain forms a complete protein. i notice that with a few pecans thrown in and a pinch of sugar, i am full until lunchtime - which cannot be said for my usual toast or bagel.

grits with scrambled eggs and hot sauce is to die for. i wonder if it would work with farina?

sorry to do 3 posts on this but this is an exciting topic!

this summer i cooked for 150 people on a farm. daily b-fast was hot cereal plus a second course. we always used water, it got lumpy and it was still good but after finding an amazing recipe recently online (allrecipes.com) i found if i tweaked the basic recipe it does not get lumpy.

basically don't follow the directions on the box. the correct ratio is 2 cups water / 2 cups milk / 1 cup farina for 4 servings (so for 2, half that, for 1 quarter it). i always add an extra splash of milk or undercut the farina to make it just shy of a cup.

bring the liquids to a boil with a pinch of salt. turn the heat off when it's a frothing boil. slowly pour in the farina as you quickly whisk away. this way it stays creamy - no lumps - and if it sits a little it doesn't turn into mortar!

serious comfort food - stir in some maple syrup and golden raisins when still very hot. delicious!

I've always loved Cream of Wheat. I usually eat it with sugar and a bit of vanilla extract. I've tried to experiment with it, but there are certain foods that are better left as simple as possible.

I love Cream of Wheat, and our household had an explosion of it last year when my husband had a facial injury. I like it made with milk, with honey or brown sugar and a little milk on top. Sort of how I eat oatmeal.

i'm sad to hear that it's just like eating a bowl of flour though. how sad.

I just ate it this morning...I get the Maple and Brown Sugar variety.

I love Cream of Wheat, especially when I'm feeling under the weather.

To those who are pining about the nutritional value, it is not like "eating a bowl of flour". Farina is low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. It is also a good source of Folate, and a very good source of Selenium. That's not even considering that commercial products like "Cream of Wheat" are enriched (generally with Iron).

It has a low glycemic load which means that you don't get blood sugar spikes and is low calorie as long as you're not heaping sugar all over it. My husband eats it plain (2 tbsp. of non-instant Cream of Wheat made with water) about once a week so there are people who eat it without sugar.

Is it as good for you as a bowl of spinach and poached egg? No, but it is complex carbohydrates that will make you feel full and keep you fueled until lunch for a very small amount of calories and not leave you itching to eat again in 2 hours.

Wheat products are not "bad" for you. Humans have consumed them for hundreds of years as fuel for their bodies. The pyramids were built by people who lived on bread and beer. Somehow the whole notion of consuming wheat-based products has been distorted and twisted. It's not bad for you to eat wheat products as part of a regular balanced diet unless you suffer from a wheat intolerance.

Chocolate chips, sugar, and milk. I really like Coco Wheats but it's hard to find.

I-hop has pancakes with cream of wheat in the batter and I LOVE THEM. They're nice and crispy.

I grew up on the Malt-o-meal brand of cream of wheat, and I still eat it on a regular basis - it's such comfort food for me!

But savory - all the way. I'm not much of a sweets person. I either make or get thokku from my parents and usually mix it in with butter and cheese. (Thokku is a savory, spicy spread usually made from cooked down vegetables/herbs/fruits. Although the only fruit we've ever used was mango, preferably not fully ripe). Yeah, we're not sweets people here.

Like Mom used to say: "it will put a little fire in your belly". I LOVE cream of wheat!

Joyosity - I immediately thought of Neighborhood Restaurant's farina, too! I hope someone cracks the code of how they make it one day. That stuff is THE BEST.

Years ago, a friend brought a molded dessert of cream of wheat to a pot luck at work. It was completely delicious with a delicate almond flavor. He said it was based on a recipe from his Italian mother or grandmother. I wish I had gotten the recipe...