Hudson Valley residents who believe breakfast is the most important meal of the day have had the option to start theirs with a cereal that is higher in protein, lower in sugar, and free of gluten and grain, thanks to a Scarsdale couple that woke up one morning and thought: “Cereal is the naughtiest food on our table.” It was around the time Margaret and Ian Wishingrad’s baby boy was beginning to nibble the classic o-shapes for snacks. “Most cereal is sugary and made with commodity grains, like oats, wheat, rice, or corn,” they explain. “These filler grains are deficient in any real nutritional value.”
It took a few years of testing and tweaking, but in 2020, the Wishingrads launched Three Wishes o’s in a trio of flavors at a handful of specialty supermarkets; they now have eight varieties—with seasonal ones released faster than you can raise a spoon—in all the big-box stores and Amazon. Each has just four or five ingredients, including chickpea pea protein as the base, which delivers eight grams of protein, compared to Cheerios that offer half that amount. A comparatively low serving of sweet comes from tapioca, monk fruit, or organic cane sugar.
Last year, they added granola to the lineup, in craveable tastes like chocolate almond and maple pecan, and now they’ve launched chewy snack bars—even the s’mores flavor has just three grams of sugar, plus six grams of protein and zero grains. “Most granola and bars out there have a healthy halo, but are loaded with sugar, fat, and not the best ingredients,” the Wishingrads explain. “Our wish has always been a product with cleaner, better ingredients that leaves you satiated without the sugar crash.”
And while the couple acknowledges they didn’t set out to reinvent the American palate, “We feel like we’re giving people permission to consume foods they’ve steered away from and to feel good about it.” Wish granted.
