kasha is sort of like grits except it can be ground or whole grain rice, rice pilaf or regional grains. Its popular in the middle east and eastern europe. Kashi is also a brand name in the USA for organic puffed rice cereal.
grits and kasha are similar except that grits is corn meal which is prepared just like oatmeal. white grits use only the insides of the corn kernel, yellow grits use the entire kernel and are more traditional in the southern USA. (no os jokes plz)
plain cream of wheat really has no taste although you can detect a bit of saltiness. cream of wheat picks up the flavors of anything you put in it so well that anything you add overtakes the base flavor, which doesnt really exist