Living in a Cereal World

Well, at least there's no surprise clusters in this one--it's right in the title. I eat almost all of the Cheerios, except Frosted (not that great), Apple Cinnamon (never did like the flavor), and (say it with me) Chocolate. I'm not sure why the Oat Cluster Crunch exists; it's basically just Multi-Grain with one extra ingredient. Not that I'm complaining; I had this with a banana today and it was pretty good. Maybe a little bit sweeter than Multi-Grain but not sickeningly sweet. One more review for the month, and then I can finally write about something else for a change. Have I mentioned that I like variety? Yes, even in a cereal blog.

(And the marathon continues...) You know, there was really no reason for me to buy this; I know what original Mini-Wheats taste like. Like I said before though, the smaller size lends itself well to mixing, and I did want to be able to say that I'd tried all the Mini-Wheats (except chocolate). Now I'm going to back up and tell you all about my experience with Mini-Wheats. This was my brother's favorite cereal as a preteen/teen; I couldn't stand it. I can't remember why, maybe it was the texture. It wasn't until college (yes, again; what does that say about me that most of my experimentation in those years was with cereal?) that I tried the frosted Big Bite version and decided it wasn't that bad. Along with that I would also snack on variety packs of cereal--the Kellogg's one had Bite Size Mini-Wheats in it. Over time it grew on me, and then they started introducing new flavors, and before I knew it, I was hooked. So who would've thought I'd

It dawned on me recently that I hadn't eaten this flavor of Special K at all last year...but I know I've tried it once before. So I figured, hey, I'll try it again. This morning I poured without really thinking: blueberry flakes, blueberry flakes, oat clusters? I checked the front of the box. "With oat and blueberry clusters." I totally forgot about that. That certainly elevates it over a just-flake cereal. Now I could have eaten this just fine on its own but I chose to top it with the banana-blueberry Fruit Blends. How many more ways can I possibly say "delicious?" Maybe you're not looking for an event in your bowl of cereal--I'm not, not every morning--but that was a very successful combination. *new product alert: Quaker has these new Real Medleys, three with fruit and nuts, one without. They cook in their own little tubs, either add boiling water or stick in the microwave. I suppose that's not much different than the tubs they use

You know, I've never cared much for Honey Bunches of Oats. I don't have a problem with the bunches, though; it's the flakes. They're so small and thin and almost not even there. They're like what you find lining rabbit cages. It's like every box of flakes came from the bottom of the box. Flaky crumbs, that's what I'm trying to say. So why try the new Fruit Blends? I'm not sure. It's certainly different. And since the flakes (banana) and the bunches (blueberry) each have their own flavor, there's more reason to have these little flakes as a component. The verdict: I liked it. I can clearly taste the individual flavors. My only problem is still with the flakes--once they get soggy, what's the point, really? So this is a better candidate for mixing for me. Probably with the Dulce de Leche Cheerios. I do like it, though, and I will also try the peach/raspberry; I just can't eat a whole bowl of it on it's own. *a quick side note

a.k.a. the One that Started it All. I could've sworn I wrote about this already, either in the intro or one of the old pre-blog entries I haven't typed up yet, but I can't find any proof of that, so I'll tell the story now. ( Edit : Oh, wait, here it is.  Well, I'll rehash the story now.) One of the changes I wanted to make before starting college was to eat healthier...or at least more fiber. I never liked Raisin Bran as a kid, too dry, too boring grown-up cereal. But then Raisin Bran Crunch came out and I thought hey, I could do this. So while I did end up eating a pretty crappy diet throughout college, I also managed to set myself on the path to more fiber cereals. Now I eat...I'm trying to count...a lot of them. And they'll all be reviewed eventually. And every once in a while Raisin Bran Crunch comes back around in the rotation, as it did yesterday. If you've never had Raisin Bran Crunch (really?) it consists of a sweetened, crunchy bran flak

Really, the very tiniest kernel of an idea for my own cereal blog came this past December, when I started reading other reviews of Dulce de Leche Cheerios. Basically, no one liked it. It didn't have a dulce de leche flavor at all, and so on. So I thought, gee, can it really be that bad? I hesitated to try it...until I came across a coupon. And my dad bought his own box, so I swiped a taste of his. Okay , I thought, I'm willing to eat a box of this . This morning I finally got around to it. I think the main issue with this cereal is the name. It's just a caramel flavor with a more marketable, yet misleading, name. There's two kinds of Os, corn and oats, and it's those weird puffy corn ones, like in Cinnamon Burst Cheerios. I was hoping for two of the more compact Multi-Grain Os (is it a different process?); the picture on the box is misleading. As for the flavor...it's all right. They aren't as terrible as I assumed they would be from the other reviews, b

(from 11Feb'12) Something was off today. I don't know if it was soap residue in the bowl, or on the spoon, or if the banana wasn't ripe enough for me but something was off. Anyhoo. Crispix. I hadn't intended for it to be my banana cereal this month, but I wanted a break from yet another Cheerio. As it turns out, Crispix is great with bananas. Crispy (duh), yet airy--I don't get that logy feeling I have sometimes when I eat too many Cheerios. Nice change of pace.

(from 9Feb'12--yes, I still have a lot of catching up to do!) I was hesitant to try Multi Grain Peanut Butter Cheerios, even though I enjoy both Multi Grain Cheerios and peanut butter. So instead of committing to a full bowl I mixed it with the Special K. Peanut butter + honey = delicious, right? Yes. Of course it does. This was two weeks ago, and I've kept it up due to extreme deliciousness. Next week, though, the Cheerios go solo. I know they'll get eaten.

We're having a dip in this weather this mid-week, so I was able to dip back into the Cream of Wheat variety pack this morning. Why did I choose Maple and Brown Sugar? I'm not sure. Maybe because after eating the Cinnabon flavor all winter, I wasn't in the mood for Cinnamon and Spice. Anyway, this one had a noticeable brown sugar flavor, with a little bit of maple on the back end. Mild, but good. I had some strawberries left over from the Easter cake so I threw a couple slices of those in too. Surprisingly good. I've never put fruit in my Cream of Wheat before and I didn't like the mixed textures of blueberries in my oatmeal (raisins, though? A must) so I was hesitant but it worked out this time. You know what else might be good? Mango chunks. Oh, and I found the new strawberry-banana bread. Can't wait to try that.

I forgot to share this Dried Apricot Pie that I made two weeks ago. A few changes, though: I cut the ground walnuts altogether because I'm not a big fan of nuts in pie, but I if make this again I would add the nuts--but not ground--just to change up the texture a little bit. It was a lot of fruit. Loaded with fruit. Also, I used only half the butter called for. I just couldn't add an entire stick of butter to a pie. That just wasn't going to happen. And after I added the fruit mixture to the pie shell I removed some of liquid it was sitting in. In retrospect, I should've left it in. The pie was a bit dry. This is why I usually don't tinker with recipes the first time around; on the other hand, you learn by doing. It still tasted good, though. That's what's important. And yesterday, I made this cake for Easter, but substituting strawberry Jello and fresh strawberries because I think I'm the only person in my family who likes fresh raspberries. I'

I do enjoy a nice breakfast bread with my cereal sometimes, primarily raisin bread. These are my favorites, in order: 1. Sun-Maid Raisin Bread -- you would think this would high on the list because, duh, it's Sun-Maid. They know their raisins. And this bread has the most. That wouldn't mean much, though, if it didn't also have a good cinnamon flavor and a nice-sized slice. 2. Pepperidge Farm Raisin Cinnamon Swirl --I love the Swirl breads; the Brown Sugar Cinnamon makes a great french toast. But anyway, the raisin bread: thin-sliced, still plenty of raisins, and of course, the cinnamon running through it. I haven't tried the whole-wheat version yet, but I intend to; I saw it once at Target and haven't seen it since. I also recommend their seasonal Pumpkin and Cranberry flavors. Oh, and while searching the website just now, I see they have a new strawberry-banana bread (which also appears to be seasonal). Must. Have. 3. Sara Lee Cinnamon with Raisins -- th

Yes, I made a few. Just tooling around with various gadgets. Scroll all the way down to find links to my favorite recipe sources and favorite non-food related websites. Over on the right I've added a few things and moved others around. The search bar was the most important addition for me; if you're looking for a specific cereal you shouldn't have to look too hard. That's probably it for this month--there's always more product reviews coming...