Living in a Cereal World

I couldn't remember if I'd shared this one last winter but, apparently not. This lentil soup I'm linking to is slightly different in description from my version but it's the same ingredients so it's the same soup. If you've never had lentils before (I hadn't) this is a good place to start. Now it's a mainstay in my soup repertoire. I do follow the recipe's suggestion to add meat because there's hearty-soup eaters in my house but I think it would be just fine without it. This is also one of those soups that tastes even better leftover, once all the flavor really soaks into it.

A few months back my sister came home with a variety pack of instant Cream of Wheat and announced: "That maple and brown sugar is nasty. " My sister rarely has strong negative opinions--especially about food--so my curiosity was piqued. Although not that much, I guess, since I'm just now getting around to trying it. Just getting a whiff from the open packet made me see where my sister was coming from. The maple has a very sharp scent--that's really the best way to describe it. It's like maple tinged with...brown sugar? Or better yet, singed with brown sugar. It smelled burnt...and off . Since I wasn't sure if I would like it I decided to play it safe and cut the taste down with a packet of original flavor. Probably a good call. It didn't taste terrible to me but it's not what you would expect from something labeled "maple and brown sugar." If I try it by itself next time that might affect my opinion. Now I'm glad I didn't have t

I held off blogging for a day so I could actually taste the cake I'm about to share: Pear Upside Down Cake. Everybody's had Pineapple Upside Down Cake, right? Or maybe you don't like/can't eat pineapple. Well, this one's ridiculously easy, too. First of all, I had to find an icing-less cake for my mom, as she's not so into the sweet stuff anymore. This cake caught my eye and I tucked it away until yesterday. It's pretty simple: melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and sliced pears topped off with a box of yellow cake mix. I used Duncan Hines, like I do for my Pineapple Upside Down Cake recipe, and no, I don't mind taking the boxed mix shortcut sometimes. That's what the recipe called for. *shrug* The trickiest part, maybe, is knowing when your pears are ripe. I gave mine a week; they were lighter in color and definitely ready to go. Oh, and I used D'Anjou pears because that's what was available. The flavor was just right for my mom: no

Yes, I finally found it.  Locally, I mean. I surprised myself by not even hesitating to buy it, despite the size. I guess that giant box of Honeycomb had me mentally prepared. So on to the cereal. The original six flavors debuted late last summer, just in time for the back-to-school season. I'm guessing that Post's intention was to create a large-sized bargain line for cereal-devouring families. Now it seems that after some real-world market research they've cut it to four flavors. Luckily for me, Strawberry and Creme made the cut. It's a corn- and wheat-flake cereal (although it just tasted like corn to me), with half of the flakes colored pink and sweetened "strawberry" and the other half...not. The strawberry scent hits you as soon as the bag is opened--the taste, however, was just okay. You'd think the company behind the awesomely flavored Fruit Blends could do a little bit better than "Berry Berry Kix-ish." I'll be mixing this wit

A few years ago, let's say five(-ish) there was a flavor of Contadina bread crumbs with a recipe for Sicilian Skillet Chicken (not this one, but similar). I can't remember the flavor of bread crumbs, but not long after I made this chicken for the first time they discontinued the bread crumbs. So for the last few years I've been winging it with a combination of Contadina and Progresso recipes. Maybe two months ago I found these bread crumbs , which I suppose are as close to the old ones as I'm going to get, and wouldn't you know it, the old recipe's on the back of the can. The one linked to above. Except I can't remember the original calling for dried rosemary. This time I'll be sure, though, to tear it off the can because it's still not on the website. Oh, and it's still delicious. Maybe we all just wanted it to taste right because it was Contadina's bread crumbs/recipe but I don't mind my mind influencing my taste buds this time ar

One reason I like doing these reviews is that it forces me to really consider the different components of a cereal, as opposed to just, "well, I know I like this one." Like this variety of Special K, for example. The "multigrain" refers to the combination wheat and rice flakes, which have more texture than a regular Special K flake, and I think holds up better to the oat and honey coating than a plain rice flake would. It could use more oats but that's not really a complaint. I wondered if oat clusters would work in this cereal but then I realized, no, that would be way too crunchy. This cereal is just fine the way it is. Also, watch for the redesigned boxes (on all Special K cereals, too). It just says "Oats & Honey," now. And it says there's corn in the flakes, too. That makes sense. *** And I think that's it for my original list. Unless you count...no, that's kind of new. Okay, on to the sort-of-new and definitely new stuff!

I had to push back the cereal review one more time to share this salmon burger recipe. Now, I like salmon, and I like foods in burger form...but I'd never had a salmon burger before. All of the ingredients--bell pepper, onion, lemon juice, rosemary--really work well together; no one flavor dominates. It's just very light- and fresh-tasting for a canned salmon. I also like having condiment options (you know me--I like options, I like variety). There's no correct way to eat this; it's a blank slate. But a flavorful blank slate. Seriously, next entry will have to do with cereal.

So how did those roasted carrots turn out? Pretty good, actually. I cut the recipe in half since I only had four carrots; if you use a 1 lb. bag you could probably feed six. And go easy on the pepper. You don't want that to overshadow the other flavors. Sometime this winter I will get to the other three recipes, too. Earlier that morning I made cranberry muffins. Just so you know, one and a half cups of dried cranberries is basically a whole bag of Craisins. I used the reduced-sugar variety to see if there was a taste difference; I don't really think so. And you can taste just a hint of orange in there, too. I also used whole-wheat pastry flour instead of regular whole wheat flour since I already had it in the house. I have no idea if that makes baked goods less dry; I just know that I like it. Hopefully there'll be a cereal review forthcoming. I've had to resist the urge to overstock.

There was some sickness going around this week so it was the perfect time to make Italian Chicken Noodle Soup. If regular chicken noodle soup just doesn't do it for you, maybe a different seasoning would help. I believe I've made this once before but this time I used fresh broccoli, which cooked thoroughly and was very tender and easy to eat. I plan on roasting the rest of the carrots tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes.

I'm still wrapping up my original list from last year--only a few more cereals to go. This one is a rice Chex; half the pieces are dusted with cinnamon, the rest are not. I always forget that fact, but I think it's one of the reasons I like this cereal--no cinnamon overkill. It does have a strong cinnamon flavor, though, but in a good way. It doesn't taste "artificial." And I think that finishes the Chex varieties that I eat.

A few more to mention: from the makers of Honey Bunches of Oats Fruit Blends comes Honey Bunches of Oats Tropical Blends Mango Coconut. With mango flakes, coconut-flavored clusters and coconut shavings. This one is high on my list. There's also a new Greek Honey Crunch that sounds interesting. While out yesterday and today I spotted a few of these new cereals in stores, including Honey Nut Cheerios Medley, Peanut Butter Toast Crunch, and Special K Chocolatey Strawberry. And one not yet on the Kellogg's website: Cinnamon Jacks. Say what now? I thought Apple Jacks already had a cinnamon flavor. I got over Apple Jacks a long time ago but I am begrudgingly adding this new one to the list as well. You know I love my cinnamon.

So I thought I'd sniff around today to find any new products I might be interested in trying this year. Boy, are there. Let's start with General Mills. First, Honey Nut Cheerios Medley Crunch: a combination of Cheerios, wheat flakes, and "clusters", which I hope have some oats involved. It sounds like a lot for one cereal but I'll have to see how the different elements come together. It sounds like something my dad (the original cereal mixer of the family) will love. Second, Peanut Butter Toast Crunch. You had me at "Peanut Butter." Probably only once. As for the Fiber One 80 calorie chocolate cereal, I might have to strongly hint to my brother to help me out with that one. Kellogg's has two cereals, too: Frosted Mini-Wheats Crunch brown sugar cereal, which looks from the box to be their answer to Quaker's Oatmeal Squares, but that's just a guess; and a limited-edition Special K Chocolatey Strawberry cereal. Didn't I already tell

I hadn't intended to review this; I mean, it's basically the same as the regular kind. But I wanted to mention why it's important to read the directions. For one packet of original you need 2/3 cup of boiling water, as opposed to 1/2 cup for the flavored packets. It turns out this is because there's more Cream of Wheat in the original packets (I guess because there's no spices or dried things taking up volume/space). So that was really filling this morning. And a little lumpy. And, surprisingly, a little buttery. ***** Have you ever had Target's Archer Farms Blueberry Bread? It's always sold out at my Target but I managed to snag the last one today. Good stuff. Tastes like real blueberries.

Now I've gone on the record about Honeycomb before, but I picked up a family-size box a few weeks ago for my brother to eat while he was visiting and there's no way he could eat that much in two weeks--not with other breakfast options--so there was still one-third of the box left this morning. I stared it down. Okay, Honeycomb. Don't let me down any further. It wasn't bad. Taking into account that it wasn't freshly opened, the flavor still seems dulled. Maybe the memory of my childhood taste buds has been tainted but I still feel like Honeycomb needs more honey flavor. I'll finish the box regardless--you know I don't waste cereal--but I wouldn't go out of my way to buy that for myself. Happy New Year, everyone. Here's to new cereals, new flavor combinations, and new experiences.