Living in a Cereal World

...only this one of the rare times they were not oatmeal-based. It had been a few years since the last time I made  Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies  but I remembered enjoying them before. The name is misleading, by the way. They're chocolate chip cookies that also have peanut butter chips, not a peanut butter cookie that has chocolate chips. I'm not a big chocolate eater but I love the combination of peanut butter and chocolate. One of my favorite candies is Reese's Peanut Butter Cups; I think there's some in my Halloween candy mix this year. I'll be sure to swipe one tomorrow. Anyway, I get the same effect in these cookies, which is probably why I like them so much. Oh, and of course, I omit the nuts. Any regular reader should know that by now.

Do you ever get a craving for shrimp? I suppose I do because I don't eat them all that often. So last night I made my other go-to  shrimp fried rice  recipe (I like to alternate with  this one ). I know what you're thinking: ham in shrimp fried rice? I know, I actually hadn't ever tried it with the ham until last night. It adds a little something. Of course, additional vegetables would also  add a little extra something--literally and to the flavor profile--so that's always an option. Did I mention this is super easy? Just make sure to cook your shrimp thoroughly (the recipe says four minutes; I took about six).

This wasn't supposed to be my next granola purchase but sometimes things have a way of working themselves out. I checked the ingredients first: Is it sweetened? Yes, I just couldn't tell from the product name. What are  the "ancient grains?" Quinoa, spelt, and Kamut khorasan wheat. Well, there was no reason not to try it. How was it? I'll be honest, I couldn't even find the quinoa, and I don't know the difference between the two wheats. One of them was puffy, though, and with the brown sugar flavoring tasted almost exactly like Golden Crisp. So that's a plus, right?

So you know how much I love  roasted   vegetables . I actually set aside some time two weekends ago when I was under the weather to sort recipes (they're always piling up) and I hit upon this one:  Roasted Broccoli, Red Pepper, and Onion . When I was a kid I hated broccoli. But I was also very obedient, so I ate it. Everyone knows what happens when you overcook vegetables, right? They get all rubbery and flavorless. My mom had to bury it under cheese to coerce us to eat it. So I was curious to see what roasting would do. I should also mention that I didn't--and still don't--like raw broccoli. It just tastes like dirt to me. But roasting takes the edge off that flavor and crispness, which makes it more appealing texturally to me. The flavor would have been more pronounced if I'd had enough garlic and any lemon juice to speak of. I still ate it, though, even the red onions, which were more sweet than I expected. ******* Breakfast post next, for sure.

Another Kashi entry. On a day like today, a bright, warm fall day--although the leaves are already past their peak around here--it seemed right to open up a box of Honey Sunshine. I was surprised by the size, though. They look like teensy Cap N Crunch pieces. You would think they'd milk-bloat into nothingness but it wasn't too bad. On the other hand, I don't want to eat them on their own; I will definitely be mixing. I'm also tempted to use them as a topping but for what, I'm not sure. Oh, and the taste: imagine non-sticky-coated Corn Pops. It's a good thing, really.

I've been meaning to mention this for weeks but just couldn't pick a post to tack this on the end: the return of the monster cereals. By now you probably know that Count Chocula, Boo Berry, and Franken Berry are Halloween-seasonal (stock up now!) but this year General Mills brought back  Frute Brute and Yummy Mummy . I can see why they were discontinued in the first place--do you really need four  fruity marshmallow cereals? Frute Brute was not before my time but before my functional memory; however, I vaguely remember Yummy Mummy. Either I wasn't interested in it back then or it was on the "Absolutely Not So Don't Even Ask" list; either way, I never tried it. If you  want to try one in a retro-style package, though, they're now available at Target. I just saw them over the weekend.

I wasn't planning on reviewing this today but it's funny how things work out. I tried each component separately first: the corn flakes are lightly sweetened, the dried cranberries even less, and the almond slices are just that. I know that sounds boring but when you combine the three, it's pretty satisfying. If they'd used plain Corn Flakes instead I don't think they would've held up (taste-wise or texture-wise, to a lesser extent. It is still a corn flake, after all). But yeah, here is one cereal that delivers exactly what it promises, nothing more, nothing less.

So I was at the grocery store this morning and didn't go down the cereal aisle because I had no reason to (I don't always ). But on the way to the cold section I passed a display for a new cereal: Corn Flakes Extra. It's so new it's not even on Kellogg's website yet. And  it was on sale, so you know me. It's corn flakes, cranberries, and almonds as far as I can tell. Did you ever notice how cranberry flavored products come out this time of year? It makes sense. Quaker has a new instant oatmeal flavor, too, Apples and Cranberries. It comes in a box as well as a microwavable cup which is great for me so I can try it out without committing to a whole box. Since I found this new cereal it reminded to check every website for new products. Instead, I have to retire  two   flavors  of Fiber Plus--if I had known this was coming I would've stocked up. But, anyway. Onward.

General Mills has a new website:  Hello, Cereal Lovers . Hello, yourself, cereal maker. I had to check it out. They have recipes and fun stuff you can do with cereal and their boxes. I took the quiz and got the result of "Cereal Genius." I feel like I should put that on a business card like Wile E. Coyote.

Like I said yesterday, the weather is fighting against my need for Fall comfort foods! So I made soup anyway:  clam chowder . Wait, you ask, clam chowder? Don't you have lactose issues? Yeah, so that's why I hadn't ever made a clam chowder before, they're usually too rich and creamy. But this one called for only a cup of milk, so I did half milk/half Lactaid (shh; don't tell anyone). And it didn't upset my stomach in the least. It did, however, need more flavor. I have a really bad habit of not tasting my food before I serve it. I'm not a professional chef, obviously, but still, I should know better by now. The celery root has a very strong flavor presence and really needs something to counteract it. It probably didn't help that I used dried thyme, either. But hey, I had fresh parsley. And I actually ate the clams, unlike in canned soup where they get so chewy and inedible (to me, anyway). We'll see if the leftovers build up more flavor; they usual