Living in a Cereal World

Have you ever woken up and said to yourself, I want to try oatmeal pancakes? I hadn't either, until a few weeks ago. I don't know why but I dove into some 'net research and settled on this one:  Oaty Pear 'n Pecan Pancakes . I had the oats, of course, some Aunt Jemima pancake mix that needed to be eaten, and a pear. I omitted the pecans but I can see how they would complement the oats. The texture of these oatmeal pancakes is a little...textured, I guess. They're not gritty; the oats have softened somewhat. But you can tell the difference from a regular pancake. And the chopped pear cooked up just enough for me to be able to tolerate it. I'd actually forgotten to consider that when choosing this recipe.

So a few weeks back I made a  sugar-free banana bread . Why sugar-free? I thought for the occasion there'd be plenty of other sweets/baked goods, so I was just trying to be courteous. Also I needed a simple recipe due to time constraints. Since there's no sugar, the flavor really hinges on the bananas. They have to be just the right amount of ripe, and I think I could've used a whole cup. But it tastes exactly how you how might imagine, like a banana bread with no sugar. I should've brought along a flavored cream cheese or butter; I ate it as is, but you might prefer a topper. Maybe next time I'll do healthy and sweet. It's possible!

I used to eat Nature Valley granola bars all the time in college; in fact, it was one of my four food groups--granola bars, Lunchables, Pop Tarts, and Hot Pockets. Little did I know that the College Student Diet was going to screw with my gums. You know those long slivers of oat that you sometimes find in granola bars? I had one of those get stuck deep in my gums one too many times, which made them (already sensitive no thanks to yours truly) puffy and red, and I decided, that's it, no more Nature Valley. So I've gone *coughcough* years since trying any  new Nature Valley products but the granola finally piqued my curiosity. Also the coupon helped. I went with the basic Oats 'n Honey so the flavor wouldn't mask any shortcomings. And, actually, there aren't any. The texture is nothing like the granola bars. It has a nice toasted crunch which also rounds out the honey's sweetness. It's not so flimsy that it immediately gets soggy or full of hard chunks that

I'm sure I've mentioned this before but I'll admit it again: I've never had Grape Nuts. Ever in my life. Never. I'm still not entirely sure what they are--some kind of nugget-y thing. I know there's no grapes or nuts involved. So I thought I'd try Grape Nuts Fit because there's a little more to it. Then my mind was made up for sure two weeks ago for two reasons: there was a coupon attached, and the flavor was Cranberry Vanilla. I didn't realize it had a flavor. The cereal consists of the original Grape Nuts, granola, puffed barley (which reminds me of Golden Crisp), and nicely-sized dried cranberries. I didn't really pick up on a vanilla flavor but that might've been overpowered by the other cereal I mixed with this. I can't see myself eating a bowl of this straight, so I'll continue mixing.

Even though I haven't blogged all the side dishes yet, I still thought I'd wrap this up today. The most important thing I learned is that with a little planning, you don't have to rely so much on boxed sides. This plays to my strengths of plans and lists. Lots of lists. It's a great opportunity to try more grains and eat more vegetables. I hadn't anticipated that part. And since it ended up being not that hard, I don't see a reason to give it up. There's still so many recipes out there--I couldn't possibly get to them all.

You may recall an entry from a few weeks back: I tried mmm...muffins Blueberry Muffins oatmeal and  I screwed it up.  I also said I'd try it again with a few adjustments. Okay, one adjustment, really. I used the same small pot as before, adding water and oats together (which is not  what the package directs). Then I brought it all to a boil, turned it down and simmered for 90 seconds. Finally I took it off the burner and put a lid on it for two minutes. Ta-da! Real oatmeal. It seems these rolled oats just take a little bit longer to cook--that's the difference between barely softened, runny oat water and actual  oatmeal. It still has a more chewy texture than the instant oatmeal you're used to but the flax seeds provide a crunchy contrast. Also, your desired thickness may vary so definitely lift the lid and check after the first minute. I could've splashed some milk on there to loosen it up a little but it wasn't a huge deal.

Seriously, I think I've made three recently and there's others that I haven't gotten to yet. This one is a Vegetable Rice Pilaf , another simple side dish where I just had to throw in some frozen vegetables. I was worried it wouldn't be enough but the ratio of vegetables to rice actually worked out fine. I think my bag was supposed to have lima beans in it but I swear I didn't see any. There's really not much more to add. Mild flavor, simple side.

I'm getting out of order with my blog entries (not that you'd know the difference) but when I saw the cover of this month's Relish I knew I had to make these  Easy Cream Cheese Danish . You may ask, cream cheese? Really? Yes, really. I can eat it baked--even baked a scant fifteen minutes. And I already had peach-mango preserves in the fridge, so, why not? My mother didn't believe you could use any flavor of preserves: "Strawberry?" Yes, any.  "Apricot?" Yes, the recipe says any flavor. Two recipe notes: I cut the recipe in half since you're basically eating two crescent rolls at a time. It would also be easy to double this for a crowd (hopefully a crowd with helpful hands). And don't skip the brown sugar step (although I eyeballed the amount--a tablespoon was too much per portion for my taste). That's what elevates this from cream cheese and crescent rolls to   Danish.

I went way  back for this one. Back to when I was only collecting recipes to be collecting them, not making them. In fact, the name has changed:  Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Honey and Cinnamon  was originally called "Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Honey Butter." The name change makes sense though, since there's no butter involved. I was traveling two weeks ago and wanted a side dish with little effort when I got home. I'd say dumping all the ingredients on a roasting pan and sticking it in the oven is not all that much effort. The only thing I really needed to change was the amount of potatoes. Two was more than enough for three people. I guess I haven't really figured out sweet potato sizes yet. And because I used fewer potatoes, I should have also cut back on the amount of olive oil. But everything else came together; now I have another way to cook sweet potatoes for the majority of the year.

I never really study a box right before opening--the only thing I'm thinking is "need. food. now."--so what poured out of the box this morning was not what I was expecting. I thought it would just be regular Honey Bunches of Oats with some chocolate chunks and almonds so imagine my surprise to find big chocolate oat clusters in my cereal bowl. I was concerned at first that they would be too chocolaty but picture Cocoa Krispies with oat clusters instead of rice. I think they're just dusted with cocoa powder (and maybe sealed with honey for good measure) and they are...I don't know, I use "delicious" so much. But everything about this cereal is pretty close to perfect. From the clusters to the small chocolatey bits to the almonds, I feel like a lot of thought went into this product. I used this to top off my Crispix and banana this morning and I can't believe it never occurred to me to put chocolate and bananas together. I mean, I just finished off a

I had to get this in while I was still in a hot cereal mood. My initial reaction...it's hard to say. I think "disappointment" is too strong a word. It's just that I've had other flavors of Cream of Wheat that I've liked better. This one just tasted like Cream of Wheat with banana extract added. Of course it's going to have artificial flavor but it was just too much . That's the only way I can describe it. Too much. But I can't complain entirely. Sliced bananas in real Cream of Wheat isn't ever going to happen for me, so...next best thing? I may change my mind the next time I have it.

Another halved main dish for the Lent Challenge:  Lime Couscous with Summer Veggies . Of course, it's barely Spring, but I had half a box of couscous and needed to do something with it. Yeah, so...half a box of couscous was actually too much, so the end product was sticker than usual but we still ate it. And after previous attempts to use lime juice didn't go over too well, I went with the lemon juice substitution. I also could've used a little bit more dressing but overall it had a nice flavor and we got to eat summer squash and carrots. I can't really complain, just tinker.

I know I've been saying it a lot lately: easy, easy, easy. But I mean it this time (and, well, every time): this  Pork and Egg Lo Mein  is really easy to put together. Actually most skillet dishes are, which I why I make so many of them. Sliced pork and red pepper, cooked egg, a bag of broccoli slaw--hardly any work involved at all. So why did it take me two years to try it? Well, I'd never tried oyster sauce before--that I knew of. If you smell or taste it though, you realize it's a familiar flavor in Chinese takeout. It makes this dish taste just like store-bought lo mein, but fresher. Maybe they still use MSG where I live, I don't know, but this recipe just felt lighter and healthier. And I'd never had broccoli slaw, either, come to think of it. My 12 oz. bag was plenty, by the way; I think the 4 cups the recipe calls for would've been overkill. ****** Totally off-topic but I had to acknowledge the passing of my favorite website ever ,  Television Without

You know, I didn't think it was possible to combine raisins and Mini-Wheats. The contrast in textures and sizes wouldn't work well on a spoon. Then Kellogg's had to go and stick raisins inside  the Mini-Wheats. Of course! I finally tried it this morning. Smell test first: like a box full of raisins. I approve. Then the taste test--first, a hint of cinnamon. Then a mushy interior that reminded me of plum baby food. Then I got the raisins at the end. Yep, it's definitely a raisin filling. I was skeptical at first but it's actually pretty good. This might be my new favorite Fruit in the Middle. (I just checked the label. There's not actually any cinnamon in there. Still good, though.)