Living in a Cereal World

Here's another example of a main cut down to side size:  Braised Mushrooms with Angel Hair Pasta . The ingredients are simple and straightforward, so I think fresh herbs are key. And if, like me, you don't the seasoning right on the first try, at least you know people are going to fill up on mushrooms. I don't even remember what we served along with this. I should've made a note of that. ********* I haven't been keeping up with sending discontinued items to the Cereal Graveyard. So long,  Fiber One Frosted Shredded Wheat  and Fiber Plus Cinnamon Oat Crunch.

Answer: you Google "leftover chicken recipes," where this  Spiced Couscous and Chicken  popped up. I just happened to have everything on hand except the almonds so I had to try it. This was sometime last month after we ate half a roasted chicken; I don't know about you, but I can only eat so many chicken sandwiches. I wasn't sure how adding the chicken to the dried couscous was going to work but by adding the hot water you not only cook the couscous, you also reheat the chicken without drying it out. My only other issue was with not adding enough ginger (for the people who don't think they like ginger) but next I might just go for it. Also, my mother couldn't wrap her head around eating a meal in a bowl that wasn't soup. I told it wasn't a big deal, she could've used a plate. Her literal logic is mind-boggling sometimes. But anyway, it's tasty. ******** (There will definitely be a granola review next week, btw.)

So last night I attempted to finish off the blueberries with a  Blueberry Iced Tea  but my brain just couldn't get the recipe to line up with the box instructions. So I basically had to wing it. I think my tea was too weak and I didn't have enough blueberries plus  the recipe doesn't mention any sweetener and I didn't want everybody to have to do it themselves so I added a little bit of sugar. Probably not enough sugar. But I drank it anyway. So did my brother. So there. In other news, I'm almost ashamed to say I only got 17 of 21 right in this  Breakfast Cereal Quiz . I'll tell you right now, Smart Start/Wheaties and Honey Smacks/Golden Crisp are hard to tell apart. How many can you name?

I know I've been posting sporadically lately but, you know...summer. So I thought I'd highlight these Healthy Orange Blueberry Muffins  I made yesterday. I'd promised my brother I'd make him some blueberry muffins from scratch the next time he visited but I've also noticed he's getting more food conscious, so these muffins were just the type I needed. First, I cut the recipe in half. And I wrote out all the measurements, too, so I couldn't mess that up. Except I did forget the salt...but I didn't notice anything out of place in the final product. I used about half a pint of blueberries (now I need to go find some options for the other half) and all of a small navel orange. I also opted to substitute honey for the sugar, so the resulting flavor had notes of all three--meaning sweet/orangey/berry. The crumble is optional--I think it would be fine without it--but I went ahead and did it to make sure everybody ate the muffins. These are going on the &quo

I debated whether or not to review this (the last Kashi cereal I planned on trying); when I opened it last week I was in a hurry to get out of the house for a day-consuming road trip so I didn't take as much care as I usually would. The first thing I noticed was the flakes. I was not expecting them to be so puffy. That's not something you typically get in a corn flake. The small amount I had (mixed with another cereal) had more blackberries than blueberries; I'm not even sure I had any blueberries. It didn't have much sweetness, either. Looking back, it reminds me of their  Strawberry Fields , but with a different flake and and berries. That might sound weird but it's in the same vein, really.

General Mills announced their new product rollout the other day, so I just wanted to mention the items that pertain to the cereal department: Gluten-free Chex oatmeal in apple cinnamon, maple brown sugar, and a variety pack that includes those and original (plain) flavor. I've already seen it in one store over here. I'll probably pick up a variety pack when the weather cools off. Two more flavors of Nature Valley Protein Granola -- peanut butter and peanut butter/dark chocolate. I might try the peanut butter if there's no actual peanut bits in it. new Cascadian Farm Protein Granola in apple crisp (yum) and dark chocolate coconut (ehh...I might try it with a sale + coupon) And lucky Canadians get a MultiGrain Cheerios with ancient grains. Maybe we'll be seeing it here come January?

I don't often follow an entire meal's worth of recipes; usually I just pick out one part because I don't want to screw up multiple parts in one dinner. But everything was laid out perfectly in Cooking Light's  Herb-Roasted New York Strip  recipe, so it was pretty easy to follow. First, I used their suggestion of subbing boneless porkchops (since I don't eat steak); they still cooked just fine and had plenty of flavor. Oh, this isn't mentioned in the link but it was in the issue; just use a pack of four boneless chops. Also included in the magazine was instructions for roasted potato wedges--you stick them in the oven first and they finish right alongside everything else. Let me see if I can find it... here it is . They were tender and not undercooked, which can happen with potatoes. Our only issue was making a few too many. We could have made do with two. As for the peas and carrots...you know how people say everything's better with bacon? Well, in this

(Yes, I'm just getting around to this.) So I know I've gone on the record several times about how my dad loves carrot cake. It is his favorite cake, far above any other. So why did I make him a pound cake for his birthday  last year ? I don't know, but I guess I learned my lesson: don't make birthday cakes all about you. Because a week later, he went out and bought himself a chunk of carrot cake. Cut to: Father's Day. I decided to play it safe and make a classic  Carrot Cake . The only substitution I made was a Greek yogurt frosting (because I found out the hard way that I can't eat cream cheese frosting). That cake was in the fridge for a week and I'm sure he ate most of it. At least half. I guess that means he liked it? I still didn't use as much carrots as I could have but I was pretty close this time. And my layers did  sink a little from too much water in my shredded carrots but it wasn't a disaster like the loaf carrot cake I made a few ye