Living in a Cereal World

With the new year approaching it's time to start cleaning. While going through my notebook I found a review from last month I forgot to type up: Cream of Wheat Instant to-go is microwavable Cream of Wheat in a cup. I've never microwaved Cream of Wheat before. How would this go? Also the nuts. Do nuts belong in Cream of Wheat? Well, they weren't terrible. Not necessary, but not terrible. And I already put strawberries in my Cream of Wheat so I assumed I would like the Mixed Berry with Almonds flavor. And  I added some extra strawberries anyway because I wasn't sure how filling it would be. It turned out that the portion size is actually perfect and the nuts are so tiny you barely notice them. You can't remove them, either, so if nuts aren't your thing this isn't the product for you. I followed the heating instructions exactly--any longer and the cup would have boiled over. Also, there's no lid except the one you peel off, so if you need to-go  somewhe

I've been baking a lot this month. Or cooking, or wrapping or...well, it's done for this holiday season. I always think I can cram in one more thing--but that's a recipe to be shared later. Today we get to the dessert I made on Christmas Eve:  Cran-Apple Upside Down Cake . My sister actually requested this last winter but I couldn't exactly ship it to her so it had to wait until a more opportune time. I was also surprised that my brother ate this cake. He's not the world's biggest cranberry fan so I expected him to eat pumpkin pie instead. Maybe his adult palate has changed, I don't know. The cake was gone by Sunday, so I guess that's a thumbs-up from everybody. Two things I want to point out that I liked about this cake: the brown sugar topping wasn't too rich, I guess because there wasn't any butter involved in that step; and there's cranberries in  the cake as well as the upside-down fruit part. So if you really like cranberries, this is

Hope everyone had a merry or happy whatever you celebrate this time of year. I opened this cereal Christmas Eve morning so I figured I'd better blog it before I forget. Why Cinnamon Crunch? It was at the end of an aisle, so I grabbed one. That's basically it. It wasn't on my "must try immediately" list. It's basically the Cascadian Farm version of Cinnamon Toast Crunch (a cereal I haven't had in years ). Two main differences: it's ridged like Golden Grahams (Cinnamon Toast Crunch isn't ridged, right?) and only tastes of cinnamon. If I recall correctly, Cinnamon Toast Crunch is more of a cinnamon-sugar mixture. This cereal is more like sprinkled with cinnamon and then baked on to stick. But I'm a cinnamon lover, so the more cinnamon the better. I hope not to type the word "cinnamon" for the rest of the day.

I've been so busy I can't even remember when I made these. It had to have been either last Wednesday or Thursday; I was really freaking out about being pressed for time. But things have a way of working themselves out and now I can enjoy these surprisingly good  Raspberry Cardamom Shortbread Thumbprints . I think I found this recipe last month when searching for stuffing options. Speaking of options, I should also mention that I actually used some apricot preserves that I already had in these thumbprints because now's not the best time to be buying/storing another jar of preserves in the fridge. I think I've made thumbprint cookies before but I don't have a good history with shortbread. Mine is always too dry and crumbly and I can't get it to hold together and then I get frustrated and it's like, never again.  Then I see this recipe and think, well I can try one more time. I'm not sure but I think the secret to well-behaved shortbread is room tempera

Yes, I am just now getting around to reviewing a cereal I bought two months ago. It was the last box. I felt bad for about a second. But how many times have you said to yourself, "Eh, I'll get it next time," only to find it's not there the next time? Anyway, I'd already heard good things about Pumpkin Puffins in various pumpkin food best-of lists and I'd already tried original  Puffins so I knew what to expect texture-wise. That sealed my decision. And it is, indeed, the most pumpkin-y cereal I've ever tasted. Like someone freeze-dried a pumpkin pie and chopped it up into little squares. And the only spice listed in the ingredients is cinnamon! I don't know how they did it. So if you missed out this year, be sure to pick this up next fall.

I started last weekend; I love to just bake and pile on the cookie tin. Not mixed cookies, though! I forget the rule--either soft cookies soften your hard cookies or vice versa. Anyway, first up are these  Iced Gingerbread Biscotti  from the November issue of Cooking Light. This was my first attempt at biscotti (not counting the mini savory ones  that were part of a soup recipe) and even though I followed the directions I still worried at every step that they wouldn't turn out right. For one thing, I don't have a stand mixer, so I had to use my hand mixer. More work for my arm but I still got the ribbons off the beaters after six minutes like the recipe says. I also wasn't sure that I mounded my dough correctly but I still managed to get eleven slices off each mound. Slicing was also tricky; I broke a couple of the ends--maybe I used the wrong knife? But the end result was worth it. There's nothing like a cup of tea (or coffee if you're not me) and a dunked bisc

But the first was actually the weekend after Thanksgiving. I had Greek yogurt leftover from the  cheesecake bars  and I wasn't about to waste it. Fage is good stuff. So I found this  Cinnamon Swirl Yogurt Quick Bread . Problem solved! Oh, I guess you'll want to know about the flavor. Do you like three layers of cinnamon? Do you like heating the leftovers in the microwave so the top gets all gooey and sticky? Do you like breakfast breads? Or eat them whenever, I don't judge. One thing: err on the side of caution when baking. I should have taken mine out after forty minutes but I put it back in the oven for five more. So it was a bit dry. But that didn't stop anybody from eating it. ******* One other note: even though I've gotten behind on my entries again you should probably not expect too many more posts until after Christmas. I don't know how I get so busy every year.

Well, this is a first. Post took their Grape Nuts Fit, added granola and re-branded it GN Fit (in lowercase, though, so I really should stick to one name). I'm actually down near the bottom of the bag--I told you I've been busy--and am only now getting mouthfuls of Grape Nuts. Otherwise, there's nothing super-special about it. It has a slight vanilla flavor and crunchy oats in the granola part. The dried cranberries are a nice size. I really do think it was a good idea to make this a granola. Now I need to go back and see what I thought of it the first time. Okay, here it is:  Grape Nuts Fit . So basically they just changed the ratio of granola to cereal. Still a good idea, though.

So what is this exactly? I assumed it was Giant's version of Great Grains Cranberry Almond Crunch (read my original review here ) since they were right next to each other but a glance at the ingredients list shows they're not quite the same. Great Grains has a multigrain blend in the oat clusters and  the flakes while this Cranberry Almond Cereal has wheat bran flakes (kind of plain but not throat-scraping dry) and corn flakes (slightly sweeter). Really it's more of a Honey Bunches of Oats with cranberries. And I just sprinkled a little on my Multi Grain Cheerios with sliced banana this morning for sampling purposes so I didn't even get any oat clusters. I might have to come back and add a line to this review. If all the clusters are in the bottom of the box that might take a while.

So my crazy busy Thanksgiving week kicked off that Sunday with a promise kept to my sister: more granola. Specifically, another SBA granola:  Apple Spice Quinoa Granola . I was skeptical about the uncooked quinoa but since my sister raved about the  Pumpkin Spice  I knew I could give it all to her if need be. Well, it needn't. Everyone  sampled this granola during the week. It was a bit clove-heavy for me at first but mellowed out after a few days. Also, the apple flavor is not as strong as I thought it would be but it still permeates the granola. And the quinoa just adds a little crunch. You never can have too much crunch, especially when the recipe tells you up front that it's going to soften over time. I'm still eating it though. I just had some with cinnamon apple yogurt. Yes, double apples! Christmas week will bring my first non-Sally's Baking Addiction granola. Unless she comes out with a gingerbread granola in the next two weeks.

Well, December suddenly snuck up, didn't it? I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. It felt like I was baking or cooking something from Sunday-Sunday. Seriously, I didn't catch up on my sleep until Sunday morning. On Wednesday of that busy week I made my desserts:  Pumpkin Streusel Bars  and  Maple-Ginger Apple Pie . I decided on Sally's pumpkin bars because I haven't had anything resembling cheesecake in ages--you never know with my issues--and these were a combination of cream cheese and Greek yogurt. Also, since you cut them into bars it's easier to not overeat. And indeed those two factors kept me from having an upset stomach. And of course everyone loved them. My sister said she could've used more streusel but that's probably on me. It was the end of the day and there were so many steps; I just wanted to sprinkle it and go. Actually both of these desserts could've benefited from my focusing on one per day--I just didn't have that extra day.

So how's your Thanksgiving prep going? I just made my second dessert and handed off stuffing prep duty (why do all that chopping tomorrow?). So now I'm done for the day. But I still wanted to mention my birthday cake. As you  may   well   know , I consider my birthday to be the kickoff to the holiday season. As such, I don't want to overindulge in rich, complicated or large birthday cakes. So this year the October issue of Cooking Light solved my problem with this  Whole-Grain Apple Cake . I did not make the yogurt cream, though, because it's my birthday and I want ice cream with my cake. Seriously, it's the only day of the year I eat those two things together. So this cake I had everything I wanted--a reasonable size, fruit, and whole-wheat pastry flour. I opted to chunk my apples because, well, I like big chunks. It's almost like a pie but with more batter. And ridiculously moist, I guess thanks to the buttermilk. And  I managed to find another use for the

I don't know what's my problem. I made these  Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Cookies  two weeks ago and just kept forgetting to take notes on them. Then I kept skipping it in favor of other entries. So I thawed out the leftovers yesterday and thought I'd better get around to blogging them. My first thought is, do you love brown sugar? Then you will love these cookies. And if you really, really  love brown sugar, opt for dark. Two, do they live up to the name? Absolutely. I know I've made oatmeal cookies that were a little too dense for my liking--but not straight up bricks; I've never screwed up a cookie that badly--but these are definitely soft and chewy. And they stayed nicely for a week--although who am I kidding, I'll eat a stale cookie (within a reasonable amount of time). I found this recipe while searching for an oatmeal cookie that called for molasses; I don't think I've ever combined the two before. And being one of Sally's recipes made trying it

You know, I've had just about every flavor of Honey Bunches of Oats, so last week I said to myself, you know what? I might as well try the Strawberries. Freeze-dried strawberries aren't my most favorite thing so I don't really know what I was thinking. I suppose for once it was nice to not overthink. At the end of the day, it's cereal. Anyhoo, you know the drill. Little cornflakes, little wheat flakes, big oat clusters (that was nice) and the strawberry slices. I sprinkled a little bit with my banana and Kix this morning and the banana was one day under-ripe for me--yes, I can tell--so with one bite I thought, ugh, what is wrong this banana--oh, wait that's a strawberry . I don't know why I didn't realize the strawberries would soften up in milk. I don't think I was fully awake this morning. As a matter of fact, I can barely concentrate right now. Too much background noise. But I continue blogging...

I'm not a coffee drinker but that doesn't mean you can't have your hot beverage of choice with a chunk of this  Blueberry Coffee Cake . I made this last month when I was consciously trying not to overdo the pumpkin-ness in everything . And I think it worked; I'll be ready for pumpkin again by Thanksgiving. But on to the cake: I used frozen blueberries since I had plenty in the freezer; it still seemed as if the berries were lacking. I don't know if fresh would've made a difference--in amount, in flavor, in whatever. But I wanted more berries. What I didn't miss, surprisingly, was the typical crumbly streusel. This has a sugar/cinnamon/walnut (I subbed almonds) mixture layered in the middle and sprinkled on top for a little sweetness and crunch. It complements the incredibly moist cake nicely. I will make a point of making this for a crowd next time.

That almost takes longer to say than to cook. Anyway, hey, it's been a long time since I reviewed a hot cereal. I wasn't sure if I'd like steel cut oats--and I'm still not sure about the real thing--but I figured this "instant" version would be a start. It takes three minutes in the microwave, which is the preferred method, so I did what the directions said. You have to heat it with water and then add milk later if you so choose (yep). So after following the directions it came out of the microwave hot but with a thin layer of water on top. All I had to do was stir that in to fully incorporate it. The result was thick and creamy, what I imagine porridge to be like in terms of consistency. The milk wasn't even really necessary but, again, that's how I do it with regular oatmeal anyway. There was a bit of a nutty taste to it and I didn't really notice the berries--I may have been too concerned with texture to really notice anything else, though. Oh,

I couldn't find this online anywhere so I double-checked my box: yep, that's the name. It seems to be the same thing as "Buzz Crunch Honey Almond" because there's still the message about saving the bees on the side panel. I don't recall there being any almonds, though, and there's no mention of them in the review I wrote a while back (I'm still catching up on my blogging, remember?) so I guess it's just the flakes now. This one's like a cereal mash-up: you have the honey-coated wheat flakes (which are like a wheat version of Frosted Flakes); there's your smaller, drier corn flakes that are like what you'd find in Honey Bunches of Oats; and there's oat clusters, which are, well, see previous statement. I'd forgotten about the oat component until I gave the box a good shake and one huge cluster fell out. This is actually the first Cascadian Farm cereal I've ever tried--you know I've been eating the granola for a few ye

This is basically the Nature's Path version of Raisin Bran Crunch. I've been meaning to try it for a while but I finally thought to buy it last month. And, fair warning, it's not pumpkin-flavored. But it has pumpkin seeds. Not a lot, but enough. In fact, the best thing I can say about the cereal that the ratio of flakes to raisins (to seeds to oat clusters) is just exactly where you'd want it to be. The flakes are on the small side, round and concave from the pressing with little bits of flax seeds in there, too. If you don't like whole flax seeds you might tolerate this better. The oat clusters are sweeter than the flakes but on the whole it's a bit on the dry side. That didn't really bother me, though, since I like to drown my raisin bran in milk anyway. Overall, a worthy addition to my raisin bran lineup. ******* In other, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" news, my brother got his package in time after all (after a nudge to the post offic

Maybe it's just time-change grumpiness but I didn't love these  Dried Blueberry Almond Scones . They had everything I was looking for: another scone recipe, a use for dried blueberries (and dried cranberries to make the full 3/4 cup), almonds! Maybe I didn't add enough milk. It's hard to eyeball 2/3 of 1/2 cup. Maybe they could've used a little turbinado sugar sprinkle? I don't know. My mother raved, though, so that's something. And any scone (or biscuit) recipe that calls for patting instead of rolling is always a plus. I'll have a leftover one tomorrow; maybe my opinion will change. Oh, and one note--yes, you should use the amount of almond extract called for in the recipe. It may smell overwhelming while you're mixing but all the flavors blend on your tongue at the end.

Previously  I mentioned this leftover canned pumpkin I needed to use up--some of it went to french toast and the rest to this  Crunchy Pumpkin Spice Granola  (what can I say, Sally's granola recipes are reliable). I was most excited to use pumpkin seeds in a recipe for the first time. I know that's a weird thing to get excited about but I didn't find out until last month that I actually liked pumpkin seeds. What I haven't been able to find--although to be fair I haven't really looked that hard--is unsweetened coconut, which I do want to try. So I added raisins along with the dried cranberries. It may seem a little odd at first that this granola isn't totally crunchy (as per the recipe, the pumpkin will make it soften) but I got past that by the second bite. The flavor actually isn't that far off from the  Trail Mix Granola --thanks to the maple syrup, probably--but still, you can taste the difference between homemade and store-bought. My sister agreed and

(This morning I mixed Origins with Life. Deep.) So it's still October and I'm still eating pumpkin stuff. Sometimes circumstances keep you from trying a recipe when you want. For example, I've held on to this recipe for  Pumpkin French Toast  for a little over a year. Then last weekend two things fell into place: (1) I made pumpkin oatmeal cookies for my siblings, which left half a can of pumpkin; and (2) Giant recently started selling brioche and I've been dying to try it. That made it pumpkin french toast time! So brioche actually isn't all that different from challah. It's still a dense egg bread that holds up well to batter. The main difference is the more typical (albeit larger than average) loaf shape. And it's just as filling. One slice and a turkey sausage was all I could handle for breakfast. With regard to flavor: spices, spices, spices. Don't let it scare you. Remember, canned pumpkin would taste like nothing without it and, along that l

1. Thomas' claims to have a new recipe for their Swirl breads but to be honest, I don't remember what the old one tasted like. This new one has a deeper cinnamon flavor, not unlike Nature's Own raisin bread. Also there might be more of a swirl...? That would also explain the stronger cinnamon in the mix. 2. And speaking of cinnamon swirls, I couldn't help myself. I had to try Giant's pumpkin cinnamon rolls. I know, I know, canned cinnamon rolls? When you have so many recipes? But it's pumpkin! I justified to myself. Also it was a fat canister with five rolls so they weren't going to go to waste. The roll itself had a stronger pumpkin scent in the oven than actual taste. The icing had all the pumpkin flavor, like a melted-down slice of pumpkin pie. And for an icing, it wasn't all that sweet. There must have been a lot of nutmeg involved. So it was worth trying.

Cerealfyre, you're getting so old and boring! Well, one of those, anyway. I'm waiting for my siblings to visit and make fun of me because this box is huge . I really thought all Shredded Wheats were the same size until I went to put this one away and realized it dwarfed all my other boxes. This must've been the original spoon-size variety; I imagine at some point someone eating this said to themselves, "You know what this needs? Flavor !" and then came up with the other varieties. Because this has nothing. It's just wheat and bran in a dense little square. I didn't notice this the first time I ate it because I mixed it with Mini-Wheats and topped it with berries, as I usually do. So that's the key: add fruit for flavor if you don't want a bowl of dry boring-ness. I will say that it does what a bran cereal's supposed to do. And I'll leave it at that.

(I just opened this today so I thought I'd skip ahead and review it now.) This Special K is a rice/wheat blend--which I prefer to just rice; I think it holds up in milk a little longer--with apple cinnamon clusters that aren't unlike the bits from the Fruit & Yogurt cereal. Actually, I didn't even notice the clusters when I poured my bowl; I just tasted a flake, got a hint of "apple cinnamon" and that would've been fine. I was almost done eating before I tasted a cluster so I couldn't really pull out any extra apple cinnamon-ness. I should clarify what I mean by "apple cinnamon." It's like cinnamon but with something else tamping down the cinnamon. Or like the filling of a Nutri-Grain bar but translated into cereal. That's going to require another tasting. I don't know if the flakes are flavored or just plain but flavored by being stuffed in a bag with all those clusters.

(I apologize in advance for the paucity of posts this month. It's looking to get busy and I can't always make time for Blogger. The entries are written, though! I'm so far behind!) I know this is more of a pumpkin/apple time of year but sometimes I need to switch it up. I found this recipe for  Blueberry and White Chocolate Chunk Ginger Cookies  while looking for something else--no, I don't remember what, or if I ever found it--but it called for wheat germ and I just so happen to need to use up some wheat germ...so there you go. I also had just enough dark brown sugar and some white chocolate chips so I threw those in. The only ingredient I had to buy was the dried blueberries. I can't explain the satisfaction I get from using ingredients I have on hand. I know; it's weird. I reluctantly left out the crystallized ginger because nobody loves ginger as much as I do but the ground ginger still pulls all the other elements together. It was nice to have a cookie

And here's the other Origins product I have on the cereal shelf right now. There's two parts to this cereal: a whole grain blend flake and a whole grain blend puff, not unlike  Kashi Sprouted Grains  and something else I've had this year but am drawing a blank on. But the difference is in the flakes; they're pressed thinner and may not have as many grains pressed together. They gave me Honey Nut Clusters flashbacks with regard to the texture but not the flavor. Even though the box says "touch of honey" my tongue registered it as generically "sweet." It didn't have any particular flavor, like molasses or maple or honey. It's good for mixing or with fruit, though.

Skipping some entries (not that you would've known) to write this while it's still fresh. On my mind, I mean. Although the granola is still fresh, too. It's only been open a few days. Anyhoo, I finally got around to trying both Origins granola and  cereal (probably the next entry) and the first thing that's obvious about the raisin apple flavor is the amount of raisins and dried apples. I know what you're thinking: Duh.  But this is a good thing. Usually there's not enough of a promised fruit, or it's a fruit flavor instead of the dried bits you were expecting. But this is practically half fruit/half granola. Now maybe if I shook the bag up that wouldn't be the case but for now, thanks for all the fruit. Second is the flavor. There's not supposed to be any artificial flavors or sweeteners so it might not be as sweet as you're expecting or would prefer. I think it could've used some cinnamon but then I think everything's better with cinn

(I wrote this on Monday. I thought it posted. I guess it didn't. It really was One of Those Days.) It's been one of those Murphy's Law kind of days--finally, I get to the one part I for sure have control over. I didn't think missing one day (usually) of blogging last week would matter that much but, anyway, enough blogging about blogging. To the cereal! For starters--and for finishers, really--a more appropriate name would be "Pumpkin Pie Spice." Because that's what it is. Nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice...the flavors you'd find in a pie. They're all there and you'll have flashbacks to last year's pie (unless you've already had pumpkin pie this year. Good for you). The "frosted" part is colored orange along with the default white which I guess is supposed to evoke "pumpkin." It's not super-special but it's not bad, either.

Or nuts to me, really. I don't typically put nuts in my baked goods--mostly because I can't, ahem, handle them but also because I don't like the crunch in soft foods. But I can tolerate almonds and I frequently use Bob's Red Mill whole wheat pastry flour so naturally I was going to make this  Cranberry Orange Almond Bread  (found on the back of the bag) at some point. That point was two weekends ago. This bread is a lot more on the cake side than your typical muffin-ish quick bread. The sugar gives it crispy coating which also leads to crumbles. I guess it's almost like pound cake. I'm just now realizing that. Also, there's a lot  of dried cranberries. You have to really like dried cranberries to eat this many at one time. And I'm sure you're wondering: yes, I liked the nuts. Toasted almonds might actually be better than regular almonds. So if you're looking for a breakfast bread where every bite is just about equal bread, fruit and nuts, giv

I'm gonna guess that this is a seasonal flavor (*wink*), so you'd better get to Target while you can. This was a case of being in the right aisle at the time because I wasn't looking for this and also didn't know it existed. But, you know, it's pumpkin, so... Pumpkin Spice , I mean. Emphasis on the spice. I could definitely discern several spices in there, and not really much pumpkin flavor even though dried pumpkin is in the ingredient list. Also, pumpkin seeds. Now there's an ingredient I've been meaning to try but kept chickening out on. They're actually not bad; they have a crunchy, nut-like texture. Nothing weird going on. Acceptable to my palate. I may have to buy some when I make my own pumpkin granola sometime next month.

...because I don't think it would possible to make them all. Anyway, after the carrot cake I had some extra applesauce so I thought I'd put it in a cookie. These Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, to be exact. When you make cookies with applesauce the texture comes out similar to a pumpkin cookie: puffy, chewy, and cake-y. Not what you'd expect with a cookie made with butter or especially an oatmeal cookie. Fair warning. I like to mix it up, though, and it doesn't take much effort to get accustomed to the texture. With the addition of nutmeg the batter--and resulting cookie--reminded me of zucchini bread. Which also reminds me that I haven't made one of those this year. But these cookies will do for now.

I made a quiche. It didn't dawn on me until after I'd finished dinner: hey, I made a quiche. I mean, it's basically just an egg pie, right? Still, first one. I hadn't had quiche in three years-ish since I found out the hard way that I can't eat my mom's recipe anymore (the stomach experiments of the lactose intolerant--whee) so I'd been searching for a suitable substitute ever since. As with most new recipes, it took a good amount of time for everything to fall into place so I could make this Ham and Swiss Quiche. It's more eggy than milky, so that helped. I also picked this variation (there were several) because I'd never had ham or red pepper in a quiche before. I don't think my onions were as caramelized as they should have been but they still had plenty of flavor. Of course my dad would rather have had more meat but that's not the point. I was most proud of my crust--it looked almost like the store-bought frozen kind. And I made t

Guess what I just did? I froze green beans. Our neighbors gave us a big bag from their garden, and aside from the ones we're going to eat tonight, I couldn't bear to toss them out. So we'll see how non-store-bought green beans taste. But the point of this entry is pancakes. Who doesn't love pancakes? Even my mother--who claimed she didn't--has discovered a love for buttermilk pancakes. I've had this recipe for Whole-Grain Buttermilk Pancakes for a while now; it was just a matter of slotting them into the right weekend. Also the flavor. I'm on an apple kick right now (I believe it goes apple--pumpkin--cranberry--gingerbread) so I made the Apple Cinnamon variation. These pancakes are so light and fluffy you don't even realize they're made with whole wheat. There's so much going on with the grated apple and the cinnamon--I didn't have a flavorless bite. They were also pretty easy to make. I didn't ever need to re-spray the skillet.

Why Puffins? Why now? I can't really say. I've seen them in the cereal aisle before but there was always something else I was after. So last week they were staring me in the face, it was the Original flavor, and I think starting with the Original flavor is usually the best course of action. Usually. The taste reminded me of something but it took a whole day for my brain to pull that one out of the files. If you're of a certain age you remember the theme cereals of the late '80s/early '90s, like  Batman  and  Tiny Toon Adventures . They were corn-based (sometimes with other grains) cereals simply punched into a vaguely recognizable shape; when you bit into them the inside felt like a gritty powder and had a weird aftertaste. I bring this up to say Puffins is the good  version of that. Crispy puffs of corn and oats, Original Puffins has a mild sweetness not unlike Kix, but it's Puffins , so that makes it more fun. Just try saying the word "puffins."

None of these warranted their own entries but I'd thought I'd share my last gasp of summer salad/sandwiches (although sandwiches could be eaten...whenever): 1.  Simple Tuna Salad , aka what to make when you need to get rid of those bottled roasted red peppers before they get lost in the fridge. It's a nice change from the typical relish-y tuna salad. 2. I can't find a link anywhere but it was recently advertised in the Sunday coupons in my newspaper. It involved mayo and mustard, which was a new combo for me with regards to chicken salad. I'll just have to update this later. 3.  Lemon-Chicken Pasta Salad , a last-minute 'what am I going to with this leftover roast chicken and snow peas from another meal--BINGO' light dinner. As you can see, I really, really don't like to waste food. Cereal reviews coming next week, honest!

So I've told you how my dad  loves carrot cake . It seems he's still open to special occasion cakes and there's no occasion more special-cakeworthy than a birthday! I picked this  Carrot Cake  out of respect for my dad trying to eat better. And so you made him a cake? you're thinking. Yeah, well, he didn't have to know what was in it. Except the carrots. Lots of carrots. That's probably the carrot-iest carrot cake I've ever made. Hope you like carrots! ****** In cereal tidbits, surprisingly good combination: Blueberry Morning and Chocolatey Strawberry Special K. With additional real strawberries.

File this one under "Things I Should Have Accomplished a Long Time Ago." I've been collecting granola recipes for a few years now but just couldn't bring myself to try one. There were so many brands and flavors to try, you know? I get distracted easily. Also, maybe I was afraid it wouldn't come out right. I'd burn it or it would be mushy instead of crispy, and so on. Well, I needn't have doubted my baking ability. Or the thoroughness of a Sally's Baking Addiction recipe:  "Hit the Trail" Trail Mix Granola . I went with this one first for a couple of reasons, 1. The reliability of Sally's recipes; 2. The ingredients. I guess that's it. Almonds, dried fruit, optional chocolate? I'm there. It also helped that I had all these ingredients on hand; if I was going to screw this up I didn't want to spend any extra money. Now for the end product: first I have to say, how have I never  thought to combine maple syrup and peanut butte

...another cold oatmeal. I told you last week about the  Refrigerator Oatmeal  I made; this week I decided to try another with Lactaid instead of almondmilk. I felt the almond flavor was overpowering and I think I proved that right with this one:  Peach Melba . This time the peaches were strongest, followed by the raspberry and that's really all you should be tasting. I also realized I have no idea what "peach melba" is, so I should go look that up. Oh. Peaches, raspberry sauce and vanilla ice cream. Oh, that sounds delicious. I need to make that. Also, after eating this refrigerator oatmeal I realized I'm ready for hot cereal again. Unfortunately, we're about to have a mini-heat wave so it'll have to wait another week.

...yeah, that was a stretch. But I do like a good scone, so check out these  Very Blueberry Scones . I wanted to make one last thing with blueberries while they were still in season and I felt like making scones, so, there you go. And even though it says very  blueberry, it's more like Just Enough Blueberry, or The Perfect Amount of Blueberry. And even with stirring and kneading, I think I only broke two berries. I am probably one of the world's gentlest kneaders, though. I should also point out that these bake up bigger than they look. Cutting in eighths might actually be too big for you. And I hope you like lemon zest; it really comes through here. In a good way, I think.

These cookies. I can't even. Just...wow. Okay, let me find the words. I know I shouldn't be getting bent out of shape over a cookie recipe. In the grander scheme of things, it's just cookies. And I also don't want to oversell it. But these  Chewy Molasses Cookies ? Need to be made ASAP. What makes them so great? Well, the recipe (my copy, anyway; not the link for some reason) says they're a grown up take on molasses cookies. As soon as I bit into one I thought, I get it . It's like biting into a little ginger-molasses pillow. Soft, chewy, not overcooked (seriously, don't burn these). And the cardamom's the kicker. I didn't know this spice was missing from my baking life. The complexity of the spices all mingling together elevates this from ordinary molasses cookie. On the other hand, you might find them kind of rich, so you might want to freeze some for later. I almost want to double the size and stick ice cream between two cookies. Maybe a nic

The website says "Almond"; the box says "Almond Crunch." Does that make it more appealing? I don't know. All I ask is that if "Crunch" is in the name, some part of that cereal had better crunch . This was one of those cereals I found unintentionally; I was looking for Fruit Blends but they've all been discontinued. Oh, well, it's not like I don't top my cereal with fruit anyway. So I picked up this Almond Crunch mostly because the box said "New!" but also because of the almonds. I've never had the regular Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds but I imagine the flavor is not that different. I definitely picked up hints of honey and cinnamon, and there's also almonds mixed in with the flakes (but not part of the Bunches). I guess this line is catching on for Post; hopefully the next step is a Whole Grain with fruit variety.

Since I knew I'd be getting up super early for an eight-hour car trip--both ways--I thought I'd be having breakfast in the car twice. So I saved my prepackaged muesli for Monday and made this  Blueberry Maple Refrigerator Oatmeal  for last Friday. You may recall that I really liked this  Raspberry Overnight Muesli  back in June and I've been looking for more like that ever since. The problem is that most refrigerator oatmeals just add milk; I wasn't looking for something with that much liquid. The  refrigerator oatmeals  from The Yummy Life, however, call for a mixture of milk and yogurt as well as chia seeds for thickening (not to mention the nutritional benefits). I made two changes to the recipe: 1. I substituted raspberries for blueberries since you know I can't deal with the texture of blueberries in oatmeal; and 2. I used almondmilk instead of regular milk because I didn't know how long I'd have to stash my container in the cooler before eating. I th

Along with variety, of course, as you can probably tell from all my cereal entries. But today I want to talk about muffins. Or write about muffins. Whatever. Now that I have cardamom in my spice collection I need to use it, right? So I started off with these  Whole Wheat Banana Spice Muffins . Along with the cardamom there's also cinnamon and nutmeg--which is how I thought cardamom was usually used--and all three come through in the final product. Second most important is your bananas; mine could've been a day more ripe but they still baked well in the muffin. They didn't have that sort of sour taste you get when your bananas aren't ripe enough. And the whole wheat pastry flour (my favorite) makes them really  filling. It's nice to sometimes not  stick oats in everything and not feel like you're totally eating junk. I know that sounds crazy coming from me but it goes back to what I said in my first sentence: variety! I don't want oats in every single muffin

It's a total coincidence that I finally tried this the same week as  Chex Clusters . And now I really get the difference between the two. Most important, there's actual  dried berries in this. Blueberries and cranberries, to be specific. And they're not minced into little bits, either. So they lend the whole product a nice berry flavor. So you've got Chex, big granola clusters, mixed berries, and sliced almonds. Everything advertised. ******** I was just passing by the cereal aisle today (for a reason I'll get into later) and happened to be smacked in the face--not literally--by a reminder that Fall is coming: seasonal cereals. Special K Apple Cinnamon Clusters and Pumpkin Spice Mini-Wheats. On the one hand, stop rushing the seasons, marketers! On the other hand, yay, new cereal. So I picked up the Special K. (I'll go back for the Mini-Wheats next week.)

I discovered this by accident, just flipping through newspaper ads. A new Chex? Since when? About a month ago; I think that's when I bought it. The clusters were kind of disappointing; I was expecting big individual oat clusters, maybe with some berry pieces attached. The only attaching here is little cluster bits to the cereal. And the fruit is just dried/sweetened/colored apple bits. I guess that's why the box says "Fruit & Oats" and not anything more specific. It is  weird though, to think you're eating one fruit when it's something else altogether. And I kind of understand why the clusters are made this way--otherwise it would be too much like Chex granola. Overall, it's not bad, just not what I was expecting.

So Giant rebranded their in-store magazine as Savory, and I have to say it is  an improvement over the old one. I think I must have picked up the first issue the day (or close to the day) it came out. There was one article that caught my eye: "The Challenge." You might not know this about me but I can't resist a challenge. If I could frame everything in life that way maybe I'd get somewhere. Anyhoo. This particular challenge:  Peach and Apricot Pie . Of course I can do that. I've made peach pies before. And I've made pie dough from scratch. It's just really labor intensive and not my favorite thing. Your best bet is to make the dough ahead of time. That was my original plan but my apricots had other ideas, like a "24" countdown clock was ticking over them every time I opened the fridge. So I had to do it all in one day. I made the dough entirely by hand. Sometimes the pastry blender just gets in the way so I just got in there and worked the b

See? I told you this would be next. The sprouted grains in question, in case you were wondering, are wheat, oats, barley, spelt and amaranth. When you press those all together it makes for a thick, crunchy, hearty flake that takes a little while longer than most to get soggy. There's just a hint of sweetness; I tasted it more in one individual flake than in the whole milked-up bowl. It's basically like eating a multigrain Total (texture-wise, not a vitamin comparison), which makes me wonder why there isn't a multigrain Total. You should get on that, General Mills.

Now where was I? Right, trend #2: ancient grains. You know  Cheerios  has had them since the beginning of the year; now Kashi and Kellogg's are throwing their hats (or bowls? or bowlers ?) in the ring. Kashi calls theirs Sprouted Grains, it's the same thing, though, and will probably be the next cereal I review. Kellogg's has a whole line called Origins, with cereals, granola, and oh, look--muesli. I'll be starting with the cereal, though. That's always a good place to start. I have to check on my pie now. That's an entry for another day.

Not my  world specifically, but the latest trends. Although that does  affect my world...anyway. On to my first point. Remember a few months back when I finally tried making  overnight muesli ? Well, now cereal makers are getting in on the action. First, General Mills' Nature Valley has a bagged muesli in Original Toasted Oats and Blueberry Toasted Oats. You can find it in your granola aisle. My only problem with theirs is that you're supposed to eat it within 5-10 hours. That's cutting it close for me. I don't think it'll explode if I let it go eleven hours between making it, sleeping, and getting up and dressed the next day--but it's not my first choice. That would be Kashi's Overnight Muesli. It comes it three flavors (although I'll have to pass on the cherry) in an individual-serving tub. Just add milk, leave it overnight, and eat it within 24  hours. That's the way it's supposed to work. I'll be taking another trip next month that will

There's a chance I could be going out of town this week, so you know I like to be prepared with my travel cookies. This past weekend I decided to try these  Cranberry Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies  because they call for Smart Balance, which I've never tried for baking. If you like the thin, crispy, spread-wide kind of chocolate chip cookie then this recipe might be for you. If you like the buttery taste of a classic chocolate chip cookie then this might not  be the recipe for you. Smart Balance gives these cookies a funny, I don't want to say aftertaste, but a during  taste. I can't quite put my finger on it. It's almost nutty but not quite--more like it intensifies the toasted oat flavor. It was odd at first but I got used to it. The chocolate chips helped (when don't they?). Now I know when a recipe calls for semi-sweet chocolate chips, don't substitute milk chocolate. Go for the more chocolate-y option. That sounds funny coming from me, I know, but I d

I know I haven't blogged dinner much lately but I had to mention this:  Jerk Turkey Sandwich with Pineapple Slaw . I honestly thought I'd never get to try jerk seasoning again in this house because of  these burgers  not going over well with one member of the household *cough* mom *cough* but the coleslaw topping swayed me. I made one tiny change, swapping mandarin orange slices for the regular orange for acid issues but I don't think it made a drastic difference to the recipe. The coleslaw still what it was supposed to do, which was to balance out the spicy kick of jerk seasoning. I actually could've used more seasoning than the small amount I chose to use out of fear...or respect...or courtesy, whatever. At the very least, make sure you season both sides. I had leftovers for lunch the next day. Still good cold!

I don't mean that someone invented a new fruit, just that I'd never had a nectarine before. Don't laugh. I don't know if I'm allergic to all  stone fruits, so I chose to wait until I found a recipe that involved cooking a nectarine. And involved breakfast, of course:  Fruity Yogurt and Walnut Breakfast Bowl . I skipped the walnuts because they don't agree with me and I honestly forgot the pomegranate seeds (they were on my grocery list but I still forgot to look for them!) but I did have a lime on hand, so it was more like a Fruity Yogurt Cup. And you need the lime zest. I think the nectarine and cinnamon--it's a lot of cinnamon, and that's coming from someone loves  cinnamon--would be overwhelming without the lime zest to balance it out. And you might not want to cook your nectarine to death, either. The nectarine slices in the picture look raw--if you don't want warm fruit I suppose you could just slice a nectarine over your yogurt and sprink

You know how I love to stick oats in my baked goods. Even if I get the occasional "What's these white things?" *eye roll* I still do it for the texture and of course, the fiber. I had a taste for blueberries this weekend so it was the perfect time to try this  Blueberry Oatmeal Bread . Also, fresh blueberries are at their peak this time of year; I had to make use of them. Ok, the bread itself: just a little chew to it but otherwise moist and pretty sweet. The berries themselves actually offer a bit of a tart counterpoint to the sugar in the bread. And that loaf was loaded. I was worried as I folded the berries into the batter that 1 cup wasn't looking like enough; I don't know why I can never seem to judge that. All in all, the outcome was definitely worth the effort. ******* And this morning I found out that I can tolerate the differing textures of blueberries and Mini-Wheats. Good to know.

Well, Kashi's gone and done it: they've figured out how to put sweet potatoes in cereal. Yes, sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes.  I know it sounds weird but stay with me on this. First I gave it the usual sniff test (open box, insert nose): it smelled like Thanksgiving, like the whipped sweet potatoes with broiler-toasted marshmallows that you shouldn't eat but once a year. Then I examined it in the bowl: big flakes that looked like sweet potatoes darkened by molasses--there's brown rice in the flakes, too--and then of course I had to eat one. And another one. Oh, sweet potatoes. Is there anything you can't do? To sum up: save the casserole for the holidays and get your sweet potato fix with this cereal for the rest of the year.

Okay, so it's not new like the other cereals I have waiting in the wings, but it's new to me. After I raved about  Shredded Wheat Crunch  (okay, not really raved, but layered with maple brown sugar Mini-Wheats? Is. The. Best.) I looked up the other flavors and thought Honey Nut sounded interesting. However, it was really  hard to find. My local Wal-Mart just expanded their cereal aisle in the last week or so which made shelf space for this particular Shredded Wheat. And now I know the difference between Shredded Wheat and Frosted Mini-Wheats. Shredded Wheat--the "spoon size"-- is more of a puffy wheat square while Mini-Wheats are a little more rectangular wrapping of wheat. And the honey nut flavor wasn't exactly what I expecting; when you think "honey nut" you think "Cheerios," right? I thought these would be a little sweeter and...nuttier, I guess. Looking at the ingredients list it seems there's almonds in there somewhere. I still like

I finally made cinnamon rolls! That's been on my list of things to try for years . I've been collecting recipes for years but they either 1) make too many; or b) require a stand mixer/dough hook. So earlier this month I found the perfect recipe for a first-timer:  Cinnamon Rolls  by Fleischmann's Simply Homemade bread mix. I make their breads often enough that I trusted the outcome. I have to say that the dough was really easy to work with. It wasn't too sticky and rolled out with seizing back up. I used real butter for the dough and Smart Balance for the filling, and not quite all of the cinnamon and sugar mixture. So what I need to work on for next time is rolling the dough up more tightly and cutting evenly. My rolls were a bit misshapen and some were bigger than others but nobody really cared. It's cinnamon rolls! As for texture, it wasn't the soft, bread-y cinnamon roll I was expecting, like, say Entenmann's. It was almost like a coffee cake cin

I've been saying it for years: Special K needs a second granola flavor! Now they've finally listened! It's Special K cranberry granola! I'll stop using exclamation points now. It has the same sweet sheen/coating as the original Touch of Honey but not the same flavor. I really do think there would've been a honey/cranberry conflict there. So it's more generically sweet with lots of little dried cranberry bits. Lots . I had cranberry in every bite. So thanks, Special K. I hope you come out with another flavor in the next three-to-five-years. ******* Brief cereal update: the restocking has begun. I have three new cereals to review, one of which I actually opened yesterday but didn't get enough to form an opinion. There's two more I have my eye on in the next two weeks. I think I'm getting my second wind.

...before I try overnight oatmeal. Which is exactly what happened. It's officially summer and I just can't deal with hot oatmeal this time of year. I've heard of so-called "overnight oatmeal" in the last year or so but it sounded gross and weird to me. So what changed my mind? I found this recipe from Eating Well for  Raspberry Overnight Muesli : vanilla yogurt, rolled oats, fresh raspberries, almonds. I have all of those things. Okay, I'll try it. And it was actually pretty good. It's not quite like eating cold oatmeal--the visual idea of which totally turned me off--but more like eating yogurt with really soggy granola. This is why the raspberries balanced that out texture-wise for me. I can't imagine substituting blueberries; my mind and tongue just can't handle it. And the crunch of the toasted almonds also helps. I'd actually eat this again. Now I'll have to go back through my recipes and see if I clipped/printed any overnight oatm

...is dessert and breakfast in one. I could've sworn I'd mentioned before how much my dad loves  carrot cake but I can't find a single entry to back me up. Anyway, he does. But he's also stopped eating cake since he started eating healthier and I wanted to respect that for Father's Day. It just so happened that a month or two ago I tore this recipe for  Carrot Cake Pancakes with Sweetened Yogurt  out of a magazine (don't ask me which, it's long gone) with plans to use it eventually. Obviously Father's Day was the perfect time. One of the aspects of the recipe that I was attracted to was the boiled carrots. Yes, really. If you've ever made a carrot cake, you know what a pain it is to grate carrots. So boil and puree with the wet ingredients? Yes, please! (And even so, there's still visible bits of carrots in the finished pancakes, if that's important to you.) Bonus? It turns your batter orange. And it was worth the one-hour refrigeration wai

...like homemade peach muffins. This was a "get rid of stuff in the fridge" morning: I wanted to finish off a bag of frozen peaches and I also had a little bit of whole wheat pastry flour left. Oh, and just enough brown sugar. But the peaches were the point, so I decided to try this  Praline and Peach Muffins  recipe from Betty Crocker. It may not have the greatest rating but they were wolfed down in my house, and that's what important, right? No need to waste perfectly good muffins. I ended up not using all of my frozen peaches--I thought I had too much--but it turned out that I should have because I ended up with the muffin that had one  peach chunk in it. But now I can speak to the muffin itself: sweet, but not too  sweet; not dense or chewy; really, a good muffin base for whatever you might want to throw in there. The idea is to showcase the peaches, not have an overwhelmingly cinnamon streusel-type muffin with some peach chunks tossed in as an afterthought. I'

It has the same simple granola base as the other Bear Naked granolas  I've   tried , which is to say that's not a lot of sweetness, or weird artificial flavors. Or giant clusters. It's especially good as a topping. This one has freeze-dried strawberries, blueberries and raspberries and it still wasn't overkill to add fresh berries to my yogurt. So if you're a fan of subtlety...here you go.

I know I've been cutting back on the dinner entries but this fish was so surprisingly good I couldn't not share it:  Browned Butter Flounder with Lemon Sugar Snap Peas . I've never made browned butter before--out of fear of scorching it--so I've held back on trying any recipe with it. And yes, I may have over-browned it a hair but it still tasted fine. And I messed up the mint step by adding it to the butter sauce but it worked with the thyme. We just poured (or drizzled, technically) it all over the fish and the peas and got the herb flavors, the butter, and  the lemon in every bite. ******* In other delicious flavor news, I finally got my hands on a pack of Thomas' Limited Edition Cinnamon Vanilla English muffins. Soooo much cinnamon. Even more than in the cinnamon raisin variety. They make your kitchen/toaster smell fantastic, too.

Yes, I am finally back with a cereal review and, you know, I really like it when these "touch of" flavors are true to their label. If you're looking for a gluten-free flake cereal, particularly one from Special K, and just want a hint of sweetness, this is a nice option. Of course, my opinions are for entertainment purposes only--maybe it's not  the best gluten-free flake cereal option, for all I know--so if you're on a strict gluten-free diet, you know, do your research. If you're like me, though, and just want a break from wheat sometimes, this is a nice hearty flake that tasted great with the blueberries I piled on yesterday morning (I really  missed my berries while I was away). That reminds me, I think I have another granola to review this week.

...because I just realized I'll need to make something else in August. Anyway, you know how I like to travel with my own cookies for the fiber boost because you never know how you'll be eating on the road/in another place? Well, I do. I thought I'd blogged that at least once but apparently not. Back to the cookie at hand. Or in the kitchen, not too far way, if you want to get technical. Usually I make oatmeal cookies when I travel but I thought I'd try these  Multigrain White Chocolate Cranberry cookies  instead. I already have a go-to white chocolate cranberry oatmeal cookie so swapping the oats for some Great Grains (that's the multigrain cereal called for) didn't seem like a huge departure. I used the cranberry almond Great Grains for two reasons: they complemented the other ingredients, and I don't like any of the other flavors of that cereal. They somehow make the cookies chewy and crunchy at the same time. Sometimes you bite down on a flake that'

Now that I've introduced my family to the wonderful world of  scones  it was time I tried another flavor.  It just so happened that I had a banana in the freezer so  Banana Yogurt Scones  it was. As it turned out I actually had a little bit too much banana, so that may have affected the final texture. It wasn't bad, just a bit of a sticky middle layer. I went ahead and separated the scones and then put them back in the oven for three more minutes (any more and they would've been too brown on the bottom). I also don't have a food processor so I made these by hand. It didn't take too  much time. Like most of my Sunday morning recipe forays I'd say roughly thirty minutes, start to oven. I also forgot to sprinkle the turbinado sugar on top but honestly, we didn't miss it. ******** One more thing: I tried Eggland's Best eggs for the first time (that I can remember) yesterday and boy, did they make a fluffy omelet. (And no, I am not being compensated to s

This was another instance of "I didn't intend to buy it but it was on sale." And it was time for another granola. Sometimes these things just work out. So when I opened the bag I smelled the apple first and then tasted a granola cluster--it was a little salty-caramel-ish. Then I started to pour and was immediately concerned by the sound of the dried apples clinking like glass. After that I realized there were little caramel bits in the there, too. I should've read the back of the bag first; it's all back there. What I really want to note here are issues of texture: the apples were surprisingly crispy and not chewy, like the apples in  the new Honey Bunches of Oats . That must the new way to treat apples these days. I have to admit I'm not crazy about the caramel bits. While they do  have a nice salty bite, they're a little too crunchy for me. I feel like if I don't bite down just right I'm going to break a tooth. It's probably just me, tho

It was a holiday weekend, we had guests, why not bake a pie? I really wanted to make a strawberry-rhubarb pie (I'm pretty sure our local farmer's market is selling rhubarb right now; I should really go down there and check) but while perusing my recipes I found this  Strawberry Streusel Pie  instead. I thought, just going by the ingredients, that it would be like a giant oatmeal cookie with a strawberry filling, but that's not quite it. It's more like a double-sided cobbler. I'm surprised my cobbler-disliking father ate it. I made this early enough in the morning that my brother was able to take some home that afternoon. It sliced easily but I always have trouble lifting slices from the pan without falling apart. Especially with some thinner areas in this crust. This was the first time I ever (sort of) blind baked a pie crust. I bought a bag of dried beans, way overestimating how many I would need to fill out a crust, but it worked, at any rate. The most tedious

This one is going to be tricky to review because they're gone already. Seriously. I made these  Super-Soft Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies  on Monday thinking my brother would take some home with him but he stayed longer than I thought--just long enough to eat them all. I'm barely kidding. I got three. So what did I think of them? Well, I learned that "soft" and "chewy" are two different things. I was expecting something like those old Soft-Baked cookies I used to eat as a kid--you know, the ones in the red bag? Maybe they were called Soft Batch? I should look that up later. As for these cookies, yes, they were soft. And huge. And not as peanut butter-y as you might think. That could be a positive or a negative for you. It was more the chocolate chips that I wasn't super crazy about but you know how I feel about chocolate. I encourage you to try them anyway.

I started baking last week in anticipation of my brother's extended vacation (also, I just wanted some oatmeal cookies). I decided to try these  Oatmeal Fruit and Nut  (without the nuts, though) cookies because they weren't loaded with butter and sugar. It also wasn't necessary to break out the hand mixer, so I was able to whip these up between other household chores that day. There's a lot--seriously, a lot --of cinnamon in these cookies but for some reason that just serves to make the nutmeg come through stronger. It's a good flavor, though; you know I'm never going to knock cinnamon. And you don't even really notice the shredded apple--I just like knowing it's there.

I've never had any of Post's Shredded Wheat products before (seriously, none) but if you add the word "Crunch" to your cereal you've caught my attention. The squares are a flat, dark wheat; they look like Life cereal but cross-hatched--or more accurately, like a flat version of any of the Spoon Size Shredded Wheat. They smelled like Life, too, but I couldn't quite put my finger on the flavor. Either maple or a very intense (dark?) brown sugar. Ok, I just looked it up, it's molasses. Anyway, there's also a granola cluster component; I suppose this is the reason for the "Crunch" name but the cereal squares are crunchy enough to warrant the name. Now I'm curious about the texture of their regular Shredded Wheat. I may have to try one.

You may recall that I reviewed  Sunrise Crunchy Vanilla  a little while ago, so from that review you should get the gist of the components of this one. The main difference is that while the vanilla flavor was underwhelming, the maple makes it presence known. Or maple-nutty flavor when you consider all the grains and seeds and such in the flakes. For the time being this one gets ranked way ahead of Vanilla, but there's other varieties I have yet to try.

I wasn't giving this my full attention the day I opened it so the contents took me by surprise as I was pouring: hey, this smells like apples and cinnamon.  So that was a good sign. I tasted a flake first; it had some cinnamon flavor with a hint of apple coming behind, probably just from being in the box with the apples. Then I tasted an actual piece of apple. It was surprisingly crispy. I was expecting something more chewy, like in a bag of dried apples, but this was better. They were a nice size, too--even larger than the flakes. I didn't realize until afterward that I'd forgotten to taste a cinnamon bunch first. It's not necessary, though. This cereal made enough of an impression without that step. I definitely recommend this one. ******* And now an odd announcement (for me, anyway): the other day it dawned on me that I need to take a break. Not from the blog altogether but from trying new cereals. I'm just really craving familiar flavors right now. I have two

Breakfast sandwiches aren't something I normally eat; I think of them as fast food/on the run/emergency breakfast. And I've never made them at home, either. But when I saw these  Grilled Peanut Butter, Banana, and Honey on English Muffins  I thought to myself, well, that's not even a McOption. The main takeaway I got from this recipe is that it's messy. Buttery, peanut butter-sticky, honey-sticky. Honey-slick bananas sliding all over the place. If you have kids, they will have a field day with this meal. Flipping them in the pan was also tricky. I used Thomas' Whole Grain English muffins and one half has less surface area than the other. Of course I probably tried to stuff too many bananas on one but it was half a banana and I was determined to eat it. That being said, it was delicious. Totally worth it. I didn't even bother to use my fork-of-occasional-table-manners. I did get peanut butter all over the magazine pages I was trying to dog-ear, though. One m

Do you ever see a new product online and get obsessed with it--like, I need to have this ? I feel that way about Cotton Candy Oreos. Oh, and this cereal. You already know how I feel about  regular Honeycomb  but change up the flavor and color? I've been suckered in again. It's tinted pink, of course, and turned my milk pink but I don't remember much strawberry flavor to my milk. I'll have to make a point of really tasting it next time. I don't know if that'll make much difference though, as the cereal doesn't have that much strawberry flavor, either. Did the actual strawberries I had with this overwhelm the flavor? I don't know. But it's basically the same issue I had with Honeycomb. More flavor, please. The pink Honeycomb did  remind me of strawberries, though. It's too bad they couldn't have reshaped it in that way, too.

Yes, that title is a mouthful. So much so that I keep forgetting there's almonds in that granola. And--surprisingly--not as many chocolate chunks as I expected. Maybe they're in the bottom of the bag. I've eaten this twice now and I think I've had maybe three chunks total. Not that that's a huge issue for me--you know I'm not the biggest chocolate fan. The dried cranberries weren't as sweet as I expected, which, again, is not an issue. And the almond slices? They're...there. Or forgettable, apparently. Which sounds like I'm building up to a mediocre review but really, the combination of these components with the granola is pretty good. Something I could probably make myself.

(I know, I don't usually write two entries in a row, but I will be computer-less for the rest of the week.) This brand wasn't even on my radar but I had a coupon, so why not? And the brand name is appropriate; there isn't anything more in here than there absolutely has to be. Just enough flavor, no slick coating, whole  almonds. That was a surprise, but not too bad. Every now and then you get a crunchy bite of nut. After eating, the taste of almond lingered more than anything. I could get used to it, though. There's some other flavors I want to try.

I don't usually make soup this time of year; it reminds me of winter and cold days and I just want to put that behind me for the next six months. But, you know, even April has its chills. So I've been catching up on some old issues of Everyday With Rachel Ray (a gift subscription) and decided to try this  Very Veggie Soup with Parmesan Toasts . Yes, the whole recipe. I've never bought a ciabatta loaf before, just individual buns for sandwiches/burgers. Somehow I totally forgot about the resident meat-eater. It'll be nice once I leave again (for good this time) to be able to eat meat or meatless whenever I feel like it. He had to have a sandwich along with the meal. But anyway, I thought it was a good soup. And easy; that's pretty important. You leave the skin on the potatoes, buy your vegetables prepackaged, put it all together: super easy. I just finished the leftovers but forgot to add the pesto. Oh well. Vegetable stock has a surprising amount of flavor. I

A dinner...without starch? Can I do this? Yes, yes you can. You won't even miss it.  Fennel Orange Salmon with Cauliflower Rice  has everything you need for a satisfying meal, in both the nutritional and filling sense. Since I live with people with healthy appetites, I worry about trying out new dishes that just aren't enough literal  food. And I hated cauliflower as a kid. It was bad enough having to eat broccoli. But when you saute it this way, you don't even really notice that it's cauliflower. It's a nice complement to the salmon, with its citrus-y, smoky flavors. I will definitely add this to my salmon recipe rotation.

I'm a procrastinator. Perhaps you've realized this. I'm working to do better but in this case, I should have made these  Hearty Blueberry-Banana Muffins  two months ago. It's designed to use frozen blueberries in the winter months (when fresh are out of season). I finally made them last Sunday. They are definitely hearty. This was my first time baking with frozen (unthawed) berries and I'm happy to report they turned out just fine. I still could've been a little more careful folding them into the batter to avoid blue streaks but you know, nobody really cares. Blueberry muffins!  is all they're thinking. I also wanted to note that pulverizing oats in the blender is really, really easy. I didn't even know my blender had that setting (it's called "Ice Breaker"). But they helped make for a really thick batter, almost cookie-dough like. I couldn't really mound in the cups like the recipe said but the muffins cooked up muffin-shaped anywa

I don't know why I haven't gotten around to reviewing this; I think I've been eating it for the last two weeks. I guess it's because it's pretty unremarkable. If you've ever had a blueberry flax granola, you know what to expect. The same lightly toasted granola, the same freeze-dried blueberries, the same flax seeds. If you had an unlabeled taste test between this and Archer Farms blueberry flax granola, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. That's not to say it's bad . More like, been there, eaten that with some yogurt.

I'm a  cod convert  and couldn't wait to try it again; a few weeks back I cut this recipe out of the Sunday paper:  Roasted Cod with Mushrooms . I was worried it might not appeal to anyone's taste buds but mine so I didn't bring it up until a certain someone came back from a business trip on a health kick. I'm not objecting to said kick; in fact, I knew I'd better strike while the iron is open-minded. You may look at this recipe and ask yourself, do I need another vegetable? No, you do not. Serve this with brown rice (as the recipe states) and you're golden. It's plenty of food. I forget sometimes how filling mushrooms can be. I was also concerned about it being too buttery; just don't serve yourself too much melted butter. My stomach handled it fine. On to the next cod.

1. Putting berries in your yogurt is really, really easy. Extremely easy if you prefer individual containers. Rip lid, add berries, stir, add granola. 2. Berries [or insert fruits of choice here] are filling. I don't eat as much as granola anymore; it just isn't necessary. 3. I especially liked making my own pineapple-coconut yogurt over the packaged kind. More intense flavors. 4. Unfortunately, I'm allergic to kiwi. I knew it was a possibility but I had to try it to find out. 5. This is definitely a challenge I can maintain for the rest of the year. I have no idea what I'll give up next year but I can wait 'til next year to worry about that. Off to make up for my other challenge: printing out recipes!

How did I find Nature's Path? It was on sale a few weeks back so I went to the website, looked up all the products, and made list (I love making lists) of everything I wanted to try. Then I ended up buying Sunrise Crunchy Vanilla on a whim. I didn't look at it too closely; I thought I was buying a flake cereal but it's actually a combination of small, round flakes and little puffs (like half the size of Kix). It all has a grainy, gritty texture, owing to all the grains, obviously. The vanilla isn't as strong as I would like--there's something else going on there, most likely the molasses. I do like that it's flakes and  puffs, though; those aren't two that I would normally put together. And I haven't been dissuaded from trying any other products, so that's a good start.

This is not an April Fool's prank: I actually have something to review today! I think this one's been sitting on the shelf for two months. I couldn't even remember if it was vanilla or honey-flavored. As it turns out, it could've been either one; the flavor just wasn't that remarkable. Also, it was entirely in the bunches. I don't know why that surprised me; it's right on the box--Vanilla Bunches. Not vanilla flakes. Speaking of which, Post somehow figured out how to slice a wheat/rice flake as thin as their regular flakes. They still have more texture, though. Like a multigrain Special K flake, but, you know, thinner. It didn't exactly blow me away but, on the other hand, it's not really the kind of cereal that's supposed to do so.

...and now I've reached my maple/apple (mapple?) quota for the month. I picked out this recipe for  Apple Cinnamon Waffles  a few weeks ago to make sometime this month and it just happened to work out the same weekend as the yogurt in my last entry. No matter; it's waffles . It may look deceiving in the batter but it actually ended up being neither too apple-y or overwhelming in cinnamon flavor. Sometimes I just want a little extra something in my waffles but not so much that I can't add maple syrup to it. Oh, yeah, I didn't make the cider syrup in the recipe. I'm not a fan of apple cider and even if I was, honestly, it sounded kind of gross. A butter-cider-Bisquick topping? Pass. ****** I should  be reviewing a cereal soon. I have three waiting...

Last week's yogurt was  Sauteed Cinnamon Apples with Maple Yogurt . (I don't know to whom this should actually be attributed, but there's the recipe anyway.) You may recall that I'm allergic to raw apples, but even a little bit of cooking makes them tolerable. I guess they aren't really cooked in packaged yogurts--I haven't found one yet that didn't make my throat fuzzy. So that was the main reason for trying this recipe. Just glancing at the ingredients made me think the finished product would be more like canned apple pie filling but, refreshingly, simple chopped apples with cinnamon and nutmeg are, well...just that. Simple. And just the right combination of flavors to blend with maple yogurt. I really like how I'm getting more fruit this way.

"Hey, make something with that," my mother (basically) said as we walked past the meat case. The "that" in question was Hillshire Farm turkey polska kielbasa. We did not know such a thing existed. We're not big sausage eaters. But I went to the source, the  Hillshire Farm recipe page , to find something to do with kielbasa. I settled on the Baked Sausage with Lentils and Vegetables because I knew I had nearly a cup of lentils sitting on the shelf and no other particular use for them. And even though it took a hour and a half to cook (and I nearly screwed up the lentils--just boiling lentils) it's mostly hands-off time, so you can go and do something else while you're waiting for dinner. Turkey kielbasa, it turns out, tastes almost just like regular kielbasa. The texture is a little bit different but hardly noticeable. And this dish is very filling. Not too tomatoey but just enough. There must be a lot of spices in the meat because it tastes like more t

Note that this product is correctly called "granola mix." It's not just granola; it's granola with Chex in it! That's the main reason I wanted to try this. It just looked so cute that day. I know, I'm weird. Surprisingly, it's not as strong of a honey nut flavor as Honey Nut Chex, so maybe it's just a light honey flavor with the sliced almonds filling the role of nut. I don't mind this; I like a mild granola to not overshadow my fruit/yogurt flavor. The granola clusters are kind of dry, by which I mean there's no slick coating like you find sometimes, but the clusters are nice-sized. I paired this with my yogurt of the week, raspberry almond, for the obvious reason, and I wasn't disappointed.

Thank goodness for winter coats and self-checkouts--I don't need the nosy, judging Looks from people when I'm buying a cereal I don't visibly need. But I provide a service . I'm doing this for you dear reader/occasional reader/person who randomly found this blog today. Also, I wanted to try this flavor. And I had a coupon. To the cereal: It's like they combined the tiny corn flakes from Honey Bunches of Oats with some really thin  (and possibly wheat) Frosted Flakes, and then threw in some oat clusters and almond slices. It's kind of all over the place and so is the flavor. It would've been better to focus entirely on the cinnamon, I think. I'll be mixing this with something that has a heartier flake so it'll stand up under the weight of fruit. And if anyone else were to put their spin on this--Fiber One Nutty Clusters and Almonds without the Nutty Clusters, some kind of Special K, or if Kellogg's brought back the Fiber Plus line--I would try

I'd never made scones before because some  people in this family insisted they didn't like them--so what would I have done with all those scones? But I'd also had this recipe for  Maple-Oatmeal Scones  forever (well, five years felt like forever) and even after my cousin told me I should go ahead and make the scones anyway I still waited another year to take that advice. Whoever didn't like it could eat toast... ...and also crow but I'm not one to rub it in. Most of the time. Of course  they loved the scones. Anything loaded with butter and maple, how could you not? I cut this recipe in half (because a pound  of butter? Seriously?) and still managed to make ten scones. It's not unlike making biscuits but easier. There's no kneading, just roll and cut. The baked texture is kind of funny, dense but flaky. Like shortbread but not as dry and crumbly. You'll want to eat two but you shouldn't (trust me on this. Not my personal experience, but close enoug