Living in a Cereal World

I had no idea this was coming, so I was certainly surprised when I first saw it on shelves. Strawberry seems to be having a late run this summer (see: Post Strawberry Shredded Wheat and Frosted Chocolate Strawberry). So much pink we're just missing the unicorn.🍓 As for this Life, well, remember a few years back--wow, actually six years back--when Life tried to branch out to other flavors with their  Crunchtime line? I guess it didn't take long to figure out that Life should stick to what it does best: multigrain sweetened squares . And add new flavors every now and then. What I like about this new Strawberry is the subtle flavor. While not as "authentic," let's say, as  Strawberry Cheerios (still my most favorite strawberry cereal ever) the hint of strawberry gives it that certain Life class. If they ever want to introduce an apple cinnamon flavor, I'd try it. I'll give this one three more strawberries. 🍓🍓🍓

Or Nut Butter Almond Crunch, according to the website. But when you see the box, you read it the first way. I'm not sure what I was expecting with this cereal--I just saw almond and butter , so, yes please--but it still wasn't what I was expecting. To start, it comes in a smaller box, but several of their cereals do, so not an issue. However, once I opened it, the bag basically filled only half the box. Really, it could have fit in one of their little granola boxes. I guess they just want to make it seem like you're getting your money's worth, but still, I'm not a fan of misleading boxes. As for the cereal itself, there's a sturdy corn flake, which reminds me of the thickness of their bran flakes , and the titular crunch, consisting of oat clusters covered in almond butter. It's crumbly; I would have preferred thicker clusters. And it could have been sweeter--if made by another company. As it's Nature's Path, though, the flavor is no surpris

...although fruit butter is good too. 😁 So last month I found myself with some leftover blueberries--too many to eat. I didn't want to bake anything else at the time. I could have just frozen them. But I thought, hey, is there a way I can make freezer jam? I first made freezer jam last year and it seems I never blogged about it. That's too bad, because it was good. I want to say it was nectarine...? Anyway, so I thought I'd take other stab at it. I used this  Easy Blueberry Freezer Jam recipe and it really was easy. Two things I was not aware of, though, until I read some other recipes much later, 1) do not cut the sugar. It may seem like a lot of sugar, but it's all needed for the Sure-Jell (or whatever you use); and 2) you really should leave your filled container(s) at room temperature for 24 hours. I only did it for two. Despite those two errors, my jam was still delicious. It's a nice, jammy-yet-spreadable consistency and very blueberry. Which is what y

I know I don't really mention dinners anymore, but this one was too good not to post. So I had a taste for calzones--which I hadn't attempted since  last Fall --and I wanted one that didn't involve tomato sauce in it or on it. And maybe I could use up some mushrooms and add chicken...or chicken sausage. So with the guidance of recipes from  Reynolds Kitchens and  Sunset I ended up with Pesto-Chicken Sausage Calzones. Basic ingredients: 1 lb of pizza dough (thawed if frozen) 1/2 c. of pesto (I used refrigerated Buitoni) Swiss cheese--I used two slices of thin baby Swiss per calzone, you might like it cheesier 1 c. steamed broccoli 1 c. sliced mushrooms 2 fully-cooked Italian chicken sausages, sliced  Before following the directions from one of the linked recipes you'll want to brown your mushrooms and sausage (use one pan for less cleanup!). I just sprayed the pan with some PAM olive oil spray and sautéed for about 5 minutes. The great thing about calz

...with 25% more almonds, to be precise. This should be a re-review, but I never got around to trying the old Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds. I did try the Whole Grain version a few years back, if you want to compare this review to something. Anyway, you know the basic Honey Bunches of Oats drill: you've got your scrappy little corn flakes and wheat flakes, and crunchy clusters of honey-flavored oats. And with this one, of course, sliced almonds. When I poured my first serving I saw only two almonds so I figured, yep, bottom of the box again. But once I started eating, I tasted it: hey, there's an almond! And another almond! They are stealth almonds, apparently 😁. So while I can't say for sure that it's really, truly 25% more almonds, it is a decent amount of almonds 👍. ******** Bonus random breakfast product review: YQ by Yoplait If you know my history (I've mentioned it a bit) then you know I'm lactose intolerant. And perhaps I've al