Living in a Cereal World

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.