Living in a Cereal World

I promised I'd let you know what I did with the rest of the pumpkin leftover from the  cake . So here it is: first I made this  Pumpkin Granola . I know, I know, kind of expected but I was ready for some scratch granola. It's a bit on the chewy side but that's what happens when you work with pumpkin. Then I did something a bit more unexpected: I finally made a savory pumpkin recipe. Pumpkin, Sausage and Spinach Calzones . I realized after I took the picture that a hot, melty-cheesy calzone would've made for a more appealing image (than this leftover from the fridge) but at the time I really just wanted to eat 😛. And it was delicious. I've never worked with frozen pizza dough or made a calzone before but I will definitely do both again 😁!

The second of three flavors to  try . I don't know exactly what Post is up to but they're definitely giving Frosted Mini-Wheats a run for their money. First, the sniff test; instead of the whole box I just sniffed one piece--it smelled like cinnamon sugar. Then I tasted it and got a hint of vanilla; just enough, not over- or underwhelming. I was afraid it would have a gooey vanilla frosting center so I was glad that wasn't the case. Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway) the cinnamon and vanilla flavors complemented each other nicely. I wouldn't exactly call it a cinnamon roll, but I'd still call it good. 😊

Yes, I finally got to this last weekend. 🙌 Sniff test first, as always: it took a few sniffs to get a hint of blueberry. As I poured I thought, why do we need this when there's already  Blueberry Toast Crunch ? (And then I forgot to taste the dry cereal!) Well, it turns out there's some differences. This is a blueberry-flavored Rice Chex. Toast Crunch has an oats and corn base. Also Blueberry Chex has molasses in the ingredients list and Blueberry Toast Crunch does not. That's basically it. Now does the molasses blunt the blueberry flavor? Because this is my only complaint. If you're looking for a gluten-free blueberry-flavored cereal, Blueberry Chex is one. If you're looking for a stronger blueberry flavor, go with the Blueberry Toast Crunch.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled cereal reviews (they're coming, honest!) to bring you this: Happy Wednesday. 🎉 Seriously, though, somehow it's already time to find another carrot cake for my dad's birthday. I didn't make one for Father's Day--I opted for  carrot cake waffles --so I kind of owed him a cake. This year, since I'm trying not to buy all the pumpkin products in existence (yes, including the cereals 😲) I thought I'd do one pumpkin thing and call it a day. Enter the  Carrot Pumpkin Bundt Cake . I don't like a lot of icing, dad loves carrot cake, we both love pumpkin...everybody's a winner. The important thing to remember is that pumpkin moistens your baked goods. I expected this, of course, but still not to the degree of scrumptiousness (yes, that's a word!) that resulted. Okay, maybe there was a little bit of buttermilk aftertaste but that can be rectified by getting a hit of icing in each bite. It was not a cake-br...

Finally! I'm back and eating cereal. Two new ones already. But let's start with the first one. So I'm a fan of Cascadian Farm cereals and granola. They're in the rotation. And I'm a fan of vanilla, chia seeds, and crunchy cereals. That makes this a no-brainer, right? Well... First I tried the "crunch," which is just small bits of their Oats and Honey granola. In hindsight I should've tried the flakes first because I think having that honey flavor hit my taste buds colored the following opinion. The flakes were dry and toasty--almost burnt--with the chia seeds baked in. I was expecting more of a nutty aftertaste like with flax seeds, but, you know, that's a totally different seed. What I didn't get was any vanilla flavor. I thought maybe it's just really, really subtle but looking at the ingredients list I don't even see vanilla 😕. Is that the "natural" flavor? I really wanted more vanilla. Capital V Vanilla. But not so...

Ugh, wow, it's been over a week. 👎 One more trip, just one more, and then I hope to stay put for a month. I have three new cereals in the queue, and I should be getting to all of them next week. Plus this summer's Smoothie List, since last year's version was surprisingly  popular . In the meantime, I've been eating these  Quinoa Breakfast Bars all month. How does a bar hold together with no flour? Very carefully. Actually, if you use dried fruit instead of the fresh blueberries it might hold its shape better. And I'm still on the fence about buying pumpkin cereals this year. 😲 I know, I know, but it's pumpkin! Plus cereal! I am not on the fence about baking with pumpkin, however. When Fall comes, I want those Fall flavors.

I think I must be on a banana kick. My original intent was just to use up some peanut butter chips; I'm not sure how the banana snuck in there. So I got up early one day last week and made these  Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies for my brother before he left. It was well past time for me to make a non-oatmeal cookie--in fact, maybe the first time this year. Maybe the only time this year. What can I say, I love oatmeal, with or without the cookies. Anyway, if it sounds like that's a lot of flavors for one cookie, fret not, they're really good. The flavors complement each other, and if you bite one just right you get the peanut butter followed by the chocolate with banana bringing up the rear. To continue the baking with bananas theme (I keep wanting to add an extra "na" on there) I also made this  Cinnamon Sugar Zucchini Banana Bread . Out of several options I think I ended up with this one because I could finish up some buttermilk. I had a perfectl...