Living in a Cereal World

Mystery picture solved! I was trying to figure out what other berry recipes I was supposed to be sharing, as well as identifying this image: It didn't help that I couldn't remember if this was a dessert or breakfast recipe (I ate it both ways), but I finally found it with my dessert recipes:  Hidden Berry Cupcakes . I can't remember if filled them with strawberry or raspberry fruit spread but either way, berries! I also unintentionally made two chocolate chip cookie recipes over the holiday weekend: first, these  Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Banana Scones  (I used semi-sweet minis, I prefer their distribution in a scone) and then these  Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies  because sometimes you see a chocolate chip cookie recipe and you just have  to--and also send some away because that's just too many cookies. 😉 ******** That doesn't even cover March baking, but I really want to review a cereal next. I just haven't had the shelf space or the inclinatio...

(edited to add: finished cookies!) Maybe you're thinking, I know she's  been stress baking.  Maybe at first, but now it's back to regular baking. And I've only made one  banana bread! 😜 So I'm going to work my way backward, let's see how many I want to add to this post. For Mother's Day I made this:  Strawberry-Rhubarb Icebox Cake . It's like the simplest strawberry shortcake (my mom's favorite dessert) with no baking whatsoever! And since strawberries were BOGO, I also made these  Peanut Butter Strawberry Muffins  the day after that aired. Hopefully I'll remember to take a picture next time I thaw one. The weekend before I also bought two containers of strawberries. I ate one, but I used the other to make this: (You see I took the picture after  breakfast 😁) Strawberry Breakfast Pastries Let's see, what else? Almond Butter Snickerdoodles . I love an interesting snickerdoodle. Oh, I just made these today.  Whole Wheat App...

You know, I've had this three times already and just haven't felt motivated to write about it. I guess it's that  unremarkable? It's your basic Honey Bunches of Oats: corn and wheat flakes, oat bunches...and lightly frosted. I don't know what I was expecting.  I was expecting not to like it because it would be too sugary, but honestly? After the first sample, once I really started eating it, I didn't even notice the "frosted" component. Maybe, maybe , it made the oat bunches a little harder than usual. Or maybe that batch was just a tad overbaked. Who knows? You can tell I'm really struggling with this review. There's just not anything spectacular or horrible about this. It's just...eh.

I swear this cereal just came out last week. This might be my fastest turnaround ever . 😃 You know how I feel    about    cinnamon    cereals . I'm probably more particular about these than any other flavor. So I had to get the scent first--barely present--and then the taste. This particular combination of cinnamon and oats takes me back. But to where? Is it the cinnamon of Cinnamon Chex? Nope. What about Cinnamon Toast Crunch? No, that has a higher sugar-to-cinnamon ratio. This is a more robust flavor. Maybe like Apple Cinnamon Cheerios without the tweak of apple? Or on a par with cinnamon Oatmeal Squares, but more robust. I only had a taste of this new cereal this morning because I had some Multigrain Cheerios to finish, so next time I'll see how much more of an impact Cinnamon Cheerios has in milk and  to my taste buds.😋

I wrote this so long ago that I've almost finished the bag! 😄  Let's see if this jogs my memory. I opened the bag and saw clusters first; that was a good thing. Once I starting pouring, however, eh...not so much. More loose oats. But there were  sizable coconut flakes (Nature Valley calls them "shavings"), which I prefer to the shredded I always end up using in my granola recipes. The flavor is also strongly of coconut with a bit of honey-sweetness. I didn't leave myself any notes regarding the almonds, so there must not have been any characteristics that stood out. Coconut and almond is still a great combination, though.

Continuing my quest to try every Cascadian Farm cereal...I think I have two more after this one. So Graham Crunch, obviously, is their Golden Grahams. They look just like them (although maybe slightly smaller and curled on the ends? I don't know, it's been a long while since I had Golden Grahams), smell just like them, taste just like them. That maple-y sweet flavor--ah, it's just cane sugar and molasses. And they get soggy and chewy just like them. So what's the difference? Just the organic price? Checking...okay, wheat and oat instead of wheat and corn meal. Different sweeteners. But honestly, I couldn't tell the difference. And either way, General Mills gets paid. Sounds like a sweet deal. 😜

I know I'm overdue for an entry; I put this off last week because I was busy and then again  this week because it felt weird and wrong to be doing something so superficial. But today I'm ready to blog because I think we could all use some semblance of normalcy right now. So, Coconut Flakes. You may recall my entries on  Cinnamon Flakes  and  Vanilla Os  from last year; a few weeks back I finally got around to trying the third and final flavor. Here's the thing about this cereal--I wouldn't really call this flavor "coconut." At least, it's not what I think of when I think of coconut flavored cereals (see:  Toasted Coconut Cheerios ). But oddly enough, whatever you'd call this generically sweet flavor, it's actually the best  of the three. It really balances out the bean aftertaste and the dense crunchiness. And there you have it. This  is why I enjoy trying new cereals. You never know what you might find. 😄