Search Results for: granola

I can’t remember what started it, exactly, but a few days ago I found myself in the middle of a very entertaining conversation about cereal.

And just in case you’re thinking that the last part of that sentence is clearly an oxymoron, I will explain.

I’m a fan of cereal, but I don’t buy it all that often because I have a husband who prefers hot food and a son who doesn’t like the same cereals that I do. So whatever cereal I buy usually ends up going stale before we can finish it, and if I’m going to shell out the big bucks for a box of high fructose corn syrup, then you’d better believe I want to get my money’s worth.

And don’t worry – I really do try to avoid the cereals with high fructose corn syrup. We much prefer the ones that are smothered in melted butter and then dipped in milk chocolate.

ANYWAY, somehow a couple of friends and I got on the subject of cereal last Friday, and since David was going to be out of town for a couple of days (which means I wasn’t even going to glance in the direction of my stove, much less turn on a burner), I thought cereal sounded like the perfect food for the weekend. My friends started telling me about a few of their favorite kinds, and I was so inspired by their suggestions that I actually made a list of cereals I’d like to try.

LIVING ON THE EDGE, I AM.

But first, some critical background information.

I grew up eating Frosted Flakes, and it remained my favorite until my sister introduced me to Golden Grahams when I was around eleven or twelve. Golden Grahams and Frosted Mini-Wheats were at the top of my list until I went to college, at which point I fell head over heels in love with Cracklin’ Oat Bran. At some point along the way I decided that it had too many fat grams or calories or something, so I put the COB on the shelf and moved onto less tasty cereal pastures.

I’ve chosen to block all those less tasty cereals from memory. Since they tasted like cardboard and all.

When I was pregnant I was completely addicted to Smart Start, and after Alex was born I returned to my Golden Graham heritage. A few years ago D and I discovered Kashi Go Lean Crunch, and it’s remained a solid favorite, along with the Kashi Oat Flakes and Blueberry Clusters.

By the way, this information is riveting, isn’t it? Almost as riveting as if I were to write a post entitled “Reflections On Soaps I Have Enjoyed Through The Years.”

ANYWAY, this past Friday afternoon Alex and I went to the grocery store, and in light of my goal to not turn on the stove, I couldn’t wait to try a couple of the cereals on my list. I bought these two boxes.

I would now like to report my findings.

(And please know that nobody asked me to talk about these cereals. I only do review stuff through BlogHer, and when I do a review through them, it goes on a separate page on my blog. Just so we’re clear. Aren’t disclaimers fun?)

(SO fun.)

Okay. The cereals.

Cheerios Crunch – Delightful. Not too sweet. Bits of granola, which are always a plus. Not nearly as sugary as a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios, but way more flavorful than a bowl of regular Cheerios. Will definitely buy these again. A. liked them, too. This would be a really good dessert cereal, and if you’re unfamiliar with occasionally eating cereal for dessert, then clearly I have overshared.

Blueberry Muffin Frosted Mini Wheats – Enjoyable. Blueberry flavor smells a little artificial (because, well, it’s artificial), but it tastes a whole lot like the blueberries in blueberry muffin mix. Very filling and not nearly as sweet as you think it would be (which is a plus). Will definitely buy again – but only when we’re having company, because I’m the only person in our house who liked these.

So. All that being said – what are your cereal favorites right now? Any recommendations you’d like to share? Any hidden treasures on the cereal aisle?

I’ll just be sitting here making a list of my favorite soaps while I read your comments.

After spending several years on the fence in terms of joining some sort of wholesale shopping club, we finally decided to become Costco customers earlier this year. The “quick trips” to Target and Walmart to pick up toilet paper or peanut butter or laundry detergent were almost always more expensive than I planned, so we decided to see if buying stuff in bulk would make a difference, if changing how we shop would have a positive impact on our budget.

And in a word (or three): yes, it has.

In fact, it’s made a huge difference. Now granted, we’ve had to be smart about what we buy at Costco – which means we stay far away from the computers and fancy knives and fine jewelry and whathaveyou – but in terms of buying paper goods and canned goods, it’s been a mighty good thing. Costco has been our grocery budget’s friend.

Plus, you know, they have two of my favorite snack products in the entire world in convenient economy sizes.

There are no words for the deliciousness contained therein.

But if there’s any drawback to shopping at Costco, it’s that you come home with many items that require storage, all manner of rolls and bottles and jars and cans. And as a result, for the last seven or eight months our laundry room has sported an elaborate organizational system that consisted of stacking all Costco purchases on top of one another.

Aye, and precariously.

Because the stack? It defied the laws of physics, my friends. At one point we had a small flat of English peas as the foundation for a multi-level tower-o-product that included paper towels, bottled water, Ziploc bags, marinara sauce, granola bars and an assortment of pasta. I just figured that if the whole thing ever came toppling down I’d scream “JENGA!” and pretend like it was fun.

Pragmatic as always, I am.

Last Sunday I’d been home from San Antonio for all of five minutes when David asked me if I’d grab him a twelve-pack of diet Coke from the laundry room. I figured that was easy enough since the twelve-packs are typically located right inside the laundry room door so that we have the opportunity to break a toe or three every single time we need to get to the washing machine. But when I walked into the laundry room, there were no twelve-packs in the middle the floor. In fact, there was no anything in the middle of the floor. Not an ill-balanced stack in sight. And when I looked behind the door to try to figure out where all our stuff was, here is what I saw:

Y’all. I squealed. And then I clapped. And even now – over a week later – I still think that, aside from my newborn son, it may be the most beautiful sight that I ever did see.

I mean, forget all those notions of being wined and dined that I harbored in my twenties. Because now? In my thirties? Wining and dining is fine and all, but truth be told it doesn’t hold a candle to the fact that my husband bought shelves, assembled them, and then filled them with our Costco bounty.

I get a little weak in the knees just thinking about it.

Last Monday I met my sweet friend NK for lunch, and after we finished relaying tales from our respective weekends, I told her about Shelving Surprise ’08. I told her about how all the paper goods are on the top shelf, and how I don’t have to break toes on the Coke products anymore, and how even the dog treats have a place of honor now.

And after I finally quit talking, NK pushed away her plate, looked straight in my eyes, and said, “Oh. Now that’s romance.”

I couldn’t agree with her more.

This is one of those times where I don’t even know where to start. Because with Mama here this last week I didn’t really chronicle what was going on with us like I normally would have, and as a result of my bloglag I have all this junk in my brain that I just need to pour out onto the computer, but where to start, oh where to start, hey I think I’ll start with Wednesday.

So Wednesday morning I was beginning the whole get-ready-for-the-day process after I jumped out of the shower, and I noticed something, um, weird.

And if you are a man who is reading this, you might want to run for the hills right about now.

Now I’m going to use a little bit of vaguery here because there are certain Google searches that I just don’t want to come my way, but I think you’ll know what I mean when I tell you that when I looked in the mirror as I was getting ready I couldn’t help but notice that there was some abnormal activity going on in the left chestage region.

I promptly broke out in a cold sweat and had to lie down.

I’m not kidding.

I told Mama about it, and she said that she had experienced the same issue before, which made me feel a little bit better. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that something could be wrong, so I called my doctor and left a message for the nurse.

Feel free to pat me on the back about the calling the doctor part. Because there was a time in my life when I would have avoided the doctor at all costs and instead tried to diagnose myself using only the internet and a well-worn copy of The Merck Manual of Medical Information.

I finally talked to the nurse around lunchtime, and she said that while they weren’t overly concerned, they felt like it would be better to err on the side of caution – so they’d like to see me. On Friday.

THIS WAS ON WEDNESDAY.

THAT’S A TWO DAY WAIT, PEOPLE.

So now maybe you understand why last week I mostly wrote about the dress! And the necklace! And the shoes! I mean, since I was sort of preoccupied with the aforementioned abnormalage, ALL THE SPARKLY THINGS were a pretty good distraction.

Anyway, Friday finally got here and I went to the doctor and I am so happy to tell you that everything is perfectly fine. I’m far too embarrassed to tell you what the abnormalage was all about, but suffice it to say that it was something very, very normal. And in the end I’m so glad I kept my appointment because I have total peace of mind about that particular issue, and my doctor (who I LOVE) was oh-so-kind about my concerns and didn’t even call me crazy.

See? All’s well that ends well.

Friday afternoon D and Alex took Mama back to Mississippi, so I was actually home alone Friday night and most of yesterday. I wanted to tell y’all that I was ALONE, GLORIOUSLY ALONE when I posted about the granola Friday night, but I was feeling like a bit of a scaredy cat and didn’t want to give the Ring of Thieves^TM a heads-up about my isolation.

I had a perfectly lovely time catching up on all the episodes of “Survivor” and “The Bachelor” that I haven’t seen, and I also ate a great deal of granola. And read way too many pre-season basketball stories on the internet. And maybe ate some more granola.

Saturday morning (BORED YET?) I decided to head to the Steinmart(s) 12 Hour Sale, and I’ll just go ahead and confess that I have been in Steinmart(s) so frequently in the last week that the salesclerks get a little tickled when they see me walking through the front door, like OH HEY, IT’S YOU, THE CRAZY WOMAN WHO CAN’T DECIDE ON EARRINGS, and I just smile and wave and think OH MY WORD, I’VE TURNED INTO MARTHA.

It was really just a matter of time.

Anyway, I ended up finding a whole new outfit for the the Big Festive Deal (which is tomorrow night, by the way), and it is actually less expensive than the dress I found earlier in the week. I got some great chiffon wide-legged pants and a kind of asymmetrical shimmery top. The best thing is that both pieces are completely comfortable, and the more I have come to understand about the nature of my duties at Big Festive Deal, the more I have realized that the comfort factor is going to be huge.

However, the sassy / kicky shoes are history, I’m afraid.

I know. It is heartbreaking. I know.

Sometimes we have to make tough choices, y’all.

And I’m off to Nashville tomorrow.