the cereal experiment: Post Shredded Wheat

I've talked before about how close frosted shredded wheat is to my heart. I used to eat massive bowls of this stuff for breakfast and lunch in graduate school (I also used to eat tuna helper twice a week, but let's not dredge up my dirty past). I've tested two variations on shredded wheat in the cereal experiment so far. This time, I went back to the classic, Post Shredded Wheat Spoon Size.

Results. Sometimes, simple is best. This cereal is one ingredient, shredded wheat. In a world overflowing with fillers and preservatives, this is a truly beautiful thing. You may think that this one-ingredient cereal might also taste like dirt - but, it doesn't! Maybe it is just me, but there is something I really enjoyed about the hearty, wheat-y flavor of this cereal that I didn't even miss the lack of any added sweetener. And this is coming from someone with a sweet tooth the size of a Chick-fil-A milkshake.

If this cereal has any draw back, it turns soggy easily (as do most shredded wheat cereals). Despite this flaw, I enjoyed the fibrous squares and often found myself pairing them with a crunchier cereal partner. Compared to the other two shredded wheats (Fiber One Frosted Shredded Wheat and Kashi Autumn Wheat), I think these maintain their texture better and I certainly enjoyed their simplicity.

*Ranking System.

Post Shredded Wheat stands out in the cereal crowd with its low calorie count, fat content, price, and 0% sugar content. I'd say its taste, texture, fiber, and protein content are around average as compared to the other cereals. All things considered, Post Shredded Wheat takes an impressive fifth place finish.

In a world of overly complicated and processed foods, Post Shredded Wheat reminds me how delicious and satisfying one simple ingredient can be.

See other cereal reviews here. 

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Lastly, I want to share with you that my boyfriend and I are in the process of developing a Cereal Ranking application - that will allow you to input your own cereal and preferences to conduct your very own experiment with a table of results similar to mine. Look for its launch soon! 

 

weekend review: stocking up

I'm back from my relaxing vacation and week away from the blog! I assure you I did not take one single photograph and I consumed vacation-sized amounts of brownies and beer.

Instead of sharing my usual weekend recipe creations (mostly because I did not create anything), today I decided to share with you the goods from my weekly grocery trip (I find this weirdly fascinating - and thought you might too? If not, humor me). What you see here is representative of my typical weekly purchase (see footnotes for additional details).

Figure 1. This week's grocery haul separated according to how I think about my food (from left to right): cereal, miscellaneous, carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables, and protein sources.

Figure 2. Cereal (is in its own category in my head apparently): rolled oats (for making granola), Kellogg's All-Bran, EnviroKids Organic Koala Crisp (no comment), and Kashi Indigo Morning.

Figure 3. Miscellaneous: balsamic vinegar, honey, agave nectar, cinnamon Altoids, Jell-O Dark Chocolate Pudding Mousse, two containers of Silk original almond milk, and Enjoy Life soy-free chocolate chips.

 Figure 4. Carbohydrates: a box of Near East wild mushroom couscous and two sweet potatoes.

Figure 5. Fruits and vegetables (the produce aisle makes me happy): six bananas, three Golden Delicious apples, three peaches, a pound of asparagus, two on-the-vine tomatoes, a pint of grape tomatoes, carrots, two zucchini, an eggplant, romaine lettuce, and a package of spinach.

Figure 6. Protein sources: crumbled goat cheese, cottage cheese, plain Greek yogurt, Amy's Sonoma veggie burgers, two avocados, and eggs.

Footnotes: 

*This food is all for me. 

*I will certainly consume all of the produce (I even may have to make a mid-week banana/spinach run) and milk and likely consume all of the cereal, cheese, and yogurt this week. 

*I eat 90-100% of my meals from home.  

*Of course, I have many things on hand in my pantry (e.g., peanut butter, nuts, quinoa, pasta) and freezer (e.g., chicken, bread) that will pair with these purchases.  

*Usually I make more complicated recipes on the weekend that require additional ingredients not included in this purchase. 

**Most importantly, I really wanted a pint of Arctic Zero to be included in this purchase - but they recalled it and my heart is now broken.

my less serious vacation

I need a vacation. 

I need a vacation from work, from deadlines, from responsibilities. A week at the beach without any of these is calling my name. So, I hope you'll bear with me, dear blog readers, as I have decided to take the next week and enjoy my vacation without any responsibilities, including blogging. 

In lieu of daily blog posts, I've decided to just leave you with one of my favorite photographs and food creations of my blog's lifetime:

(baked sweet potato + plain Greek yogurt + almond butter + cinnamon)

I figure you can just look at this every day this week and be completely satisfied. I mean, I would be.

Now, off to live a little.

my less serious momma: easy eggplant parmesan

My mom is at it again, with a new red-themed recipe (see her first, here). My less serious momma posts are 100% mom - from the words, to the pictures, to the recipe's themselves. 

This simplified version of eggplant parmesan is a perfect weekday meal. Life is complicated enough already - why make dinner complicated when you don't have to? Sounds like something my mom must have taught me...

Red Recipe #2.  Easy Eggplant Parmesan

I used to make a complicated version but discovered this last year and like it better. Kind of tricky baking instructions the first time, but easy thereafter.

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant, peeled

4 egg whites

Parmesan cheese grated, lots

garlic powder to taste

1 c marinara sauce (can use this sauce, can add sausage or not)

mozzarella cheese as desired 

Slice peeled eggplant into 1/2 inch slices.

Beat egg whites w 4 T water until foamy.

Dip eggplant into egg whites, then cover with Parmesan, pressing to cover.

Place on sprayed baking sheet and sprinkle w garlic powder and then spray the top of the eggplant.

Bake 20 min at 400 until golden brown.

Turn over and bake for 10 minutes.

Add marinara, top w mozzarella if desired.

Bake 20 more minutes until hot and bubbly.

Yum.

 

Here’s the prepared eggplant slices going into the oven.

Eggplant ready for flip one.

 Eggplant after flip one.

 

Eggplant now browned on both sides.

 

Eggplant ready to eat with browned mozzarella.

 

Eggplant on plate with cranberry muffin (okay they don’t go together but it was all I had)!

 

Do you ever get hungry for a color?  Isn’t red always lurking in your head somewhere?

what i ate wednesday: issue 41

Happy July 4th, blog loves. Care to see some food? 

 Figure 1. Breakfast: a bowl (x2) of Kashi Simply Maize (a new find: I am obsessed) mixed with Kellogg's All-Bran, 1/2 sliced banana, and almond milk.

Figure 2. Lunch: a romaine lettuce salad with an tomato, carrots, an Amy's Sonoma veggie burger, smoked almonds, red wine vinegar, and ketchup.

Figure 3. Afternoon snack: a Gala apple and cocoa-roast almonds.

Figure 4. Dinner: pan-seared chicken with tomato-olive relish, roasted asparagus with Italian herbs, and Near East wild mushroom couscous. Pretty damn gourmet for a Tuesday, no?

Figure 5. Dessert: kettle corn topped with jerry-rigged chocolate PB2 (2 T regular PB2 + 1 T cocoa powder + almond milk).

And that concludes another What I Ate Wednesday (featuring what I ate Tuesday, July 3).

But, wait! Since it fun, food, AND fitness WIAW month I should tell you about my workouts. This morning I hit the pavement for a 30-minute run at working pace (i.e., a few notches above comfortable) followed by a short walk with my pup. I also took a short walk on my lunch break to stretch the legs. My day ended with a 60-minute PiYo class (fusion of Pilates and yoga - look for a review soon!) and another short walk with my pup when I returned home.

my less serious day: (...)

(If you don't have anything clever to say, don't say anything at all.)

Wearing.

Dress: LOFT; cardigan: old, unknown; necklace: gifted via Grandma!; heels: Miz Mooz.

Doing.

This morning I went on a 30-minute run at working pace followed by a 15-minute cool down walk with L. On Monday I typically attend a 60-minute Body Pump class (my favorite!). I finished the day with a 10-minute walk when I returned home.

Eating.

Pre-run I had 1/2 banana, 1/2 mug of black coffee, and 1 pint of water. For breakfast I had this bowl (times 2) of Cheerios mixed with Kellogg's All-Bran and the last of the Post Shredded Wheat (look for a review next week), 1/2 sliced banana, and almond milk.

Lunch was a carrot sticks dipped in peanut butter, an Amy's Sonoma veggie burger drizzled in the good stuff (i.e., ketchup), and a bowl of cottage cheese with grape tomatoes and cracked pepper.

My afternoon snack was Quaker Honey Nut Oatmeal Squares (yum!) and cocoa-dusted almonds.

Dinner was leftover summer veggie pizza with a homemade whole wheat crust and an arugula salad with dried cranberries, goat cheese, almonds, and dressed with balsamic vinegar and agave nectar.

Dessert was plain Greek yogurt, dark chocolate pudding mousse, and more Quaker Honey Nut Oatmeal Squares.

Note: this post represents what happened in my world on Monday, July 2. 

weekend review: i will eat pizza until it's perfect

Figure 1. In preparation: homemade whole wheat pizza dough. I'll spare you the details (for now), but I recently discovered that I have a soy sensitivity. This means if I want pizza, which I totally do, I have to learn to make my own dough. 

Figure 2. Saturday night's dinner: homemade summer veggie pizza (onions, red bell peppers, corn, asparagus, mozzarella cheese, and basil on a homemade whole wheat crust brushed with garlic olive oil) and a lemony arugula salad.

Figure 3. A pizza close up. Making my own crust needs a bit of work, I rolled this out too thin and ended up burning the edges a touch. Practice makes perfect (and more pizza to eat). I'll keep trying (and eating).

Figure 4. Sunday night's dinner: spinach and cheese quinoa casserole and eggplant calamari. Even though this picture makes it look like I was eating prison slop (sorry), this dinner was delicious. This quinoa casserole is very similar to the quinoa mac & cheese I recently made, except twice as delicious. And, eggplant calamari sounds strange - but it was to.die.for.