Flash in the Pan

The PR people for Mom's Best Naturals cereals sent over a sampling of different products, including instant oatmeal and Cheerio-like Toasty O's. It's an easy review - everyone here likes the products a lot. Good flavor unassailed by artificial preservatives, artificial colors and flavors, hydrogenated oil, or high fructose corn syrup. (My wife is on a crusade against the latter, and I can't say as I blame her.) It's nice to see a "natural" product that appears to be what it claims without tasting like a righteous cardboard box.

Labels: cereal, product, review

When the PR people sent samples of the tasty Weil by Nature’s Path Pure Fruit & Nut Bars, also in the box were two cereals: HempPlus Organic Hot Oatmeal and Flax Plus Red Berry Crunch. Let's take the former without any untoward jokes, out there, because hemp is not necessarily its more psychopharmacoligically active cousin banned on college campuses across this great nation. Instead, this is another source of dietary fiber that is supposed to provide health benefits. I gave it a shot. An instant cereal, you mix in boiling water, stir for a bit, and you get breakfast. I was surprised at the creamy nature of the cereal; usually that takes cooking in liquid, not merely adding something wet. The taste was passable, but I could pass on what turned out to be a nearly gelatinous texture. In fact, as I lifted a spoonful, I could see little trailing strands of goo stretching an inch or so back to the bowl. Hmm.

More textually pleasant was the Flax Plus Red Berry Crunch. It's a cold cereal, crunchy, with a fruity taste (freeze-dried raspberries and strawberries) and enough whatever in it that I found it didn't need sugar - just a dash of milk. Put me down for more of this one.

Labels: cereal, opinion, product, review

Cooler weather is rolling into our part of New England, and that usually gets me thinking about hot cereal. There has been increasing evidence that various non-wheat grains are good for health, largely due to dietary fiber. Old Wessex Ltd. 5 Grain Cereal not only has 20 g of dietary fiber in one serving, but it tastes good. A combination of oats, rye, triticale, barley, and golden flax, it looks a bit like oatmeal before being cooked. There's a nutty overtone to the taste, and the microwave directions are not only easy, but effective. You put half a cup of the cereal and a cup of water in a microwave-proof dish, put it on for five minutes, and out it comes with the type of creamy consistency that you might expect of cooking on the stove. (Actually, there have been times I've cooked quasi-ready oatmeal on the stove top and had less of a pleasing texture.)

Labels: 5 grain, barley, cereal, golden flax, hot, oats, Old Wessex, rye, triticale