One of my fav cereal!

You guys all remember my review on Nature's Path cereal? Well, my dad loved the cereal so much that when he saw this cereal at Trader Joe's, he just had to buy it. Plus, it was only 3 bucks, which is pretty cheap considering cereal is running about $5 per box!

Anyways, my dad thought it was going to taste like wood, so he was planning on just giving it to me. Little did he know that this cereal is amazing! So much better than corn flakes. He actually ended up eating some too. At least the little bit I hadn't eat yet!... :) 

These flakes are comprised of several whole grains, such as spelt flour (<---my favorite grain....spelt pancakes = delish saturday breakfast). I looked for it at the whole foods near my house, but couldn't find it! :( Oh, well. I'll just eat their flax version! (Which my dad also bought-it's not as nutty tasting or delish, but it's pretty good)

This cereal tastes delicious on it's own, but if you add some homemade yogurt and fresh fruit, it'd make a delish parfait!

Note: Nature's Path did not provide me with this cereal and these reviews here are all my own.

Nature's Path

What's your second favorite meal? Why did I ask second? Well we all know everyone would choose dessert, but anyways, my second favorite meal would have to be breakfast. Waffles, french toast, and cereal. Yum, they're almost as tasty as desserts, but you can eat them right when you wake up (and pretty much anytime of the day). My fav breakfast food has to be cereal. I could eat it any time of the day! So when I received a box from Nature's Path, I was so excited!

I opened the box and found to my great delight: Blueberry Cinnamon Optimum Cereal, Lotta Apricot Granola Bars, and Pumpkin Granola Cereal!

I was at first skeptical of the optimum cereal because it just looked too healthy to actually taste good. Do you see those twig looking things? Last time I had those they were in some cereal and called fiber twigs. Does that not scream healthiness to you? However, once I tried the cereal I was hooked. Slightly sweet, nutty, and cinnamon-y. Not at all what I would expect. My dad actually announced he would be buying some more!

I have yet to try the granola bar and granola, but I'm sure I will love it!

* Disclaimer: Nature's Path provided me with free samples to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review in return for the free product.

Granola Cookies

Have you ever made/bought too much granola and had no idea how you were ever going to finish? Or you just got sick of it? I know, absurd question. Who could ever get sick of granola? It's my favorite food, well after ikura, and raspberry macarons, and fresh kula strawberries, and..okay, I guess I should stop before this post is entirely composed of my favorite foods. Well anyways, I had a bunch of granola, and after my fifth bowl (yes, I ate five huge bowls of granola. my jaw is now sore..) I decided I needed some other way to eat my granola. What better way to eat something that in cookie form?!

These cookies were delicious. Hearty and healthy from the granola, and chewy from all of the oats, or at least I think. The granola didn't have any dried fruit in it, so I decided to throw in some dried cranberries to give the cookies a little color. Enjoy!

Granola Cranberry Cookies
from Culinary Adventures of a New Wife
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup granola, slightly crushed
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and both sugars until well combined. In a small bowl, whisk together cooled butter (room temp), egg and vanilla extract. Pour into flour mixture and stir well to combine.
3. Stir in granola and chocolate chips until all are well-distributed in the dough.  Place rounded tablespoons on a cookie sheet
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until cookies just begin to take on a light golden brown color.
Cool completely on a wire rack before storing in an airtight container.

Muddy Buddies

What's brown and crunchy, and white all over? Why Muddy Buddies, of course. Each crunchy chex cereal is enveloped by a layer of decadent chocolate peanut butter and then tossed in powdered sugar for the finishing coat. Perfect as snacks, lunch boxes sides, bakesales, and if you're really daring, maybe even breakfast. It's cereal, right?  Plus, you know you can't wait to start your day with a bowl of chocolate-y powdered sugary goodness.

The great part about Muddy Buddies, aka puppy chow, is that it comes together in a few minutes, can be made in the microwave, and creates large batches at a time. Enjoy!

Muddy Buddies
from the back of the chex cereal box
Ingredients:
9 cups Chex Cereal (I used rice chex)
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1. Measure cereal and put in a large bowl
2. In a separate microwaveable bowl microwave chocolate, peanut butter, and butter for 1 1/2 minutes or until smooth stirring every 30 seconds. Stir in vanilla
3. Pour over cereal and mix to evenly coat. Pour cereal in to a gallon size ziploc bag
4. Pour powdered sugar in to the ziploc bag and shake until evenly coated
5. Evenly spread on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper until cool. Store in an airtight container.