Organic Corn Flakes - Trader Joe's

Cereal Name: Organic Corn Flakes (Trader Joe's Brand)

Type of Cereal: Snack Cereal

Primary Grain: Corn

Nutrition Information (based on 1-cup serving):
        Calories: 110
        Total Fat: 0g
        Sugar: 2g
        Fiber: less than 1g
        Protein: 2g

Top Five Ingredients: Organic Milled Corn, Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Sea Salt, Organic Barley Malt Extract, Soy Lecithin (an emulsifier)

Review: I got fancy Corn Flakes this week. I saw them at Trader Joe's and thought, "Hmmmmmm, I wonder if Organic Corn Flakes really taste any different from Budget Corn Flakes. . ." My hypothesis was that they would all taste exactly the same. However, I was wrong. The, ah, let's call it a "chemical finish" present in all of the Corn Flakes I have tasted thus far was not present in the Organic Corn Flakes. They were lighter and more delicate, and although they have the same amount of sugar as the other Corn Flakes, they  tasted somehow sweeter, in a fresh way.

I can only guess the superiority of the product must be a result of the fancy ingredients. This box was significantly more expensive than the other Corn Flakes I've tried, and I haven't quite decided if the added cost is worth it or not. It's a big decision.

Chocolate Toasted Oats

New Product!!!

Cereal Name: Chocolate Toasted Oats (Fred Meyer Brand)

Type of Cereal: Dessert Cereal/Snack Cereal

Primary Grain: Corn (somewhat ironically considering the name of the cereal)

Nutrition Information (based on  1-cup serving):
         Calories: 133.3
         Total Fat: 2g
         Sugar: 12g
         Fiber: 2.67g
         Protein: 1.33g

Top Five Ingredients: Whole Grain Corn Flour, Sugar, Corn Syrup, Cocoa Processed with Alkali, Whole Grain Oat Flour

But wait, it looks so familiar. . .

Review*: 

Of all of the classy and alluring cereals displayed in the cereal vault of the local Fred Meyer I was drawn to Chocolate Toasted Oats because it was $1.25 a box. My guess is that it has some kind of addictive quality, and the store is trying to get me hooked cheap and then keep me coming back for more, unable to live without Chocolate Toasted Oats as the price inches up further and further. . .

To be quite honest, I like Chocolate Toasted Oats better than Chocolate Cheerios. They have the same nutrition stats and the ingredients have only a slight variance, but somehow the Chocolate Toasted Oats just taste better. Maybe it's their clever name, or perhaps the way they float like little life preservers and spell out words like "oooooo" and "oooooooooo" and "o," or maybe I just like the color brown (I do, though I'm not partial to the word brown, unlike "grey" i really like that word AND color).

Anyway, they're on sale. And they taste good. So I say, go for it.

*This review brought to you by too much coffee and not enough food. My apologies.

Marshmallow Mateys

Cereal Name: Marshmallow Mateys

Type of Cereal: Dessert Cereal

Primary Grain: Oat

Nutrition Information (based on 1-cup serving):
        Calories: 120
        Total Fat: 1g
        Sugar: 13g
        Fiber: 1g
        Protein: 2g

Top Five Ingredients: Whole grain oat flour (includes oat bran), Marshmallows (sugar, corn syrup, modified corn starch, dextrose, gelatin, artificial flavor, yellows 5 & 6, red 40, blue 1), Sugar, Corn Syrup, Wheat Starch

Review: I have a special place in my heart for Malt-O-Meal cereals  as I went to college in the same town in which the Malt-O-Meal plant is located. We always had Malt-O-Meal cereals in our cafeteria and the sweet scent of baking cereal wafted through campus on a regular basis.

Marshmallow Mateys are sweet and crunchy with a slight slimy undertone (due to the marshmallows). The marshmallows are very colorful, nothing like the pastel mallows in Mallow Oats and they are also in very distinctive but not identifiable shapes. While Mallow Oats were regarded as ALL NATURAL, Marshmallow Mateys are not. Please let me compare and contrast their first five ingredients.

1) THE SAME
2) Sugar vs. Evaporated Milled Sugar, Artificial Flavors/Colors vs. Blueberry, Pumpkin, and Carrot Concentrates
3) Sugar vs. Evaporated Milled Sugar
4) THE SAME
5) THE SAME

Nutrition Information? Also the same.

I still like Mallow Oats better, but maybe that's just because they are marketed to me specifically.

mmmm, doesn't that red 40 look delicious?

Additionally, this raises an interesting point in that the branding and marketing intents of cereal are aligned more vertically (specific to the type of cereal) than horizontally (to the brand itself). The goal of the cereal is to make it taste like all of the other cereals that are essentially the same (Corn Flakes, Crisp Rice, Marshmallow/Oat, etc.) because that is what the consumer is expecting. Once that pre-requisite is met, the brand can then try to hook the consumer with bargain prices, pro-environment branding, places of distribution, bright colors, etc. But the primary requirement is that the cereal taste how it is supposed to taste. This is very different from many other types of non-consumable brand marketing (ie clothing, shoes, cars, etc.) where the independence and uniqueness of the brand are of utmost importance. I mean, the function is still important (if it's a running shoe, it had better hold up to running), but I think my point still holds true as cereals do not only hold the same purpose and function, they are essentially identical.

Corn Flakes - Hy-Top

Cereal Name: Corn Flakes (Hy-Top Brand)

Type of Cereal: Snack Cereal

Primary Grain: Corn

Nutrition Information (based on 1-cup serving):
         Calories: 130
         Total Fat: 0g
         Sugar: 3g
         Fiber: less than 1g
         Protein: 2g

Top Five Ingredients: Degermed Yellow Corn Meal, Sugar, Salt, Malt Extract

Review: Over the course of my extensive cereal-related research, I have noticed a trend in all Corn Flakes ever tasting the same, regardless of brand. I am pleased with this as I like Corn Flakes. However, I plan to extend my search until all easily accessible brands of Corn Flakes have been savored and compared.

The Hy-Top Corn Flakes have the same ingredients in the same order as both of the Fred Meyer Brands (Fred Meyer and Kroger), but they do not have the same Nutrition Information. The Hy-Top brand has twenty more calories per serving and one more gram of sugar. I have no idea why, and I can say with confidence that the difference is not detectable to the casual taster.

I didn't bother taking a picture of these Corn Flakes as they look the same as every other Corn Flake. However, I did take a picture of the absolutely delicious looking recipe on the side of the box. No Corn-Flake-Coated Chicken for Hy-Top, no way. Instead, they offer the secret recipe for the pined-after potluck favorite: Sour Cream Salmon Loaf. Enjoy.

Frosted Flakes

Cereal Name: Frosted Flakes (Trader Joe's)

Type of Cereal: Dessert Cereal

Primary Grain: Corn

Nutrition Information (based on 1-cup serving):
           Calories: 146.67
           Total Fat: 0g
           Sugar: 12g
           Fiber: 0g
           Protein: 2.67g

First Five (and only) Ingredients: Corn, Sugar, Glucose Syrup (Wheat and/or Corn), Barley Malt, Salt

Review: I don't buy frosted flakes, really ever. This box was purchased as a direct result of this blog. I don't know why I never purchase them. . . maybe just because if I'm going to eat a really sugary cereal, I would prefer that it was more special. And if I'm being entirely honest, I think I like regular Corn Flakes better than Frosted Flakes, and they are SO much less unhealthy (please note, I did not say more healthy).

NONETHELESS, the Frosted Flakes were very very good. Their hard sugary coating made them less vulnerable to getting soggy than regular Corn Flakes, and, um, they are a good size for fitting in one's mouth. Not likely to cause oral injury. Likely to be delicious.

Cinnamon Life

Now with classy retro branding!

Cereal Name:  Life (Cinnamon)

Type of Cereal: Breakfast Cereal

Primary Grain: Oat

Nutrition Information (based on 1-cup serving):
         Calories: 160
         Total Fat: 2g
         Sugar: 10.67g
         Fiber: 2.67g
         Protein: 4g

Top Five Ingredients: Whole Grain Oat Flour, Sugar, Corn Flour, Whole Wheat Flour, Rice Flour

(Banana not included in box)

Review: I didn't start seriously eating cereal until college. Somehow, after a few months of excitement with the choices, and the tray, and how everything seemed free, I gravitated to the cereal bar. My cereal compilation of choice was: Frosted Mini Spooners, Cracklin' Oat Bran, and Life (topped with natural peanut butter and banana - with soy milk). I had not experienced the joys of Life until college. And while regular Life cereal is pretty fantastic, CINNAMON Life is beyond fantastic. I think it is the only cereal that I honestly don't mind getting soggy. Those little intricately woven squares float for a blessed moment before becoming plump with milk and sinking with distinguished grace to lie with their fellows in a sweet mound of sodden perfection.

Too many words you say? You have obviously not eaten this cereal.

Do.

Triple Nut and Flakes Cereal

Cereal Name: Triple Nut and Flakes Cereal (Reduced Sugar)

Type of Cereal: Breakfast Cereal

Primary Grain: Wheat, Rice, Oats

Nutrition Information (based on 1-cup serving):
          Calories: 260
          Total Fat: 8g
          Sugar: 4g
          Fiber: 4g
          Protein: 6g

Top Five Ingredients: Whole Wheat Flour, Brown Rice, Whole Rolled Oats, Rice Flour, Almonds

See, it doesn't even look good. 

Review: I decided to branch out from Kashi and try a Trader Joe's breakfast granola option. I was not impressed. On the positive side of things, the ingredients (especially the TRIPLE NUTS) were readily recognizable. I could definitely identify chunks of almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts. But the cereal didn't really taste like anything and the texture was dense and it really was not my favorite. I appreciate that they made the effort to use less sugar, but really, it was just not very good. Not recommended. There are so many things that are so much better.

Crisp Rice Cereal

Cereal Name: Crisp Rice Cereal (Trader Joe's)

Type of Cereal: Breakfast/Snack Cereal

Primary Grain: Rice

Nutrition Information (based on 1-cup serving):
           Calories: 120
           Total Fat: 0g
           Sugar: 3g
           Fiber: 0g
           Protein: 2g

Top (only) Five Ingredients: Milled Rice, Naturally Milled Cane Sugar, Salt, Barley Malt, Mixed Tocopherols (Vitamin E) for added freshness (Soy)

Review: I always like it when my cereal has only five ingredients (even when one of them has four syllables and two different sets of parentheses). Now, if only it was locally sourced and unprocessed. Alas.

I may have forgotten to take a picture. . .

If it wasn't quite obvious, Crisp Rice Cereal is Trader Joe's take on Rice Krispies. It has all of the snapping, crackling, and popping with none of the questionable elves or cringe-inducing "K"rispies.

In an ideal situation this cereal is eaten rapidly with milk and a banana (and if for dinner - not recommended due to lack of nutritional value- with almond butter). Not good soggy. Not good dry. The sweet spot is somewhere in the middle. In order to reach this picture of cereal bliss, one must shovel spoonfuls in vertical divots, so that each bite has a bit of soggy on the bottom from the milk and a bit of crunchy on top and maybe a banana slice just for kicks.

Golden Grahams

Cereal Name: Golden Grahams

Type of Cereal: Dessert Cereal

Primary Grain: Wheat

Nutrition Information (based on 1-cup serving):
             Calories: 160
             Total Fat: 1.33g
             Sugar: 13.33g
             Fiber: 2.67g
             Protein: 2.67g

Top Five Ingredients: Whole Grain Wheat, Sugar, Corn Meal, Brown Sugar  Syrup, Canola and/or Rice Bran Oil

Review: This General Mills cereal (a veritable GIANT in the world of cereal and the originator-according to Wikipedia-of the first flaxen Golden Graham) was first introduced to the public in 1976 and has since led an exciting and controversial life which included at one point being banned in the UK for having too much sugar.

Golden Grahams in the raw

However, this blog is not about the history of cereals. It is about the HERE and NOW. And here and now I find Golden Grahams to be really quite good until milk lands on them, at which point they become floppy little slime squares.

So I ate them dry (raw if you will). And they were delicious that way. Crunchy and sweet and texturally appealing.

Overall, I prefer Honey Grahams, but if Golden Grahams are on sale, they are a good alternate, like the very sweet cousin to popcorn.

Muesli - Fred Meyer

Cereal Name: Muesli

Type of Cereal: Breakfast Cereal

Primary Grain: Corn, Barley, Wheat

Nutrition Information (based on 1-cup serving):
           Calories: 315
           Total Fat: 4.5g
           Sugar: 18g
           Fiber: 6g
           Protein: 7.5g

Top Five Ingredients: Degermed Corn Meal, Raisins, Whole Barley, Wheat Bran, Dates

Review: Meh. It was fine. Lots of chunks. Sugary chunks. Sugary chunks that were suspiciously raisin-shaped and were, in fact, raisins. I found this cereal to be best with milk, but I always eat my breakfast cereal with yogurt (because it has more protein and sticks with me longer) and the muesli was too unyielding in texture to be good with the less-invasive moisture of yogurt. In order to live up to its full potential it really needs to be soaked in milk for a good long while.

Cereal and Toast: everyone eats this, right??

On the positive side of things, I really like that the different components of the cereal were readily identifiable. Raisin. Oat. Date. Corn Flake. Wheat Flake. Etc.

Also, I enjoyed that there weren't a huge number of one type of flake and very little of the, um, more premium ingredients. The diversity and spread of the ingredients was consistent throughout the box.

Mallow Oats

MALLOW

Cereal Name: Mallow Oats

Type of Cereal: Dessert Cereal

Primary Grain: Oats

Nutrition Information (based on  1-cup serving):
            Calories: 120
            Total Fat: 1g
            Sugar: 13g
            Fiber: 1g
            Protein: 2g

Top Five Ingredients: Whole Grain Oat Flour (includes oat bran), Marshmallows (evaporated milled sugar, modified corn starch, corn syrup, dextrose, gelatin, blueberry, pumpkin and carrot concentrates for color, natural flavor), Evaporated Milled Sugar, Corn syrup, Wheat starch

Even served in a "green" bowl

Review: This cereal is marketed as "All natural sweetened whole grain oat cereal with natural marshmallow pieces" and I think that, using the more "natural" word MALLOW in the product name is supposed to invoke feelings of "I have done something good for the environment" and "I am a "green" person making wise diet choices that promote sustainability and fuel my body with natural, organic, locally sourced, natural whole food ingredients." In fact, while the "mallow" is a plant, the mallow plant has nothing to do with the natural "mallows" in "Mallow Oats." Three of the top five ingredients in mallow oats are sugar related (marshmallows, evaporated milled sugar, and corn syrup). BUT the marshmallows do have the words blueberry, pumpkin and carrot in their names which makes them healthy and natural and worthy of the title "mallows."

This is not to say that I don't like Mallow Oats, because I do. I like them very much. I find the Oat pieces to be less sugary than traditional Lucky Charms or Marshmallow Mateys and I do recognize that the sugars used in this cereal are more natural than the sugars used in its MARSHmallow infested competitors. And having all of the marshmallows the same shape makes me less stressed out about eating them in a certain order. So that's nice. I just find it kind of funny that this cereal is trying so hard to be natural. When it has MARSHMALLOWS IN IT.

In summary, this is my favorite cereal that contains marshmallows.