By now, I should know that cereal and I are futile breakfast partners in crime.
You see, when cereal and I meet en la mañana, we always do the same old dance. I dole out far too large a serving. I enjoy the soggy deliciousness but find myself still hungry. I refill with with more “heart healthy” servings. I continue to enjoy the soggy deliciousness ‘til el estómago tells me she’s full. I proceed to get hungry an hour later.
This story plays out the same way every single time. So, by now, I should know that, para mi, cereal is snack—not breakfast—material.
Yet, when I peer into my pantry and spy a mysterious addition of Honey Bunches of Oats’ new Vanilla bunches flavor, I immediately commence taste-testing.
It just so happened that, yesterday, I spied this newbie first thing in the A.M. And so cereal for breakfast it was.
I attempted to change my standard cereal saga by eating out of my enormous new mugbowl—in hopes that pouring a larger than life portion would preclude my usual refillage.
I also added some organic dried bing cherries for a little healthification. A valiant nutritional effort, no?
This tactic backfired porque, as I said, my breakfast cereal saga always plays out the same way. Refills were had. Only this time, they were larger than normal since I made the brilliant call to eat out of a bowlmug bigger than my head.
Ah well, I embraced the necessity of refillage as an opportunity to try out a creation that’s been on my mind since it graced my Google Reader month’s ago.
This would be Amy’s brilliant cereal cake.
I always eat my cereal soggy (to the extent that I stopped eating Kashi Go Lean Crunch because it simply won’t soggify)—so when Amy suggested essentially marinating cereal in milk until it reached a cake-like texture, I drooled on my keyboard knew I’d fall in love.
The method: Allow your cereal to absorb the milk for a few minutes. Drink the remainder of the milk out. Marinate the seductively soggy cereal in the fridge for 10 minutes.
The result: Cereal cake perfection.
Cottage cheese, and now cereal cake? I’m falling in love with so many new-to-me double Cs.
By now, I should also know that grande breakfasts consumed shortly before pilates class makes for an uncomfortable hour of planks and rollovers.
Luckily, la profesora was the most entertaining Russian in all of Brooklyn. Yesterday, I found her particularly astute.
Mid-class, she said, “Come on, you can hold it for a few more seconds. You know you’re about to go home and eat a box of cereal.”
Way ahead of you, lady.
Come almuerzo, I concocted a beautiful ensalada.
En el bol: fresh spinach, roasted butternut squash, cauliflower, grilled onion and sun-dried tomatoes. Dressed in Newman’s Own Asian Sesame dressing.
‘Twas fantastic. The only problemo was that I really wasn’t in the mood for a salad. I only made it because I’m currently eating my way through a very produce-packed fridge.
By now, I should know that eating something I’m not in the mood for only necessitates a part dos of something I am in the for.
In this case, I was in the mood for something of the carby and hummusy nature.
I sought this out in a veggie burger.
On a sandwich thin: mucho Sabra, black bean and rice burger (frozen from way back when), roasted red peppers and kalamata olives.
Since I know you want to see it topless…
Mucho mejor. By now, I should know to always what you crave.
I ran with this lesson when I got snacky and, shocker, was craving carbs and queso.
Not just any carbs and queso, Snyder’s sourdough nibblers and Wensleydale cheese with cranberries.
I’ve always disliked sourdough anything—but apparently my transforming taste buds are really into these guys. Addicting.
My food affair with that incredible white stilton cheese, on the other hand, has a history. If you ever see this cheese in stores (I rarely do), get it. I promise, you’ll fall in love (with me and the queso).
That little plato was snacktastic. However, it was a bit of a foodie fail because there’s something else I should’ve known by now.
When you have plans to feast with a fellow foodie, you shouldn’t do your own pre-gaming.
Mostly because if your dining companion is truly a foodie, he’ll expect some pre-game action, too.
Mildly full from the queso, I somehow managed to try the pre-feast goodies that my fellow foodie brought over.
The first being Trader Joe’s Pomegranate & Blueberry Flakes And Clusters Cereal:
He recently picked this up and, having a pretty good gauge of my foodie taste buds, realized I’d be obsessed with it. I am. Another cereal I’ll have to add to the breakfast snack roster.
We also noshed on leftovers from an incredible turkey chili he made this week.
I looove chili but rarely eat it because I’ve never ventured into chili cooking. Anyone have a to-die-life chili recipe (preferably vegetarian)?
Ok, enough snackage. Let’s get to real cena.
We weren’t sure what we were going to make—but we knew it would involve this.
Oh, just some pomegranate arils and TJ’s dried cherries that had been marinating in a balsamic, pepper and agave medley for 24 hours.
I decided to make this magical mix the star of a couple ensaladas enormes.
In the mix: baby spinach, mozzarella, roasted cherry tomatoes, red bell pepper, onion, celery, cucumber and the dried cherry + pom concoction.
There wasn’t quite enough marinade left to dress both of our salads, so I mixed some extra balsamic vinegar and agave for good measure.
BEST. SALAD. EVER. The noises I was making during the devouring process were really embarrassing/mildly inappropriate.
Next up, pollo!
Chicken breasts, also marinated in balsamic, pepper and pomegranate, and then pan-fried.
BEST. POLLO. EVER.
On the side, we had couscous. If you couldn’t guess, I’m going to go ahead and deem this the best couscous ever.
In all seriousness, this is my tried-and-true method for preparing couscous.
A tip to keep couscous on the lighter side: Never add the recommended amount of butter or olive oil while cooking. Its flavor will mostly get lost during the cooking process. To moisten and deliciously flavor your couscous, you need far less butter. And you can simply add it to taste to each serving.
A tip to fall in love with your couscous: There is no such thing as too much grilled onion.
Despite singing cries of fullness after finishing this feast, we were somehow ready for dessert an hour later.
Not so bonita because it had been previously “tasted” by mi padre and mi fellow foodie—but this little box took delicious decadence to new heights.
The goodies hailed from Cafe Lalo in NYC.
First up was a plum and pear fruit torte.
I’m not big on fruity desserts, but this was muy impresionante.
Not more so than la segunda: BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE.
I have a loyal love-love-love relationship with cheesecake, and this ridiculous creamy wonder definitely made it into my top five ever tasted.
Clearly.
Do you have any food lessons that you feel you should know by now? I’m not sure I’ll ever fully grasp the “cereal does not keep me full” thing—but at least learning, and re-learning, that lesson is a delicious experience 
.
Amor,
Sarah
Cheesecake ranks as my all time favorite dessert. LOVE IT. Cereal cake is interesting. I don’t really like soggy cereal, and I don’t like milk, other than IN cereal. I wonder if I’d like it. I’m intrigued.
Instead of milk with your cereal have it with yogurt and add nuts and/or nut butter and dried fruit. That will keep you full, I promise!
Ive learned to always add something interesante to a salad to give it staying power!
Cheesecake is my favorite dessert too! That looks absolutely amazing. I think I’m gonna have to try cereal cake… I only have milk if it’s in cereal and even then, I find myself trying to get every last drip off my spoon just to enjoy the flaky goodness. Hmm, next experiment underway!
My food rule is definitely just to eat when I’m hungry. I find myself packing food in the mornings to bring to class and timing exactly when and I’m going to eat. If I get hungry before, I find myself just thinking about the food until I eat it. So now I just eat when I want to because when it comes down to it, you’re gonna eat it anyways, so why wait if you’re hungry?! Haha if that makes any sort of sense.
Soggy cereal rocks my world. I pour my milk on the night before- only way to eat it. I don’t do crunch factor. Especially in the morning. If I am not going the milk route, Greek yogurt gives way much more staying power (cereal marinaded overnight in Greek yogurt = amaze. Just sayin’…)
I should know by now that reading food blogs at 10pm means I will want a snack. I should also know by now that no matter how amazing I think my eats are, reading blogs makes me wish I had what they have. C’est la vie.
chips and salsa can never be limited for me. Even when I am so stuffed at the end of my meal because of chips, enchiladas and a margarita or two… I STILL RETURN TO THE DAMN CHIPS AND SALSA…its like they stare at me and mock me. I must shut them up by eating them and in return getting more sodium than a person needs in a year
cereal and me arent friends either. My cinnamon toast crunch only last 4 days. that is glorious.
xoxoxoxoox
lolo
WOW THAT SALAD LOOKS AWEEESOME girl! LOVE what you did with the poms!! mmm i adore sourdough pretzels! haha im the same with cereal-it never really fills me up so i just want more and more. me and oats are lifetime lovers tho, i think
love you!
Tell me about these black bean burgers! Did you make them yourself?
Oh the cereal beast! I can’t help it, I can eat a whole box in one sitting without thinking.
Literally everything in this post makes me drool. Thanks for reminding me a HUGE bowl of cereal is not a good pre-Pilates snack. I’m rethinking what I’m about to devour.
Seriosamente chica, estoy drooling over here!!!
I LOVE stilton cheese!! its one of my favorites
I had cereal for breakfast this morn and it only lasted me 2.5 hours. Boo. Why is cereal so popular I wonder? It’s totally snack food, not breakfast material. Actually it makes a ddamn good dessert sometimes…
In regards to cereal cake – try weetabix, sweetened with stevia or maple syrup and add in anything else that sounds good. It is the PERFECT cereal cake cereal. I’ve been eating it for yearssssss and I love it.
Oh man. Black bean burger looks yum. And the grilled onions on top of the couscous. That’ll satisfy my taste buds any day.
can i come live with you? please. because then you could make me all that food, and i would enjoy it very much, and then we could be best friends forever who eat savory oats with grilled onions. think about it.
your posts always make me happy. you should know that. it’s like i feel a lil’ bit lighter after reading them
mwah!
Cereal cake
YAY! I’m so glad you tried + liked it.
AH that blueberry cheesecake…unreal!
<3
Fruit + any other food makes me so sick. Like on the floor crying at night. However, I do it regularly because I love fruit so much. Will I ever learn?
I thought the acorn squash in your first salad was mango…both sound yummy. However, my tummy likes your version better than the mango option.
I must go make that cereal cake NOW! Then after I have to go find some blueberry cheesecake……haha
cereal cake! wow! i actually like my cereal crunchy but my hubby doesn’t. i’ll tell him all about it….
Oh cereal, how I love thee, despite thy tiny serving sizes! I definitely should have learned my lesson with nuts by now…I just can’t stop myself around them!! Cafe Lalo looks amazing, I need to make a stop there sometime!
Sarah, you hands down have one of the best day-to-day eats ever. Not your average GM and Chia seed blogger! You actually eat interesting and drool-worthy stuff! Love your eats, girl! I wanna be your foodie friend too!
For me, a 3lb jar of nuts = 1 lb jar of nuts if it sits beside me for too long (1 hour).
Those salads look awesome! So colorful and healthy. I am not so much of a cereal fan. It is like Chinese food — I am always starving 20 minutes later
I am the same way with cereal. Bowl after bowl after bowl. I like it mid-sog, so it still has a bite to it, but it’s not crunchy.
whoa this all looks delicious.
i hear you about cereal/partners in crime.
a bientôt!
By now, I should know that highly processed snack food will upset my stomach.
By now, I should know that not starting with grains will make me hungry in two seconds.
By now, I should know that all men in Athens, Ohio, are turds.
By now, I should know that people be haters and sometimes you can’t fix that.
By now, I should know that I need to get out of here and into a big city.
By now, I should know which coast. (But I totes don’t.)
By now, I should know that I’ve annoyed you with this structured comment.
But by now, you should know that I love you and obsessed with you.
xoxoxoxo
WHY is this the first i’m hearing of this cereal cake. that is friggn genius i tell you. genius. um haha speaking of protein powder..
..even though we weren’t..
back in my cereal aholic days i used to put a scoop of vanilla or chocolate protein powder just to help make it sit in my gutter longer.
…good intro to p powder for you? no? haha okay cool.
i had sush last night and thought of our necessary date
k, so what does this coming week look like. i am a retard and instead of responding to your email (like a normal human), im writing a comment instead. ill return your email some day soon…haha. you’d think the promise of soynut butter would be enough to lure me into prompt email responses, but im a loser. que puedo decir?
cereal cake…interesting. i secretly like soggy cereal
i’m obsessed with those sourdough pretezel nibblers right now. my whole pounder bag will be gone in a few days for sure (total life = 5 days max)