Tag Archives: attune foods

Review: Erewhon Simply Vanilla Granola

Another day, another free granola sample from Attune Foods that I’ll happily review because it means I didn’t have to pay for my own breakfast. But as usual, receiving my morning meal via USPS doesn’t mean that I’ll be pulling any punches or crunches when taste testing.

I accept all free samples, but I give no free rides.

Today’s spotlighted spoonful is Simply Vanilla Granola. With its abbreviated ingredient list, highlighted organic and gluten-free promises, and stout packaging design, this granola really wants to appear simple. It’s a lot like me: I spend a lot of time convincing people I’m a man of simple pleasures, when in reality I have a .txt file of “cool cereal adjectives” saved to my desktop.

Let’s see if Simply Vanilla Granola earns any of those effervescently grandiose adjectives. Continue reading →

Posted by dan g.. Categories: Reviews. Tags: 6 rating, attune foods, erewhon, granola, non cereal, vanilla. 2 Comments

Sep. ’16

Review: Erewhon Cinnamon Crispy Brown Rice Cereal

How has there never been a Cinnamon Rice Krispies cereal before?

Okay, technically there was an Apple Cinnamon Rice Krispies in the mid-’90s, and I’m sure it tasted like a rad, cracklin’ apple crumble. But a full-blooded, spicy-sweet Cinnamon Rice Krispies cereal? Nope: there’s no mention of that in my cereal history book.

But we all know it should exist! I mean, just sprinkle the crumbs at the bottom of a Cinnamon Toast Crunch bag over your next bowl of Rice Krispies, and I’m sure you’ll agree that Snap, Crackle, and Pop should have joined forces with Wendell, Bob, and Quello years ago.

Thankfully, we don’t have to rely on Kellogg’s flavor alchemy wizards for a cinnamon-infused crisped rice cereal. Erewhon—a cereal manufacturer I had never tried before today—has a gluten-free product to fit this incredibly specific breakfast niche. It’s called Cinnamon Crispy Brown Rice, and with a name like that, this cereal needs a trio of cartoon dwarf mascots named Smack, Crinkle, and Pep.

Who said originality is dead? Continue reading →

Posted by dan g.. Categories: Reviews. Tags: 7 rating, attune foods, cinnamon, erewhon, rice krispies. 2 Comments

Sep. ’16

Review: Peace Cereal Maple Pecan Granola

Pumpkin dominates fall. Gingerbread and peppermint have a stranglehold on winter, while sugar cookie and eggnog watch on with buttered jealousy. Carrot cake has carved out a weird spring niche. Strawberry, s’mores, and good ol’ American apple pie vie for summer dominance.

So many flavors have seasonal attachments. But where does maple belong? Maple has long been a jack of all seasons, a flavor that we take for granted since it’s always available in glass bottles, plastic grandmother figures, and those charming metal carafes they supply at Denny’s.

But I think maple deserves its own season. You know what, “deserves” isn’t strong enough: maple has worked hard for our waffles and taste buds, so it demands a time of the year to call its own. Early September is a good time to start, because it’s just too early for most people to go off the pumpkin deep end, and it’s slightly too late to use those overripe strawberries in a shortcake. Some might argue that March is a better time, since that’s maple syrup harvesting season, but this review needed a creative introduction, so give me a break.

Here’s to you, maple. Let’s celebrate with Peace Cereal’s Maple Pecan Granola, which contains none other than real maple syrup. Continue reading →

Posted by dan g.. Categories: Reviews. Tags: 7 rating, attune foods, granola, maple, peace cereal, pecan. 4 Comments

Apr. ’16

Review: Sweet Home Farm Pumpkin Flax Granola

Pumpkin season might be over, but flax season has just begun! Get ready for Flax Spice Lattes, Flax-scented hand soap, and flax-o-lantern seed carving contests.

Okay, I definitely just made up “flax season” for the purposes of this review, but it makes sense. If we eat healthy things with flax in them now, when it’s time for summer barbecues and pool lounging, we can feel justified in going Kobayashi on a pack of hot dogs.

How does that old saying go? Oh yeah:

“April flax brings Lay’s Stax!”

Flax isn’t the most common things to find in the breakfast aisle, especially outside of Canada, but if you’re feeling the need for seed, Sweet Home Farm has you covered with their Pumpkin Flax granola.

I’m definitely going to try it: half because I want to, and half because my hand won’t fit any deeper into my can of Lay’s Stax.

Continue reading →

Posted by dan g.. Categories: Reviews. Tags: 8 rating, attune foods, granola, pumpkin, sweet home farm. Leave a comment

Feb. ’16

Review: Peace Cereal Maple Pecan Clusters & Flakes

Maplemania: a disease that has afflicted many, myself included. It’s native to Canada and and regions of Vermont, and symptoms of this affliction include relentless addiction to syrup-drenched pancakes, habitual licking of maple trees, and compulsive urges to bathe in tubs full of milk-soaked Waffle Crisp.

Recommended treatment is a continual IV drip of Grade A Dark Amber. Or, you know, maybe just a bowl of Peace Cereal’s Maple Pecan Clusters & Flakes cereal. The cereal claims to be flavored with real maple syrup, but will it properly sedate a maplemaniac like me?

For Mrs. Butterworth’s sake, we’d better hope so.

Continue reading →

Posted by dan g.. Categories: Reviews. Tags: 9 rating, attune foods, maple, peace cereal. 2 Comments

Feb. ’16

Review: Sweet Home Farm Maple Pecan Granola

The year is 2066.

The Great Nut Pronunciation Civil War is in its darkest hour. The armies of “pih-cahn” are closing in on the forces of “pee-can.” There was once a small tribe of heretics who insisted it was “pee-khan,” but they were quickly laughed off the battlefield.

Both sides have been assaulted, both have been “a salted,” and the wise delegate Mr. Peanut refuses to mediate. But there is one things both camps can agree on.

Maple syrup glazed pecans taste really, really freaking good.

That being said, would Sweet House Farm’s Maple Pecan Granola be tasty enough to make peace between these fighters? To save our future world from being split in two like peanuts from their shell, I decided to find out. Continue reading →

Posted by dan g.. Categories: Reviews. Tags: 8 rating, attune foods, granola, maple. 2 Comments

Feb. ’16

Review: Peace Cereal Maple Buckwheat Hemp Supergrains Cereal

From Reese’s Pieces to Ben & Jerry’s Peace Pops and Swedish Peacemärken, the idea of peace has brought us many delightful foods. Until Nabisco decides to release a line of “War-eo” double stuffed blood red sandwich cookies, I think the power of good will continue to dominate the snack aisle.

And the breakfast aisle, too, as the ever-healthy, organic, non-GMO (and all that jazz) Peace Cereal continues to produce innovative new flavor varieties. I’ve been meaning to try Peace Cereal for a long time, but the brand is tragically difficult to find on shelves (try Whole Foods for your best bet).

But now that I have a box on hand, it’s time to bring peace to the galaxy—or at least my cereal bowl—by reviewing Peace Cereal’s Maple Buckwheat Hemp cereal. Continue reading →

Posted by dan g.. Categories: Reviews. Tags: 8 rating, attune foods, maple, peace cereal. Leave a comment

Jan. ’16

Review: Skinner’s Raisin Bran from Uncle Sam

Raisin bran cereals are the oatmeal raisin cookies of the cereal world.

Now I’m not just talking about the ingredients, because that’s certainly not a hard comparison to make. What I mean is that raisin bran cereals are the breakfast aisle underdogs. Just like how oatmeal raisin is so often overshadowed by chocolate chip—its suave, popular older brother—raisin bran has had its spotlight unfairly stolen by, well, every other cereal ever.

It must be the word “bran” that naturally turns people off. And for that reason, I recommend that all raisin bran cereals change their name to something cooler, like “Raisin Bandoliers,” “Raisin Bandits,” or even “Raisin Badasses.”

While we wait for this mass raisin bran rebranding to occur, I thought I’d review another existing raisin bran variety to help inform all my fellow defenders of raisin bran and oatmeal raisin cookies. Today’s raisin ~~badass~~ bran? An old school classic: Skinner’s Raisin Bran. Continue reading →

Posted by dan g.. Categories: Reviews. Tags: 7 rating, attune foods, raisin bran. 5 Comments