Product Review: Banana Nut Cheerios aka Heaven Sent Cereal

If anyone knows anything about me, you know that I love banana and distrust people in conversion vans. I’m a huge fan of fresh bananas, but it’s all the other banana-y stuff that I love. The bread, margaritas, dehydrated or freeze dried bits, popsicles, ice cream- even cough syrup. I love it all. Which is why I about wet my pants when I saw the commercial* for...BANANA NUT CHEERIOS. Say what? That’s right people, the wizards at General Mills have created Banana Nut Cheerios and faster than you can say “binge eating” I was at the store purchasing these gems. And somehow I held out on not eating them until this morning. Here’s what I thought of both of the ways I enjoyed the O’s:

Dried, scooped into mouth like an animal: They were “meh” at this point. They were a little dry and without much oomph, so I was a little scared as I never ate cereal with milk until I was in college and this is a pretty good way to gauge the deliciousness.

In a bowl with a splash of soy milk: HOLY CRAP THESE WERE AMAZING. Seriously. I had taken it to work since I was running late (milk in its own container) and I sat down to my desk and my taste buds exploded with happiness. They reminded me of these awesome Shaklee bars my mom used to feed me when I was a kid (that I can’t find now and get a little teary whenever I think about how I took those for granted growing up) and they were simply divine. I chided myself for only allotting myself the ¾ cup serving size (2 points on WW) as I could have downed the whole box, milk dripping down my chin. They didn’t have any nut crunch to them, which surprised me, as I expected them to be a little like the Cheerios Crunch that I love so much. The nuttiness appeared to be baked in and the whole thing just had that lovely hint of cinnamon that made it taste like banana bread. I’m still riding the high from this morning. I think if you sliced bananas into the cereal your will literally fall out of your seat at the breakfast table. As a side note, Cheerios has coupons on their website so you can save a little dough too (I just signed up!)

I also noticed they have recipes that utilize these delicious little O’s. MMMMM!



**
The Cheerios commercial. (I've updated the link, it will work now so you can see the idiot commercial) It’s not a new commercial it’s a tag on the end of an old one. And do you know which gem they chose? That’s right, the “It’s on the box” commercial where “Steve” is a total toolbox and thinks his lady friend is trying to lose weight because she had Cheerios and he blames his stupidity on the box. It seems like he’s channeling Hugh Grant in this commercial (and maybe a little Paul McCartney) and it’s just terrible. Terrible. She says “what else does the box say (you condescending bastard)?” “It says ‘shut up Steve’” Too bad that wasn’t the first thing the box told him.

Food Review: Veggie Sub, Subway

I bet this is pretty decent for other people. At my crappy little podunk Subway on base where they basically throw the food at you, I had a different experience. Now I knew the veggie sub wouldn't be all that thrilling, I grant you this. I wanted a sub on wheat bread with spinach, tomatoes, and black olives...with a little oil and vinegar on top to "gel" it all together. I got exactly that, but it's the quanities that were a little warped. I counted, believe me, I counted. 8 leaves a spinach, 3 slices tomato (1.5 in diameter) 15 black olive slices and a little bit of oil and vinegar (he definitely had that amount correct, but not for the ratio of other veggies he provided me. I ate the sandwich in approximately 2 minutes (so sad) because it was basically just slightly oily bread...but it was good, and I was hungry and if I can somehow convey that I want more veggies that would be great. I knew I should have gone off base, but you know, if I hadn't packed a disgusting lunch I wouldn't have gone anywhere, thereby saving gas, and for the greater good-the environment.

So the sub is good, just not at that Subway.