Cereal Killers

My husband is a cereal killer. But no need to fear for me, unless I happen to find myself covered in Grape Nuts and then we might have a problem. Until meeting him, I thought cereal was just for breakfast, a nice crunchy way to kick off the day. After meeting him I learned that limiting cereal to the AM would be like saying Bloody Mary's are just for Sunday brunch - a crime! It is interesting to note that not all breakfast food suffer under such strict regulations as cereal. Eggs and bacon served for dinner? Delicious. Pancakes served right before you get into bed? Sweet dreams for you. Diners originated from people's need to consume an omelet at 1am. But for some reason, cereal never made that leap. Sure, there are pockets of folks who secretly embrace their love of such classics as Cap'n Crunch and Fruit Loops, huddling in dark corners at 11pm, shoveling hand fulls of delicious, sugary goodness into their mouths, fearful of being discovered with a Rice Krispy stuck to their upper lip. Others, like my husband, make no secret of their devotion to the boxed wonder known as cereal. Perhaps the most famous cereal killer out there is Jerry Seinfeld. He loved a wide variety of cereals, as evidenced by his kitchen cabinets, filled to the brim with cereal boxes. In fact, when describing Jerry, Elaine says - "Well, his life revolves around Superman and cereal." And what is so wrong with that? Do not let the clock get in your way of a nice heaping bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats if that is what you are craving. Take strength in the knowledge that there are others out there, just like you, daydreaming of a time when round the clock cereal eaters can come out of the pantry and into the sun.

Most people take their cereal with milk and perhaps some fruit on top. I prefer to eat mine dry with fruit. This is due to my fear of soggy cereal. There are very few cereals, I have found, that can stand up to a liberal dosing of milk. And the last thing I want to deal with in the morning is a bowl of squishy mini wheats. I usually like to have a sidecar of milk. Bite of cereal, sip of milk and you pretty much achieve the same effect as if you had put milk into your bowl, without the pressure of having to eat before the cereal's crispiness buzzer goes off and you are left with mush. Plus I have found that pouring milk on say, strawberries, tends to dilute their tangy zip - which I really need in the morning. The above are pretty much your only 2 options when it comes to cereal as a breakfast food.

After breakfast the gloves come off and anything goes. Feeling a bit peckish after your super healthy but uninspiring lunch of salad and water? Try putting some cereal in a standard size coffee mug and add a spoonful of peanut butter. Have two different cereal types in your cabinet and can't decide which one to use? Toss them both in - chances are they will go great together. Add a spoonful of peanut butter on top. Then microwave for roughly 15 seconds. Don't do it for much longer then that or your cereal may burn and potentially catch on fire. I kid you not, I have come very close to having a flaming mug of cereal just because I put it in for a minute. Burnt cereal is also terrible smelling and turns sort of rock like - impossible to eat. So mind the timer on your microwave. After 15 seconds, take your mug out, the peanut butter should be slightly melty though not totally liquified (this is where the cereal fire happened, I tried to get my peanut butter to go past melty) and add a bit of milk. Grab a spoon and enjoy. The crunch of the cereal is balanced nicely with the smoothness of the warmed peanut butter and than the coolness of the milk pops up unexpectedly adding some neutrality to what would be an otherwise overly sweet snack. Some of the best cereals to try this with are Chocolate Mini Wheats or Peanut Butter Cheerios, but feel free to experiment with your own combinations. For an even more decadent version add some marshmallow fluff. And don't limit yourself to just regular old peanut butter. Hit the food store and look for Peanut Butter & Co. peanut butter. This wonderful company produces such favorites as White Chocolate Wonderful, Dark Chocolate Dream, and the Bees Knees. A personal favorite combination is the Dark Chocolate Dream with some fluff.

Cereal consumption need not be limited to a cup or bowl. Those recipes on the back of the box are not just for killing time in between bites. In the mood for a cookie but looking for something slightly healthier than what the Keebler Elf can offer? Try out this recipe for Grape-Nut cookies.

½ cup softened butter
½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons honey (I used agave nectar)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup flour (I used whole wheat flour)
1 cup Grape-Nuts cereal

Preheat oven to 350. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add honey, eggs, and vanilla; mix well. Add baking soda, salt, rolled oats, flour, and Grape-Nuts. Combine until just mixed. Drop rounded tablespoonfuls of dough, 2-inches apart onto lined or greased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-14 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 2-3 minutes; remove from baking sheets. Cool completely on wire racks.

Feel free to play loose with the ingredient amounts, the above recipe calls for a lot of sugar products. For instance I only used 1/2 cup of brown sugar and skipped the second 1/2 cup of granulated. You can always add in a bit more honey or agave if you are looking for extra sweetness. For an extra special kick scoop in some peanut butter.

These cookies come out moist and flavorful. The oats give them a unique texture and the Grape-Nuts give them a nice, satisfying crunch. Because brown sugar and honey are used the sweetness is subtle and won't send you into sugar shock. This recipe proves that cereal can be used to make more than just Rice Krispy Treats.

Cereal can also be used to make other breakfast foods. I present to you, Whole Wheat Banana Nut Pancakes made with Kellogg's All Bran. Admittedly these pancakes do take a bit more effort than the Aunt Jemima mix variety, but the end result is totally worth the process.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup Kellogg's® All-Bran® Original cereal
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 1/4 cups milk
1 medium banana, mashed (1/3 cup)
1/3 cup chopped pecans - Did not use.
- OR -
1/3 cup chopped walnuts - Did not use.
Maple syrup - We used agave nectar instead
Banana slices (optional) - We added these. Strawberries work well also.
Chopped pecans (optional) - Did not use.

In large bowl combine flour, KELLOGG’S ALL-BRAN Original cereal, brown sugar, soda, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. In medium bowl stir together egg, milk and banana. Add to flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Stir in 1/3 cup pecans. For each pancake, on hot, lightly greased griddle or large skillet pour about 1/4 cup batter. Cook over medium heat about 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown, turning when pancakes have bubbly surfaces and edges are slightly dry. Serve with syrup, banana slices (if desired) and pecans (if desired).

There is just something about made from scratch pancakes that conjures up images of sitting in a log cabin with the fireplace crackling and a blanket wrapped securely around your shoulders. Everything is just more homey with pancakes. The banana flavor comes through clearly and is nicely complimented by the cinnamon and nutmeg. Top the cakes with some strawberries for a tart contrast. We used agave nectar instead of maple syrup which added a richer sweetness to these flapjacks. If you decide to use agave as well, be sparing with it, a little goes a long way. Come to the table hungry as these pancakes are pretty hearty, but you will leave, belly full, ready to face the day.

Cereal is the multi-tool of the food world. It can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner. It is one of the best road trip foods out there - it comes in its own carrying case and available at even the most desperate looking gas station convenience stores. It can help you lose weight or maintain weight, and assist in the lowering of cholesterol. Just one serving of Grape-Nuts can provide over 100% of your daily whole grain requirement and one serving of All Bran gets you 40% of your daily recommended fiber. And all you have to do is open the box and pour! So get out there and grab a spoon, your cereal awaits!

Eggs Dyed For This Blog

Every family has their own Easter tradition. For my family, it was the basket with the giant pipe-cleaner bunny who had a bee on his toe. This was my basket and I can't remember celebrating an Easter without it. Cultures around the world have their own unique traditions to celebrate Christianity's most important holiday. In Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, as well as many other Central and Eastern European countries, Easter eggs are a traditional folk symbol of new life. In the US there is the Easter egg hunt as well as the Easter egg roll, which is done across a flat lawn with a spoon. This tradition is thought to have been inspired by the United Kingdom tradition of rolling painted eggs down steep hills on Easter Sunday. In many countries eggs are often given as symbols of friendship or love. There is even meaning behind dyeing an egg the color red. In the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches red dye represents the blood of Christ, shed on the Cross. The hard shell of the egg symbolizes the sealed Tomb of Christ and the cracking of the egg represents His resurrection from the dead.

The act of boiling an egg was historically done to preserve them. Eating meat and dairy was originally forbidden during Lent. Christian households would likely have consumed all of their meat and dairy products before the start of Lent to avoid waste. However, during Lent, chickens would continue to produce eggs. To prevent spoilage these eggs were boiled. At the conclusion of Lent egg eating resumed.

Modern Easter traditions have a wonderful interactive aspect to them that no other holiday has. What other holiday offers you the opportunity to get your creative juices flowing, by giving you the blank canvas of a white matte egg and saying, "go forth and decorate." It is practically a right of passage for young children, the day when they finally get to dye their own eggs without adult assistance. And despite the fact that the vast majority of those eggs do not benefit from being dipped into EVERY color dye, being able to do it on your own brought you one step closer to being a grown up. Until you tried to drink the purple dye because it looked like the magical juice the Gummy Bears drank to go bouncing here and there and everywhere. Then you went back to needing adult supervision...but supervised or not, watching those eggs go from egg shell white to bright pink in a matter of minutes was magical.

While Easter egg dyeing is always fun, it is definitely more enjoyable when done with a friend. This works out especially well if your friend is artistically talented as then you can swipe their artfully decorated eggs and pass them off as your own at Easter family dinner. After all - you are dyeing eggs together...who can tell whose are whose anyway? I recently embarked on an Easter egg dyeing adventure with a friend of mine who generously offered the use of her kitchen. I say generously because her kitchen is all light tile and granite, surrounded by light carpeting. Given my propensity to spill things - she was a brave soul indeed to let me in there armed with a myriad of egg dyeing agents. This is not to say we did not take precautionary measures. We stuck to egg dyeing in the kitchen and not on the granite counter top that overlooks the sea of creamy plush carpeting in her living room. We laid down multiple layers of newspaper over the granite to prevent it from being turned Easter egg orange. And we set up an egg drying station, adjacent to the egg dyeing station, to prevent errant drops from giving her counter a splatter effect. With all of our safeguards in place we were ready to get down to business. Bring on the eggs!

First, you must properly boil your eggs. To achieve this, place them in a pot of cold water, in a single layer at the bottom. The water should be slowly brought up to a boil. Some people believe that adding vinegar or salt will help avoid the dreaded egg crack. Once the water has reached the boiling point, remove the pan from the stove and turn the heat down to low. Return the pan to the burner for another minute before moving everything to a cool burner and covering with the lid. Let the eggs sit idle for roughly 10 - 12 minutes. After the eggs have sufficiently cooked remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon and carefully place them into a bowl of cold water. Eggs need to be completely cool in order to be dyed so don't wait until the last minute to cook your eggs. Once your eggs have chilled it's time to put your creative cap on and start plotting your master egg plan.

There is an art to dyeing Easter eggs. You don't just drop the dye tab into a cup

of vinegar and water, plop in an egg and go. Techniques need to be applied. There is the crack and dye method: gently roll your egg on a hard surface to cause tiny fissures to appear. Once dyed, the eggs will take on a marbled look. The half-and-half dye method: dip half of your egg in one color, let dry, then dip the second half in another color. Bonus points if you get get three=color stripes. Finally there is the rubber band method: carefully wrap a rubber band in an artful design around your egg and drop into dye. Once removed the areas that the band covered will remain white while the rest of the egg is dyed. When you add in all of the nifty tools that most egg dyeing kits come with, the possibilities are endless.

My friend and I had varying success in our egg dyeing venture, mostly due to the fact that we chose to dissolve the dye tablets in water instead of vinegar. This process, while giving the eggs a nice pastel hue, required them to be submerged for very long periods of time before any hint of color arose. We also tried the crack and roll method using food color as our dye so that we could still eat the eggs afterward. Being the heavy handed individual that I am, this was a particularly tedious process for me, resulting in more punctures then gentle crackles. Not one to give up too easily I decided to take another crack (hehe) at the egg dyeing process, under the guise of hosting Easter dinner.

This time I went to Target for all my egg-dyeing needs and I was not disappointed. I was borderline overwhelmed! Tie-dye, tattoo, sports, and marble were just a few of the egg dyeing kits I saw. Giving a nod to my love of all things tie-dye I grabbed that kit and headed home. The egg tie-dye kit came with 6 colors: Teal, Purple, Orange, Yellow, Red, and Denim, 2 pieces of white cloth, and an egg press. There are two different egg dyeing option - easy and advanced. Both follow basically the same steps the difference being that with the advance process the white cloth is pulled through the tiny holes in the egg press while with the easy process they are not.

I started with the advance process, being the egg-dyeing expert that I am. After laying the white cloth over the egg press and pushing the cloth through the holes I was ready to dye my eggs. Following the instructions I used the dropper to drop dye onto the pieces of fabric poking out of the egg press holes. After a few minutes I took a look. While the egg was tie-dyed a bit, I did not achieve the brilliant looks on the packaging.

Not known for my patience, I immediately switched over to the easy method, which entailed wrapping the egg in the 2 pieces of white fabric and then putting the whole bundle in the egg press.

Using the dropper, I dropped dots of dye through the holes in the egg press and onto the white fabric, all the time making sure the press remained tightly closed. The results this time around were quite pleasing. The fabric produced a nice wrinkled tie-dye effect, giving each egg a unique look. While I still did not achieve the extreme dark color depicted on the packaging, my results were good enough for me. Next year I think I will try out the Stencil Kit and get in on that glitter pen fun.

Easter egg dyeing is enjoyable at any age. Whether you are 4 or 40, there is always something magical about taking a plain white egg and turning it into a rainbow colored masterpiece. Very few holidays require this level of hands-on participation. You can buy a Halloween costume but you wouldn't want to purchase pre-dyed Easter eggs. You have to do it yourself and the end result is something wholly your own - which is what makes it so great. And when you sit down for Easter dinner and someone asks who made the crazy looking egg with all the colors and glitter and stickers you can proudly raise your hand and say "I did" (unless that was one of the eggs you stole from your friend, then you should probably sit quietly lest someone ask you how you did it). So, grab your hard-boiled eggs, put your creative cap on and go to town - Easter will be here before you know it and it is just not the same without purple dyed fingers and pink Easter eggs.