Sunday, 3 June 2012

Cereal of the Moment: Nature's Path Pumpkin Raisin Crunch

I eat cereal everyday for breakfast because it is the quickest way I can get out the door with minimal dishes to wash. Cereal is good for you as long as it's not the sugary, colourful stuff you see at the beginning of aisles. Walk a bit further and you'll see the more nutrient packed cereals. I must say the "healthy" section of the cereal aisle has been growing a lot. Probably because they sell them for a higher price than junk food cereal.

Right now I'm eating Nature's Path Flax Plus Pumpkin Raisin Crunch. Woo! Long name!

This cereal has only a hint of pumpkin taste and the crunch flakes are definitely more grainy than Frosted Flakes but I like it that way so the milk doesn't make the cereal soggy within the first 5 minutes. The seeds are very small so don't worry about hurting your teeth biting them. There's a good amount of raisins but I actually don't prefer it in my cereal because they're very sticky so they stick to your teeth while you're trying to crunch down on the flakes. Other than the sweet raisins there isn't really much taste to the cereal which is appropriate for a healthy cereal since excessive sugar content would defeat the purpose.

Cereal and skim milk

One serving of this (3/4 cup or 55g) at 7:30am is enough to last me till noon before I get really hungry

because there is 7g of fibre to keep me feeling full!

Pumpkin Raisin Crunch Nutrition Facts

I've tried the Nature's Path Heritage Flakes before which is just whole grain flakes without all the additional dried berries, seeds, flax seed, etc. This cereal takes some getting used to because the flakes are almost hard. They're not just crispy crunchy but they actually use a lot of jaw muscle to bite through! After you eat this cereal for awhile all the other cereals seem soft. Yet because of its extremely crunchy texture, milk doesn't sog it up at all while you're eating. I usually let this cereal soak in the milk while I pack my bags, brush my teeth, etc. before I go downstairs to eat it. Even after all that soaking the flakes are still crunchy but more manageable than straight out of the bag. I actually got used to its hard texture when I was finished with the whole bag. It's a good alternative to chips if you're just looking for that crunchiness to bite on.