Posts tagged breakfast
Review: Rude Health Breakfasts
01 month ago
The other day on holiday my Dad asked “what is honest food?” He was referring to the claim on the side of the Rude Health Granola box I’d taken with me for breakfast. I said “Honest Food: You can see what you’re eating – there’s nothing else in it.” For Rude Health this is one of the most important things about food – that when you look at your breakfast bowl you know what you are putting into your body.
I was sent a range of their organic products to try out on your behalf, and I have thoroughly enjoyed this review I have to say. Let me take each of the items in turn:
The Granola
After I tried this myself I sent the rest of this home with my Mum after our holiday as she enjoyed it. She said: “Having read the box, I expected a really crunchy granola made from oats, nuts, seeds, honey and the flavour of dates. Having poured a serving into my cereal bowl with some semi skimmed milk, I enjoyed the crunchyness, but compared with other granolas I eat there was very little flavour at all. The next day, however, I had natural yoghurt instead of milk and that seemed to bring out the flavour more. A suggestion then – put on the box that it goes best with yoghurt!”
I don’t completely agree (sorry mum!) – yes, this is a basic granola, it’s just granola, but I think it has a lovely natural flavour to which you can add fresh fruit (think banana, grapes, strawberries, apple, raisins or dried cranberries) to if you fancy it. Yoghurt does indeed work well too. You don’t need much of it, it’s good and filling.
The Ultimate Muesli
This is the breakfast that “eats other breakfasts for breakfast” – a blend of 23 ingredients that means you eat a bowlful that provides something different on every spoonful. Blueberries, Brazil nuts, almonds, apricots, oats, rye, barley flakes, and loads more – natural, organic, wheat-free, no added salt, high in fibre, no refined sugars. I am a muesli eater and so I dived straight into this one with no trepidation; I know many people find it dry or boring – but don’t write off muesli until you have given this one a try. It is lovely, absolutely full of flavour, naturally sweet, and is much more interesting than many mueslis I’ve tried.
Morning Glory Porridge
With any luck we are coming out of winter now but I still enjoy a bowl of porridge on occasion, generally sticking to those sachets of Oats So Simple because they’re easy. But thankfully this Rude Health porridge only takes three minutes in the microwave – or a little longer on the hob – and so it’s doing well so far. What you get once cooked is a lovely creamy thick porridge with seeds to give it a crunchy texture and fabulous flavour. I don’t go in for flavoured porridge generally – I usually have mine plain maybe with a sprinkle of sugar for sweetness, but I’m sold by the use of seeds to add flavour and texture, a really good idea that is good for me.
Oh and Rude Health, I love your rants and other bits and bobs you print on the packets. You talk a lot of sense. I especially like the “you’re in rude health when” bits – thanks for making me smile while I eat my breakfast.
Disclaimer: I was sent some Rude Health products to review. I have not been told what to say and have been no less honest as a result of receiving the products for free.
Review & Giveaway: New Kelloggs Cereals
1181 month ago
A while ago I said you’d be getting three breakfast cereal posts in quick succession. That was a month ago now. Oops. Anyway, here’s the second!
Kelloggs have introduced four new cereals with lower sugar to give us a good balanced start to the day. Aimed at children (and considered healthy enough to be advertised on children’s telly), they are made with wholegrain, are high in fibre, and are a good source of Vitamin D. The range includes new Coco Pops Croc Prints, Rice Krispies Multi-Grain Shapes Strawberry, Honey Loops and Honey Pops.
I might not have children but I do enjoy a bowl of cereal (at any time of the day!) and so Kelloggs sent me a box of each of the new range to try. I’ve been singing this ever since they arrived…
Well ok they’re not honey NUT loops – just miss that bit out – but they are really tasty. Both the loops and the Honey Pops have a nice sweet-with-honey flavour. Between these two similar cereals the loops are easier to eat – softer in texture – but the pops last longer in the milk without going soggy.
The Coco Pops Croc Prints were lovely. Just like Coco Pops in taste, turning the milk suitably chocolaty, these were just as I’d hoped they’d be. And if they’re better for me than traditional Coco Pops then I’m happy.
It was the Strawberry Rice Krispie Shapes I was most concerned about. I mean I love (love love) Coco Pops but I wasn’t at all sure about a Strawberry flavoured cereal. And to be honest I’m still not. I think they’re designed to be to strawberry what Coco Pops are to chocolate, but for me it doesn’t work so well. The thing that puts me off them is they go grey – food just shouldn’t be grey.
Giveaway
You don’t have to take my thoughts on the new Kelloggs breafast cereals for granted as I have one of each of the new range to give away to one of my readers.
One winner will receive a box each of Coco Pops Croc Prints, Rice Krispies Multi-Grain Shapes Strawberry, Honey Loops and Honey Pops.
That should keep you going for a few days!
To be in with a chance of winning all you have to do is comment on this post with the answer to this question, making sure you leave an email address or twitter name so I can contact you if you win:
My favourite time to eat breakfast cereal is… ?
I will leave the giveaway open for a week so you have until next Sunday 7th April to enter. Make sure you give the rules below a read through, and tell your friends and family to enter too.
Good luck!
The Rules
- This competition is open to UK residents only.
- You must be aged 18 years old or over at the time of entry.
- The competition closes at 8pm on Sunday 7th April 2013.
- Entry is by making a relevant comment answering the given question.
- Entrants must include a valid email address or a twitter ID in the box provided (will not be published). This is so I can contact you if you win.
- You can only enter once. If you post more than one comment only your first will count as entry into the competition.
- Members of my immediate family cannot enter (sorry!).
- The winners will be picked at random from all eligible entries and be announced on Splodz Blogz soon after the closing date.
- The prize is some cereal from Kelloggs.
- The winners must respond to their email from Splodz Blogz within two days or I reserve the right to re-draw.
- Your details will only be used for the purpose of this competition. The prize will be sent directly by Kelloggs.
- You don’t get any extra entries for tweeting or posting about this competition anywhere, but I don’t mind if you do (go on… you know you want to!).
- Oh… and my decision is final (I like saying that!).
The best way to find out first who won this competition is to subscribe to Splodz Blogz by email or in a reader. Use the links over on the right to do this. You can also connect with Splodz Blogz on facebook and twitter if you fancy it!
Disclaimer: I was sent a some Kelloggs cereal so I could tell you about them (and run a giveaway too). I have not been told what to say and have been no less honest as a result of receiving the product for free.
Review: Jordans Crunchy Oat Granola – Raisin & Almond
02 months ago
Thanks to that Jenny Craig trial I did at the back end of last year I have got into a routine of eating breakfast again. Most days, that is; some days I just don’t fancy anything, but most days I’ll have some cereal or porridge or a banana or something like that. I’ve actually been trying out a range of breakfast cereals over the last few weeks – this is the first of three posts courtesy of three brands.
I do enjoy a nice granola. This is Jordans Crunchy Oat Granola – Raisin & Almond, and it is really good. Apart from the clusters of oats and it’s also (obviously) got nuts and raisins in, which add texture and sweetness. A 45g portion (which isn’t actually that much – who decides on portion sizes for cereals?!) contains 188 calories, 2g fibre, 5.5g fat (of which 1g is saturated fat) and 11.7g of sugar.
One thing I like about granola is it doesn’t go soggy from the milk (unless you’re really slow!), and so it has crunch. That combined with the chewy raisins and smooth nuts makes for some lovely and very satisfying mouthfuls.
Granola is supposed to be good for baking too so I attempted some biscuits thanks to a recipe on the Jordan’s website, which I burnt, oops. They tasted great though – I will have to try them again sometime soon and cook them less.
Thank you to Jordans for helping to make my breakfasts a pleasure – it’s even made in the UK (Biggleswade, if you’re interested). I already really enjoy your Country Crisp and I’ll definitely be adding this to my “buy regularly” list.
Disclaimer: I was sent a packet of Jordans Crunchy Oat Granola to try out and review here on Splodz Blogz. I have not been told what to say and have been no less honest as a result of receiving the product for free.
Weight Watchers: Move More, Sit Less
13 months ago
Our Blog Ambassador challenge this week has been move more, sit less. We were encouraged to stand up more, walk around more and generally exercise more.
At the beginning of the week I ordered 30 Day Shred, a workout DVD by Jillian Michaels that I have been told over and over again really gets results. The premise is that you exercise for 20 minutes every morning for 30 days, and thanks to the combination of strength, cardio and abs circuit-type exercise, you notice a difference to your body very quickly. I can give 20 minutes each day, it’s practically nothing. It arrived on Saturday so I started it Sunday morning – so this morning was day three. And oh my goodness. Those of you who said I’d hurt? Yea, that. Those of you who said I’d sweat? Yea, that. Those of you who said day three would be really difficult because your body is already hurting? Yea, that. I’m on level one at the moment – I can do the vast majority of the exercises without too much difficulty – the cardio is much easier than the strength stuff. But I can’t do a single proper press up. Nope, not one. I’ll keep trying!
Apart from the DVD I’ve been using the exercise bike and doing my best to move around more. I have a desk job and sit at a computer for the vast majority of the day. As there probably no chance I will ever be provided with either a treadmill desk or a standing desk I am trying to get up off my chair as much as possible – there are things I can do stood up and I can make sure I make the most of my lunch breaks. I would use my Weight Watchers pedometer to track my daily steps but unfortunately I broke it less than a week into being a blog ambassador – it flung off my jeans and straight into the toilet bowl. Oops! I’ve tracked my steps before thanks to the GCC Walk the World scheme, and I know that wearing a pedometer does encourage me to move around more as I end up competing with myself trying to beat my average step count every day. I actually received a pedometer from Tesco in the post today, so from tomorrow I’ll wear that (even though it’s not all fancy and won’t work out any activity points) and see what happens!
I have to say I don’t much like the activities points on the Pro Points tracker. What I mean is I do like them – they mean extra food each week – but I don’t like how they are worked out. They take no account of how hard you work. Cycling on the exercise bike at full speed for 30 minutes is worth the same as cycling at a really leisurely pace barely raising your heart beat. It doesn’t exactly encourage you to work hard. Also, I earn the same points cycling for 30 minutes as I do for walking 30 minutes and doing aerobics for 30 minutes – but these exercises are not comparable on calories burnt. I guess I feel a bit hard done by when two Pro Points are added when I’ve got up early and worked really (really) hard before work. This doesn’t mean I’m not working hard, though…
Oh, and for the record, I have continued to eat breakfast. I find that exercising, then eating, then showering works for me and is a routine I am trying to get into during February. Apart from having that DVD which is motivation in itself I’ve also been challenged by a friend to exercise for 20-30 minutes every day for the whole of the month, to give me a bit of a kick and hopefully see some quick results. I would hope the DVD will cover that but if I get to the point where I can’t face Jillian Michael’s one morning I will still do something.
Food wise I’ve had another okay week, using up my daily points every day with mostly healthy food (the thai curry pictured above was a particular success!) and most of my weekly points too. I had pizza on Friday night which was particularly yummy and have continued to munch on the sweets and chocolates we have at home. I like that the counting system means I can still eat the things I want to. I’m eating loads of fruit and vegetables – even more than before (I’ve never been afraid of vegetables!), and I’m drinking lots more water. I am getting used to counting Pro Points now, I understand them more – I know what foods are free and what will cost me lots (although some things still surprise me!) and I like the way I can use those weekly points to treat myself to a nice hot chocolate or some fudge.
The proof is always in the numbers I guess and this week I lost another pound. I’ll take that – I don’t mind little losses, as long as I keep losing slowly but surely.
Disclaimer: I have been invited to be a Weight Watchers Blog Ambassador and have written this post with that hat on.
Weight Watchers: A Week of Breakfasts
23 months ago
This week I was challenged by Weight Watchers to eat breakfast daily. I said last week that I am very bad at eating breakfast – I’m in too much of a rush in the mornings and besides don’t really fancy anything to eat. But I did, because it was a challenge. I had a selection of cereal in the house already (we like cereal for lunches sometimes) so I just made use of that and didn’t have to buy anything extra.
Here’s what I ate (always accompanied with a cup of tea):
Tuesday – Sultana Bran with Semi Skimmed Milk
Wednesday – Two Weetabix (no sugar!!) with Semi Skimmed Milk and an Apple
Thursday – Crunchy Nut Cornflakes with Semi Skimmed Milk
Friday – Jordons Country Crisp with Raspberries
Saturday – Jordons Country Crisp with Raspberries again – I do like this cereal but it’s really high in Pro Points at 5 for a portion not including milk.
Sunday – Oats So Simple (Original) with some Granulated Sweetener
Monday – One Weetabix with some Granulated Sweetener and Semi Skimmed Milk
I learnt that actually I can face a small bowl of cereal in the mornings, and I do have time to eat it – even today when I got up very late (I’ve no idea if I even set my alarm!) I was able to scoff a Weetabix.
The problem? Cereal and milk eats into my Pro Points total. I was five points down before I even started the day, which for some reason I found difficult to deal with! Also, whoever says breakfast keeps hunger at bay until lunch time lies! I was still as hungry by 11am if not 10am as I would be without eating breakfast. I did my best to go for a no points snack mid-morning but an apple wasn’t enough some days.
I think it’s something I could get used to during the week – I will do my best to continue to eat breakfast. But I think I might change it up a bit. I had some kiwi and pomegranate and grapes this morning along with some fromage frais which made a nice alternative and only one Pro Point.
This week, though, I am proof that you can still lose weight even if you use every single Pro Point available to you. I used all my daily points, all my weekly points, as well as the handful of activity points I achieved (I was a bit lazy I admit, I was recovering from all that skiing!). While I have been trying to make good food choices and not be tempted I have been using up what I have left to eat the chocolate and sweets still left from Christmas – three segments of Terry’s Chocolate Orange is a very worth while four Pro Points by the way! Even with that I lost 2lb. So I’ll take that with a grin and do my best to make better choices this week.
The challenge us bloggers have been set for the coming week is simple… sit less, move more… I’ll let you know next week how I get on! I started with good intentions by getting up half an hour earlier today to use the exercise bike before work, but I’ve just ended up doing chores like changing the towels, emptying the bins, you know the sort of thing. It all needs doing! I was once told “you don’t get to heaven on your good intentions” – so I fear I will have to do much better than that!
Here’s a question for you. If (“if” being an important word there!) I get up half an hour earlier to do a bit of exercise before work (I’ve just ordered Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred DVD on a mass of recommendations – it won’t arrive in time for this weeks challenge sadly), should I eat breakfast first or afterwards?
Disclaimer: I have been invited to be a Weight Watchers Blog Ambassador and have written this post with that hat on.
Weight Watchers: Back from Holiday
03 months ago
by Splodz
in General Post
I made it clear in my last post about my Weight Watchers journey that I would not be counting while on holiday. For LincsGeek and I food on holiday is a very important part of the experience – we enjoy our food, enjoy eating out, enjoy finding a restaurant we love and going back to taste something else from the menu… and I enjoy just picking what I fancy from a menu rather than thinking about how many calories or how much fat I’m consuming. And anyway, you can’t spend valuable time away worrying about what you should or shouldn’t be eating.
Of course now I am back and ready to start again. I stepped on the scales this morning to assess the damage and was incredibly surprised. I lost weight. Just the one pound but if you could see the pile of hot chocolate glasses… and sweet wrappers… I know that skiing is good exercise, and you probably burn more calories when it’s -20 outside, but it has still come as a happy surprise.
Now I’m home again I’d better make sure I take positive steps to continue the trend downwards – I need to get meal planning again and desperately need to do a proper shop as we’ve not got a lot in.
Because I missed a week I have two challenges to concentrate on over the next seven days. The first is all about breakfast. Yes, yes, I know it’s the most important meal of the day, but unless I’m doing something that requires being fuelled up before I go (like skiing, a long walk etc), then nine times out of ten I don’t bother. I go through phases – I’ll eat breakfast properly for a few days before giving up and just waiting til my stomach starts moaning at 10am (or before). I’ve had boxes of cereal under my desk at work before now to try and get me into a routine of having breakfast as soon as I get in (I start at 8am so it’s early enough), but again I never get into a proper routine. So this week I will eat breakfast every single day, and try and vary it to keep me interested. It is most likely going to be cereal – weetabix, alpen, country crisp, that sort of thing. This morning I had some Sultana Bran. I give me til Friday.
I’ll introduce the other challenge later in the week.
What tips do you have for getting back on a decent diet after you’ve been off it for a week? What do you eat for breakfast?
Disclaimer: I have been invited to be a Weight Watchers Blog Ambassador and have written this post with that hat on.
