Where there's Allison...: July 2008

This article had a coworker and me in stitches. While I respect those who choose to be vegans, this commentary on whether honey is vegan or not points out how ridiculous/difficult it can be to be a hard-line vegan. A sample paragraph...

"The hard-liners argue that beekeeping, like dairy farming, is cruel and exploitative. The bees are forced to construct their honeycombs in racks of removable trays, according to a design that standardizes the size of each hexagonal chamber. (Some say the more chaotic combs found in the wild are less vulnerable to parasitic mites.) Queens are imprisoned in certain parts of the hive, while colonies are split to increase production and sprinkled with prophylactic antibiotics. In the meantime, keepers control the animals by pumping their hives full of smoke, which masks the scent of their alarm pheromones and keeps them from defending their honey stores. And some say the bees aren't making the honey for us, so its removal from the hive could be construed as a form of theft. (Last year's animated feature, Bee Movie, imagined the legal implications of this idea.)"

As anyone who has been my cashier or bagger at the grocery store can attest, I like certain brands just a little more than others. Or a lot. Okay, okay, I obsessed with specific brands. And, as a natural progression of said loyalty, I wish to share one brand with you today - Kashi. Kashi is whole grain, organic (at times), all natural food company that makes a variety of products and are known for incorporating "7 Whole Grains" into everything they make. Here are some I have found and loved...

Breakfast

GOLEAN Crunch, in both Honey Almond Flax and Original were my go-to breakfast cereal when I was working in Austin. I would mix some in with yogurt and chow down while reading my work emails and sorting through the to-do's of the day. However, now my breakfast of choice is...

Cinnamon Harvest rocks. By far the best cinnamon cereal I have ever had. And I am not the only one who feels this way. They stay fairly sturdy in milk and do not disintegrate to mush like other shredded wheat cereals can do. The cinnamon flavor is not overpowering or overly sweet. Two spoons up!

Honorable mentions: Blueberry and Strawberry Flax waffles. These were buy one, get one free so I have been munching on them for Saturday breakfasts and they are delicious. I like the blueberry better (even though they lied to me) because there is a little tart that cuts through the syrup. The strawberry waffles are just a tad too sweet with syrup.

Snacks

I eat one of these granola bars for my snack every work day. I switch between the Peanut Peanut Butter and the Cherry Dark Chocolate. The Peanut is crunchier and heartier feeling than the Cherry. The Cherry, on the other hand, has huge dried cherries and mini dark chocolate chips. Should Kashi endeavor to make a Peanut Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate bar, I would be all over that.

Fire Roasted Vegetable crackers are the perfect compliment to hummus. The garlicy hummus plays well against the slight spice from the peppers in the cracker. They are also good with little slices of cheddar, or cheese in general. The Ranch is also great, but made to be eaten alone rather than with dip or a topper.

Country Cheddar is my new obsession. I love love these crackers. They are like Cheese Nips, only a bajillion times better. First off, they actually taste like cheese rather than taste like cheese flavoring. Second, they are flaky and light, not dense and greasy. Third, they have those seven whole grains Kashi manages to get into everything it touches. Fourth, they made a cracker into a cow on the box - what's not to love? Warning: Eater may be tempted to eat whole box and have a decreased desire to share.

I use the Stoneground 7 Grain as a "tray" for my tuna salad. It is not too flavorful, in fact it tastes rather earthy. But its grit and crunch is nice with the fish...or the chicken salad. Whatever.

Lunch/Dinner

I have a Kashi frozen dinner about one lunchtime a week. Usually toward the end of the week when I am too lazy to make a sandwich or ate all my leftovers. I have tried most of the dinners, and my favorites are: Chicken Florentine, Lemon Rosemary Chicken, and Pesto Pasta Primavera. The Black Bean Mango is also good, but it has a bit of a kick, so that is an occasional lunch for this gal.

The Roasted Garlic Chicken Pizza is phenomenal. The roasted garlic sauce and crust make the pizza. Chewy but not rubbery; crisp without being crunchy. The chicken is seasoned with something good so it comes out in a bite beside the peppers and garlic. Also good reheated, which I think is the true test of a frozen pizza. Does it turn to a hockey puck upon reheating? The Mediterranean is also good, but not as yummy as the garlic chicken.

I tried the thin crust pizza, too, and it is not as good as the original crust pizzas. The toppings tended to slide off along with the cheese when I bit into a slice. The flavors were not as sharp, and the crust was too crunchy.

Dessert

Oatmeal Dark Chocolate cookies. They are as big as a coaster and you only need one to be satisfied. The chocolate is not hard, but melts in your mouth. The cookie is chewy and hearty and does not fall to pieces after the first bite. These are a once in a blue moon treat for me, and since one cookie is all you need, they last quite some time. Which is a hard thing for cookies to do in my presence.

And, in case you were wondering what those 7 grains are exactly, here you go! They are: oats, hard red winter wheat, rye, barley, triticale, long grain brown rice and buckwheat. Don't you just feel healthier reading that? And to think that you can eat it and it not taste like cardboard or dirt. It is possible with Kashi!

Now, if only Kashi would start making doughnuts...