REVIEW: Torani Sugar Free Hazelnut Syrup

I love using Torani's flavoring syrups to enhance the flavor and sweetness of many things- milk, coffee, tea, yogurt -it's like adding Crystal Light to water. You get what I'm saying? Sure, water is good on its own, but that doesn't mean it can't be made better. So that's what Torani does for the foods and drinks I mentioned above. But sugar free syrups CAN be a hit or miss, so they don't always work out that well as an add-in. And this time I'm reviewing Torani's Sugar Free Hazelnut Syrup, so we'll see how it goes.

A 12.7 fl. oz. bottle costs around $5.19.

REVIEW: Kashi GoLean Crunch! Cereal

When it comes to an everyday breakfast, GoLean Original is usually the Kashi cereal of choice. But when I told my dad I needed Kashi when he went out grocery shopping, he brought home a box of GoLean CRUNCH instead. So either the store was all out of the typical Original Kashi or I need to start being more specific with my food requests. But it's not all doom and gloom! I can get a review out of this cereal, can't I? So, time to taste-test!

A 13.8 ox. box costs around $3.12.

A 1 cup (53g) serving contains 200 calories, 30 of them being from fat, 3g of total fat, 0g of saturated fat, 0g of trans fat, 1g of polunsaturated fat, 1g of monounsaturated fat, 0mg of cholesterol, 100mg of sodium, 320mg of potassium, 38g of total carbohydrates, 8g of dietary fiber, 6g of soluble fiber, 2g of insoluble fiber, and 9g of protein.

Based on the nutrition information, this isn't THE healthiest cereal that Kashi has produced, but it still beats out a lot of other products out there. At least this cereal has a reasonable amount of fiber and protein. It's just- at 200 calories for 53g  -there ARE healthier cereals out there. Just sayin'. But this cereal isn't SO bad that I wouldn't eat it for breakfast or lunch, or plain as a snack, like little granola bites. And, yes, even though this cereal isn't specifically marketed as granola, as far as I'm concerned, that's what it is. GoLean Crunch! has a lot of similar qualities to granola- It's crunchy and hard, with different-sized clusters made up of cereal and rolled oats. One thing that makes Kashi's cereal different from typical granola, however, is the fact that these clusters have puffed rice pieces in them. A lot of them too. I honestly don't know of any REAL granola that has puffed rice pieces. I suppose they're there for filler, so that Kashi's granola stays reasonably healthier than others.

Eaten plain, this cereal is VERY hard and VERY crunchy. Well, except for the times when you'd have a cluster of puffed rice, which were airy and light and chewy. The taste is very mild and nondescript. There is a slight accent of warm cinnamon, but other than that, this cereal is more enjoyable for its granola-esque texture, not its flavorful taste. This cereal was supposed to have a touch of honey flavor to it based on Kashi's description, but I didn't taste any. The sweetness content in this cereal is very mild, but not so mild that I'd be reckoned to say it was boring or bland to eat. The oats gave the clusters a very hearty, oatmeal-like quality. By itself, the cereal was dry, and not sticky, like I'd expect granola to be by all the granola bars I've consumed.

I had some of this cereal for lunch accompanied by some ice-cold milk, and I was happily surprised to find that the cereal held up VERY well in the milk. It stayed consistently crunchy throughout (except for the puffed rice pieces, which became soft as all get out), but softened up just enough so that it wasn't such a feat to chew through. The clusters, for the most part, remained intact. The cereal pieces didn't split up from each other due to the milk getting in the way. I found this cereal to be sweet and tasty in milk, but of course I used some sweetener in my bowl of cereal to make it sweeter, so that might have had something to do with it. The cereal, however, did remain hearty in taste, and I don't think that's something you can produce with sweetener packets. In a way, this cereal somehwat reminded me of eating uncooked instant oatmeal. Which I really didn't mind, but some people might.

Overall, this was an enjoyable cereal, but I mostly only liked it for the texture. It didn't have much of a taste. I think this cereal would be better if it were given a more definite flavoring, but of course Kashi has released GoLean Crunch! varieties like that as well, so I dunno. This is a really good cereal choice when you want something akin to plain granola without as much sugar and fat and really enjoy a hard, crunchy texture. I DO prefer my cereal to be on the crunchier side, so I fairly enjoyed this one. Although I DO think this cereal requires some sweetener before consuming. This isn't a cereal I'd want to have in my pantry 24/7, but I could see myself buying it every now and again.
I'd give Kashi's GoLean Crunch! a 7.5/10.

Need other views from those who chewed? Crazy Food Dude also has this one reviewed.

What do YOU think of Kashi's GoLean Crunch? Do YOU prefer your cereal crunchy or with a more lighter, airier texture? Tell us your thoughts down below in the comments!

Till' then, this has been RiRi ri-porting!

REVIEW: Fiber One 90 Calorie Lemon Bar

Fiber One has had their line of 90-calorie, mini chocolate brownies on shelves for a long time now, but recently they've been reaching out and crafting "brownies" out of different flavors- these two flavors being Lemon Bar and Cinnamon Coffee Cake. While I think the Cinnamon Coffee Cake sounds like the much more preferable of the two, my mom went and bought the Lemon Bar flavor when I asked if she could pick up some new "review materials" next time she stopped at the grocery store. Ahhh well! It's not coffee cake, but it IS a new product to try, and that is exactly what I asked for. One 5.34 oz. box containing six measly 0.89 oz. bars costs around $2.98.

REVIEW: Atkins Advantage Peanut Butter Granola Bar

Recently, my mum and step dad have been on a low-carb diet. I'm not a follower of the trend, but I like to watch others do take it on. Basically, in a low-carb diet, you can eat anything and everything you want, as long as it's low in carbohydrates. I know that might SOUND easy- you can eat all you want of cheese curds, string cheese, steak, chicken, pork, bacon, fish, eggs, nuts, cream, beef jerky, yogurt, milk, most vegetables, most dressings, some types of mayonnaise even, as long as they're low in sugars -and everything seems fine and dandy, but then you gotta think of everything you CAN'T eat. Pizza, bread, pasta, chips, muffins, granola bars- NO SUGAR. NO SWEETS. WHATSOEVER. Nothing even CLOSE to sweets. NOT. EVEN. CEREAL.

That would just right-out kill me! I love my precious Cinnamon Toast Crunch WAY too much to give it up. See, this diet would never work for me. And now my step dad is all bummed out, because HE can't eat any of the foods HE wants at the moment. I thought I'd never see the day where that man would get tired of cheese.

But in the darkness that is the Atkins Diet, there is a ray of light with Atkins' frozen meals and bars. And only for the low, low price of $8.29 on the Atkins site (sarcasm intended), you too can have an 8.5 ox. box of five 1.7 oz. low-carb, Peanut Butter Granola Bars. Highway robbery, I know. But at Woodman's, these only cost about $6.99, which is clearly a better deal.

REVIEW: Sushi With Gusto's Dragon California Roll

When my mom asked me if I wanted sushi from Woodman's for dinner when she was going grocery shopping one day, I was a little reluctant to say yes. I mean, sushi? From a grocery store? That's almost as bad as GAS STATION sushi. Which I'm guessing is just plain godawful. Indigestible. But Mom seemed excited enough to have it, and I just wouldn't have felt good saying "no" to her. So here we are... Grocery Store Sushi. Mmm.

I wanted to play it safe, so I asked my mom to stay away from anything tempura-style (aka fried) or made with spicy mayo, since eating those types of rolls and saying they're healthy for you is like eating carrot cake and saying THAT'S healthy for you too. You know, since it's made with vegetables. So Mom brought home this Dragon California Roll for me from Sushi With Gusto.

Sushi with Gusto... Hmm... I know what GUSTO means- I'm not stupid -but being that one of my favorite movies ever is Ratatouille I can't help but feel that this brand's name is spelled as "Sushi With Gusteau," making me feel like I'm eating rolls from a new frozen food line created by the said cartoon chef. Well- technically created by his no good sous-chef, but you get what I mean. Unless you've never seen the movie. Because in that case you don't get what I mean.

Anyway, a 8 oz. container of sushi costs $7.49. 

Now, let's get rollin'! Heheh...