LOCAL REVIEW: Gateway Cafe of Kenosha

It's Valentine's Day, and love is in the air! Ahhhh... Each reader gets a complimentary kiss on the forehead. Kiss for you... Mwaah! Kiss for you... Mwaah! Kiss for you... Mwaah! Kis for you...

But just kidding. Most of you probably have someone special to kiss your forehead for you. If not, join the club.

Anyway guys, you better be taking your gal somewhere pretty special for Valentine's dinner. Iffin' you ARE taking her to Valentine's dinner. If I had a date (my lack of which I'm oddly ever-to-eager to proclaim), I would have him take me to somewhere that serves breakfast 24/7. It doesn't have to be some fancy place, no sir. I'm fine with the breakfast, thanks. And if my date suggests we go out for breakfast without even having to take my heed, he is probably Mr. Right. 

And where would I like to go for breakfast specifically? Well... the Gateway Cafe is certainly a viable option here in town. I wouldn't mind going there at all, just to give you guys a little review spoiler. But, today I'll be going over there menu items, prices, service, etc, to make sure that you guys are taking your gals to a restaurant that will fit both your Valentin-y tastes. Or whatever tastes. 

REVIEW: Kellogg's NutriGrain Fruit & Oat Harvest Blueberry Bliss Bar

Sooo... Is it me, or has Kellogg's been releasing an unusual amount of new NutriGrain products lately? For years NutriGrain has been nothing more than a line of commonplace cereal bars- but now they've got these NutriGrain Crunch thingies, and even these super-new Fruit & Oat Harvest Bars as of late. ...Oh yeah, and I guess they had to have released these NutriGrain Waffles sometime in between as well. What's up Kellogg's? NutriGrain not doing so well in the sales market lately? Or is it that they're doing SO well that you wanted to make more varieties to keep things interesting? I'm just curious. I'm also curious to see how these Fruit & Oat Harvest Bars taste, so I'll be trying the Blueberry Bliss flavor today. An 8.8 oz. box with five 1.76 oz. bars costs around $2.78.

REVIEW: Kelloggs Krave S'mores Cereal

Did you know that Krave was a cereal originally released in the UK? Yup! And while they're getting flavors like Chocolate Hazelnut and White Chocolate Brownie across the pond, we're getting flavors like... S'mores. How sophisticated. But I can't say I wasn't excited about the release of this latest Krave flavor- The Double Chocolate variety was delicious, so why would this new flavor be any different? I watched and waited full of undying anticipation for Krave S'mores to one day appear on the shelves of my local supermarket, and suddenlt, out of the blue, there it was!!! ...Only it was sold out.
...Damn (hangs head).
Lucky for me, it wasn't long before I went out to a different store and found a full stock of S'mores on the shelves. An 11 oz. box costs around $2.88.

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 Honey Clusters Cereal

As a little kid, I LOVED Honey Bunches of Oats. And one of the reasons I loved it so much was the fact it tasted delicious and was quote, unquote, "healthy."

As I've grown up, however, I've learned that Honey Bunches of Oats is nothing but a mere cereal made by a commercial industry to appear healthy. In reality, cereals like Krave or Rice Krispies are just about as good for you. Geez, if I had known that, I could've spent my childhood enjoying THOSE cereals instead of wasting my time on Honey Bunches!!! Well, okay- I really DID like the taste of Honey Bunches, but you get what I mean. And I'm SURE there are some of you people out there- adults, not kids- who love Honey Bunches as much as the young "me" did, but unlike the young me, realize it's not the super-mega health cereal we are led to believe. So here's a review of a product that can be best described as a Honey Bunches of Oats replacement that's actually pretty healthy: General Mills' Fiber One Honey Clusters Cereal.

 A 14.25 oz. box costs around $3.98.

REVIEW: General Mills Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal

Alright, alright... Laaaaast review of a product I'm familiar with. I swear. At least for awhile anyway. 

But, let's face it- I probably talk about General Mill's Cinnamon Toast Crunch whenever I'm reviewing cereal. It's like the product I compare everything ELSE to. On a scale of one to Cinnamon Toast Crunch, how good is this product? It's like that. So I just HAVE to give Cinnamon Toast Crunch credit where it's due. I HAVE to write some sort of post for my favorite cereal- and possibly one of my favorite foods- ever, riiight?

Listen, it's not MY fault that Cinnamon Toast Crunch is older than I am. If I was a food reviewer growing up in 1984, I'm sure I would've tried this product when it first came out and loved it just the same. But since Cinnamon Toast Crunch has been around since I was born, in fact, I can't really say what I thought of it the first time I ate it, since I was probably too young to even remember trying it for the first time. But I love this cereal NOW, and I just feel compelled to share that love with everyone!

And anyway, you might say writing a review of Cinnamon Toast Crunch is useless, since everybody and their brother has at least had it ONCE in their lifetime, but who knows? Maybe there's someone living under a rock out there who hasn't tried it, and needs to know they MUST. Must, must, must. And if not, this review is just a good way to reaffirm everyone else that this cereal is superbly superb. So let's get to it! A 12.2 oz. box costs around $2.98.

REVIEW: Fiber One Original Cereal

Here's another review of a product that I'm already familiar with! Yay! No hard judgements!
But in all seriousness, I think it's only fair that I "review" Fiber One Original to let you all know how it tastes in detail. I mean, I could stand here and say, "Fiber One is good! Fiber One is good!" but it wouldn't take long for somebody to say, "WHY is it good? And what if only you're the only one who thinks it's good? What if there's something about it that everyone else hates?" And while Fiber One's original cereal may contain certain qualities some people may not care for, it will also contain other qualities people will love. At least I think so. A 1 lb. 0.2 oz. box costs around $3.98.

REVIEW: Kashi GoLean Original Cereal

It's relatively easy to find a cereal with plenty of fiber nowadays- Fiber One (doy, it's even IN the NAME), All Bran, Shredded Wheat, Grape Nuts... Even cereals like Lucky Charms and Corn Pops are getting the "whole grain" treatment. Fiber in cereal is a pretty good deal, and I'm sure many people are aware of this by now.
But while fiber is fine and good and all, what about protein??? You expect me to eat a big bowl of carbs for breakfast (even if it contains all of my fiber for the day) and barely any protein to go along with it? No sir!!!  Well, yeah, I know there's protein in MILK, but only 8g per cup. You need MORE if you want big ol' muscles! (And who doesn't?! Unless you already HAVE THEM...... Then whoopie-doo to you!!!).
And so, that's where Kashi's GoLean Original cereal comes in. It probably has the highest protein content in cereal (13g per serving) I've ever seen so far. Due to this, I've made it a staple in my pantry. But what about the taste? I'm hear to offer an in-depth review of this protein-packed cereal today. One 13.1 oz. box costs about $5.29.

REVIEW: General Mill's Hershey's Cookies 'n' Creme Cereal

Today I present to you, ladies and gentleman, a review on a SUPER-NEW product. So new, in fact, that as of the time I'm typing out this article, no other reviews have been given on it thus far. Not only that, but General Mills hasn't even put up a WEBPAGE for their newest cereal yet. Since I didn't even hear that General Mills was releasing a cereal based on Hershey's outstanding Cookies 'n' Cream Bar (or anyone else on the interwebs, for  that matter) I was flat-out FLABBERGASTED when I found it as I was casually strolling through the cereal aisle. I was originally at the supermarket just to grab a couple of bag of carrots for Mama and some Torani coffee syrup for me, but I discovered something much better. Mama wouldn't mind if I picked up an extra item or two, right? I mean, how could I pass this cereal up!? Cookies 'n' Cream, as I've said before, is one of THE BEST FLAVORS ever created by man. And now in cereal form? It's time to rock 'n' roll! One box of this cereal costed me $3.69. Wellll, TECHNICALLY, I wasn't the one paying for it... Mama's credit card was. But details, details...