JulieLeung.com: a life told in tidepools

pictures and stories from the water’s edge

JulieLeung.com: a life told in tidepools header image 2

Dried berries for breakfast?

December 19th, 2003 · 2 Comments

After reading Anita Rowland’s blog last month about Red Berries Special K , I decided to try a box of berry cereal myself, when I saw it on sale. This brand was Kashi Organic Promise Strawberry Fields purchased at the island’s Town and Country Market (less than $3 I think, this week). The marketing motto on the box promises “true taste – true nourishment – true to nature” with the description “Organic crispy rice & wheat flakes with organic strawberries and raspberries”.

Unlike another reviewer at epinions , I did find raspberries in my bowl. I saw lots of strawberry slices and at least one or two whole perfect raspberries – all dried, of course – in the portion I ate for breakfast this morning. I do agree with the epinions reviewers who say that it is too sweet. It has cane juice as the second ingredient and also brown rice syrup (sixth ingredient). Raspberries are the last ingredient and strawberries are fourth, the remaining ingredients are rice, wheat and salt. 28 grams of carbohydrate and 2 of protein according to the nutrition facts. Usually, if I were choosing organic, I’d want something with less sugar and more fiber (only 1 gram). I question a bit the “true nourishment” motto.

But I would say I was satisfied with the amount of berries in my bowl. They are bright red too – unusual for organic food to retain its color when dried, in my experience. They look the same color as fresh. And a nice berry scent from the box. Yet I found myself wondering why – when I still have some fresh berries hanging on the vines outside – I was eating freeze dried ones for breakfast. Also I would recommend using lots of milk to moisten. I tend to use a little yogurt with my cereal in the morning, preferring a crisper crunch, but that does not work well with this cereal, since the berries remain dry and taste funny. “True taste” and “true to nature” – well, the berries at least look pretty natural, I’ll give ’em that one…. not so sure about that freeze-dried flavor. Reminds me of the stuff astronauts eat up in outer space- and it tastes a bit like it could last for a long time – maybe that’s how the cereal got its name: Strawberry Fields forever (?!) 😉

I love berries and raspberries especially are one of my “favorite things” in life. But I think I’d prefer frozen ones to the freeze-dried kind. It’s winter now, and usually fresh ones aren’t available (unless you’ve got late-bearing vines like I do this year) so raspberry-fanatic that I am, I guess I’d settle for freeze-dried ones in my cereal if I was desperate. I haven’t tried the Special K version; I’d be a bit curious to compare – although I hear it doesn’t have raspberries. Kashi’s version of this bits of red cereal craze is better than nothing, if you’ve got a craving for berries at breakfast.

Tags: Uncategorized

2 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Anita Rowland // Dec 20, 2003 at 9:20 am

    I guess a good option would be to choose what dry cereal takes your fancy and add a good portion frozen berries. I got a mixture of raspberries, marionberries and blueberries at costco.

  • 2 Katherine // Dec 21, 2003 at 8:41 am

    I was amazed to find strawberries (albeit not too nice ones), blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries at Whole Foods Market yesterday for surprisingly low prices. I scooped up one of each (two blueberries, since it’s Jason’s favorite and they looked great), and we enjoyed them all for breakfast this morning. My kids thrive on summer fruits but things look a but bleak in winter. Emily happily eats apples and bananas, but Jason doesn’t like either. Trader Joe’s has great dried fruits and berries, though. I should go pick some up. Kind of forgot about them.