Food: I Like It (Raisin Bran Crunch)

So, generally speaking, I HATE raisins. Well, I guess it is more of a love/hate relationship with more of an emphasis on the hate part. I generally feel like people ruin perfectly good pieces of bread, baked goods and bagels with the presence of raisins. Every time I am tempted by cinnamon bread or a cinnamon bagel, I am turned away by the raisins. The fine people at Pepperidge Farm caught wind of people who are anti-raisin and started making their cinnamon swirl bread sans raisin, but not in their whole-wheat variety. Hey PFarm, us non-raisin people want our bread in whole wheat too!!!! I digress...

Anyways, I'm generally not a fan of raisins in breads/baked goods because something about cooking them makes them all gooey and sticky and mushy and gross and the idea of it makes me just want to barf. I'm not even a fan of just getting one of those cute little boxes of raisins to eat for a snack, they flavor just doesn't work for me. But, ever since I was a child, I have been a fan of raisin bran. I don't know if it is because the raisins in raisin bran are SUPER hard and don't get mushy and gross, but for some reason, I've always enjoyed the cereal.

After the gym last week, I was in the cereal isle of Stop and Shop thinking of getting some Cinnamon Life when I saw a box of Raisin Bran Crunch and said to myself, "you know, raisin bran is pretty good (and good for you) and this is like raisin bran with extra goodness, you should try it" so I purchased the box and to my delight, it is AMAZING! The little clusters of oaty-crunchy thingys really add to the awesomeness of the cereal.

If you need a new healthy cereal option, I say hit up the raisin bran crunch - you won't be disappointed.

Soundtrack to this post: Parry Gripp, "Hip Hip Hooraisin"

Food: I Like It (Raspberry Preserves)

As much as a lot of the time when I cook I like to create new and interesting food dishes, while here at work I tend to eat more like a simpleton. Many times, you can see me her during lunch hour rocking out to a good ol'fashioned PB&J. For many, PBJ sparks a debate as to what sort of jam/jelly whatever, and for me, the winner is Raspberry. I find a lot of people say grape, and while I like grapes, and their juice, I find grape jelly absolutely disgusting 99% of the time. Strawberry is ok but I don't know, I just thing raspberry has a certain edge to it. My favorite is Smuckers Raspberry Preserves, but to appreciate this you have to be willing to eat something chock full of seeds that get stuck in your teeth. I don't really care about that type of crap because that's what they make floss, toothpicks, toothbrushes and all those other things for.

Not only does it make a fine J for the PB&J combo, but I have discovered many other great uses for it. For one, you can have it on just plain toast, like I just did, and sprinkle it with cinnamon. The cinnamon part may sound a little gross but trust me, it is super yummy. (you could also, for that matter, use cinnamon swirl bread for toast for the same effect, but I digress...)

I also really enjoy taking a pear, cutting it into slices and smearing the raspberry jelly on it like a spread. This may also sound odd, but I remembered this one time from when I was little on the back of a jelly belly jellybean box, one of their suggested combos of flavors was the raspberry one and the pear one, and it was delish, so this is the same concept but with actual fruit and not just little balls of sugar.

Then there is an endless world of baked goods you could get into but if you're feeling a little daring, take a wheel of Brie cheese and spread some of the raspberry on the top and cover it with almond slices - bake in the oven until gooey and serve with fancy crackers - it is both sweet and savory and yummy yummy.

So there you go, Raspberry Preserves, they are the bomb!