Breakfast to Keep Me Strong including giveaway

Who remembers that last year I reviewed a new breakfast cereal called Keep Me Going? Well the Keep Me brand has now come up with another new product and they have sent me a free box to try. This one is called Keep Me Strong.

Since trying Keep Me Going last year, I’ve attempted to eat more healthily at breakfast. I’ve been keeping an eye out for when the Keep Me range hits local supermarket shelves, but as yet it is still only stocked by Ocado. I do still sometimes treat myself to a less healthy cereal, but my two main alternatives are now oats or weetabix. For the oats, I either prepare a yoghurt and oatmeal dish the night before or make porridge served with banana or pear. You may see one of my oatmeal recipes here.

Like last time, we all tried it out and I got much more favourable responses from the boys to this variety. They both really enjoyed it. In comparison, son2 wasn’t that keen on Keep Me Going last year. Even my other half, who normally adds extra sugar to his cereal, was reasonably positive. However, son1 with his photographic memory was disappointed that there were no trading cards in the box this time.

Keep Me Strong (like Keep Me Going) is low sugar and salt and available at Ocado. It is usually priced at £2.65 for a 330g box, but is currently on special offer at 25% off (so £1.99) for the rest of June.

There are other high protein cereals out there, but nearly all use wheat gluten as their protein source, whereas Keep Me Strong uses brown rice protein, which is more easily digested and absorbed. The box indicates that a 30g serving (excluding the milk) provides about the same protein as a medium sized egg.

I enjoyed this cereal and recommend that you give it a try. I’m hoping that it will soon become available in more stores than just Ocado.

And I’m hosting a rafflecopter competition to giveaway 2 boxes of Keep Me Strong cereal each courtesy of Keep Me to 2 lucky winners.

a Rafflecopter giveaway – Please click on the link to enter.

And you may see my other giveaways here.

I’d love to hear what you enjoy best for breakfast.

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Disclosure. This post is a review of a product I was sent for free. All opinions are my own.

Apple & Blackcurrant Granola

I’ve just received a breakfast cereal with a difference free to review. This is Apple & Blackcurrant Granola from Sown & Grown. And what is different is that it comes in a tube rather than a box or bag. This has the advantage of a resealable lid to help retain freshness. A big bonus in my opinion, as although I have loads of bag clips, they all seem to be in use whenever I need one.

Sown & Grown is a new range of mueslis and granolas, gently baked or blended in small batches and made from 100% British grains. The whole range is high fibre, wholegrain, low salt, low fat and the mueslis are all low saturated fat.

Now I don’t usually weigh my cereal but for the purpose of this review, I measured out a 40g portion, as stated on the tube. It looked a lot less than I would usually eat, but I’ve experienced similar on previous cereal reviews. Perhaps small portion sizes quoted on packaging expect you to eat something else as well for breakfast like toast. But I prefer to just have a cereal, so in future I will stick to larger portion size.

I served it with milk but I think it would work well with yoghurt either. I loved the taste and texture and have no hesitation in highly recommending this product. However I also offered it to the boys, neither of whom would normally eat granola. Son2 refused to even try it, but son1 gave it a try. He only scored it a grudging okay though. I think he spotted the seeds, which are a no-no in his book. So stick to your kids’ usual cereal and save this yummy one for yourself.

Sown & Grown is available exclusively at Sainsburys and currently retails at £3.95 for a 450g tube. That is equivalent to about 36p for a 40g portion. There are two other flavours of granola – Three Grain and Nuts & Seeds. Plus three flavours of muesli in the range – Apple & Raspberry, Four Grain and Mixed Berry & Nut. I certainly plan to buy this one and try the rest of the range too.

Got this just at the right time, as with the lovely weather this week, it is time to relegate porridge until next winter.

I’d love to hear what you enjoy best for breakfast.

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Disclosure. This post is a review of a product I was sent for free. All opinions are my own.

Breakfast to Keep Me Going including giveaway

So what do you enjoy best for breakfast, something healthy or perhaps a full English? I like to vary my breakfast at home, but I keep a packet of cereal at work for those days when I’m working an early shift and don’t have time for breakfast until I’m at work. Did you know that some of the perceived ‘healthy’ cereals aren’t quite as healthy as you think. And my current packet of Jordans granola falls into that category.

However I’ve just received 2 free boxes of a really healthy nutritional wheat-free cereal to try. This is a new product called ‘Keep Me Going‘ and the idea is just that – it should keep you going from breakfast time to lunch without you getting hungry inbetween. Its strapline is that it helps reduce tiredness, release energy and maintain a healthy immune system.

Compared to Special K Original (often advertised as a healthy cereal), Keep Me Going has 8 times less salt; 60% less sugar; twice the fibre; and a low Gi, similar to traditionally made porridge. Gi refers to Glycaemic Index which measures how quickly the carbohydrates turn to sugar in your blood. So the low Gi means that you get a slower energy release.

So I thought that I would taste test the cereal in a few different ways. First up was with milk. Now I don’t normally weigh my cereal but for the purpose of this review, I measured out a precise 30g portion.  Full marks for taste and it didn’t go soggy either like some cereals. And no need to add sugar, which I admit I do for porridge. The flavour almost had a hint of chocolate although more malty like Horlicks, but there was definitely no chocolate in the ingredients.

The only other item I ate for breakfast was a clementine. But how did it score on keeping the hunger at bay. Well I was fine for 3 hours, but then I started feeling a bit peckish although I didn’t eat until lunchtime, which was the 5 hour mark.

The next day I served it with natural yoghurt and cooked plums. No other fruit on the side this time. Similar scores on both the taste test and hunger test as with milk.

My next test was to mix it with another cereal, 15g of each. I chose Special K peach & apricot and this time I had my fruit quota in the form of homemade smoothie alongside. I have to say that as I had enjoyed it alone the other day, I wasn’t bothered about mixing it, but I can see that might be a benefit for children, as it would bring the sugar content down.

Then I decided to up the portion size to 45g for the hunger test. Served with milk plus a homemade smoothie to drink. I was really hoping this would see me through to lunchtime, but surprisingly hunger hit in at the 2.5 hour mark, even sooner than when I tried a 30g portion. And I wasn’t just peckish, my tummy was rumbling loudly. I can’t figure that one.

But it wasn’t just me who tried it. Son1 had a bowl with milk. His taste test verdict was “okay” however he couldn’t remember what time he then got hungry. He usually has a very big appetite. He was very pleased with the trading cards and enjoyed telling me the facts. There was a code on the box aimed at children to decipher, but his comment on the code was that it was too hard as there was no clue.

I have been told that if the code is cracked, it will take you to an off-menu page on the Keep Me Going website with lots more information on codes and ciphers, plus another code to crack which leads to a further page.

The next day son1 had some mixed with coco pops which he declared “great”. My other half looked at it very skeptically but he first gave it a go mixed with weetabix. An unusual choice I thought, which he didn’t like. But both he and son1 did enjoy it with yoghurt and fruit. However son2 said he didn’t like it on it’s own or with coco pops, although he did finish his bowl both times. He refused to try it with yoghurt.

So mixed reviews from us, but I certainly recommend you give it a try. A tasty cereal in my opinion, although it didn’t keep me going as long as I hoped.

Keep Me Going is only available from Ocado at present but they are in discussion with other major supermarkets, so hopefully it will soon be hitting all the shelves. It currently retails at £2.65 for a 375g box, so competitvely priced against major cereal brands.

They are also planning to launch a second cereal Keep Me Strong in a few months too. This will be a high protein, low salt and reduced sugar product.

And I’m hosting a rafflecopter competition to giveaway 2 boxes of cereal each courtesy of Keep Me Going to 2 lucky winners.

a Rafflecopter giveaway – Please click on the link to enter.

And you may see my other giveaways here.

I’d love to hear what you enjoy best for breakfast.

Visit Yet Another Blogging Mummy on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Instagram

Disclosure. This post is a review of a product I was sent for free. All opinions are my own.

National Breakfast Week

Did you know that this week is National Breakfast Week? We enjoy having cereal for breakfast or when I have a bit more time at weekends, I’ll make some porridge, for the boys and me. Lovely and warming on these frosty mornings. My other half isn’t keen on porridge so he sticks to his cereal. And the boys love enacting the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears every time. Also the boys usually drink chocolate milk for breakfast. So I was very pleased to receive two free vouchers for Cravendale Milk.

Porridge is very simple to make. I always cook it in a pan, but you can also use the microwave. And we all like to sweeten it with something different. I prefer brown sugar, whilst son1 has maple syrup and son2 opts for honey. I’ve never been brave enough to try it with salt.

Porridge

Ingredients (serves 3)

100g porridge oats (1 cup)
700 ml Cravendale milk (3 cups)
1 dessert spoonful of honey, maple syrup or soft brown sugar to serve

Method

Put the oats and milk in a saucepan.
Heat gently on the hob, stirring regularly, but do not allow to boil.
Once porridge has thickened to desired consistency, pour into bowls.
Serve with preferred sweetener.
Serve and enjoy.

National Breakfast Week runs from 25 – 31 January 2015. Breakfast can sometimes be a neglected meal, but I like to ensure my family have a satisfying breakfast. And if I’m working an early shift and don’t have time for breakfast before leaving the house, then I will have breakfast when I get to work. I always keep a packet of cereal in my drawer in the office.

Cereal and chocolate milk for a quick breakfast on a school day

Cravendale use ceramic filters to remove more of the bacteria that turn milk sour, so it stays pure and fresh for twice as long as standard milk without additional heat treatment. Our family consume a lot of milk very quickly so we never have any issues with milk turning sour. But I have several single friends who always purchase Cravendale for that very reason. In fact, the bottle I have just purchased with one of my vouchers is dated Feb 14th.

It wasn’t quite free as I hadn’t read the small print on the reverse of the voucher which said free upto a maximum price of £2.25. And since Budgens were selling it for £2.49, I did end up paying 24p still. However I think it is much more reasonable at the larger supermarkets, but I wanted to buy it quickly in order for my post to coincide with #BreakfastWeek, rather than waiting until my next big shop.

For more details on Cravendale milk, see their website milkmatters.co.uk and you can follow them on Twitter @Cravendale.

And I’d love to hear what you enjoy for breakfast.

Disclosure.  This post is a review of a product I was sent nearly for free.  All opinions are my own.