Trader Joe’s HIGH FIBER CEREAL


High Fiber. Low Fat. Low Sodium. Vitamins

Fortified with 8 Vitamins Plus Iron. Zero Cholesterol

Ingredients: wheat bran, corn flour, corn bran, cane sugar, whole wheat, oat bran, and fortified with vitamins plus iron (60% of the DVI for Iron).

NINE GRAMS OF FIBER!

So what’s not to like?! Will this win any awards for the way it tastes? Probably not but it actually tastes OK. Its not bad. I kind of like the taste. It doesn’t taste terrible and frankly you don’t buy this for taste ; you want it cause its a very healthy option and you want to add Fiber easily into your body. Granola tastes better but isn’t as healthy a choice as this. First, as the name implies the main purpose of this cereal is simple, to deliver quite a bit of dietary Fiber into your system. It does this mainly from all kinds of bran (wheat, corn, oat).

So on the fiber front it delivers, without tasting too bad. Not exciting, but fine especially as you are probably not eating just this by itself, you are probably adding real milk or a milk :beverage”, and maybe added a banana, maybe berries, or other fresh fruits or maybe some dried fruits. Maybe yogurt, Kefir, so this is just one part of your breakfast bowl. That stuff will make it taste good!

My wife bought this high fiber cereal for her gut, as she felt she needs more fiber in her diet, though I think we eat pretty well in the fiber department.

Trader Joe’s HIGH FIBER CEREAL has 9 grams of dietary fiber per serving (2/3 cup). That is about 33% or 1/3 of the recommended daily amount of fiber.

Also in the plus column is it’s low in calories, very low in fat, is low in sodium, has zero cholesterol, PLUS this cereal is low in Added Sugars, compared to almost any other cereal Trader Joe’s sells. So really compared to many others, this is a “healthy choice” in the Trader Joe’s cereal department. Maybe the healthiest cereal they sell?

It kind of resembles thin little crunchy bits of brown stuff, clearly extruded, and I assume baked. I am not very familiar with Nabisco’s FIBER ONE cereal but its a little similar. I think the shape of that cereal is thicker that this.

Taste wise? Well I doubt anyone would say “this is the best cereal I ever had”. The best I could say is I didn’t think it tastes it’s OK. Not bad. Fairly neutral in flavor, it is nice and crunchy. A bit naturally sweet. It taste healthy. Generally I myself use it like a topping, and put it on top of my breakfast mixture of chia seeds, fruit, yogurt and sometimes kefir. I sometimes add a little bit of granola on top to improve it. But again, if you want an easy way to add some extra fiber in your diet, this cereal is certainly an easy way to add some to your breakfast in the morning, which will be good for you!

(You can compare to FIBER ONE)

Personally I have always liked the classic GRAPE NUTS cereal also pretty high fiber, and prefer it to this, however my wife prefers TJ’s High Fiber cereal over Grape Nuts. She has brought this home quite a few times now, so she really likes it, and says it helps keep her regular! 😉

High Fiber Cereal $2.99 (14.5 oz)

Trader Joe’s “Just The Clusters” MAPLE PECAN GRANOLA


“Inside this bag you will find captivatingly crunchy, satisfyingly sweet clusters of rolled oats and pecans, with notes of maple syrup and honey”

If you are a fan of the big clumps you find in granola, you may like this. Trader Joe’s “Just The Clusters” Maple Pecan Granola gives you lots of clumps. I do like these crunchy clusters made even crunchier than other granolas as this has some rice flour added in for extra crunch.

It has pecans in it, a fair amount if not loaded with them. I guess at this price (3.29) they can’t put a ton of them in there but there are quite a few very tasty roasted pieces of pecans, and the maple flavor of this granola is tasty. As per the Nutrition Label, I wish it didn’t have quite the amount of Added Sugars it says but I really don’t eat a whole bowl of this, or even the 2/3 cups they use as the serving size. What I use this for really is as a nice topping to add crunch on top of my breakfast yogurt bowl, usually something like chia seeds, mixed with yogurt and kefir and fruits (banana, apples, berries…) This would equally be great on top of oatmeal or overnight oats for a little crunch. You could even eat some as a snack, in moderate amounts.

$3.99 for a 1 pound bag. No weird ingredients, all pretty natural as you can see….

INGREDIENTS: Rolled Oats, Cane Sugar, Canola Oil, Rice Flour, Pecans, Maple Syrup, Cornstarch, Honey, Salt, Barley Malt Syrup, Natural Flavors

I would buy this again.

Trader Joe’s PECAN PRALINE GRANOLA


This is one of the granola’s I get a Trader Joe’s. I’m still upset my old go-to granola (Coconut Cranberry Granola) was discontinued (argh!!) a few years ago. The Pecan Praline granola is pretty good and now my Go-To general granola for breakfast. If you look at the closeup of the granola you can see it’s not loaded with large pieces of pecans, they are more mixed in as “praline” perhaps. When I want lots of nuts, I just top my cereal with a little Grainless Granola. This Pecan Praline granola’s a wee bit on the sweet side but not overly so. When I add my plain yogurt or unsweetened almond milk on it, it all balances out just fine. A 1 lb bag goes for about $3.50. I assume this is GLUTEN FREE, as it’s just oats. Whole Grain.

Trader Joe’s Swiss MUESLI Breakfast Cereal


UPDATE (2024) Unfortunately this may have been Discontinued!!!!

I have feeling this is probably the healthiest cereal you can buy at Trader Joe’s. Their MUESLI is a blend of whole grain oats, seeds, fruit and nuts and has no added sugars. The recipe was invented by a doctor in Switzerland over a hundred years ago, and is a Swiss classic breakfast cereal. I would bet Roger Federer grew up eating Muesli. Look how far it got him!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muesli

Ingredients: Whole grain rolled oats, sunflower seeds, raisins, rice crisps, pumpkins seeds, coconut, dried apple, sliced almonds

This is obviously healthy stuff that even a horse would love. Trader Joe’s version of Muesli is good. One caveat though. If you just pour it into a bowl, add milk, and eat it immediately you may not like it. Unless you are a horse or you don’t mind giving your jaws a work out. So want to let this soften up a bit, meaning let the rolled oats soften up sitting in milk for at least 5, 10 or 20 minutes. Milk meaning of course your choice of real milk or other milk and/or yogurt or kefir). The longer it sits, the softer the oats get. Actually I really enjoy Muesli when I mix some up the night before for “overnight oats” . That way in the morning it’s nice and thick and soft. Making “Overnight oats” is easy. Just put some muesli (or rolled oats) in a container, add liquid and let it sit in the fridge. I do Kefir and almond or soy milk and yogurt. If you find “overnight oats” too mushy for your tastes, just fix up your Muesli and give it a 10 minute soak. I typically add some fresh fruit (banana, apple, dried fruit, berries…) and a bit of something crunchy on top like TJ’s Grainless Granola .

This is a good healthy breakfast, that will keep you (or your horse) going all day.

A 16 oz bag is about $4. Worth trying.

RAVE

Trader Joe’s GRAINLESS GRANOLA


RAVE

“SWEET AND SALTY CLUSTERS MADE WITH ALMONDS, COCONUT, SUNFLOWER AND PUMPKIN SEEDS”.

This is a newish Trader Joe’s product, “GRAINLESS GRANOLA” – Meaning no oats/grains, and mainly nuts. THIS STUFF IS AMAZING! When you cut open the bag, a huge waft of coconut smell hits you right in the nose. You look inside and see clumps and clusters of Almonds, Coconut, Sunflower and Pumpkin seeds in a “salty, sweet” combination that is quite irresistible. I started just popping a few clusters into my mouth and they are delicious just like this, as a snack. I could have eaten the whole bag if I didn’t stop myself. I can easily see Moms filling little baggies with this for yummy healthy Snackables.

Next I put some of this cereal in a bowl with milk and yogurt and banana and it was even more delicious. Now I love granola, the regular kinds with oats, so for me there is no reason to be “grain-less” other than this is simply super delicious. I even put this on top of my regular granola as a crunchy topping. Ditto on my cooked steel cut oats. My suggestion is add some dried fruits, like cranberries or raisins which makes this Grainless Granola even better. As oats are fairly cheap and nuts are expensive, naturally this granola minus oats costs more than the regular granolas TJ sells, but its still a good deal and its so good you probably won’t care too much.

TJ’s got this one right and has a major hit here I think. Grainless Granola is $4 for a 10 oz bag. Try this, you will no doubt love it as much as I did. And yes it’s of course Vegan and Gluten Free. I guess its kind of aimed at “Paleo” people, which I’m not but frankly it’s something any homo sapiens will love.

Trader Joe’s CARAMEL APPLE GRANOLA


 

This seems to be another of Trader Joe’s Fall/Winter seasonal products.

This is actually a terrific granola and excellent product, despite the very so-so name (“apple flavored”??) and pretty lousy package design (4 fonts used in the name and every letter in apple ??!)  I can’t tell if the name and package design is geared towards kids – or designed by a kid – but this isn’t a kiddie product. Its an excellent, delicious granola, maybe the best granola TJ’s sells. This is a cereal which I’m sure both adults and kids would love.

From the package: “Sweet and tart crunchy clusters with apple slices, peanuts and pumpkin spiced pumpkin seeds”

Despite the words about pumpkin spice, actually this isn’t another TJ “pumpkin spice” thing. In fact if they didn’t mention it I wouldn’t even know there were any pumpkin spices. Whatever spices are in this, they are subtle and blend in perfectly with all the other flavors (apple/cinnamon).

The particularly great part about this granola is it that it contains (dehydrated) bits of whole apples, with the skin on even! The apple bits are what makes this a super granola. The clusters with apple bit are especially tasty, a bit chewy and very apple yummy. The granola is a tiny bit on the sweet side (hence the “caramel” part of the name) but I don’t find it overly so, especially when I eat it with plain yogurt and milk which balances out the sweetness.

Its great as a snack on its own, when you get those big clusters of granola. Its super as a cold cereal. I haven’t tried it warm but the package suggests its good for that, and I have no doubt it wouldn’t be wonderful and smell great when served a bit warmed up. They recommend garnishing it with some fresh diced apple. I tried it with fresh apples and its even better with them. Also with dried cranberries, they match quite well.

So I give this granola a big RAVE and suggest its worth trying while you see it. A 12oz package is $3.49. The bag is resealable to keep it fresh and crunchy as long as possible. You might even buy a couple of bags while you can get keep a few in the pantry for the “off-season”. They should carry this year-round.

https://www.traderjoes.com/digin/post/caramel-apple-flavored-granola

RAVE


World’s Best Raisin Bran Cereal!


My morning brainstorm in the shower thinking about what to eat for breakfast. In a Euraka Moment, thinks I, “Why not “make” my own raisin bran? No, not with just regular TJ’s raisins but with the Golden Raisins I just bought yesterday.” The Golden Raisins. Plus TJ’s Bran Flakes (which is bar none best bran flakes made)?

YES – you heard that right

“Golden Raisin Bran”

And I did it. And it was…. MIGHTY, MIGHTY FINE!

Try it for yourself! Why has no one though of this before? Am I a genius or what?

Recipe: Put some Bran Flakes in bowl. Add a small handful of the Golden Raisins.

Milk. A little sugar. Yogurt topping? Nice.

Done.

Eat up.

OMG, right?

You must, must must try these two TJ’s items together

Then tell me if the combination is not the best damn cereal you’ve ever had.