Tuesday, April 6, 2010

General Mills "Grains of Goodness" giveaway...

I had a lot of fun with the Yoplait giveaway last week. I hope you did too. I had so much fun, I decided to do it again. But this time, it's with General Mills cereals.

General Mills, through MyBlogSpark, sent me a VERY cool "Grains of Goodness" package which included 2 coupons for free cereal, a beautiful shiny black breakfast mug, a natural looking blue canvas (sort of) tote back and the coolest container I've ever seen for eating cereal on the go:


I'll get to the giveaway in just a sec. I wanted to tell you about something in the package, first. The breakfast chiller is the coolest thing. I absolutely LOVE it!

I use it 2 or 3 times a week when I'm running late but don't want to sacrifice eating my healthy whole grain cereal. Have you ever tried to take cereal on the go? It usually includes multiple items--a plastic bowl, a spoon, some sort of container to carry the milk in, and some sort of thermos bag to keep the milk cold. And a big back to carry all those things clacking around in.


Enter the Fit & Fresh breakfast chiller. It keeps the milk cold and the cereal dry, has a compartment for fresh fruit, and best of all it has a built in bowl and fold out spoon all in one package.


The spoon snaps into the lid of the bowl and everything stack and snaps together perfectly. Here's a video showing how it works:


Cool, huh?!

I really LOVE cereal too. I didn't used to. Cereal was a waste of a breakfast item for me. I'd rather have sausage and eggs with cheese & onions and fried potatoes and biscuits and gravy and... Well, suffice it to say, breakfast was a huge meal for me. That is, before I started Weight Watchers. Even after the first year or so, I still couldn't eat JUST a bowl of cereal for breakfast. I'd still have to have oatmeal or eggs and toast or something warm.

But it turns out I was just eating the wrong cereal. I would always choose the sugary cereals that quite frankly didn't stick with me for more than a half hour or hour after I ate them. And because they were so sugar, I could only have just a little bit. It wasn't until I started eating cereals high in fiber before cereal started to make perfect sense for a great breakfast meal. Fiber, especially in the form of whole grains, helps me stay fuller longer. Who knew?!

And did you know that studies have found that a diet rich in whole grain can be helpful in maintaining a healthy heart, managing weight and may also reduce the risk for diabetes and certain types of cancer?

Do you know what whole grains are? I thought I did, but it ended up that I really didn't. Here's a link to a quiz on the General Mills website where you can take a "whole grain IQ test" (to take the quiz, click the box that's on the left about half way down the page). I'm embarrassed to say that I failed the test. Or rather, my whole grain IQ was quite abysmal. If you take the quiz, let me know how you did.

So General Mills has offered to give one of you the same package they sent me. Trust me, you're really gonna want this package. Its awesome. Plus the coupons for the 2 free boxes of cereal. Double awesome!

To enter the contest, just leave me a comment on this blog telling me what your favorite healthy cereal is and why. Or tell me how you like your cereal... what do you like in it, what type of milk do you usually use, etc.

My favorite cereal is Total or Wheaties with dried cranberries and chopped walnuts in vanilla almond milk. Quite a delight!

The contest will end at 10pm on Friday, April 9th. I'll choose one winner at random using random.org.

In the mean time, here's a coupon for $1 off any General Mills cereal.

Good luck!

.

25 comments:

Alexandra said...

My all-time favorite cereal is Honey Nut Cheerios. I also love Kashi Honey Sunshine, because it keeps me satisfied until lunchtime. :-)

Rochelle said...

I like Kashi Go Lean. I add fruit like fresh strawberries, grapes or whatever other fresh fruit I can get, or otherwise packaged peaches. This would be perfect as I've just started on medication which I have to take on an empty stomach in the morning. Breakfast has to wait...so I could take it with me! Great idea!

Anonymous said...

I'm a bit boring but I like Corn Flakes with sliced bananas or strawberries and milk. It's been my go to ever since I was a kid. Second place would probably go to Rice Chex. I think I need a bowl of cereal right now. :)

Anonymous said...

Oh...and I took the quiz....I'm a whole grain diva. lol

Donna B said...

Love most cereals, but I find in my weight loss efforts that I stick with 1/2 serving of Cheerios mixed with half serving of Fiber Ones. Helps my fiber issues! LOVE the combo!

Marisa @Loser for Life said...

I love Kashi's new Go Lean Crisp! Also, I've switched from using skim milk to almond milk in my cereal and I really like it!

Dutch said...

I like Kashi Go Lean. I put walnuts or almonds plus either a banana, blueberries or strawberries with skim milk.

Stacie said...

For just cereal eating, I love multi-grain cherrios... but Fiber One is DELICIOUS when added to yogert.

KimberlyO said...

My #1 favorite cereal is Honey Nut Cheerios. I typically add skim milk but I've also added nonfat yogurt. Cheerios helped me lower my cholesterol by 72 points. :) Go Cheerios!!

Weight Watcher Wannabe said...

I use to love love love Honey Bunches of Oats.. But now im really enjoying Multi Grain Cheerios with a banana for breaky. My litte baby boy is enjoying them dry as well... Yummy...

Weight Watcher Wannabe said...

I use to love love love Honey Bunches of Oats.. But now im really enjoying Multi Grain Cheerios with a banana for breaky. My litte baby boy is enjoying them dry as well... Yummy...

Jen said...

I like Kix...just don't ask what I add to it ha ha. any flavor cheerios runs close second. Very cool bowl.

mamato6@cox.net

Shelley said...

That is quite the nifty cereal system! My favorite cereal that I actually eat is Kashi Go Lean Crunch - I love it with Greek yogurt and fresh strawberries and blackberries.

My favorite cereals that I don't eat (anymore)? Frosted Flakes and Captain Crunch.

Unknown said...

My favorite cereal is Quaker oatmeal squares or frosted shredded wheat. they both keep me full and are quite tasty.

WWSuzi said...

My favorite cereal is honey nut cheerios with unsweetened almond breeze, a banana and a few walnuts!

MaryFran said...

Well hey! Let me try again. :-)

My favorite breakfast cereal is good old Cheerios. Yes, I like the apple cinnamon ones, but I try to steer clear because of the sugars!

Anonymous said...

I'm doing WW too, and I do a half cup of Fiber One (0 points) with 1 cup of whatever cereal I want (no more than 4 points). I end up super full!

Christie
ropp(dot)5@wright(dot)edu

Anonymous said...

I love my Special K in the morning with skim milk and one package of Spenda. The container would be great. I bag my cereal and buy milk on the way to work.
csader@hirshorn.com

brightleigh said...

Currently, I am eating Multigrain Cheerios, but I also like Honey Oat Cheerios. I also like Raisin Bran.

robandleighbright@suddenlink.net

Springjoy said...

I'll eat grapenuts or cheerios any day!

alaskawildrose AT gmail DOT com

Sarah in MO said...

I love Kashi's Heart to Heart Blueberry cereal! Yum!

Thanks for the giveaway!
misterjimmy at sbcglobal dot net

edysdoll said...

I love Kellogs Special K (fruit and yogurt)!!! Yummy! I eat it with fat free or skim milk. I usually don't put anything in it although I have put in a sliced up strawberry, but don't pefer it! Thanks! This giveaway is perfect for me. I take my cereal with me to work everyday. This would be helpful!

screwdestiny said...

I'm a Whole Grain Diva! *snaps* Haha.

My favorite cereals are Honey Nut Cheerios (though I try not to eat these too much), Special K with the dried fruit, and there's a newish type that's pretty good...I think it's called All Bran or something, and it has dried fruit in it. That's pretty tasty, too. Anyway, I SO hope I win because that breakfast bowl thing is freaking awesome. If I don't win I'll probably go buy it anyway.

hannah said...

I love special k with strawberries. I use skim milk as well.
hannah
psychopathicpixie @ yahoo

Anonymous said...

I love honey nut cheerios with skim milk! scg00387 at yahoo dot com