One Degree - Gluten Free Sprouted Brown Rice Cacao Crisps - Mar. 24, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

One Degree Organic Foods
Gluten Free Sprouted Brown Rice Cacao Crisps (cereal)
Good
Weight: 3/4 cup (35 g.) / 10 oz. (283 g.) in total package
Calories: 140 calories in 1 serving
Cost: $ missing information
Purchased from: missing information



Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Starches Theme Week.

These Gluten Free Sprouted Brown Rice Cacao Crisps were manufactured in the U.S. for One Degree Organic Foods (Canada).

Reminiscent of other cocoa crisp rice cereals, these crunchy cereal pieces were suffused with sweet cocoa flavor. (Only these were organic and made with sprouted organic brown rice.)

MOM Brands - DreamWorks Penguins of Madagascar Operation Chocolate Mix cereal - Mar. 9, 2017

Chocolate of the Day:

MOM Brands
DreamWorks Penguins of Madagascar - Operation Chocolate Mix
Good - Good +
Weight: 3/4 cup (29 g.) / 14.5 oz. (411 g.) total box
Calories: 110 calories in 1 serving + milk
Cost: $missing information for 1 box
Purchased from: Missing information

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate Breakfast Cereal Theme Week.

Today's box of DreamWorks Penguins of Madagascar - Operation Chocolate Mix cereal was distributed by MOM Brands* (Lakeville, MN).

The eponymous cartoon penguins were created by artists and animators and appeared in the Madagascar series of films from DreamWorks Animation (Glendale, CA).

Operation Chocolate Mix cereal consisted of sweetened rice cereal with cocoa and marshmallows, contained natural and artificial flavors and, like many cereals, was vitamin fortified.

I enjoyed a bowl of these crispy, crunchy chocolate rice pieces with milk. The marshmallows were tiny versions of the real thing, and helped amp up the overall sweet level.

*MOM Brands merged with Post Foods, and the resulting company was Post Consumer Brands. The new consolidated company became the third largest cereal company in the U.S.

Note: While this cereal listed no wheat ingredients, it did not claim to be a gluten-free cereal.

Jade Chocolates - Dark Chocolate Rice Paddies - December 24, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Jade Chocolates
Dark Chocolate Rice Paddies
Good +
Weight: 1.2 oz. (34 g.) (estimate) for 3 pieces/ 4 oz. (113 g.) total bag
Calories: 120 calories (estimate) for 3 pieces
Cost: $ N/A
Purchased from: Jade Chocolates, San Francisco, CA (online)

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Almond Theme Week. The history of the almond began in the Middle East and South Asia, and spread to temperate climates worldwide. California (where I live) produces tons of the popular nut each year in the U.S. Cacao beans used to make chocolate come from tropical climates. So, as with many flavored chocolates, several interesting and internationally inspired flavor blends were possible today that incorporated these two ingredients.

Mindy Fong, at Jade Chocolates (San Francisco, CA), produces chocolates with interesting fusions of flavors from east and west, often artfully incorporating favorite specialty ingredients, such as tea,  rice or mangoes. Today's Dark Chocolate Rice Paddies, contained crisp rice (note to those watching gluten intake, these contained malt flavoring), roasted almonds and pieces of bright, tangy dried mango. Dark chocolate helped bind these ingredients into small mounded patty shapes.

If you're looking for a healthy, exotic take on crispy rice treats with dark chocolate, these Dark Chocolate Rice Paddies are a great bet.

Merry Christmas Eve to all who celebrate, and to those who await the coming of Santa Claus.

ChocolateBet: October 15, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Safeway Kitchens
Cocoa Nuggets (cereal)
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.1 oz. (32 g.) / 11.6 oz. (329 g.) total box
Calories: 130 calories in 3/4 cup serving
Cost: $ N/A
Purchased from: Safeway, Palo Alto, CA

Continuing to explore the convergence chocolate, rice and banana, I ate a bowl of cereal that incorporated all three of these ingredients. Today's chocolate came in the form Cocoa Nuggets (sweetened rice with cocoa) cereal from Safeway Kitchens, with fresh banana slices.

Great fuel for a 7-8 mile hike this morning. Just ask the maniacal little monkey on the front of the Cocoa Nuggets box, who looks up for anything.

Today was Day #7 Chocolate and Rice Theme Week, and Day #2 Chocolate and Banana Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: February 13, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Sunny Select
Cocoa Crispy Rice
Good +
Weight: 1.1 oz. (31 g.) / 15 oz. (425 g.) total box
Calories: 120 calories
Cost: $2.49 (sale) total box
Purchased from: Lucky, Foster City, CA

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Cereal/Grains Theme Week.
Sometimes chocolate cereal is good, by itself, as a snack. My handful of Cocoa Crispy Rice cereal was crisp and sweet, as advertised. 

ChocolateBet: April 16, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
1 small square
Golden Road Foods
Crispeez - covered in "a milk confectionery coating and drizzled with white"
Good - Good +
Weight: .75 oz. (21 g.)/ 6 oz. (170 g.) in total box of 8 pieces
Calories: 90 calories in one small square
Cost: $3.99 for total box
Purchased from: Cost Plus/World Market, in Mountain View, CA

Given a choice between a very large portion of chocolate and a smaller one, I'll take the latter, as I can always go back for more if I want. Larger portions are harder to finish; and, due to weaknesses on my part, I'm more likely to overeat, and regret it later. For this reason, I really liked that these Crispeez squares were quite a bit smaller than other similar bars containing rice cereal. Although they were richer as they were completely covered in milk chocolate. Today's entry concludes Day #7 of Chocolate and Rice/Grains Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: November 8, 2009

Chocolate of the Day:
1 square
Savor...
Chocolate Rice Krispy square
Good + - Very Good
Weight: 4 oz. (115 g.) (estimate)
Calories: 400 calories (estimate)
Cost: $2.75
Purchased from: Long Beach Aquarium Cafe (Scuba), in Long Beach, CA

There were many interesting things to see at the Long Beach Aquarium: fish, sharks, otters, starfish, and a few chocolate items in the Cafe.

ChocolateBet: February 24, 2007

Chocolate of the Day: 

Vere
Chocolate rice clusters (dark chocolate)
Good - Very Good
Weight: 36 g. / 72 g. total box
Calories: 170 calories for 36 gram serving (1/2 box)

These gluten-free, vegan, organic brown rice clusters were covered with vere dark chocolate (New York City) and had a very nice, rich flavor.

Postscript: Vere closed its doors in early 2010.

ChocolateBet: October 4, 2006

Chocolate of the Day: 

Post (Kraft)
Post Cocoa Pebbles (cereal)
Good +
Weight: 13 oz. (368 g.) in total box
Calories: 110 calories in 3/4 cup (30 g.) serving

I wonder who first thought about making a chocolate cereal?

I think this must have happened in the early 1900s when there seemed to be some experiments with putting cocoa powder into hot wheat mush-type cereals. Later, in the mid-1900s, General Mills and a few other big cereal tycoons brought the first cold cereals to market, and everyone went cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.

As children we were encouraged to eat Cheerios and other, plainer standards -- but we loved the sweet cereals. Chocolate-cereal-fueled Saturday mornings were the best. The kids ran amuck in the kitchen, making their own cereal and toast and orange juice, and watched cartoons on TV, until they were driven from the house -- under threat from the parents that they would have to do chores if they stuck around the living room much longer.

While there were other things to squabble about, no one worried about kids spending all day outside in the neighborhood, bicycling around. We visited friends, rode to the library, to the movie theater to catch a 50-cent matinee, to the lunch counter, to the dirt fields (there was still open land back then) to hide under willow trees and inspect caterpillers, lizards and other living things. Chocolate-fueled, we explored the limits of the known kid world. (Years later, when given an art class assignment to draw a product/object, I produced a larger than life replica of a Cocoa Puffs box.)

So, in honor of this great breakfast tradition (or memories of), this morning I stuck my spoon into a bowl of Post Cocoa Pebbles cereal -- made with rice, and one of few cold cereals left that didn't have wheat or gluten in it. I made due with the hydrogenated vegetable oils, and all the sweeteners. And, you know what, it tasted pretty darn good. Cocoa Pebbles receives a Good plus rating.