After reviewing MixMyGranola almost a year ago, I’ve been a big fan of the whole customized food thing. The granola I created for that review was super tasty and all mine (in more ways than one when you hide it in the back of the pantry). I was super excited when I heard about [me] & goji, a company offering customized organic cereal and granola. I’m as big a fan of cereal as I am of personalized granola!

[me] & goji’s story is one of “dorm-crapeteria breakfasts,” Northwestern grads, Craigslist, a Swedish intern and muesli:

[we decided] to address the need … discovered in college. Our solution results in America’s favorite breakfast food, cereal, revamped with the nutritional focus of muesli and the flexibility of customization. Our solution is [me] & goji. We love this concept because it can benefit so many different people: both serious and unserious athletes, on-the-go moms, blueberry-haters and soy nut-lovers, Saturday morning cartoon connoisseurs and those with special dietary needs.

[me] & goji offers customers a yummy selection of pre-made cereals like San Marino Sunrise (artisanal cereal, golden granola, corn flakes and dried fruits: banana, apple, strawberry, pecans and pumpkin) and i <3 my <3 (artisanal cereal, oat bran, flax, chia, soy nuts, walnuts and dried cranberry and strawberry). They also have Strawberry Monster and Apple Monster for kids plus a couple granola mixes. (Anyone for Plum Island Pirate Booty?)

And these are just the pre-made mixes. Don’t forget you can create your own cereal using organic ingredients like goji oats, raw 5-grain muesli, quinoa flakes, cacao nibs, shredded wheat, dried fruits (goji berries, raspberry, banana, blueberry, currant to name a few), and nuts and seeds (pumpkin, flax, almonds, macademia, etc.). I swear that not even half of all the goodies you’ll find on the site!

[me] & goji sent me the popular Adam’s Apple mix, which includes their “flaxed & flaked” cereal base and cinnamon plus dried apple, cranberry, goji, golden raisin and pumpkin. Now, I’m not a huge fan of “fruity” cereals unless it’s Trix, so it was a bit too sweet and chewy for my taste, but I adored the cereal base (even if it did get soggy a bit too quickly) and even enjoyed the apple and pumpkin.

My husband didn’t get a chance to try it but I know he’ll be a big fan—he loves dried fruit. I think for me it will better serve as a dry snack than a cereal, but it was tasty enough to have me already planning a future order. (Mine will have more almonds and granola and less of that healthy fruity stuff.)

A typical [me] & goji capsule is about 15 servings versus your traditional 8-serving cereal box. Your base cereal starts at $4.99 and each additional ingredient is $.99. You can make a decent, organic—and in some cases gluten-free— batch of cereal for under $8. A box of organic cereal at the store will run you a good $5 or so, and that’s for half the servings and a totally lame, non-customized ingredients list. Oh, and those off-the-shelf brands probably aren’t donating 5% of profits to charities and using earth-friendly vegetable inks for their printing needs. (You can view a full list of [me] & goji’s efforts to make a difference here. And before I forget, you can view the good-lookin’ guys behind the company here.)

Need a great gift idea for graduation? Whether you’re there to see the hat toss in person or sending a gift from afar, a capsule of custom cereal shows you care more so than a $20 in what is probably a non-recycled greeting card.

All I can say is, go [me] & goji or go home.—Emily

* Promotion! [me] & goji is offering Daily Dish readers 10% off their order! Simply enter code GOJIGRAD when checking out!

I’ve reviewed Enjoy Life Foods a couple times on the Daily Dish. Their semi-sweet chocolate chips taste just like the “real” thing while their granola is packed full of vitamins, whole grains and taste. That’s not easy to do considering Enjoy Life Foods’ products are free of eight of the most common allergens: wheat/gluten, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, soy, fish and shellfish. Yet their products are consistently delicious, which is why there are so dang popular!

The company sent me two of their newest products: Perk’s Crunchy Rice cereal and Perk’s Crunchy Flax cereal. The cereals are made with all natural ingredients and sweetened with fruit juice and honey—and look like a smoother version of one of my all-time favorites, Grape-Nuts. Knowing how healthy yet yummy Enjoy Life Foods’ samples have been in the past, and knowing how much I love breakfast cereal, I was anxious to give them a try.

I started with Perk’s Crunchy Rice cereal since it did sound a bit more appealing than Crunchy Flax. This cereal is 100% natural, low in fat and low in sodium and the ingredients list is impressive if you consider short impressive (and I do when it comes to cereal): rice flour, rice bran, raisin juice concentrate, honey and salt. The first bite was a bit crunchy but after a little soaking in some milk (reminiscent of those Grape-Nuts), they were perfect! They probably would’ve been sweet enough on their own but I couldn’t resist a touch of Splenda. The only think I didn’t like was the serving size, but that’s true of a lot of healthy cereals like bite-size shredded wheat, low-fat granola, etc. I finished off the box before anyone else in the family had a chance to grab a bowl, but who says I have to share all my product samples?

Then I tested Perk’s Crunchy Flax cereal, which was similar in size and texture but definitely different in taste. This cereal is a bit more impressive than the rice, boasting 50g of whole grain, 425mg of Omega-3s and 6g of fiber per serving. Perhaps that’s why the Crunchy Flax tasted a whole lot “healthier” to me. It needed an extra spoonful of Splenda, but then again, I’m as big a fan of Apple Jacks as I am of Grape-Nuts and love slathering jam on my toast. (Can you tell I have a bit of a breakfast sweet tooth?) I haven’t yet finished the box but I promise I will! I know what’s good for me, trust me.

Though Perk’s Crunchy Flax cereal wasn’t my favorite, Perk’s Crunchy Rice was a nice alternative to what’s usually in our pantry. A little bit (okay, I usually poured myself a serving and a half) did go a long way to keeping me full until lunch time and it felt good to fuel my body with something all-natural and packed with nutrients. Enjoy Life Foods never ceases to amaze me with the full-flavored products they offer their allergen-sensitive customers and their new cereals are no exception!—Emily

*** Giveaway! Enjoy Life Foods is giving away one set of their new cereals plus some fabulous coupons to two (2) Daily Dish readers! ***

Here’s how to enter. You can do as many of these as you’d like. Each one is worth one entry into our giveaway; please leave a comment for each one you do:

•   Visit EnjoyLifeFoods.com and leave a comment telling us your favorite product.
•   Become a fan of Enjoy Life Foods on Facebook and leave a comment telling us you’re their newest fan.
•   Follow Enjoy Life Foods on Twitter and leave a comment telling is you’re their newest follower.
•   Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment with the URL of your tweet.
•   Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with the URL to your blog post.

Include a valid email address for our drawing. We’ll draw the winners from the comments and contact them via email. Deadline: February 2, 2010 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen.

• Congratulations to Kelly T., the winner of the Enjoy Life Foods giveaway! Thank you to everyone who took the time to read the review and add a comment. Keep reading the Daily Dish for your chance to participate in more giveaways!

Delightful “Trix” design outfit from RoseyThreads on ebay for the WisteriaLane Breakfast Club launch!

“Euro style Vita done in bright cheerful colors, inspired from the Trix cereal box. Licensed Trix fabric that’s hard to find adds charm to the side panels of the dress. Lots of trim used on front and back bodice along with Smiley Face decorative buttons. Bottom panels also have rickrack trim and ruffles complete the design. Applique is whimsical and oh so much fun. My grandaughter loves the Trix Rabbit and we’re always saying “Silly Rabbit, Trix are for Kids”. The letters are double appliqued for lots of color and pop. Silly Rabbit is on both front and back panels.

Available in size 2 through girls 10.”

Take me to the Trix Outfit! >>

From jewelry to picture frames the Daily Dish has had plenty of reviews featuring personalized products, but until today we had yet to review a personalized food item—and I’m not talking about those giant frosted cookes from Mrs. Fields. This one is tasty, my friends…oh, so tasty! And like the title of this review, when it comes to MixMyGranola I can’t help but channel KC & The Sunshine Band.

Ever browsed the granola bins at Whole Foods or the granola shelves at your local supermarket? Though both offer a wonderful variety of mixes have you ever wished you could add a little dried pineapple to one or remove the cashews in another? That’s how MixMyGranola was started—three friends all describing their perfect granola mix. MixMyGranola was started in 2008 and is taking the granola world by storm, one personalized mix at a time. Why is it so popular? Three reasons: it’s easy; it’s super yummy; and it’s all about you.

Easy: Here’s how easy it is (and I know because I’ve created two mixes already). Simply choose a healthy granola base and add your favorite ingredients (good luck keeping it under five when you’re offered dried blackberries, macadamia nuts and pomegranate cordials). That’s it. MixMyGranola will then mix your order and ship it anywhere in the U.S. You get the can, pop the lid and pour either directly into your mouth (tried that one) or into a cereal bowl, yogurt cup, or other “traditional” container. The possibilities—like the mixes—are endless!

Tasty: I can state for a fact the ingredients are yummy. MixMyGranola let me create two mixes, which I named Low-fat Choco Cranberry and Choco Fruity Vanilla. I wanted to try the low-fat granola and it didn’t disappoint. Of course the addition of mini chocolate chips helped. Yum! And my Choco Fruity Vanilla had the hugest chunks of sweet, dried pineapple EVER. My only regret was not ordering twice as much! I’ve already emptied the can of Choco Fruity Vanilla and am almost out of the other. You better believe I’ll be ordering more! My favorite snack is now a container of low-fat yogurt mixed with 1/4 cup of granola (see image at left). I’m addicted!

All about you: Self-explanatory. You choose the base, you choose the ingredients. Enough said.

I’d tell you what my family thought of MixMyGranola but unfortunately for them I didn’t share any. I’m hoping I can be a little less selfish the next time around but I highly doubt it. I take my personalized granola very seriously. I can’t do MixMyGranola’s ginormous ingredients list justice; you’ll have to create your own mix and check it out yourself! Believe me, you’ll be channeling KC & The Sunshine Band before you’re through.—Emily

*** Giveaway! MixMyGranola is giving away a $20 gift certificate to one lucky Daily Dish reader! Please visit MixMyGranola.com and start creating a mix, then leave a comment on this post telling us which granola base and ingredient(s) you chose. Include a valid email address for the drawing. We’ll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline: May 21, 2009 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen.

* For an extra entry, mention this giveaway on Twitter and leave a separate comment with the URL to your tweet! (To find your URL simply click on the timestamp from your tweet.)

• Congratulations to Sandra, the winner of the MixMyGranola giveaway! Thank you to everyone who took the time to read the review and add a comment. Keep reading the Daily Dish for your chance to participate in more giveaways!

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