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 first reviewed Enjoy Life Foods when they sent me their semi-sweet chocolate chips back in May of 2008. For a product that was free of the seven most common allergens, those little mini chips were surprisingly tasty. We gobbled those up in dozens of cookies and my kids had no idea those flavorful little chips were devoid of seven things: wheat, gluten, dairy, nut, egg, lactose and casein (the principal protein found in milk and other dairy products). Yes, all of Enjoy Life Foods’ products steer clear of these ingredients and are produced in a nut-free, gluten-free bakery. Pretty impressive, huh?

So when Enjoy Life Foods wanted to send me three bags of their new granola to taste test, I was totally up to the challenge. I love granola and I love Enjoy Life Foods—seemed like the perfect review! I received their Cinnamon Crunch, Cranapple Crunch and Verry Berry Crunch “new and improved” granola mixes. Why are these guys new and improved? Well, they are now crispier with smaller granola clusters so they “look and taste more like the ‘real’ thing.”

Um, I’m not sure what they tasted like before but these babies definitely taste like granola to me. Okay, so they’re not as decadent and diet-killing as my favorite, fat-packed French vanilla almond granola, but they do have more vitamins and whole grain than my current granola choice. (Enjoy Life Foods granola is vitamin fortified and includes 23 grams or more of whole grain per serving.)

I didn’t test the mixes on top of yogurt, one of my favorite ways to enjoy granola, but the Cinnamon Crunch held up well as a breakfast cereal (i.e. no soggy clusters). I’m thinking these mixes would also make a great base for a customized mix including Enjoy Life Foods’ chocolate chips and a few other fun ingredients!

*** Giveaway! Enjoy Life Foods is giving away one of their totes and coupons for three (3) free products! Please leave a comment with a valid email address for our drawing. We’ll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline: July 27, 2009 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen.

** For an extra entry tweet about this giveaway and leave a link with the URL to your tweet in a separate comment!

• Congratulations to Lisa C., 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!

...and for once I’m not talking about the kind I may end up purchasing for myself one day. (That’s one review I won’t be writing here on Boutique Cafe!) I’m actually talking about a new line of enhancers from MixMyGranola, a company whose “personalized” granola mixes I reviewed back in May and of which I am a big fan!

The company just released a new line of Enhancers as part of their custom granola mixes. These enhancers take all that yummy fruity, nutty, granola-y goodness and add a little extra boost to help keep you going throughout the day. As a mom, business owner, blogger and wife I was definitely intrigued, especially when I heard you can add caffeine powder to help with sleepiness. You can also add pomegranate to help detox; VitaCherry to give you a vitamin boost; and green tea powder to improve health and lower cholesterol. They actually have over 16 Enhancers from which to choose.

A few notes about MixMyGranola’s Enhancers. One, they don’t really add any taste to your mix but because they’re a bit on the bland side the max number of Enhancers per mix is two. This keeps your granola mix at its super tastiest best! And two, Enhancers are not for everyone; they are recommended for adults 18 and older. Also, If you are pregnant or nursing PLEASE consult your health care professionals before using any Enhancers. Hopefully you’re well aware of that disclaimer when it comes to any kind of enhancement!

MixMyGranola sent me a mix with the maca powder for my half-marathon training. It was a very small sample so I’ve actually been saving it for my 12-mile training run which is in a couple weeks. But I did take a taste test and you can’t taste the maca powder at all, which is a pretty important test for me. I don’t like anything with a funky aftertaste and there’s no aftertaste with this Enhancer. I’m about out of my last batch of customized MixMyGranola mix and will for sure be adding an Enhancer or two when I order again!—Emily

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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