Cereal Bars

I'm off to Europe for a short break. I still have a bunch things to do though, and my flight is today, so anything that can help me save time through the morning would be beneficial. I came across the Sainsbury's Basics Cereal Bars while doing my groceries yesterday evening and thought that they might be could make a quick breakfast.

The bars come in boxes of six, and come in two varieties - chocolate, and oat & raisin. The latter has a few extra marks on the side of the box that promote its health benefits, while the former quietly states that it is suitable for vegetarians.

Of the two, I very much prefer the chocolate one. It has chocolate bits both on top of the bar and embedded within it, and certainly had more flavour than the oat & raisin bar, which pretty much tasted like cardboard. A comparison of ingredients shows why: 15% chocolate-related goodness overall compared to just 7% raisins.

I was still pretty hungry after eating the two bars though. I suppose they are supposed to be a snack or a side in a packed lunch rather than a complete breakfast in itself. At about 15.5p per bar, these might provide some level of comfort from either all the other value foods that you might have in your diet, or the convenience foods that you might have had or might be having as meals while studying, with exams around the corner.

Description	Price per Unit	No. of servings	Trade-up Premium	Trade-up Benefits
Oat and Raisin Cereal Bars	£0.82	6	+£0.64	Yoghurt and Cranberries for Red Fruit Balance Bars
Chocolate Chip Cereal Bars	£0.92	6	+£0.54	Healthier, less chocolate content

Fruit & Fibre Cereal

Cereal is highly convenient for breakfast. The Basics range has three items to cater to the budget conscious, namely cornflakes, muesli - served in 1.5kg bags, and their latest entry, Fruit & Fibre. Originally I contemplated reviewing the muesli, since I had it when I was in my third year, but the thought of having to go through 1.5kg of mush put me off.

This cereal may be called Fruit & Fibre, but its fruit content is below 30%, so be forewarned, it might be a bit too bland for your liking. Also, due to settling of contents, your first bowl might be nothing but bran flakes. Since I had some honey leftover from the turkey article, I decided to use it to sweeten the cereal from time to time.

Adding yoghurt rather than milk might make for an interesting breakfast. The tartness of the yoghurt should contrast well against whatever sweetness the fruit in the cereal would provide, and ditto for texture between yoghurt and whole wheat flakes.

Description	Price per Unit	No. of servings	Trade-up Premium	Trade-up Benefits
Fruit & Fibre cereal	£0.64	500g (£0.128 / 100g)	+£0.85 for 750g (+£0.071 / 100g)	Higher whole wheat and fruit content, lower fat and salt, no bran