Terra Breads Artisan Granola...Product Review...And Give-away!

     You know what happens when you get ready to go to the grocery store...You check the cupboards, you make the menu, you make your list, you ask the rest of the family what they want to add to the list, and then you grab your shopping bags and you go.  Right.  So what about the things YOU like to eat?  Do those things get on the list?  Not the things you know you should eat, like fish and fruit and vegetables and chicken breast.  But the things you like to eat...Like some of Liberte Yogurt's yummy Mediterranean Cafe flavoured yogurt that comes in the teeny tiny container (the size that your husband or teenage son would eat in one sitting), or a carton of fresh squeezed orange juice (when really the nutritional value of the frozen stuff from concentrate is just as good).  Those things you don't buy because no one else in the house really notices if you buy that kind or the bigger cheaper brand that is really just as good, and since we are all trying to manage our grocery bill these days.  But really, don't you deserve a little treat too?  Once in awhile.

  

   A couple of weeks ago, I did just that.  I had made my list and was heading off to Thrifty's for a weekly shop.  Part of my list included all the ingredients for making some homemade granola.  I have a fabulous recipe for making cranberry almond granola sweetened with Quebec Maple Syrup (sent to me by Dear Ole Dad, because you cannot bring any real quantity of it on the airplane anymore with the quantities rules for liquids).  This was going to be my treat.  However, Rob was moaning that it meant that he was going to have to eat granola for two weeks straight and he wasn't so keen on that.  (the only drawback to homemade is it really doesn't keep so well).  While I was in the cereal aisle, I found Terra Breads artisan granola with the other granolas.    Quickly, I shelved my plan to make some and purchased the Terra Breads one instead (even though it was a little more than I was thinking of spending).  You see, my husband and I had always frequented Terra Breads bakery on West 4th in Kitsilano while we were living in Vancouver .  It was one of our favourite places to stop for bread or to pick up sandwiches to take with us on bike rides or to the beach.   Standing there in the cereal aisle that day, I could almost taste those sandwiches we had eaten on those trips to Jericho beach or Kits beach or on a bike ride out to UBC.   And while I was pretty sure the granola wouldn't taste like sandwiches, I was convinced that I wouldn't be disappointed.

     I showed my husband what I had bought when I got home, and reminded the kids (all four of them) that it wasn't for them.  A treat just for us, so of course my 7 year old wanted a bowl.  For the next four days, I enjoyed the delicious sweet granola with tart cranberries over vanilla yogurt for breakfast.  And I did let my 7 year old have a small bowl full.  And she liked it as well (of course).  It has lots of cranberries and raisins too (which I think are a nice surprise mixed in with the cranberries.  Pieces of almonds, and cashews and sweet clusters of rolled oats and barley, with crunch but just a touch (so you don't end up with those hard pieces that sometimes can scratch the roof of your mouth).  Just delightful.  We ate it with yogurt mostly, but my hubby had his with milk.  And we both ate our share straight out of the bag.  The only thing we were disappointed with was the size of the bag.  It was a little on the small side, and it was gone too quickly!

   We were so pleased with our granola treat that I emailed Terra Breads and asked them if I could review the Granola for my Blog...And they were very pleased and happily agreed to send a couple of bags of Artisan Granola that I could give away to a couple of local followers (of which I know there are quite a few of you out there, you're just the silent types).
The bags arrived this morning, via Grayhound Bus so they didn't get stuck in the looming Postal strike.
So, here is what you do for a chance at the giveaway...Post a comment at the end of this entry telling us what you like about granola, and how you enjoy your granola (like trail mix, with yogurt, etc).  And if you have already tried Terra Breads granola, please go to Thrifty Foods Website and tell them how happy you are to have found it on the shelves and that you hope they keep carrying it.  Anyone from here can tell you, you find something great on the grocery store shelves and then you fall in love with it and then it is gone.   So we are hoping that that doesn't happen with this yummy treat.
I will choose two local readers at random to receive this great breakfast treat.


And yes, I put vanilla yogurt and a container of granola in my dear daughter's lunchbox, and she loved it.


Happy Packing!

...what Terra Breads has to say about their Artisan Granola...
                   

Artisan Granola

We make our specialty granola by hand in our artisan bakery. We mix quality ingredients —
including whole grains, oats, cashews, almonds, coconut, cranberries, raisins, dates and honey — many of them organic, then toast them until
golden brown in our bakery ovens.
Enjoy our fresh granola for breakfast with yogurt, milk or cream — or just on its own as a great trail mix snack.