Honey Bunches of Moch

I took a walk down memory lane this morning as I rifled through the pantry.

"Remember Honey Bunches of Oats?"  I asked myself, as my fingers brushed crusty ume plums and jars of hydrogenated vegetable fat.
"I sure do," I replied.

Who can forget that happy little parade of silhouettes marching across the bottom of the box?  I used to space out and stare at them as I absently hunted for chunks of granola in my bowl.  Those were the days.  Let's be real.  Honey Bunches of Oats is a pretty delicious cereal.

Apparently, it's healthy now too!

At least, that's what the website proudly proclaims...  The facebook site runs through glowing endorsements from various fans, including the following nuggets of nutritional wisdom:

"not only is it healthy, it taist's yummy!"
"IT IS GOOD 4 U"
"It's healthy.  Good for body and skin."

A quick look at the ingredients showed that it was indeed high in Vitamin B6, Vitamin Sugar, Vitamin Brown Sugar, Vitamin Milk Byproduct, Vitamin Corn Syrup, Vitamin Artificial Flavor, Vitamin Natural Flavor, and Vitamin BHT ADDED TO PACKAGING MATERIAL TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS.

The website for Honey Bunches is pretty slick.  It's a pretty tough sell to call all that stuff healthy.  They let the comparisons do the work.  You can compare Honey Bunches to Frosted Flakes, Honey Nut Cheerios, Special K (The obvious token "Boring Cereal"), and Frosted Mini Wheats.  The obvious conclusion is that Honey Bunches is lower in sugar and calories than all but one of these.

Which isn't saying much, if you ask me.

Frosted Mini Wheats and Frosted Flakes are the whiffle balls of the unhealthy cereal world, and Special K has the gastronomical appeal of packaging peanuts.  The study says, "We may be unhealthier than Special K... but do you really want to eat that stuff?"

I don't think I do.  I also don't want to eat BHT.  Which is why this morning, I decided to make

Honey Bunches of Mochi

Ok, so the picture isn't Captain Fantastic.  It was early, ok?

1 block gluten-free brown rice mochi (available at whole foods and most grocery stores)

1 tsp. lemon zest

1/2 c. roasted almond slivers

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1-2 tbsp. roasted tan sesame seeds

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/4 c. brown rice syrup

Grate mochi block on largest hole of a cheese grater.  This takes strong muscles and some patience.  For 2-3 servings, grate 1 1/2 to 2 cups of shredded mochi.

Combine mochi, lemon zest, almond slivers, and cinnamon in a large bowl and mix well.

Heat a skillet (no oil) over medium-high heat.  Scoop 1/2 cup of mochi per "pancake," and allow the mochi to heat.  As it heats, the flakes will run together and hold the pancake together.  Once the bottom can be lifted fully intact, flip the mochi "pancake."

Once the pancake is done (the mochi will have run together so that the whole thing can be lifted at once), remove, allow to cool, and slice into thin strips.

Heat brown rice syrup in a small sauce pan with about 3 tbsp. cold water.  Add lemon juice and stir constantly until syrup is heated and water and lemon juice have been completely absorbed.

Dip your mochi sticks and enjoy!