Strawberry Cornflakes

i'd recently bought some strawberry cornflakes (Post's Honey Bunches of Oats with REAL Strawberries!) which is an anomaly because i don't eat cornflakes.

why, you may ask?

because i am lactose intolerant. or to be more specific - 'milk-smell' intolerant. i really, really hate the smell of milk and it stirs up my gag-reflex with a huge wooden spoon. i think i get the runs too, but it's seldom tested because i can't even swallow it without feeling like whatever i ate in one month is coming back out.

you can't eat cornflakes without milk, no?

*shudder*

so when i bought my cornflakes (don't blame me... they're so irresistible! i had grand ideas of eating them dry but [un]fortunately there're huge pieces of frozen strawberries which need to be hydrated), i also bought one bottle of chocolate milk and one bottle of strawberry milk from meiji.

yar, i can drink chocolate milk. i bought strawberry because if i can drink choc, i should be able to drink strawberry, no? and strawberry would go so nicely with my cornflakes...

NOT!!!!!!

it was gross; i tried it yesterday. it was such a sad moment, when i lifted my cup to smell the supposed goodness but all i ended up with was a wrinkled nose and going 'yucks.'. i could smell the milk. IT WAS NOT GOOD.

in the end, various colleagues drank the strawberry milk out of my cup (lena, kingsley, alvin) leaving just that little bit for me to soften the strawberries. all in all (minus the milk) it was quite good... but i still had a big bag of Post's strawberry cornflakes...

so what was i to do with them?? i still had my bottle of chocolate milk but i wasn't keen to start another experiment today after the yesterday's one crashed and burned. but by this morning 1030am i got so ravenous, i washed my cup (i don't have a bowl) and spoon and filled my cup with dry cornflakes.

i picked one piece of cornflake and popped it into my mouth - mmm... sweet.

i picked up one piece of strawberry and popped it into my mouth - *crunch* THIS WILL NOT DO I NEED TO SOAK THE STRAWBERRY IN SOMETHING.

so, hunger took over experimental failure which caused me to have a brainwave.

I SHALL ADD WATER. JUST A BIT, LIKE THE AMOUNT OF STRAWBERRY MILK YESTERDAY, JUST TO ALLOW THE CORNFLAKES TO SOFTEN AND SOAK UP.

i made a calculated press on our water dispenser (cold water, of course) and tilted my cup around a little to allow the top layers some access.

i looked at my cup after i was done, made a little prayer, and dug my spoon in.

and then i ate my cornflakes.

it was nice. really. i was pretty surprised myself while at the same time digging out my cornflakes.

happily, i msged alvin:

Ms. Moo (@):
btw
i am eating my cornflakes
WITH WATER.
diremeow *solder hero*:
WTS
ARE YOU SURE
THAT IS GROSSNESSS
GADS
Ms. Moo (@):
it makes the strawberries soft
:(
diremeow *solder hero*:
*le pukey face*
Ms. Moo (@):
u wanna try?
srsly!!!!!!!!
diremeow *solder hero*:
oh look!
expt time!

i quickly turned around and grabbed him on the shoulder before he could bolt. TRY IT, i said.

with a grimace on his face, he ate a spoonful.

and then another.

and then suddenly all my strawberries disappeared into his mouth.

"ENOUGH, ENOUGH!!" i cried.

but yay, experiment - a success!

disclaimer: i do believe you can only add a bit of water. do not douse your cornflakes in water like you do for milk because it will be gross (i actually recall trying this when i was younger. and it was with Post's Blueberry Morning. i think it's the fruit that drives me insane; i can see no other reason.) also, only do it with Post's cereal. their cornflakes are sweeeeeet.