SPOTTED: Campbell’s Chunky Bowls in the Freezer Section
Campbell’s Chunky Bowls: the meal that eats like a meal. (Spotted by Sara at Save Mart.)
If you spotted something new, send your photos to [email protected].
REVIEW: Blue Bell Chocolate Lava Cake Ice Cream
I’ve been on a few cruises, but being packed on a ship with drunk adults, screaming kids, and various communicable diseases that are likely to cause gastrointestinal distress is not really my thing. One of the only positives I can say about cruising is the availability of unlimited chocolate lava cake. So, I was excited but also dubious when I saw Blue Bell’s new Chocolate Lava Cake Ice Cream.
My first reason for dubiousness is that the base is vanilla ice cream, which seems odd for chocolate lava cake. The second reason is the presumed lack of hot lava in something I got from the grocery store freezer. But my concerns were unfounded. It turns out that Blue Bell, which has been making ice cream for well over 100 years, knows more than I do about making said ice cream, because this flavor is simply magnificent.
Casting vanilla ice cream in a supporting role with the chocolate cake pieces, chocolate sundae sauce, and dark chocolate fudge swirl was a smart move, because using chocolate ice cream might have resulted in a chocolate overload and probably wouldn’t have allowed the other components to shine. The vanilla flavor is almost imperceptible, and that lets its chocolate friends do their thing. And they do it well.
Even using my spoon as a dissection tool, it was tricky to tell what’s what between the three types of chocolate in here. At first, I thought it was the chocolate cake pieces that were tremendously dense, chewy, decadent, and delicious, but the fudginess of it seemed to indicate it was actually the swirl. The cake pieces don’t impart much of a cakey consistency, but I didn’t mind that. The end result was a surprisingly complex mix of different chocolates that I don’t recall getting from any other ice cream. Of course there was no oozing, warm chocolate like in an actual lava cake, but you can’t expect Blue Bell to defy the laws of physics.
Sadly, I did not have any chocolate sauce on hand at my house because the kids would just guzzle it for breakfast, but I might have to get some and hide it behind the vegetables because the only way to make this better would be to warm up a bit of that and drizzle it over the top.
This truly is one of my favorite ice cream flavors, and I don’t have to live in a tiny room for several days to enjoy it.
Purchased Price: $3.99
Size: One Pint
Purchased at: Brookshire Brothers
Rating: 10 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) 300 calories, 15 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 40 milligrams of cholesterol, 95 milligrams of sodium, 37 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 25 grams of sugar, and 5 grams of protein.
New Snacks, Drinks, and More Spotted — July 16, 2026
Here are some interesting new products found on store shelves by your fellow readers. If you’ve tried any of them, share your thoughts in the comments. Spotted something new? Send your photos to [email protected].
Lioness PickMeUp Caffeine-Free Fruit Bites
Lioness Calm Herbal Unwind Fruit Bites
(Spotted by Van at Target.)
Mosh Chocolate Sea Salt High Protein Bar
Mosh Peanut Butter Cup High Protein Bar
(Spotted by Van at Target.)
Southern Grove Pineapple Mango Margarita Trail Mix
Southern Grove Pina Colada Trail Mix
Southern Grove Shiitake Mushrooms
Southern Grove Dried Veggie Chips
(Spotted by Van at Aldi.)
Publix Natural Mango Hibiscus Herbal Tea
Publix Natural Blueberry Pineapple Lemonade
(Spotted by Jarred at Publix.)
Harris Teeter Peach Mango Applesauce Squeezable Pouches
(Spotted by Van at Harris Teeter.)
Jus-Rol Blueberry Puff Pastry Turnover Kit
(Spotted by Amanda Y at Walmart.)
SPOTTED: Banana Nut Bread M&M’s
Exclusively available at Kroger and Kroger-owned chains, which are nowhere near me. (Spotted by Sage G at Harris Teeter – Kroger.)
If you spotted something new, send your photos to [email protected].
REVIEW: Backflip Chocolate Sundae Cereal
A wise man once said, “I make ya slide, make ya slip, make ya wanna backflip.”
I wish Backflip Chocolate Sundae Cereal made me want to slide, slip, or backflip, but the only movements it inspires are: make ya take notes, make ya write, make ya wanna say it’s not a delight.
Backflip Cereal is brought to you by a YouTuber I’ve never heard of, but who has millions of subscribers. Its selling points include less sugar than other cereals, it’s gluten-free, six grams of protein per serving, it’s free from the top nine allergens, no BHT (a preservative), no synthetic dyes, no seed oils, and glyphosate-free. There are also cinnamon, fruity, and strawberry milkshake flavors.
Organic yellow corn flour, sugar, pea protein, rice flour, whole oat flour, cocoa, coconut oil, calcium carbonate, natural flavors, salt, and monk fruit extract.
You might be wondering why I abruptly included the ingredients list above. I did it so I could type the following line: Not a lot of ingredients. Not a lot of flavor.
With so many chocolatey cereals available, you could create a cocoa cereal spectrum. Cocoa Pebbles at the most flavorful end, Cocoa Krispies at the least, with Cocoa Puffs and others somewhere in between. If I were to place Backflip Chocolate Sundae Cereal on that spectrum, it would create a new low end entirely.
While the cereal looks extremely chocolatey, if I fed it to you while blindfolded and tied up because I’ve kidnapped you for ransom money. I’m not sure you’d be able to figure out what flavor it was. You might think coffee, or something slightly fruity. Whatever it is, it’s not a strong flavor. The dark coating seems to provide whatever flavor there is, while the cereal inside appears to have no chocolate and comes in a standard beige “cereal” color.
The coating does wash into the milk, making it look super chocolatey. But as you can probably guess from the cereal’s lack of flavor, the milk also shares the same fate.
There are some non-flavor positives though. The artwork looks cool, although the style reminds me of what characters in movies hallucinate when they’re on LSD. The artwork extends to the back of the box, where you (or your kids) can “color our world.” As you can see below, my kid colored his feelings on the back of this box. Finally, the not-very-flavorful cereal has a great crunch and stays crunchy in milk.
I went in hoping this might be a gosh darn good cereal, since YouTubers tend to make decent food products. For example, Joyride Gummies are hella good. But Backflip Chocolate Sundae Cereal is not, and it doesn’t convince me to try the other flavors. There’s enough sweetness to make it palatable and finishable, but as a chocolate cereal, it make ya yawn, make ya spurn, make ya wanna return.
Purchased Price: $5.99
Size: 8 oz box
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 3 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 cup) 140 calories, 1.5 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 65 milligrams of sodium, 26 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 7 grams of sugar (includes 7 grams of added sugar), and 6 grams of protein.