The Impulsive Buy

REVIEW: Cocoa Puffs Oatmeal

Heather / June 23, 2021 / Reviews / 7 Comments

What is Cocoa Puffs Oatmeal?

I can picture it now: General Mills executives sitting around a long mahogany conference table saying, “Well, we already have a solid breakfast product with Cocoa Puffs cereal… let’s make ANOTHER breakfast product and turn it into oatmeal!” So that’s what we have here — Cocoa Puffs Oatmeal. It’s an instant oatmeal with a chocolatey flavored crunchy topping.

How is it?

I’m a big oatmeal fan – it’s my breakfast food of choice. So I was really excited to try this one, especially since I also love chocolate. The directions say you can use either water or milk (like any traditional instant oatmeal). I typically use water, so that’s what I went with. After the recommended time in the microwave, I had a warm bowl of chocolate oatmeal.

But wait! Before you dig in, don’t forget to add the chocolatey flavored crunch topping. This comes in a separate pouch (the pouches in the box are two different colors and labeled appropriately, either oatmeal or topping). At first glance, you could almost mistake the packets for Swiss Miss hot chocolate packets! The topping looks like small espresso beans and didn’t melt when added.

Let’s talk flavor. This does, indeed, taste like Cocoa Puffs. A mellow, chocolate taste that’s not overly sweet. The only thing I wish is that it had an even stronger chocolate flavor. If I’m having chocolate for breakfast, I want it to be very prevalent. The topping helped with that, adding a nice crunch. I was also pleased with the amount of topping – I had enough to have some with each bite. The benefit to the mellow chocolate was that it did feel like I was having breakfast versus dessert, which is the goal.

Anything else you need to know?

It’s been a while since I had instant oatmeal in packets (I usually go for old-fashioned oats), so I forgot how small of a serving one of these packets can be. If you’re someone who needs a large breakfast to fuel your day, you might want to consider supplementing with something else.

Conclusion:

Looking forward to having this again. Next time, I’m going to add some peanut butter to make it even more fun!

DISCLOSURE: I received a free product sample. Doing so did not influence my review.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 8.4 oz box (6 servings)
Purchased at: Received from General Mills
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (per 1 pouch oatmeal + 1 pouch topping) 150 calories, 2.5 grams of total fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 115 milligrams of sodium, 29 grams of total carbohydrates, 3 grams of dietary fiber, 12 grams of total sugars, and 3 grams of protein.

SPOTTED: Pillsbury Mini Sweet Biscuits

Marvo / June 23, 2021 / Spotted on Shelves / 2 Comments

Pillsbury Mini Sweet Biscuits Chocolate Chip and Honey Butter — *Pillsbury Mini Sweet Biscuits (Chocolate Chip and Honey Butter)*

Pillsbury Mini Sweet Biscuits Blueberry and Cinnamon Sugar — *Pillsbury Mini Sweet Biscuits (Blueberry and Cinnamon Sugar)*

Yes, Pillsbury. MAKE THE OVEN OBSOLETE! NO MORE PREHEATING! NO MORE WAITING TO BAKE! NO MORE WAITING TO COOL DOWN! NO MORE VARYING OVEN TEMPERATURE BASED ON ELEVATION! Make ALL your products ready-to-eat! You and your Doughboy have that power! (Spotted by Amanda Y at Walmart.)

SPOTTED: Starburst Sugar Free Gelatin Mixes

Marvo / June 22, 2021 / Spotted on Shelves

I’m imagining what sugar free Starburst candy would taste like. It’s not a good image. It involves a lot of grimacing and blechs. So I’m not sure about these. (Spotted by Erin K at Walmart.)

SPOTTED – 6/22/2021

Marvo / June 22, 2021 / Spotted on Shelves / 9 Comments

Here are some interesting new products found on store shelves by your fellow readers. If you’ve tried any of the products, share your thoughts about them in the comments.

(Spotted by Amanda Y at Walmart.)

Clif Cereal Chocolate Peanut Butter and Honey Peanut Butter — *Clif Cereal (Chocolate & Peanut Butter and Honey & Peanut Butter)*

(Spotted by Amanda Y at Walmart.)

Clif Cereal Blueberry Almond Butter — *Clif Cereal Blueberry & Almond Butter*

(Spotted by Sarah R at Walmart.)

(Spotted by Amanda Y at Walmart.)

*Theo Organic Extra Dark Salted Cashew Dark Chocolate*

*Theo Organic Extra Dark Vanilla Cocoa Nib Dark Chocolate*

*Theo Organic Hazelnut Crisp Milk Chocolate*

(Spotted by Rachel C at Whole Foods.)

Crafty Cooking Kits No Bake Cheesecake Raspberry and Chocolate — *Crafty Cooking Kits No-Bake Cheesecake (Raspberry and Chocolate)*

(Spotted by Amanda Y at Walmart.)

(Spotted by Rachel C at Target.)

REVIEW: White Cheddar Chex Mix

Vin / June 22, 2021 / Reviews / 10 Comments

As the world’s preeminent Chex Mix connoisseur*, I won’t pretend I was blown away by the prospect of a White Cheddar flavor.

Cheddar Chex Mix exists. White Cheddar just felt redundant. We only get a new Chex Mix flavor every few months, and nothing about it felt innovative.

Why do we need White Cheddar? Who at General Mills ate Cheddar Chex Mix and said, “Yeah, it’s good, but can we make it whiter?”

Actually, let’s not theorize about who would say that.

Nevertheless, it is my sworn duty to try every single Chex Mix flavor, so I acquired a bag – a bag that instantly bugged me because it looked exactly like one of my all-time favorite flavors, Honey Nut.

White Cheddar Chex Mix PIeces — *White Cheddar Chex Mix (top) Cheddar Chex Mix (bottom)*

As I inspected the pieces of the mix itself, I couldn’t help but feel like White Cheddar Chex Mix was missing something big – the cheese cracker. That is, without a doubt, my favorite Cheddar mix piece, so I was bummed Chex instead opted to go with the generic, teeth-shattering rye chips.

That being said, most people love that piece way more than I do, so I understand.

They say you eat with your eyes first, so if I ended the review there, we’d be looking at a 4 out of 10. Luckily, I fulfilled my oath and tasted it.

Chex Mix, you’ve done it again!

The White Cheddar flavor had way more complexity than I wanted to give it credit for. On any given bite, I felt like I was eating everything from gourmet popcorn to garlic bread.

I bought a classic Cheddar Chex Mix bag, and while comparing, I noticed just how different regular cheddar and white cheddar really are. These had a more subtle flavor as if it was a light cheddar mixed with parmesan.

On the first handful, I got hit with a Wise Buttered Popcorn nostalgia wave. I haven’t ripped one of those yellow bags in ages, but that’s exactly what it tasted like. Once the mild cheddar cheese took over, it reminded me of another classic bagged popcorn – Smartfood White Cheddar.

I couldn’t shake that overall popcorn vibe and almost wish they included popcorn within the mix. It was like opening one of those tri-flavor Christmas tins and alternating bites between the cheese and the butter flavors.

But it didn’t stop there. The flavor kept slightly morphing as I crunched on, with some bites genuinely putting me in mind of a buttery garlic bread with a dash of cheese. I highly doubt these contain garlic powder, but the sample sent to me didn’t have ingredients listed, so I can’t confirm. Either way, I think I have an idea for a new Chex Mix flavor down the line.

All of my assumptions were wrong here. This is not just a lazy reboot of the Cheddar flavor. It’s a delicious new entry in Chex Mix’s elite snack lineup. I’d recommend grabbing a bag of Smartfood and creating a mega White Cheddar mix.

I still like Cheddar slightly more, but these are coming in just a tick below. Feel free to release any color cheddar you want moving forward.

(*2015-18, 2020. I won’t forget about 2019, Alex G. of Denmark. Hope you enjoyed your reign on top, you fraud.)

DISCLOSURE: I received a free product sample. Doing so did not influence my review.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: Not available
Purchased at: Received from Chex Mix
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: Not available on sample packaging.

Cereal Chex Mix