Tag: Cereal

REVIEW: Kellogg’s Limited Edition Caticorn Cereal

Meghan 4 Comments

Kellogg s Limited Edition Caticorn Cereal

What is Kellogg’s Limited Edition Caticorn Cereal?

While the Kellogg’s R&D department has been busy cranking out new cereals like Taylor Swift churns out sappy love songs, its marketing team has recently recruited a cousin of the former internet sensation Nyan Cat to join its cast of colorful and kid-friendly characters.

Since I bet a bunch of you are about to do this anyway, I’ll give you a moment to open up a video of the famous feline earworm in another tab.

This is named for the adorable cat/unicorn hybrid plastered on each box and features berry-flavored cereal rings studded with glittery sparkles.

How is it?

Similar to how its mascot is easily overshadowed by a different rainbow-surfing cat, Caticorn cereal tastes like a less appealing version of some of Kellogg’s existing offerings. Precisely, it tastes like a less fruity version of Froot Loops, and offers a vaguely strawberry-ish flavor to excite your taste buds.

Kellogg s Limited Edition Caticorn Cereal Dry

Fittingly, a bowl of Caticorn cereal resembles a never-ending pink ocean, foreshadowing how monotonous eating it is. Despite the colorful and entertaining box (which even includes a guide to help you figure out your Caticorn name!) there’s nothing to keep your attention once you get inside. Even the sprinkles, which Kellogg’s felt were noteworthy enough to write a whole blurb about, are so easy to forget that some people may not even realize they’re there unless someone points it out first.

Kellogg s Limited Edition Caticorn Cereal Side of Box

Is there anything else you need to know?

Kellogg s Limited Edition Caticorn Cereal in Milk

Much like Rice Krispies, Caticorn cereal starts to go soggy the moment it touches any liquid. I would recommend eating it out of one of those Anti-Soggy cereal bowls so you don’t end up eating a morning meal of strawberry-flavored corn mush.

Conclusion:

Although it’s far from bad, I can’t see myself ever buying another box of Caticorn cereal. With so many other similar and tastier choices lining the breakfast aisle, there isn’t any reason to choose this over one of Kellogg’s other offerings.

Purchased Price: $5.98
Size: 2 18 oz. boxes (1 lb. 2.7 oz. total)
Purchased at: Sam’s Club
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 1 cup – 110 calories, 5 calories from fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 150 milligrams of sodium, 45 milligrams of potassium, 26 grams of total carbohydrates, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 11 grams of total sugars, 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Honey Brunches of Oats Chicken & Waffles and Maple Bacon Donuts Cereals

Marvo 2 Comments

Post Honey Brunches of Oats Limited Edition Chicken Waffles Cereal

It’s odd to see onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, marjoram, sage, and thyme in the ingredients list for a breakfast cereal. But there they are on the side of the box for Limited Edition Honey Brunches of Oats Chicken & Waffles Cereal.

Oh, this is NOT an April Fools joke.

Even though I have the skills, software, mischievous disposition, and a nearby FedEx Office to print what I need to create fake packaging, Honey Brunches of Oats Chicken & Waffles and Maple Bacon Donuts Cereals are real. Pinch yourself, slap yourself, tickle yourself, or drop your phone on your toe to prove you’re not dreaming.

Post Honey Brunches of Oats Limited Edition Maple Bacon Donuts Cereal

Post has rolled out these two flavors to celebrate National Cereal Day, which is celebrated annually on March 7 and celebrated almost daily by those who have a large dedicated section in their kitchen for cereal.

Chicken & Waffles combines waffle-shaped maple cereal, savory chicken drumstick-shaped pieces, and frosted and unfrosted flakes. Maple Bacon Donut comes with dark-colored smoky donut-shaped loops and frosted and unfrosted flakes. To be honest, eating unfrosted flakes is scarier than chomping on chicken-flavored cereal.

Post Honey Brunches of Oats Limited Edition Chicken Waffles Cereal Closeup

Post Honey Brunches of Oats Limited Edition Maple Bacon Donuts Cereal Closeup

Even though chicken and bacon are in the names, the meat flavoring is artificial, and Post makes sure to let you know with disclaimers that say no chickens or pigs were harmed in the making of either cereal.

Both have that sweet underlying aroma that’s present with any Honey Bunches of Oats variety. That smell is a good start, but it doesn’t lead to a satisfying finish.

When eaten alone, I could taste the onion powder, garlic powder, etc. used with the chicken-shaped pieces and the artificial smokiness in the cereal loops. I could see myself eating the former as a snack, even though it seems weird to have them in a bowl of cereal and I don’t think of them as tasting like “fried chicken.” But the acrid smoky flavor from the latter doesn’t sit right with my tongue. Perhaps “smoky” isn’t the right adjective. It’s more like sweet burnt flavored.

As odd as it sounds to have those flavors in breakfast cereal, most of the savoriness gets lost among the sweeter components. With the chicken pieces, there are moments when I taste it, but for the most part, the maple stands out. The bacon-flavored loops also fade into the rest of the cereal. Thankfully, the burntness isn’t too noticeable, but all the different flavors seem to negate each other in an unusual way that creates a bland tasting cereal.

As you can tell, if I had to choose one over the other, it would be Chicken & Waffles by a lot. It’s 95 percent waffle/maple flavored, which makes for a decent cereal, but I wish I could taste more chicken.

With both it’s disappointing they aren’t either great tasting or really gross. If they were great tasting, I’d encourage you to buy them so you could experience the magic. If they were really gross, I’d encourage you to buy them for novelty sake and so you could experience the horror. But since they are neither, I don’t think they’re worth your time or money, or a good way to celebrate National Cereal Day.

Thanks to TIB reader Dale M for sending me both cereals.

Purchased Price: $2.99
Size: 11 oz. box (Chicken & Waffles)
Size: 13 oz. box (Maple Bacon Donuts)
Purchased at: Giant Eagle
Rating: 6 out of 10 (Chicken & Waffles)
Rating: 5 out of 10 (Maple Bacon Donuts)
Nutrition Facts: (3/4 cup without milk) Chicken & Waffles – 110 calories, 0.5 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 180 milligrams of sodium, 40 milligrams of potassium, 24 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 9 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein. Maple Bacon Donuts – 110 calories, 0.5 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 190 milligrams of sodium, 45 milligrams of potassium, 25 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 9 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Post Hostess Donettes Cereal

Meghan 10 Comments

Post Hostess Donettes Cereal

Hitting shelves just in time to take advantage of America’s nationwide diet-fatigue following a month of calorie counting and gym-going, Hostess has recently collaborated with Post to release a dynamic duo of breakfast cereals drawing inspiration from two of their most iconic treats!

Advertising miniature donut-shaped pieces coated in a dusting of superfine powdered sugar, it’s easy to see why Hostess’s Donettes cereal would lure weary resolutioners away from Post’s more “healthful” (i.e. boring) offerings. After all, why settle for Shredded Wheat when you can chow down on a bowl of Donettes for breakfast?

Tempting premise aside, my less than awesome experience with Kellogg’s recent Pop-Tarts cereals caused me to be a just a bit skeptical towards how accurately Post would be able to portray the nostalgic fried delights in spoonable form.

Post Hostess Donettes Cereal w Cheerios

My trepidation turned out to be unjustified, though, because Post actually did a really good job with these. Each piece truly resembled the famous mass-produced dough rings, and dwarfed Cheerios by size alone. The sugary outer dust of each miniature donut directed the cereal’s flavor profile, much like with actual Donettes. I think the ultrafine sugar arguably worked even better in this instance, since it wasn’t thick enough to require you to have a glass of water on hand to help you get them down.

Post Hostess Donettes Cereal Bowl

It holds up surprisingly well in milk, too, especially since it’s just shy of 50% sugar by weight. This isn’t Captain Crunch or anything, but I was able to finish my bowl before it got soggy. Better yet, the sweet dust surrounding each morsel was similarly robust, and I was able to detect its presence even on my final few bites.

Post Hostess Donettes Cereal Closeup

At the end of the day, is this the most unique breakfast item out there? Probably not. That dubious honor undoubtadly belongs to Jimmy Dean’s Blueberry Pancakes & Sausage On-A-Stick. Even so, Donettes Cereal is still tasty in its own right, and it’s the marketing that really allows eating this to be an experience of its own. If nothing else, I would tell people to give this a shot just so they could experience the simple joy of shoving donuts into their mouth by the spoonful.

Now, please excuse me while I pour myself another bowl of Donettes.

Purchased Price: $3.98
Size: 18 oz. box
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 cup) 150 calories, 50 calories from fat, 6 grams of total fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 115 milligrams of sodium, 25 milligrams of potassium, 24 grams of total carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 13 grams of total sugars, and 0 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Kellogg’s Limited Edition Peeps Cereal

Mark 5 Comments

Kellogg s Limited Edition Peeps Cereal

What is Kellogg’s Limited Edition Peeps Cereal?

Forget winter. It’s a marshmallow world in the springtime, and Kellogg’s has joined the trend of Peep-ifying everything by creating Peeps Cereal. It consists of yellow, pink, and blue marshmallow-flavored rings and small marshmallows.

How is it?

Kellogg s Limited Edition Peeps Cereal Dry

When I first opened the box, I got a strong whiff of generic sweetness. It reminded me of Sugar Cookie Pop Tarts. The rings look exactly like Froot Loops or Apple Jacks, just with different colors, and the marshmallows are small, white pieces.

Kellogg s Limited Edition Peeps Cereal Wet

When I eat the cereal, there’s not really a flavor to it. I can’t say it tastes like marshmallows, but then again, I can’t say that marshmallows really taste like anything. It’s sweet enough that I enjoy eating it, but there’s nothing groundbreaking here. I can totally see them swapping the pink and blue rings for red and green and calling it Sugar Cookie Cereal for Christmastime.

Kellogg s Limited Edition Peeps Cereal Swimming Peep

The flavor is mostly identical whether it’s dry or in milk, so enjoy it however you prefer cereal. The milk at the bottom of the bowl is enjoyable, but again, I don’t think of Peeps. I do appreciate that the marshmallows aren’t too crunchy compared to the cereal, which is sometimes a problem with other cereals.

Is there anything else you need to know?

Kellogg s Limited Edition Peeps Cereal Box Back

I absolutely love the cheerful packaging: the spring colors, the iconic chick and bunny, the flowers made of the cereal. On the back of the box is a Candy Land knockoff, called Peeps Land (what else?). Instead of drawing a card from a pile to determine how many spaces to move, you draw a cereal piece. See, it’s better than Candy Land, because you actually get something out of it.

Conclusion:

As a cereal, it’s OK. As a seasonal novelty product, it’s simply adorable.

Purchased Price: $3.79
Size: 18.7 oz. box
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 cup) 110 calories, 5 calories from fat, 0.5 grams of total fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 grams of polyunsaturated fat, 0 grams of monounsaturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 120 milligrams of sodium, 35 milligrams of potassium, 26 grams of total carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 13 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein.

REVIEW: Kellogg’s Honey Nut Frosted Flakes

Marvo 5 Comments

Kellogg s Honey Nut Frosted Flakes Cereal

I want to start this review by writing about the back of the box of Kellogg’s Honey Nut Frosted Flakes.

It’s pure edutainment. It’s as if a Highlights for Children magazine, Where’s Waldo book, and the Wikipedia entry for honey got put into a stew.

I haven’t been paying attention to the back of cereal boxes lately, but this one is mwah. You might be thinking puzzles on the back of a cereal box are super easy and you could solve them before the third spoonful enters your mouth. But these aren’t. I mean, they aren’t as difficult as a Saturday or Sunday New York Times Crossword puzzle, but they seem to stimulate my mind slightly more than the cereal impresses my tongue.

Kellogg s Honey Nut Frosted Flakes Cereal Spoons

Kellogg s Honey Nut Frosted Flakes Cereal Clovers

Kellogg s Honey Nut Frosted Flakes Cereal Honeycomb

The puzzles include finding six spoons in the scenery, finding a four-leaf clover in a patch of three-leaf clovers, and going through a honeycomb maze. Plus, there’s this tidbit (or tidbuzz?) on the box: Honeybees visit more than 2,000,000 flowers just to make one pound of honey. Did you know that? I didn’t, but now I do thanks to this box.

As others on the internet have pointed out, Kellogg’s Honey Nut Frosted Flakes seems like it’s meant as payback at General Mills for coming out with Lucky Charms Frosted Flakes last year that featured a font similar to what Kellogg’s uses with its Frosted Flakes. A later box design came with a different font, but it seems Kellogg’s didn’t forget what the Big G did. So here we are with a cereal to compete with Honey Nut Cheerios.

While they both are “honey nut” cereals, their flavors are entirely different. Both use real honey, but Buzz the Bee should be jealous because the frosted corn flakes are noticeably sweeter than the whole wheat oat pieces. But what might be helping with that is the natural sweetness from the corn itself.

Kellogg s Honey Nut Frosted Flakes Cereal Closup

Honey Nut Cheerios may have a lighter sweetness, but it’s much nuttier. This might be because natural almond flavor is one of the cereal’s main ingredients, while the Kellogg’s cereal makes no mention of nuts in the ingredients. This difference is perhaps the reason why the flakes taste, at times, like original Frosted Flakes. Because of that, I slightly prefer Honey Nut Cheerios over its corn flake competition.

But if you want something that’s flavorful and a little functional, then Honey Nut Cheerios is the clear winner. Both are fortified with vitamins and minerals, but because Cheerios is made with whole grains, they provide two grams of fiber per 3/4 cup serving. As for Honey Nut Frosted Flakes, its box has more fiber than the zero grams the cereal has.

DISCLOSURE: I received a free sample of the product. Doing so did not influence my review in any way.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 13.7 oz. box
Purchased at: Received from Kellogg’s
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (3/4 cup) 110 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 150 milligrams of sodium, 35 milligrams of potassium, 26 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 10 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein.