Sometimes Foodie: Ongoing Winter Theme: Cinnamon Vanilla Lucky Charms

Cinnamon Vanilla Lucky Charms - Aldi

See what I mean about Aldi getting all the name-brand seasonal breakfast stuff? And it's not even off-season! (I know I'm posting this in January, but I bought it back in early December, so it's legit!)

Like Pop-Tarts, I have a whole new appreciation for breakfast cereal.

Everyone in our household works full time and even though I try my best to be all Susie-homemaker (keeping up with the laundry, cooking all our meals at home, buying groceries, and cleaning), I also like to maintain my sanity. I pride myself on making a home-cooked dinner each night, but waking up early and making a Pleasantville-style breakfast spread before work?

Also, The First Wives Club is a highly underrated movie!

So, yeah. Breakfast cereal is awesome, and it gives me something to blog about! Win-Win-Win! With that being said, is this cereal going to be drastically different from the normal, year round, Lucky Charms? We shall see...

I may be skeptical about the cereal inside, but the box-art is pretty legit. We have a white and blue backdrop with brightly colored characters playing in the snow. I like the illustrations, and the overall layout. Plus, the backside of the box is fairly stimulating for half-dead zombie-me to look over in the morning, and it's significantly different from the normal year-round Lucky Charms packaging. Overall? Not bad. (We even have special season-specific marshmallow shapes!)

Once opened, the bag inside smells...like normal Lucky Charms. It's that light, oat-y, cereal aroma with a sugary chaser. If you really get in there you can detect a light cinnamon aroma that is similar to Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but it's very faint.

I poured some into a bowl, and it doesn't look different either. It's the same beige-y cereal pieces with colorful marshmallow bits as always. (Well, the marshmallows are a different shape/color, but it's the same overall look and feel.)

I added milk and took a bite...

This has to be the least cinnamon-y cinnamon cereal I've ever had. This tastes just as delicious as normal Lucky Charms, but that is now what this box promised. This box said it was a limited edition Cinnamon-infused release, and there is very little to no cinnamon to be found. It's as yummy as normal Lucky Charms, so it's far from an inedible flop, but it certainly isn't special or worthy of a limited release.

I think they were trying to cover their butts by calling this "Cinnamon Vanilla." It's basically corporate-food-talk for "really weak cinnamon." That being said, my boyfriend's daughter really likes it, and was excited to try it, but I think she would have been just as happy if I had brought a normal box of Lucky Charms home.

This is not a new, interesting, or unique cereal. It's like eating a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and drinking all the milk, then deciding to reuse the bowl for round-two of breakfast but switching things up with Lucky Charms. There is some cinnamon in there, but for a cinnamon-lover like me? It's weak sauce. Plus, it's something you can easily re-create at home. Just sprinkle some cinnamon on your normal Lucky Charms and, BOOM. There you go.

If you like Lucky Charms, and hate change, but want to feel like you're being adventurous, this is the cereal for you! Me? I wouldn't bother picking it up again, and even though my family is enjoying it, I think they'd enjoy normal Lucky charms just as much.