It's Cereal AND It's Pink for Valentine's Day - Double Theme'd!

Wrapping up this week's unplanned cereal theme, I have Strawberry Milkshake Frosted Flakes. 

I went out for drinks with friends from college, but I don't drink, or smoke. Everyone at the table asked, "what DO you do?" I go on post-work junk-food binges, and watch a LOT of movies. (As you can tell, I'm very cool and very social.) Crap-food and movies are my thing, and my community of junk food loving bloggers let me know I'm not alone in this, but I guess non-internet people find it strange. 

Anyway, this was bought during one of those binges I mentioned. I walk the aisles and put anything interesting into my cart, and this made the cut. I wasn't especially excited to try it, and I definitely didn't meant to commit to the family sized box, but at the very least, it's pink and Valentine's Day-looking. Another happy on-theme accident! 

Are these possibly better than the original? Let's find out.  

I guess the accidental theme this week is...breakfast? - Apple Pie Toast Crunch

It's official, I've finally been doing this long enough that I've started to forget products. 

Take a look at this, vs, 2019's Apple Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Similar, yet, different. And 2019 wasn't even that long ago! (I guess that means that the flavor combination was rather forgettable.) 

Welp, at the very least, the cereal shape is different. So let's see how this compares to my old post. As always, I'll do a dry taste test and then a bowl with milk. 

Reese's-ception - Breakfast for Candy?

We have a new Big Cup, and this time there's Reese's Puff cereal inside.

I found the last two flavors, pretzel and potato chip, pretty disappointing. Not bad, but far from great. I bought them once to review them, and then never again. But, the one with the Reese's Pieces inside? Amazing. I actually like them more than the original! 

Reese's-ception, doubling down on the good stuff we all know and love, seems to be where their products really shine. And we've gone full-circle. The cereal's slogan was, "It's Reese's, for breakfast!" But now we have...breakfast for Reese's? (The line delivery from that TV ad lives rent free in my head.)  

Sometimes Spicy - CinnaFuego Toast Crunch

CinnaFuego is old news, so I wasn't going to blog about it...until I found out how unpopular it was. I knew I had to post something to clear it's good name.

What is CinnaFuego? 

It's Frick'n Bats! - Reese's Puffs Bats

Reese's Bats Cereal - Gift

Another, normal, year-round product with a spOoky makeover. Now I got this as a gift, so part of me feels obligated to gush over it, and yes, it has great seasonal box art, but I'm going to take this opportunity to voice a (potentially) hot take instead. 

Reese's Puffs. Are Garbage. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Before avid Reese's-fans roast me, let me explain. 

I'm one of you! I love Reese's Cups, and mourn the loss of the really awesome Reese's Oreo collab. I may not be a peanut butter addict, BUT I do love peanut butter breakfast cereal, and when it comes to great peanut butter flavor, this ain't it.

Gummies? For Breakfast?

Froot Loop Gummies

Like most novelty items, I thought this was a gimmick. That these would look like Froot Loops, but taste like generic fruity flavors: cherry, lime, grape, etc. Turns out, I was wrong. 

I should have known better. Froot Loop Pop-Tarts were impressively accurate. Why would gummy candy be any different? 

Where have you been hidin' out lately, honey? - Fruity Cereal Kit-Kat Bar

When I first started blogging, I would find out about a new product and purposefully go out to several stores just to find it. Hitting up three Targets in a day to find exclusive limited edition m&m's or different flavors of Peeps. It was fun while it lasted, but I don't do that anymore. I just go about my day, run errands, and if I happen to see stuff while I'm out and about, I'll get it.  That's what happened here. I saw this flavor released on Instagram, what feels like ages ago, and then I spotted it at CVS in a Key Lime Kit-Kat display box while buying Neosporin. (Living that glamourous cat-owner life.)   

By now, Blueberry Muffin Kit-Kats have been released, which means Fruity Cereal is old news, but it's still Rock n Roll to me. I'm still excited to give this a try. 

The Styrofoam of Ice Creams

 Fruity Pebbles Light Ice Cream Pint - Walgreens

I'm no food scientist, so I can't explain to you the chemical make-up of...whatever this is. Instead, let me explain it to you with childhood memories and products.

Ah Chex Mix, We Meet Again - Strawberry Yogurt Simply Chex

Strawberry Yogurt Chex Mix - Target

Did anyone else go through obsessive snacking phases as a teen, or was it just me? There was one summer I was absolutely obsessed with Herr's BBQ potato chips. I ate them until I was absolutely sick of them. I moved on to Pizza/Ranch Doritos which I ate religiously until they were discontinued. Then I became obsessed with Chex Mix for a few years, but this was back when it was new, in a blue and white bag, and it still had bagel chips. (I also think the pieces covered in extra seasoning were far more plentiful back then.) There is actually a fun rant about which pieces are the best in The Venture Bros. episode, A Very Venture Halloween.

The extra-seasoned rice Chex were my holy grail during snacking, I could easily demolish an entire bag while seeking them out. But, like the BBQ chips, eventually I made myself sick of it, so I moved on to something else. 

During my Chex-Mix-less years, things changed. More flavors, both sweet and savory, have come and gone, and, as stated earlier, bagel chips are MIA in the original mix (but we still keep two different types of meh-flavored-pretzels? Blasphemy!)

I think I have only tried a handful of the different varieties. I remember a caramel turtle flavor, a chocolate one, and the bold mix (which I hoped was 100% extra seasoned pieces, so I was very disappointed when it wasn't). I think that's it, but honestly, none of the other flavors appealed to me. Even now, I bought this flavor on a complete whim. At best I had hopes this would taste like breakfast cereal, at worst? Chapstick or maybe NesQuik. So, will this be a new snacking obsession, or a regrettable impulse buy? 

Get into The Loop - Froot Loops Pop-Tarts - TOASTED UPDATE

 Froot Loops Pop-Tarts - Target

With all the health and safety risks these days, I have been trying to stay home as much as possible and avoid stores, in doing so I've been safe, but I've also missed out on trendy food items. For the most part, missing out on a few Oreos and a bunch of novelty breakfast cereals didn't bother me, but then there were items like these that I found really intriguing. I finally got my hands on them, so let's hope they were worth the wait.

In a world of Fruit Punch, Swedish Fish, and Glittery Trolls Oreos, be a Chocolate Marshmallow.

Chocolate Marshmallow Oreo - CVS

Suddenly, I have a bit more time on my hands (imagine that!), and there's no better way to dust off the ol' food blog than with a new Oreo review.  

I have a few backlogged Oreo flavors I still need to type up, like caramel coconut, mystery, marshmallow moon, and maple creme (lot of "m" names...), but I wanted to push all those aside and talk about this flavor in particular.

Chocolate Marshmallow Oreos don't have very fancy packaging, and visually, they aren't much to look at, but what they lack in shock-value, they more than make-up in flavor payoff. 

Oreos have done marshmallow before, but never like this. 

That's My Jam!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Puffs - Aldi 

I don't like eating actual peanuts, or spoonfuls of PB straight from the jar, but peanut butter breakfast cereal? That's my Jam. 

Speaking of jam (segues are hard), I'm a strawberry kind of girl, and while the combination of strawberry and peanut butter was a rarity in my childhood, in recent years, we've gone through a strawberry-based PB&J renaissance. We've had strawberry and PB Pop-Tarts, Skippy Minis and fruits bites, snack bars, m&m's, Greek yogurt, and more...but sadly, a lot of these products were either limited edition, or discontinued far too soon. (R.I.P. PB&J Pop-Tarts.)  

A perfect example of this is the Jif PB and strawberry breakfast cereal. It was released back in 2015 and, although I didn't get the chance to try it for myself, Cerealously spoke very highly of it. Thankfully, Aldi swooped into the food-flavor graveyard and stole the concept for itself. (Just like it did with the cheesy garlic bread potato chips Lay's abandoned.) 

So, without futher delay let's examine this re-animated breakfast-food corpse! 

Count Chocula Treats From My Stash

Count Chocula Treats - CVS Halloween Clearance 

I always go ALL-IN on the Halloween clearance aisles, but in 2019, I out did myself. Take a look at this lovely photo of me, and my dogs, surrounded by the first round of my post-Halloween haul. Everything here was at least 50% off! (Then I bought even more a few days later at 75% off!) 

We're finally nearing the end of my stash, so I thought I would take a moment to shout-out a few of our favorite items, starting with these Count Chocula cereal bars. 

Count Chocula Gets a Seasonal Makeover? - Chocolate Lucky Charms

Chocolate Lucky Charms  - Aldi

So Lucky Charms seems to be branching out and offering it's delightful marshmallow-y cereal in a new array of flavors, and I'm left asking, why?

I'm A Dry-Cereal Advocate - Don't @ Me

Apple Cinnamon Toast Crunch - Target

 

I'm a dry-cereal advocate, but only for certain brands/lines. Take Cinnamon Toast Crunch for example. 

When in milk, all the granulated sugar and flavor-dust washes away to create a coveted cereal milk concoction mimicked by fancy foodies, but to get to it, you need to power through a lackluster soggy cereal situation. Now, I can appreciate some delicious cinnamon-infused cereal milk, but have you ever tried...just eating the cereal? I am now a 30+ year old future corpse adult, and I eat Ziploc baggies of dry cereal at work, and it's amazing. 

So far I have found the dry cereal rule to be true for both classic Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and Sugar Cookie Toast Crunch, but what about Apple? Will this cereal will be the exception to the rule?

Ice Cream for Breakfast!

Cocoa Puffs Ice Cream Scoops - Ollie's Discount

Rounding out the faux-ice cream trifecta is this box of limited edition Cocoa Puffs Ice Cream Scoops. I found these at Ollie's Discount (which is where all limited edition food goes to die), and even though I am pretty sure these are going to taste gross, I couldn't pass up having a third Neapolitan review on the blog. 

A while back I reviewed the Target Exclusive Neapolitan Peeps
A few days ago I finally posted the American Neapolitan m&m's
and now, we have faux-ice cream for breakfast!

Strange Things Are Afoot At The Special K - Limited Edition Apple Cinnamon Special K

Special K Apple Cinnamon Crunch - Aldi

You guys already know I have a newfound appreciation for breakfast cereal. (See this post for details.)  

I keep the staples, like (Aldi-branded) Frosted Flakes, Special K, and Frosted Mini Wheats stocked at all times, but I figure my family might appreciate some variety, so I've been buying these limited edition releases to keep things interesting...but that hasn't really worked out. 

These seasonal cereals are the last ones picked for the breakfast-kickball team. My family just doesn't want to eat them. After one bowl the novelty has worn off and they rather go back to a tried and true favorite. (Except for those seasonal Lucky Charms, they were decimated in less than a week.) As I type this I have two boxes of seasonal pumpkin spiced cereals in our pantry, practically untouched, but since my boyfriend and his daughter like apples I thought this flavor might be a winner. Was I right? I guess we'll find out!

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...

A Mystery Not Worth Solving (Mystery Oreos)

Mystery Oreos - Walmart $2.98

Oreo is on to me. They know that the rapid-fire nature of their limited edition flavor releases has left me de-sensitized, and I am guessing I'm not the only one. 

The Oreo hype train isn't what it used to be. Most likely, this decline in interest comes from the food-blogger market being over-saturated by lack-luster Limited Edition Oreo releases as it is. I feel as if there's a new Oreo every single week! Which would be a good thing, if they were mostly delicious, but when you try a string of duds one after the other the novelty wears off real fast. 

Being the brilliant company they are, they knew the way to win us back would be to change things up, slightly, and to offer a cash prize rewarding people for re-joining the hype train. It worked. Going against my better judgement, I bought 2 packs at Walmart. Is this a mystery worth solving? I hope so...

Gettin' Lucky (Charms) Milkshake - Quickie Review

Lucky Charms Shake -  Burger King (Gift)

My boyfriend's daughter treated the entire household to milkshakes. (Which was super awesome.) So I took this opportunity to try one of the cereal milkshakes that were all the rage a few months ago. Better late than never, right? 

Let me start off by saying I wanted the smallest milkshake size available, and apparently, this is it. It's about the size of a medium soda, which is more milkshake than my stomach had bargained for. (After eating pizza and wings that is.) The vanilla base has a blue-ish tinge to it, and there are tiny beige pieces of cereal and colorful mashed up marshmallow bits scattered on the surface, but due to the whip cream topping, they're only visible on the sides of the lid.  

According to the Burger King website, this isn't just a vanilla milkshake with cereal mixed into it. There's a "sweet marshmallow cereal flavored syrup," that brings this to a whole new level. I took a sip, and if it's there, I can barely notice it. The base for the milkshake is a sweet and creamy vanilla, which is pleasant, but nothing special. I enjoy it as much as I would enjoy any other fast food vanilla shake, what I didn't expect, was how much I would love the mixed in cereal bits. 

As you sip, chunks of soggy cereal slide up your straw giving this milkshake a bubble-tea like experience. Sip, chew. Sip, chew. The cereal bits didn't offer much in the way of flavor, they tasted like soggy Lucky Charms, but I loved the added texture. The marshmallow bits, through pretty, didn't add much in the way of texture or flavoring, but the cereal? It was awesome! 

I didn't think I would be able to finish this milkshake (due to my pizza and wing binge-fest) but I actually did! Seeking out bits of cereal kept things interesting, and I found it to be a very pleasant milkshake experience.  

I still think the marshmallow cereal flavored syrup is a glorified vanilla syrup of some kind, but the novelty of this milkshake ended up being far more enjoyable than I expected. If you're a fan of bubble tea, I highly recommend adding some Lucky Charms cereal to your next milkshake. You'll be pleasantly surprised! 

 © Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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