Cheerios Veggie Blends

Name: Cheerios Veggie Blends (Apple Strawberry & Blueberry Banana)
Variation: Cheerios
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: I know I said I wasn't going to bother trying these - as it's my experience that foods blended with veggies don't usually taste very good (V8, I'm looking at you). But I've been a little more health-conscious lately, and I was looking at the possibility of eating some less sugary alternatives to my usual Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs for a change. Plus, I was sure Maple Cinnamon Cheerios Hearty Nut Medley would be better than these, but that cereal turned out to be a total trainwreck. And these? Well, at least they're edible...

They have a dull, multigrain-like coloring. I can definitely taste that veggie-like flavor (1/4 cup of veggies per serving!), but also with a hint of fruitiness - but only a hint. However, with about half the sugar (or less) of the sugariest cereals on the market, they are not sweet. Are they improved by adding fresh fruit? Well, marginally. Even with fresh fruit, they're still not sweet enough for my palate. I think I'll be able to stomach these two boxes, but there are better flavors of Cheerios out there - in the mid-range for sugar and with low fat content - that I would rather eat.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Just a little sweet and fruity, with an unmistakable veggie undernote.

Banana Caramel Cheerios

Name: Banana Caramel Cheerios
Variation: Cheerios
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: Cheerios is getting really good at banana flavoring - I ate a handful of these, and it gave me that genuine flavor sensation of eating sliced bananas in my cereal (even better is adding actual sliced bananas to this cereal!). The caramel flavor is not super strong, but it's a good complement to the banana flavor, so it doesn't just taste like straight banana. I'd be intrigued to see a Chocolate - or better yet, Peanut Butter! - Banana Cheerios in the future (General Mills, take note). I don't know if I'd pick this cereal over Strawberry Banana Cheerios, but I do like it. It sounds like a weird flavor, but it's good. I happened to note that it vanished off the shelves pretty quickly last fall (whereas Honey Vanilla Cheerios, which I didn't like as much, is hanging around), so I'm glad I grabbed a box while it was available.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Seems you can always count on Cheerios, these days, to leave you with some interestingly-flavored milk at the end of your bowl of cereal.

Froot Loops Tropical

Name: Froot Loops Tropical
Variation: Froot Loops
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: I first came across this novel version of Froot Loops last summer, when the box still had a "limited edition" tag in the corner. Featuring orange, yellow, and green loops that boast pineapple, banana, orange, and mango flavors that seem right at home in the toucan's natural habitat, this variation of Froot Loops would seem to be a no brainer. I just wish I liked it more. Granted, "fruity" isn't my first choice in cereals, but Froot Loops is one of my favorites, and I usually like tropical variations of fruit snacks. But in this case, I just find myself missing the flavor of regular Froot Loops. I'm going to chalk this up to being another cereal idea that looks better on paper.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: A little fruity.

Strawberry Banana Cheerios

Name: Strawberry Banana Cheerios
Variation: Cheerios
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: Two weeks of Cheerios in a row? I've noticed lately that there are a lot of varieties of Cheerios on the shelves. I'm not even sure how many of them are new or limited edition. I don't intend to try them all (at least not in the immediate future), but sometimes there are flavors that catch my attention - like this one.

Strawberry banana is one of my favorite fruit combinations (especially in smoothies and on top of French toast); they're also the two most likely fruits that I'll cut up and put in my cereal (blueberries are also good) - and what better cereal candidate could you have for that than this one?

About half of the cheerios in this box are shaped like hearts, which is cute, and the banana flavor is thankfully not that gaudy flavor you get in banana-flavored candies sometimes (which is like bananas on plutonium). As a kid, Cheerios always seemed like such a dreadfully boring cereal, but with all these creative flavors, my impression of it is definitely improving.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Tastes of strawberry and banana, as you would expect.