Chocolate Strawberry LOADED

Name: Chocolate Strawberry LOADED
Variation: LOADED
Manufacturer: General Mill

Review: I was excited to see that General Mills is continuing to expand their LOADED lineup this year. Previously, the only flavor not tied to an existing brand (Cocoa Puffs, Trix, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch) was Birthday Cake LOADED. Now, I introduce to you Chocolate Strawberry LOADED - and just in time for Valentine's Day!

The great thing about this cereal is that it's the first LOADED cereal to use chocolate (creme) filling instead of vanilla. How exciting is that? The color of the cereal is vividly red, and it smells of strawberry. It could have a more vibrant flavor, but I think what sells these LOADED cereals is the satisfying mouthfeel. They soften up in milk, without tasting soggy, and are a lot of fun to eat. Kellogg's Krave might very well have a new competitor!

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Vividly pink but faintly flavored.

Honey Bunches of Oats - with Real Strawberries

Name: Honey Bunches of Oats - with Real Strawberries
Variation: Honey Bunches of Oats
Manufacturer: Post

Review: This cereal delivers on its promise of having real (freeze-dried) strawberry slices - and honestly, I'm a little impressed. I mean, I guess I could have just added fresh strawberries myself, but it's nice to have them already in the box. And the concentration's pretty favorable - sometimes you don't get enough of the good stuff, but that's not a problem here. The strawberries add a much needed burst of flavor to this otherwise boring oat 'n' granola cereal. It's much better than the utter disappointment that was Cheerios Oat Crunch Berry. It's still not going to become one of my favorites, but, unlike the version with almonds, it's good enough to eat.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Strawberry and flaked.

Monster Combos

Three years ago, the appearance of Monster Mash cereal inspired me to combine my own mix of the Monster Cereals together for a frightful concoction. The result was disappointing; there was just too much going on in the bowl. So I'd been thinking of trying out different combinations of these cereals, two at a time. And with last year's introduction of Carmella Creeper to the lineup - a caramel apple cereal - the possibilities show even more promise. Step into my kitchen laboratory, and we'll try some experiments!

Chocolate/Caramel Apple

I thought this sounded like a good combination - chocolate and caramel go well together, and it's in a similar vein to the classic fall treat, the candy apple. And it does taste good. Honestly, I think the chocolate draws out the caramel flavor better. I'm surprised General Mills hasn't done something like this yet, although Carmella Creeper is still pretty new. Maybe it'll be next year's version of Monster Mash. I'd like that.

Strawberry/Blueberry

Mixing the two berry cereals together seemed like a no-brainer, although their similarity means the combination lacks distinction. And though, as expected, the flavors complement each other well, it's not as fruity as I would have thought. It tastes mostly of corn. Even the milk is surprisingly plain. Once again, it's the marshmallows alone that carry this cereal.

Caramel Apple/Strawberry

Visually, the green balances out that vibrant pink, and the marshmallows kind of fade into the background. When I eat Carmella Creeper alone, the flavors don't really stand out, but pairing it with something else seems to make the caramel pop. This is like plain Carmella Creeper, but with a slightly fruitier balance. I'd say it's an improvement over either cereal alone.

Caramel Apple/Blueberry

As far as I can tell, this is the combination they use for Monster Mash Remix - although they probably use a different mix of marshmallows, and who can be sure what flavors they might add without telegraphing it with the proper dyes? On that note, the colors complement each other well - bright green contrasted with dark purple. And the flavors do, too - better than you might think, pouring caramel over blueberries. This is pretty similar to caramel apple/strawberry, but I think Boo Berry has a slightly better flavor than Franken Berry, so this is a little bit better. It's not a bad choice for a Monster Mash; although I would still prefer chocolate/caramel apple.

Strawberry/Chocolate

Chocolate-covered strawberries, anyone? The brown and pink make a nice contrast. I feel like the fruity flavor is more front-and-center, but there's a nice chocolate undercurrent. It's not a bad combination - it certainly makes Franken Berry more palatable. I don't think I like it as much as chocolate/caramel apple, though. Every once in awhile, I get a bite that seems to clash, but I'm not sure why.

Blueberry/Chocolate

Although conceptually very similar to strawberry/chocolate, I think blueberries and chocolate is a somewhat less common combination. But still good. The purple Boo Berry pieces are so dark, you can hardly distinguish them from the brown Count Chocula pieces. It's a shame it doesn't make as good a visual impression (looks do matter), because I think it tastes better than the mix with Franken Berry. Which was to be expected.

Caramel Apple/Berry

I did this with Count Chocula way back when, so I thought it would only be fair to give Carmella Creeper a chance. And it's not bad. I used two parts caramel apple (1 cup) to each part strawberry and blueberry (half cup each) for a proper balance of flavors. It's really not that much different from using Franken Berry or Boo Berry alone. And the mix of colors looks much more lively. I have no idea why they don't use this as their Monster Mash; I think it's just as good.

Berry/Chocolate

Although I did this once before, with all the other combinations I was mixing together, I figured I could stand to give it a second chance. And this time, like with my caramel apple/berry concoction, I mixed the chocolate 2:1 with the strawberry and blueberry, so it's equal parts chocolate and fruity. The blending of the Count Chocula and Boo Berry pieces does dull the visual impression a little - on the other hand, it has more of a gradient look. I taste the chocolate more than the fruitiness. That said, the fruitiness kind of clashes with the chocolate for some reason. I honestly can't say why this combination doesn't work better, but the success of Monster Mash clearly relies on the presence of newcomer Carmella Creeper.

Monster Medley

I'm calling this "Monster Medley" because Monster Mash was already taken. You know I had to do it. But yeah, there's a lot going on in this cereal. The flavors aren't bad, but it doesn't really coalesce into a single flavor experience. Even if you take the time to mix it up evenly, you're bound to get a different concentration of pieces in every spoonful. It looks interesting, though - with all those colors. And now, I'm kinda sick of the Monster Cereals. I don't think I wanna eat them again for a whole year... :-p

Franken Berry

Notice: The year I started this blog, General Mills came out with Monster Mash. The following year, they brought back Frute Brute. And last year they introduced Carmella Creeper. I originally didn't review Count Chocula, Franken Berry, and Boo Berry because I considered them the regular cereals, and the others the limited edition novelties. But I've been waiting for a "fallow year" with a lighter load on Halloween so I could properly review the classics. And now that time has come!

Name: Franken Berry
Variation: Monster Cereals
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: This is actually my least favorite of the Monster Cereals, even though it's basically the flagship variety (or was that Count Chocula?). It's a bright, shocking pink, and it smells good, but after so many bites, it kinda starts tasting plain. If not for the marshmallows, it'd be incredibly dull. Don't get me wrong, it's edible, but there's not much here to inspire a craving. You've heard me say this before, but I think they should use Frute Brute's new formula, and re-name it Franken Cherry. Strawberry's a good flavor, but it's overdone.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Tastes of strawberry, to its credit.

Birthday Cake LOADED

Name: Birthday Cake LOADED
Variation: LOADED
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: Having tried Cocoa Puffs, Trix, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch LOADED, I was surprised to see this new cereal on the shelves. It's the first one to break the mold of being based on an already established Big G cereal. I'm not even sure whose birthday we're celebrating... But given that I've described the other LOADED cereals as tasting like eating vanilla frosted cupcakes, it would seem to be a natural choice.

This time, the biscuits are pretty and pink. I don't know if it's just the power of suggestion, but I swear they taste faintly of strawberry. In milk, they actually do a really good job of imitating the texture and mouthfeel of a frosted birthday cake. Given that I'm not very fond of birthday cake to begin with (as has already been established), I like it better than I thought I would. In fact, this might just be the best birthday cake cereal on the market - better, even, than LOL Surprise!

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Pink, but kinda plain.

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.

Team Cheerios

Name: Team Cheerios (Frosted Berry)
Variation: Cheerios
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: Although curiously not including the word "Olympics" anywhere on its packaging (I'm sure there are major copyright and royalty issues involved), this new variety of Cheerios seems obviously poised as a tie-in. I didn't even realize this was an Olympics year, so I guess it did its job. I'm intrigued by the combination of strawberry, frosted, and blueberry Cheerios to simulate the colors of the American flag (although it's more of a pink, yellow, and purple, than a red, white, and blue) - and I like that the different colors actually have different flavors for once. Let's open it up!

The muted colors definitely don't make much of a visual impression (especially compared to a cereal like Summer Fruity Pebbles), but it smells fruity. As expected from a Cheerios cereal, it doesn't blast you with sweetness, but it does have a pleasant taste. And I think it's a great combination of flavors. The strawberry and blueberry Cheerios complement each other well, and the frosted Cheerios make for a nice bridge. I like it. And it's good with fresh fruit cut up into it, too. Despite looking and sounding like a cheap cash-in novelty to advertise the Olympics, it's actually a good cereal. I would eat "Frosted Berry" Cheerios even if it had nothing to do with the Olympics.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Blue, and very berry-flavored.

Very Berry Cheerios

Name: Very Berry Cheerios
Variation: Cheerios
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: With "the taste of real berries in every bite", these Cheerios are pink with visible bits of fruit mashed into them. Surprisingly, it's not that generic, amalgamated "berry" flavor you usually get in these cereals - you can detect individual notes of strawberries and raspberries. It's good in milk; more refreshing and not quite as dry as Blueberry Cheerios.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting to like it, but I'm impressed with how pleasant and fruity it is, even without adding fresh fruit to it. I tried adding strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries, but there was too much going on in the bowl. You're better off sticking with just strawberries; or you could try supplementing the included flavors with something that's missing - like banana. But even without add-ins, I can recommend it.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Blue, speckled, and very fruity.

Frosted Mini Wheats Strawberry

Name: Frosted Mini Wheats Strawberry
Variation: Frosted Mini Wheats
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: I'll tell you straight out, I don't have much to say about this cereal. As has been set by precedent, this is another example of Frosted Mini Wheats having a good added flavor, but me not being able to get past the shredded wheat. In this case, the flavor is strawberry (although the box says "juicy", I think it's more creamy). There are no surprises here - you know what you're getting, and you probably have a good idea whether you'll like it or not. As for me, I'll pass.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Slightly strawberry, mostly wheaty.

[Experiment] Peanut Butter & Jelly Crunch

Description: Here's a fun idea that was hiding in plain sight - adding Crunch Berries to Peanut Butter Crunch... to make Peanut Butter & Jelly Crunch! I picked out the red and purple berries specifically, to represent strawberry and grape jam. Unfortunately, all the berries have the same flavor (I believe the consensus is strawberry); so there is room for improvement. Quaker Oats, are you listening? My instinct was to match the Peanut Butter and Crunch Berries 1:1, but surprisingly, the peanut butter flavor overpowered the Crunch Berries, so I think it's best to bias the mix toward the Crunch Berries. It's good! It can't replace the heartwarming feeling of biting into an actual PB&J sandwich, but it was a fun experiment to try!

Available in strawberry or grape! (Although not really...)

Rating: 🥣🥣

[Experiment] Froot Loops Lemonade

Description: I wanted to try this experiment last summer, but I never got around to fitting it into my schedule. But after trying Frosted Lemon Cheerios this spring (and then discovering another lemon cereal in Hot Wheels), I felt it was time.

I remember being pretty shocked when I learned that the flavor of Froot Loops is lemon - less from the realization that the differently-colored loops are not different flavors, and mainly because when it comes to fruit-flavored candy and snacks, I tend to favor the red fruits (strawberry, cherry, watermelon) over the citrus-y ones (lemon, lime, orange). Yet, somehow, Froot Loops is my favorite (mainstream) fruity cereal.

Anyway, knowing that Froot Loops is lemon-flavored, I'm surprised Kellogg's has never (at least to my knowledge) capitalized on that fact and marketed a "lemonade" oriented version of Froot Loops. It could be a summer staple! I was thinking that you could pare down the loops to just yellow and red/pink, and call it Froot Loops Pink Lemonade.

Pink & Blue Lemonade

Of course, once I thought of that, my imagination started running, and I realized you could do a number of other variations - like Lemon Lime, Blue Raspberry, and Cherry Limeade!

Lymon Loops

Blue Raspberry

Cherry Limeade

As you can see, I went a step further and started tossing in differently-colored Crunch Berries - which could be used to simulate Strawberry and Blueberry Lemonade!

Strawberry & Blueberry Lemonade

(Yes, it's really red).

Honestly, it got to a point where the myriad possibilities started to become overbearing, and I just had to draw a line and stop experimenting. Maybe that's why Kellogg's has never released a Froot Loops Lemonade. Still, I think it's a good idea.

Rating: 🥣🥣

Miraculous

Name: Miraculous Strawberry Macaron
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: Although I haven't watched the show (yet), my partner is a huge fan of it, so we were excited when we found out they were making a cereal based on the hit animated series Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir. I actually spotted the boxes on the top shelf at Walmart before they were placed in their display, and climbed the shelves to be one of the first in our store to grab one.

One box, two sides

Upon opening the box, a pleasant aroma of strawberries and cream greets your nose. The cereal consists of light red and purple puffs, with a smattering of plain (and classy) white marshmallows. I was a little bit concerned that I wouldn't like it, based on my reservations towards mixing strawberries with cream, but the puffs have a soft and dough-y texture (no doubt imitating the macarons they're modeled after) that surprised and impressed me - and kept me coming back for bite after bite after bite. I feel like they could have easily left the marshmallows out, but I'm glad they included them, because they provide a little extra variation of flavor and texture.

I'm happy to report that Kellogg's has done Miraculous justice with this cereal - I hope it sticks around for a bit. It would be a good replacement for similar children's media tie-ins - like PJ Masks, LOL Surprise!, Minecraft Creeper Crunch, JoJo Siwa Strawberry Bop!, and Pokémon Berry Bolt - none of which I see in stores anymore.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Light pink and strawberry creamy.

Oops! All Red Berries

Name: Oops! All Red Berries
Variation: Cap'n Crunch
Manufacturer: Quaker Oats

Review: These days, Crunch Berries come in four colors: red, green, blue, and purple. But legend has it that when Crunch Berries debuted in 1967, all the berries were red. So this would be like if Oops! All Berries came out in the seventies. It's actually a pretty clever marketing idea for Valentine's Day (albeit without explicitly mentioning the holiday) - and the box is gorgeous. You already know my opinion on Oops! All Berries, and I find that the red is pretty enough that the reduction in colors doesn't bother me much. It's probably just a psychological trick, because they're all red, but I feel like I can taste the strawberry flavor better than usual. And the milk at the end is the reddest milk I've ever seen! I'd say this is another successful addition to Cap'n Crunch's holiday lineup.

Rating: 🥣🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Dark, vibrant pink!

DC's Strong Berry & Cinnamon Bolts

I must have missed these cereals the first time around, because I found these two boxes at second run stores within about a month of their expiration date. I actually found one at one store, saw an ad for the other on the side of the box, and thought to myself, "I'm never gonna find the other one." But then I went to the next store, and there it was! I was so relieved!

Cinnamon Bolts features The Flash, and Strong Berry celebrates your choice of Superman or Supergirl, depending on which side of the box you favor (in a cereal box version of the "double A-side"). These cereals remind me of the Superman and Batman cereals they had several years ago (probably a promotion for the Batman v. Superman movie from 2016). I don't recall those cereals being very good, but intriguingly, these feature the words "Cap'n Crunch" on the box. Let's see how they taste!

Name: Strong Berry
Variation: Cap'n Crunch?
Manufacturer: Quaker Oats

Review: I have to say, I was really hoping this cereal would taste just like Cap'n Crunch, or maybe even Oops! All Berries, because it looks just like Red, White & Blue Crunch, except with the pieces in the shape of triangular loops (like the field against which the 'S' in Superman's symbol sits). But instead, it's just... plain. Like the kind of cereal you would expect a company named "Quaker Oats" to make if you didn't know they were responsible for Cap'n Crunch. If there's any strawberry flavor at all, it's not berry strong. They could have gone with a proven formula, but instead we get this? What's the point?

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Udderly plain...

Name: Cinnamon Bolts
Variation: Definitely not Cap'n Crunch
Manufacturer: Quaker Oats

Review: Before I tried Strong Berry, when I still thought these cereals were based on Cap'n Crunch, I was very curious to try this one, because I've never seen a cinnamon version of Cap'n Crunch before. But it's just another basic, oat-based cereal, with a subdued cinnamon flavor. The lightning bolt-shaped pieces are really neat, though - Pikachu ought to take note. Between these two cereals, I think this is the better one, but it's not very good, either.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Mildly cinnamon.

Frosted Flakes Cinnamon French Toast & Strawberry Milkshake

Name: Frosted Flakes Cinnamon French Toast
Variation: Frosted Flakes
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: The weirdest thing happened when I opened this box of Frosted Flakes. I don't know if trying different varieties of Frosted Flakes is warming me up to the cereal, or if it's because I just had French Toast Crunch and wasn't super fond of it. But when I opened this box and smelled the cinnamon, I was actually looking forward to eating it! And it wasn't too bad. I don't know if it tastes like French toast so much as just cinnamon (is there even maple in this?), but that's okay. It's a decided improvement over Crispy Cinnamon Basketballs (cute as those basketballs were), in which the cinnamon flavor was overpowering - this is more evened out. I'm impressed!

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Certifiably cinnamon-y!

Name: Frosted Flakes Strawberry Milkshake
Variation: Frosted Flakes
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: Upon opening the box, you first notice the pink flakes, and the smell of strawberry. Now, I'm a fan of strawberries, and even strawberry candy, but this is more of a "strawberries and cream" taste. And I think I'm finding out, between this and cookies and cream, that I'm not real fond of the "cream" flavor. Conceptually, I love the idea of a cereal turning the milk into a "strawberry milkshake", especially considering that it's not very common, despite strawberry being probably the most popular flavored milk after chocolate. And if you like strawberry milk, you might just love this cereal. But it's not for me.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: I wouldn't call it a milkshake, but it's definitely strawberry milk.

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.

Chocolate Strawberry Cheerios

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

Review: After eating the sort of indulgent cereals I like to eat, I have to temper my taste buds before digging into a bowl of Cheerios. That said, I don't dislike the texture and oaty taste of Cheerios, given the right flavor combination. I would never describe a bowl of Cheerios as "bursting with flavor", but this one, arriving on shelves just in time for Valentine's Day season, has hints of chocolate and strawberry that form a combination that is not unpleasant. I doubt it will become one of my favorite flavors of Cheerios (I have a few in mind that I'm hoping to review for this blog eventually), but I liked it.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: An intriguing blend of chocolate and strawberry.

JoJo Siwa Strawberry Bop!

Name: JoJo Siwa Strawberry Bop!
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: For a pop culture tie-in, I was not expecting this cereal (which I first found on the shelves last summer) to be very good; I was pleasantly surprised. It's a strawberry cereal with marshmallows ("Strawberry Bop!"), so comparisons to Franken Berry are apt, but I think this one tastes better. (Sorry Disney Princess, but this is how you do it). As a bonus, the box is cute as heck! I couldn't bring myself to destroy it after the cereal was gone...

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: A faint hint of strawberry.

[Flashback] Disney Princess

Notice: Flashback reviews have been written from memory, without having the cereal in front of me. I started taking pictures of notable cereal varieties several years before I decided to start a blog reviewing them. As such, details beyond whether I simply liked the cereal or not may be hazy, especially regarding the quality of the leftover milk. Whenever possible, I have made an effort to procure another box of the cereal for a proper review (even the ones I didn't like), but due to the ephemeral nature of many of these novelty cereals, this is not always possible.

Name: Disney Princess
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: Here's a flashback to five years ago, when Kellogg's released a whole line of Disney Princess cereals. In hindsight, I regret not getting pictures of each Princess; other boxes featured Belle, Jasmine, and Rapunzel (there may or may not have been others), but I was focused on my favorite Disney Princess - Ariel. Sadly, I remember the cereal itself (strawberry with marshmallows) being very plain, but that didn't stop me from buying a second box (I still have it!) to put in my bedroom shrine dedicated to The Little Mermaid. The first edition boxes were gorgeous - I remember seeing later editions that no longer had the glitter finish. Which is a shame, because this is a cereal that looked a whole lot better than it tasted.

Rating: 🥣