Kellogg's Starter Pokémon Cereal - Chocolate Squirtle [@NLi10]

 Way back in the Uni days of 1999 I returned after Christmas and got to my branch of GAME to pick up this weird Japanese game called Pokémon that all the Japanese magazines raved about. The store only had two copies - and one of them was my reserved one.  The guy managing the store was intrigued by why I'd want an obvious kids trash game and bought the second copy - and after playing that day immediately maxed out the orders for it to his store (as did the rest of the nation).  And the rest is history! I picked Pokémon Blue (still got it) - and this week my partner surprised me with the same but in cereal form.

In the actual game I chose Charmander as my starter - not knowing that you'd not be able to just get the rest later - it really was a total mystery to us.

Here we see a puzzle with the regular, great and ultra balls - I won't spoil the answer.

And of course with modern Pokémon you aren't limited by just your starter.

They even added Green (not released outside of Japan) and Yellow (where Pikachu stalks you which was my sister's first version).

Naturally it's all exactly the same cereal

And sadly it's the generic Kellogg's kids mix which barely has any texture or flavour - but works fine as a mixer with cornflakes or fruit to provide an actually nutritious breakfast (or starter meal).

Thinks like this are probably why Kellogg's are upset that cereal is being reclassified as junk food - but frankly it's also a big part of the reason.  Maybe if the kids cereals had dried fruit for the sweetness, actual whole grain for the body, with the fortified (sprayed-on) vitamins then it'd work.  Their big argument is that if you reduce the sugar much more then you'd taste the vitamins and it wouldn't be as popular with the kids.

I say try harder - you'll never beat Gary with that attitude.

Biscoff Everything - KRAVE Caramelised Biscuit & White Choc [@NLi10]

 I think we've reached peak Biscoff.  From the little spicy biscuit you got given with a coffee to signify that it was posh, all the way to every conceivable food.

Here we have Kelloggs KRAVE version, with a Biscoff style outside, and a white chocolate inside.

Standard branding

Standard look

And it doesn't go soggy too quickly. 

The funny thing is though - this is probably the best Biscoff thing I've had in years.  The sweetness is slightly too much for me so I mixed with cornflakes (Kellogg's of course) but otherwise the whole thing is great.

Hopefully this isn't a limited deal (we got ours from B&M) because it's easily as good as the regular KRAVE (which we only don't buy as the Asda own brand version is much cheaper and just as good).

A wonderful blend of flavours and textures - and unlike the Kellogg's spicy naff flakes from Jan - actually a pleasure to eat.

Kellogg's Crunchy Nut - HOT HONEY flavour Crunchies [@NLi10]

 It appears to be Honey week for me here at FoodStuffFinds as both the review before this and after this are honey based!  Is hot honey this year's trendy food?  I really hope not.

Here Kellogg's have a Hot Honey version of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes, with a Crunchies version of the flake too.  For once I'm glad this is a limited edition as it's a bit odd.

Would you like your breakfast to be both too sweet, and too spicy - while having none of the trademark Kelloggs consistency of texture?  Well - here you go!

They look interesting enough

And the smell is vaguely similar to cornflakes - but I think this is intended to prank little brothers or sisters as it is terrible.  

The flavour falls off the flakes due to the milk.  the flakes barely require chewing and are far more similar to B&B grade own-brand cereals than Kelloggs itself.  

The flavour is both spicy and bland at the same time, it's very hard to place what is causing the heat - but it's not a pleasant honey & cinnamon as I'd hoped for.  It's just sweet and hot with no real depth to the flavour at all.  Stick to golden grahams and leave this one on the shelf.

I'm genuinely wondering if I'll bother with a 2nd bowl of this or just gift it to a teenager who might find it amusing.

Kellogg's Made A Bluey (cereal) [@NLi10]

 Parents all over the UK have been forced to watch the cartoon Bluey.  Apparently it's 'fine', but I've not really had to suffer it yet.

But here we have the multigrain cereal version - not too exciting for kids, but not too boring either - hooray!

It was on special offer, and next to the suspiciously similar Rice Krispies version of the same thing.

Look - licensed puzzles for kids - yay!

And here's the cereal!  Like the show - it's 'fine'.  Kids aren't going to be too excited, adults aren't going to be too disappointed.

It's a bit nothingy - the bite vanishes and it goes to mush. It's definitely suitable for kids, but I'm already contemplating mixing it with other ones that have exciting flavours or textures.

Kelloggs Oaties Choco Crunch [@NLi10]

 Kellogs make a lot of high sugar breakfast cereals, but they also do some healthier ones (usually based around fibre).  This is somewhere between the two - with a few vitamins thrown in for good measure!

They are 55% oat, but still contain wheat, maize and malted wheat as we crave the gluten

They are relatively low in sugar and fat compared to the kid focused cereals, but it's there - you won't need to sprinkle sugar on this one.

As a bowl (tiny holiday caravan bowls) it looks good - if not a bit uniform.  It does have a good scent of chocolate 

And it just about turns the (almond) milk chocolatey 

The crunch is good, and the sweetness is fine, but overall this is an oaty serious cereal with a little bit of fun added in.  I don't think anyone will go wow over it, but as a no-thought reasonably healthy start to the day it works well.

Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Squares & Corn Flakes (Ocado) By @Cinabar

We have a new flavour of one of my favourite snacks, Rice Krispies Squares & Corn Flakes. Squares are always made with Rice Krispies, and there have been many limited editions over the years, from strawberry sundae to dragon (not dragonfruit, but dragon). This is the first time they have let another cereal share the limelight, and they have let in Kellogg’s Corn Flakes.

I opened up the wrapper, and the bar did look predominantly like it was still Rice Krispies. I could spot the Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, but they were a bit hidden between everything else. I gave it a try, and again, the flavour was mainly the usual flavour. The texture was different; there was a nice crispy texture from corn flakes, and I really liked that. The problem is that the usually cereal-based flavours mixed with sweet mallow were pretty much the same. I could pick up on the new taste in this Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Squares & Corn Flakes, but it wasn’t as strong as I would have liked. I guess Rice Krispies weren’t quite willing to step aside too much for a new flavour, but how great would one of these bars be if they were made exclusively with Kellogg’s Corn Flakes? 

Chocolate Flavour Kellogg's Corn Flakes - but not a cake! [@NLi10]

 When we were young the default first 'recipe' we ever made was to melt chocolate and to mix in cornflakes.  We'd then let it set and claim we'd made cornflake cakes.  As we got older we'd only ever do this at Easter and put Mini Eggs in the nest on top.

And 30 years later Kellogg's now sell pre-chocolated Corn Flakes!

Well - I'm assuming they've not done this before due to the 'new' on the box - but frankly they probably have - just not in this form.

And the way they aren't quite covered in the chocolate is exactly how it used to be when we'd make them too!

With (almond) milk this turns into a fairly normal cereal - it doesn't make the milk go chocolaty which is interesting, but it does taste very similar to corn flake cakes of my childhood.

A nice change to the breakfast routine, but maybe a little indulgent for everyday use.

Kellogg's Crunch Nut -but- Salted Caramel (@NLi10)

It's breakfast time! Kellogg's have released an extra flavour of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes - and it's not too bad!

Everyone likes Crunchy Nut Cornflakes - especially in countries where the wavelength of the sunlight doesn't cause humans to generate vitamin D for a large portion of the year.  Kelloggs realised this and spray it on the cereals and then advertise that it's "The Taste" that's causing the cravings and not the vitamins.

Seriously - buy a decent Vit D supplement! 

Here we see the details of the new flavour twist.  And the lie about the taste.

Lets add some fresh stuff too...

So with a few raspberries on top it looks so far so similar!

And the smell is a little more caramel than usual, but the taste is very much the burnt caramel that the trendy foods all had about 5 years ago.  And you know, it's not bad!  It's a little more interesting than the standard version that I've been eating for 40 years, but not so different that you don't know which brand it is.

There is a little bit of a tax on these as they only come in the small boxes so it'd work out very expensive for a daily cereal so these are very much going to be a treat, but I think I'll be trying more of these soon.

Pop-Tarts Eggo Frosted Maple Flavour (Candy Mail) By @Cinabar

As a British person, my only knowledge of Eggo Waffles is from Stranger Things and that they are the favourite food of the character Elle (11). I admit when I first watched the show I looked for them here and couldn’t find them, but I did want to know what all the fuss was about. I sort of gave up until I was browsing an import shop and didn’t find the Egoo waffles, but did find these Eggo Pop-Tarts, which I guess will have to be close enough!

I haven’t had Pop-Tarts for years, though I used to love them as a student. We don’t get that many flavours here, and if I ever stumbled across the brown sugar and cinnamon I would buy loads! I remember that you have to turn the toaster right down, so I did this and put the two pop-tarts in and waited for them to cook.

Once the toaster popped, I went to put the Eggo Frosted pop-tart on a plate but it was hot and was crumbling. In fact, one pot-tart lost a corner and the other broke in half. Perhaps the lowest setting on my toaster is still too hot? The pop-tarts are smart and have a nice yellow waffle pattern which is all icing rather than the actual shape. The flavour if quite gentle, and just nicely sweet with a hint of maple syrup. They were fun to have for breakfast and I enjoyed them with my morning cup of coffee. They aren’t quite as exciting as the mystery behind the Eggo waffles is in the UK, and I can’t say even now I’ve tried a proper Eggo waffle, but they were certainly a good start to the day.

Kellogg Crunchy Nut Bite - Honey & Nut Flavour - basically Crunchy Nutella bites! by @NLi10

I've not really seen many new Kelloggs things for a few years, so when my partner picked these up for me I was surprised, but cautiously optimistic. 

Krave cereals do seem to be all the rage these days, so combining the brand power of the Crunchy Nut  and the shape combo of the Krave is sure to be a winning formula.  Even if 12 portions means the person on the cover is eating these on a saucer.

What I'd not quite appreciated on first glance is that they have filled these with nutty filling - hazelnuts to be precise.  This is odd as the nuts in crunchy nuts were always peanuts - so this means you have Crunchy Nut Cornflakes (CNC) and essentially Nutella in the same thing. Joy.

Oddly the other signature of CNC the high Vitamin D levels is not present - cravings for CNC and "the trouble is they taste too good" are all due to Vitamin D deficient Brits desperately consuming one of the only foods that is heavily fortified (sprayed on) with the stuff. This is great as it genuinely helps with immune problems - but I just buy the capsules for the winter and eat whichever cereal I fancy.  Maybe this new cereal is more aimed at the sunnier Euro market where that isn't a factor.

Throw on some almond milk and enjoy!

The centres do contain a paste, but it's almost impossible to photograph well.  To prove that it's there I'm sitting writing this with the box on my lap eating the dry cereal like some kind of American.

So in short - Crunchy Nut Bites don't taste or feel much like Crunchy Nut Cornflakes - they don't mention corn as these are made with maize wheat and oats, and the nuts are hazelnuts instead of peanuts.  I don't care too much though as I'm going to have to ration these to stop myself from just eating them like pretzels.

A win, but a confusingly branded one - Crunchy Nutella Bites maybe?

 

Rice Krispie Squares - Salted Caramel Pretzel (Ocado) By @cinabar

There are some new flavours of Rice Krispie Squares out and they have gone all American. Actually I think they may have always been American, but the UK version now has American themed flavours. First up we have these Rice Krispie Squares Salted Caramel Pretzel edition, which sounded fun. I love a mix of sweet and salty.

I opened up the packet and was quite surprised by the look of these Squares, they are really covered in pretzel bits, even to the extreme where it was hard to recognise the marshmallow bar underneath. There is a lot of topping an dI wasn’t complaining. I gave the bar a try and the texture was out this world. I found the usually soft and crispy Rick Krispies in the sticky mallow but the topping added extra crunch and a nice hint of savoury too. It really worked and I enjoyed the Salted Caramel Pretzel treat with a cup of coffee. I’m just hoping the other American flavour (Cookies and Cream) is half as good to be honest. This is quite a leap from their usual limited editions (we’ve all seen the things this year where all they do is add a bit of orange), this it is a total success.

Kellogg's Krave Stix (Iceland) By @Cinabar

Even though I’m not commuting at present I still buy and eat cereal bars for breakfast, possibly because it turns out I’m just lazy and maybe because I also like them with a morning cup of coffee. I do regular orders with Iceland and they are not the best supplier of interesting cereal bars (I like Eat Natural) but I still always find some to buy. This week I spotted these new ones Krave Stix based on the Krave breakfast cereal, so I ordered a box to try.

Inside each packet are two “stix” which look like elongated versions of the Krave cereal, in fact they looked exactly the same just longer. I tried a bit of the first one and my initial thought was that is was a little dry, and well that it needed milk. I know right, who would have thought it. I took a further bite and got used to the dryness especially as the chocolate centre became more prominent and then found myself quite enjoy the bars. I had them with a morning cup of coffee but part of me thinks maybe I should have had them with a glass of milk, for some reason I suspect that would have worked.

Limited Edition Strawberry & White Choc Kellogg's Coco Pops (@NLi10)

 Coco Pops seem to be where Kellogg's are trying their new ideas.  First up we had the White Choc version - as Cinabar said they were fine.  Now we have the Limited Edition Strawberry & White Choc Kellogg's Coco Pops - which I guess is the same mix but with a touch of strawberry added.

Again - these have been well advertised on the social media - and were in the entrance of the store.  

FloBot is keen to check that they are not cat biscuits - the smell is quite fruity and quite strong!

Thirty Percent less sugar than they decided to put in previous versions of the cereal!

They just look like slightly darker Rice Krispies in this light.  And - while the milk isn't quite as white as it was I wouldn't say it's bright pink (and personally I'm relieved by this!).

The smell is more exciting than the taste - and while you don't have the lovely roast flavour of the Rice Krispies that I might have expected, you do have the chocolatiness of a Coco Pop - but a creamy/fruity version.

I couldn't have blind taste test told you these were strawberry, but they are certainly nice.  It won't take long to destroy this box, but I won't feel the need to hunt down more before they go forever.

Chocolate Orange version next please Mr. Kellogg's!

Bonus Footage:  Pink (ish) milk!

Kelloggs White Chocolate Coco Pops (Asda) By @Cinabar

Gosh these new Kelloggs White Chocolate Coco Pops have had quite a bit of a marketing push for their launch. I’ve seen them advertised all over the place and was quite excited to finally find them in Asda. Although there have been various Coco Pops cereals out over the years I can’t remember one that isn’t for a milk chocolate based product. They generally change the shape rather than the flavour.
The box actually looks fairly basic because of all the additional white on the packaging, but at least it stands out as something new. The crispies look quite plain too inside the pack, although they do have a white opaque sheen on them. I poured myself a bowl full and added some milk, they crackled a bit and my first though was that they looked and sounded like Kelloggs Rice Crispies.
The taste isn’t quite as exciting as the hype had made me hope. The Kelloggs White Chocolate Coco Pops are tasty, sweet and a little bit creamy. They have a hint of white chocolate about them, but aren’t overly strong in flavour. Don’t get me wrong I did like them and as they have 30% less sugar so I was impressed by that. It is a nice cereal and one for fans of Rice Crispies who might like the extra creamy taste, they are just not quite as revolutionary as I thought they were going to be.

Crunchy Nut Peanut Butter Clusters (by @NLi10)

On FaceBook I've been seeing a lot of sponsored posts by Kellogg's talking about their new Crunchy Nut cereal, Peanut Butter Clusters.  It was one of those 'limited edition' things where you just know if it takes off that it'll stick around, but that's the question - does this work?

It's not corn-flakes which is very disconcerting, and it's a lot closer to Nestle Clusters (which are fab because it's basically just sugar and nuts).  Here we see I've also gone for the least appealing of all the almond milks, having no added sugar or roasting - and I love it! This is what people who have switched to skimmed milk wish they were brave enough to move to.  It takes great with cereal, although I think it needs a bit more fat to bond with tea - maybe coconut is best for that (or the thicker stuff that the pro-coffee shops serve you).

The cereal itself smells very peanuty, and has a hit of crunchy nut about it, but just isn't as satisfying as that honey and peanut blend that I was raised on.  The texture is good, it's more like a granola, although the bites are very samey so it's maybe not as good as a couple of things I have lined up to review in the summer cereal releases.

It's a nice enough weekend cereal, it's well worth getting one box - and it'll certainly get finished, but I think it will stay in the 'limited edition' slot and will only be missed by Americans and those who need just that little bit more peanut to be satisfied.

Kelloggs Rice Krispie Squares – Totally Chocolatey Mint (Local Newsagent) [By @cinabar]

I love that the new flavours for Kelloggs Rice Krispie Squares keep on flowing, and seeing a mint edition at my local newsagent was a very pleasing find. I haven’t yet seen these in my local Sainsburys, but am keeping an eye out for them. These were from a local newsagent near where I work, but don’t go too that often as it is a bit of a walk. The packaging shows a much brighter than normal patterned shiny green foil, to ensure there is no doubt about the minty nature of this cereal bar.
I’m not sure these do actually qualify as a cereal bar? Although it does contain a fair amount of cereals, there are that many other goodies thrown in it ends up feeling more like a proper snack or treat than a sensible breakfast food. I had mine as elevenses, which I think is okay on either count. The bar itself is chocolate coloured and it is drizzled in milk chocolate, and there are extra pieces of mint chocolate decorating it too. The base is the same texture as the other Krispie bars, firm from the Krispies, but softened by the sticky marshmallow like substance that holds them together.
The mint isn’t too strong, but it’s cool flavour works well with the chocolate adding a nice refreshing sweetness to the mix. I guess they made the mint a gentle flavour just in case you are trying to eat one first thing in the morning!
These are a nice addition to the range, but I think my preference still lies with the orange ones currently available. They just have a bit more oomph to their flavour, and this one seems a bit delicate for my taste buds.
Which flavour is your favourite?

By Cinabar

New Kelloggs Nutri-Grain – Crunchy Oat Granola Cinnamon (Sainsburys) [By @cinabar]

As a serial cereal bar consumer (sorry), I was quite pleased to see this new product from Kelloggs on the shelves. Although it is marketed under the Nutri-Grain brand, it isn’t like their soft bars, and instead consists of two thinner crunchy granola bars. I love cinnamon so was impressed to see this as the new flavour, but feared that they might be quite hard bars. Thankfully I discovered that both bars were pleasantly crunchy. They were just right the texture, crunchy, but still easy to eat. They had just enough give in them to make them crisp but interesting, without being too hard on the old teeth!
The flavour was warm and lightly spiced due to the cinnamon, but all the oat flavours still shone through. They had a lovely cinnamon and brown sugar taste, which is the flavour I love. Mild cinnamon is far superior to the hot stuff, but there are some fab clips on YouTube of people eating copious amounts of cinnamon raw, if you like that sort of thing!
Back on track with these bars, the sweetness and gentle cinnamon mixed with the oats make these bars my perfect treat. They are also one of the few non chocolate cereal bars that have made it to my regular shopping list.

By Cinabar

New Special K Cracker Crisps – Sour Cream & Onion (Sainsbury’s) [By @cinabar]

So, to clarify, crisps come in bags. This is the social norm, and the expected format. It seems to work quite well, I’ve never seen the bag aspect as a weakness. Special K though doesn’t usually make crisps, they make cereals and cereal bars which all come in boxes, there ‘norm’ is the cardboard box, and they continue to follow that route when they choose to make crisps. I seem to be struggling with the concept of a box of crisps. When I opened the box and discovered that there was actually a bag of crisps in the box, I did cringe a little at the excess packaging. Perhaps they should sell cereals in bags now that I come to think about it?
The second thing that bugged me, was the portion sizes. According to the back of the packet, a portion of these crisps comes in at just 95 calories, which considering that equates to 21 crisps is really good. What got me though is that the portion of crisps equates to 23g, out of the 100g box. This means that the box contains 4.35 portions, which is slightly odd and not great if you are the fifth person! However if the box was split into the more likely four portions, 25g rings up at 103 calories which isn’t much higher, but isn’t as catchy as “95” or being in the “under 100 calories per portion” category. But who on earth is going to split that box 4.35 ways?
Anyway, the product itself is genuinely low calorie, despite my moaning. January is the national month of dieting so healthy snacks are the in thing. These crisps are a good lower fat alternative to regular crisps.
They are all neatly rounded crisps, but slightly aerated and with a nice texture. They feel light, but easy to eat and quiet moreish. The taste represents Sour Cream & Onion quite well, the oniony hint just not being quite strong enough for my taste buds. I like a blast of flavour, but these are more of a tame gentle affair. To be honest though this probably makes them easier for work as they are milder on the breath than some cheese and onion crisps. All in all these are nice crisps, and considering there healthier attributes well worth picking up if you are watching the calories this January.

By Cinabar

Kellogg's Nutri-grain Morning Fuel Breakfast bars - Milk and Cereal(by @nli10)

Following on in the theme of things that can't possibly be that good for you but positioned in the breakfast category we have Kellogg's own breakfast biscuits. Once the masters have started making biscuits for breakfast we have to think that Jonny Vaughn has won and these are a real thing now.

Where as the belvita biscuits are essentially cereal compressed to the shape of biscuits these are really just highly nutritious biscuits. They are essentially baby-rusks but for grown-ups with out the time to pour milk. Actually dunking these in milk may be a genius idea. Must try that.

The biscuits themselves are very luxurious and nicely large. Also they come in portions of four, meaning no-one can accuse you of being greedy for eating all 4 of them. The texture as mentioned is much smoother than the thick grains of the belvita which may suit some people. I think I preferred the big seeds though. The flavour is great and they have clearly gone all out to make sure these are on TV and in the special offer section to get us hooked.

I think that breakfast biscuits are possibly a bit expensive for what they are, but they are very nice. I'm yet to eat them as anything other than a mid morning or afternoon snack though. I've not gone to the dark side yet...

Apple Jacks (Tesco Extra) [By @Cinabar]

I live in one of the very few cities that doesn’t have a major branch of Tesco. We have a Tesco Express, but that is about it. In a nearby town (30minute drive) there is what I can only say is a huge branch of Tesco and it is probably the biggest supermarket I have ever been in. As you can imagine this shop fascinates me, and we do go every so often (so Spectre can stock up on beer) and I can re-fill the Foodstuff Finds To Do cupboard.
One of the isles that captures my imagination is the foreign section. Although supermarkets near me have some Polish goodies, this shop takes it to a new extreme. They even have an American import section where you can buy Chocolate Lucky Charms, crazy flavoured poptarts, all the American chocolates you can imagine, tinned pumpkin, cake mixes – the list just goes on. Its also not just American goodies, they have all sorts of things from all over the world. I even managed to pick up bars of Cadbury Dairy Milk Tiffin, which was imported from Ireland and not usually found in English shops. In summary, the shop is heaven. There will be a number of reviews in the coming weeks as I work my way through my purchases, but first up are these Apple Jacks.
I bought this an individual serving so I could take them to work without having to wash up a bowl afterwards. Yes, I'm that lazy. The pot does get recycled if that makes it any better? The cereal consists of orange and green rings not dissimilar in shape to Cheerios. The colours are bright though, and the orange ones are even speckled with deep red. Although I couldn’t distinguish the flavour between the orange and green, the overall flavour is sweet with a good hint of cinnamon and a subtle apple aftertaste. The flavours were quite warming and the spices mingled well with the apple. My favourite part though was the milk. After I finished the cereal I drank it down and it was fantastic, the cinnamon was a lot stronger and made the milk taste like a wonderful milkshake. I think cinnamon is one of the most undervalued spices in the UK with it only seemingly making an appearance at Christmas. I loved the flavour of these Apple Jacks, and I’ll certainly be back for a proper box. If you are cinnamon fan I can’t recommend these enough.

By cinabar