REVIEW: GoLean Crisp! Cinnamon Crumble Cereal

I've progressively been going through all the cereals that Kashi has to offer, whether it be super-protein packed cereal, deliciously fruit-infused cereal, or heart-shaped cereal. There have been hits, there have been misses. It's been a fun journey so far. And now I'm here to review their Cinnamon Crumble Cereal. I've had this cereal once before, but I never really gave it an in-depth taste-test, so now it's time to correct my errors and review this stuff! 

A 14 oz. box costs around $3.99.

REVIEW: Kashi GoLean Crunchy! Honey Almond Flax

Okay guys, major dilemma: I've been reviewing so many Kashi products as of late that it seems all of my witty Kashi review post openers have drained out of my brain. And it doesn't help that the name GoLean Crunch! Honey Almond Flax doesn't really jog the imagination. I mean, what am I supposed to say? This is like a cereal that the grown up Buzz from Honey Nut Cheerios would promote?

...Actually, that's not too bad. Yeah, I guess that works.

And anyway, what is WITH Kashi putting all these flax seeds in everything?! I suppose they ARE a good source of Omega 3's, but it's not like I care about that. Yeah, I'm a bit narcissistic, so sue me!

So, I'm hoping this Kashi cereal tastes as good as their Toasted Berry Crumble, which I found worthy of a perfect score. Fingers crossed!

A 14 oz. box costs around $3.99.

REVIEW; Edy's/Dreyer's Slow Churned Mint Cookie Crunch Ice Cream

Well, it's the middle of winter everyone, and you know what that means... ICE CREAM! Yes, ice cream! Freezing cold ice cream for allllllll! I like to eat mine outside in the middle of the night, while the snow is coming down in plumes and I'm in nothing but my pajamas. Just pure fun. Super. But it's even BETTER when you have an icy slushie to accompany you instead. Oh well. I guess this Slow Churned Mint Cookie Crunch ice cream from Edy's/Dreyer's will have to do.

A 1.5 qt.  container of ice cream costs around $3.89.

REVIEW: Kellogg's NutriGrain Chocolatey Crunch Chocolatey Chip Granola Bars

You remember those commercials Kellogg's released for their Fruit Crunch Bars awhile back? You know- the ones with the vampires? Oh yeah, they totally dug those NutriGrain bars. Cuz' that makes sense. Vampires LOVE eating herbivorous foods like fruits and oats. I guess in all seriousness it'd make sense for them to enjoy the Strawberry Parfait flavor, since vampires eat shades of red, but still. That strawberry bar is more of a pinkish hue. AT BEST. So why would vampires be so into these NutriGrain Bars? What is Kellogg's insinuating? Is there some secret ingredient in these that we are unaware of? 

Blood, maybe...?

No, no, that couldn't be- I mean, blood, come on. How could Kellogg's obtain such a thing as blood? It's not like there's gallons upon gallons to be found in every living thing on Earth or anything like that. Yeah, blood, haha- there's no way! That... couldn't...be... Buuuuuuuut...

It does seem a little odd for Kellogg's to just pull the idea of a commercial about vampires out of their heads like that... I mean, the commercial obviously wasn't meant to be FUNNY... So where did the idea for vampires come up from...? Maybe, just maybe...

No, nevermind. There's NO BLOOD in these things. There's not, there's not, there's not.

But just to be on the safe side, I'll try Kellogg's NutriGrain Chocolately Crunch Bars first- you know, the bars NOT advertised in the hidden-message vamp ads.

A 7.4 oz. box with five 1.48 oz. pouches costs around $2.58.

REVIEW: Kashi GoLean Crisp! Toasted Berry Crumble Cereal

Sometimes, I'm nervous to try new Kashi cereals. Why? Well, let's be honest- plenty of Kashi products are healthy, but not all of them are very tasty. Kashi GoLean Original and Heart to Heart Warm Cinnamon are two decently healthy cereals, but just aren't all that mindblowing when it comes to taste. They're good, just not good enough to buy again. I mean, I only keep purchasing the GoLean just because it has so much protein to it. If it didn't, then nope- out from my pantry with youuuu!!!

And Kashi's GoLean Crunch!, a cereal much akin to their Toasted Berry Crumble, had a great crunchy texture, but was- like the two other aforementioned Kashi cereals -pretty mild in flavor. Another Kashi cereal I tried? Their GoLean Crisp! Cinnamon Crumble, which I don't have a review on but DID eat. THAT cereal was mild as well, and even shares the same title with Toasted Berry Crumble (You know, the GoLean Crisp! part anyway).

So I think it only made sense for me to be a bit on the wary side when purchasing Kashi's Toasted Berry Crumble. I only did so just because I HAD heard such good things about the cereal already. But I still had my doubts. Hopefully a taste-test would change that. A 14 oz. box costs around $3.99.

REVIEW: NuGo Free Dark Chocolate Crunch Bar

Today's review is brought to you by NuGo Free: Gluten Free, Kosher Free, Soy Free, Low Fat, High Protein, Vegan NuGo Free. Yup, pr-eee-tty healthy. And you know where I got this bar from? Not a vitamin shoppe, nor an organic supermarket, nor a nutrition center... believe it or not, I purchased this Dark Chocolate Crunch bar from a gluten-free stand at a basketball stadium. Yeah, whatever. I could've gotten something really tasty like soft serve or a warm pretzel- and all for the same price -but I guess this was what I went with. 

Yaaaaaay.

Sometimes I wonder if I even think. But in my defense, I hadn't heard of NuGo before so I was somewhat intrigued by the protein bar gazing down at me from the display of the gluten-free stand. So, here we go: NuGo's Gluten Free Dark Chocolate Crunch Bar. Since I was at a sports game, mine was purchased for the cutthroat price of $5.00, but you can most likely buy one 1.59 oz. bar for around $1.49 at more reasonable retailers.

REVIEW: Kashi GoLean Crunch! Cereal

When it comes to an everyday breakfast, GoLean Original is usually the Kashi cereal of choice. But when I told my dad I needed Kashi when he went out grocery shopping, he brought home a box of GoLean CRUNCH instead. So either the store was all out of the typical Original Kashi or I need to start being more specific with my food requests. But it's not all doom and gloom! I can get a review out of this cereal, can't I? So, time to taste-test!

A 13.8 ox. box costs around $3.12.

A 1 cup (53g) serving contains 200 calories, 30 of them being from fat, 3g of total fat, 0g of saturated fat, 0g of trans fat, 1g of polunsaturated fat, 1g of monounsaturated fat, 0mg of cholesterol, 100mg of sodium, 320mg of potassium, 38g of total carbohydrates, 8g of dietary fiber, 6g of soluble fiber, 2g of insoluble fiber, and 9g of protein.

Based on the nutrition information, this isn't THE healthiest cereal that Kashi has produced, but it still beats out a lot of other products out there. At least this cereal has a reasonable amount of fiber and protein. It's just- at 200 calories for 53g  -there ARE healthier cereals out there. Just sayin'. But this cereal isn't SO bad that I wouldn't eat it for breakfast or lunch, or plain as a snack, like little granola bites. And, yes, even though this cereal isn't specifically marketed as granola, as far as I'm concerned, that's what it is. GoLean Crunch! has a lot of similar qualities to granola- It's crunchy and hard, with different-sized clusters made up of cereal and rolled oats. One thing that makes Kashi's cereal different from typical granola, however, is the fact that these clusters have puffed rice pieces in them. A lot of them too. I honestly don't know of any REAL granola that has puffed rice pieces. I suppose they're there for filler, so that Kashi's granola stays reasonably healthier than others.

Eaten plain, this cereal is VERY hard and VERY crunchy. Well, except for the times when you'd have a cluster of puffed rice, which were airy and light and chewy. The taste is very mild and nondescript. There is a slight accent of warm cinnamon, but other than that, this cereal is more enjoyable for its granola-esque texture, not its flavorful taste. This cereal was supposed to have a touch of honey flavor to it based on Kashi's description, but I didn't taste any. The sweetness content in this cereal is very mild, but not so mild that I'd be reckoned to say it was boring or bland to eat. The oats gave the clusters a very hearty, oatmeal-like quality. By itself, the cereal was dry, and not sticky, like I'd expect granola to be by all the granola bars I've consumed.

I had some of this cereal for lunch accompanied by some ice-cold milk, and I was happily surprised to find that the cereal held up VERY well in the milk. It stayed consistently crunchy throughout (except for the puffed rice pieces, which became soft as all get out), but softened up just enough so that it wasn't such a feat to chew through. The clusters, for the most part, remained intact. The cereal pieces didn't split up from each other due to the milk getting in the way. I found this cereal to be sweet and tasty in milk, but of course I used some sweetener in my bowl of cereal to make it sweeter, so that might have had something to do with it. The cereal, however, did remain hearty in taste, and I don't think that's something you can produce with sweetener packets. In a way, this cereal somehwat reminded me of eating uncooked instant oatmeal. Which I really didn't mind, but some people might.

Overall, this was an enjoyable cereal, but I mostly only liked it for the texture. It didn't have much of a taste. I think this cereal would be better if it were given a more definite flavoring, but of course Kashi has released GoLean Crunch! varieties like that as well, so I dunno. This is a really good cereal choice when you want something akin to plain granola without as much sugar and fat and really enjoy a hard, crunchy texture. I DO prefer my cereal to be on the crunchier side, so I fairly enjoyed this one. Although I DO think this cereal requires some sweetener before consuming. This isn't a cereal I'd want to have in my pantry 24/7, but I could see myself buying it every now and again.
I'd give Kashi's GoLean Crunch! a 7.5/10.

Need other views from those who chewed? Crazy Food Dude also has this one reviewed.

What do YOU think of Kashi's GoLean Crunch? Do YOU prefer your cereal crunchy or with a more lighter, airier texture? Tell us your thoughts down below in the comments!

Till' then, this has been RiRi ri-porting!

REVIEW: General Mills Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal

Alright, alright... Laaaaast review of a product I'm familiar with. I swear. At least for awhile anyway. 

But, let's face it- I probably talk about General Mill's Cinnamon Toast Crunch whenever I'm reviewing cereal. It's like the product I compare everything ELSE to. On a scale of one to Cinnamon Toast Crunch, how good is this product? It's like that. So I just HAVE to give Cinnamon Toast Crunch credit where it's due. I HAVE to write some sort of post for my favorite cereal- and possibly one of my favorite foods- ever, riiight?

Listen, it's not MY fault that Cinnamon Toast Crunch is older than I am. If I was a food reviewer growing up in 1984, I'm sure I would've tried this product when it first came out and loved it just the same. But since Cinnamon Toast Crunch has been around since I was born, in fact, I can't really say what I thought of it the first time I ate it, since I was probably too young to even remember trying it for the first time. But I love this cereal NOW, and I just feel compelled to share that love with everyone!

And anyway, you might say writing a review of Cinnamon Toast Crunch is useless, since everybody and their brother has at least had it ONCE in their lifetime, but who knows? Maybe there's someone living under a rock out there who hasn't tried it, and needs to know they MUST. Must, must, must. And if not, this review is just a good way to reaffirm everyone else that this cereal is superbly superb. So let's get to it! A 12.2 oz. box costs around $2.98.