So you remember how excited I was last year* when I discovered that one of the best kid cereals of all time came in a a honey version (like another “best kid cereal ever” known as Honey Nut Cheerios….although the bees on Honey Kix sadly lack smiles, arms, and personalities)?
*Of course you don’t. That was pre-blog. It was incredibly exciting though. Since I didn’t have you people to share it with, I’m pretty sure^ I just raved about them to my students.
^Actually, I’m definitely sure, because I shared some with them, and I just remembered that afterward I had a parent e-mailin me asking “what the delicious cereal we tried in class was, because Little Tommy had never liked cereal before and now it was all he could talk about”
Perhaps you remember how excited I was when I discovered Kashi Honey Sunshine*…
*First mention of it–and my slight obsession–on the blog (that I can find) was April 2, 2010. Interestingly enough, Maria, it was in a post entitled “Oh, Happy Day!”
…which not only LOOKED like Cap’n Crunch…it tasted like a less sweet/maybe-but-maybe-not healthier version of it, too?
But watch out superexpensive-and-therefore-I-can-only-very-rarely-afford-to-purchase-you, Kashi cereal….
…because look what I found!
The Cap’n's back (not that he ever went anywhere)…and this time, he’s brought us a treasure.
A treasure of stars with the same artificially gold coloring we all so loved as children (and adults?), but half the sugar!
And guess what that means? For a serving TWICE as big as Kashi’s version, you get the same amount of sugar and more vitamins and minerals. Granted, it has that whole artificial coloring thing going on (the better to appear scarily golden with, my dear), has less fiber*, and can’t make the whole grains claims that Kashi can…
*Like I need to consumer any more though…really.
…AND I’ve only found it in a small, four-serving, $1.00-sized box (at CVS of all places)…
…but it tastes JUST like real Cap’n Crunch.
And for a little taste of childhood with slightly less guilt? I mean…I haven’t been this excited about cereal since I ate Lucky Charms from a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon.
I did find some reviews of this new find, and this one in particular made me laugh, because he did all these comparisons, saying that this new version had more calories and more total carbs than the original, but he neglected to pay attention to serving size, and factor in that you get to eat 2x as much as before. So he was just wrong.
Learn to do math!
As for his talk of flavor, I have not yet tried it with milk. But I promise, it tastes just like the real thing when it’s dry from the box. And if you think Kashi Honey Sunshine is good, then you’ll LOVE this. 
Mine is (shockingly) not actually Lucky Charms, which I grew to love in college, more so than as a little child. When I was younger, I remember eating Honey Nut Cheerios, Fruity Pebbles, Honey Comb, Raisin Nut Bran, and these raisin-filled shredded wheat things that I don’t think they make anymore. My family has (and most likely always will be) sort of cereal-crazed though, and we usually have a gazillion types in the pantry*…so everything sort of blurs together a bit.
*We also can’t usually just eat one kind at a time. They have to be mixed. Like those Lucky Charms I loved in college…I always wanted them mixed with Frosted Cheerios and (bizarrely) Go Lean Crunch! or Cascadian Farm Oats & Honey Granola.
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
i loved lucky charms, too- my grandma used to let me eat the charms out:)
I loved Kroger brand Raisin Bran and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. We'd go to Sam's to get the big boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch for my brother, sister, and me.
I don't know why, but I love the small $1 boxes of cereal… or bags in the case of malt-o-meal strawberry mini wheats… or strawberry shredded wheat, whatever they call it.
Whenever my brother or I would proclaim a cereal our favorite my dad would wait until it went on sale and would stock up. Halfway through box 3 it would become not-so-much-favorite. But we'd have to finish boxes 5 and 6 before he would buy another kind for us. Haha so I had many "favorites" over the years. My fav local grocery chain does "cereal sale" days 2-3 times a year, where select varieties (including Nature's Path!) are on sale for only $1.69! I stock up…and right now I think I've got about 14 boxes in my basement pantry (since August-still eating down the supply!). I'm crazy/weird, but you already knew that
Best blog post title, ever.
I loved Captain Crunch berries as a child. I know, right? Why add real berries when you can get round artificially colored ones? I'd pick out all the berries to make my brothers mad. To this day, its my favorite. Luckily, my fave froyo joint has it as a topping.
Yea, my favorite cereal is also shockingly not a fancy shamncy sugary one. I liked plain old cheerios. I never was a huge fan of honey nut. there is something about plain old cheerios that just reeks of childhood! I love it! I wish they made perfume that smelled like cheerios. They should call it "childhood".
Speaking of cereal, I just posted a cereal protein bar recipe! I swear I'm not trying to whore out my blog, its just so random that I was thinking about cereal all day long that I decided to make bars out of it.
Cocoa Krispies. I know. Chocolate for breakfast. Admitting this publically is a first step I think. Maybe now I can heal. I did have Quaker Oat Squares for dinner last night. Do you think I can be cured? Funny how we're all thinking about cereal lately
As a kid I wasn't allowed to have the sugary cereals….(which I now know was better for me, but at the time I really resented it….) But I LOVED Kix! So yummy
You nailed both of my favorites- Honey Nut Cherrios and Cap'n Crunch (I loved Peanut Butter Curnch). I still keep a box of Honey Nut Cherrios in the cabinet. I can't resist them. Now I've got to go hunt down this new and improved Cap'n Crunch!
I used to be cereal-obsessed. My biggest obsessions: OHS! and Honey Bunches of Oats was an all-time-favorite (and if I ever break down and buy the box of just "Bunches" I'll probably need someone to take it away from me.
ah, my favorite serial cereal eater! My favorite from childhood was Smacks… haha!
I just found your blog recently and Im excited to delurk
That new captain crunch cereal is fascinating to me… Is it reduced sugar because they added synthetic sweeteners? Or is it just less sweet? If it doesnt have any sucralose or anything – I am so down to buy it! Especially since it beats Kashi. Thats downright impressive. Kashi knows their shit.
My favorite childhood cereal… it took me a long time to like cereal but I think it was frosted flakes!
Also, I should mention…. IM FROM AUSTIN TOO!! I grew up there and am currently in California for college (UC Davis) but I go home for most breaks! And it looks like we enjoy going to many of the same restaurants! Yes!
oh yes, the tricky label. Funny he did not catch that! I used to be OBSESSED with smacks as a kid. what the heck are in those things anyway?
LC
oh yes, the tricky label. Funny he did not catch that! I used to be OBSESSED with smacks as a kid. what the heck are in those things anyway?
LC
oh yes, the tricky label. Funny he did not catch that! I used to be OBSESSED with smacks as a kid. what the heck are in those things anyway?
LC
oh yes, the tricky label. Funny he did not catch that! I used to be OBSESSED with smacks as a kid. what the heck are in those things anyway?
LC
Honey Nut Cheerio's were def my favourite as a kid. That is, when I wasn't eating poptarts for breakfast!
Loved Lucky Charms and the Berry Captain Crunch also Rice Krispies with lots of sugar.
Wow…I will be peeping the labels on my next trip to the store…I wonder whow the ingredients stack up against the two….maybe the cheaper version has corn flour as the first ingredient and Kashi has corn? Tres interesante.
You MUST make these. I've made them several times and Tyler and has made them too. They are THE best!!
http://www.culinaryconcoctionsbypeabody.com/2009/06/13/aye-aye-captain/
Basic 4. It has yogurt-covered walnuts and dried apples, which I loved. My parents wouldn't let me get the sugarier stuff
Also, apple cinnamon Cheerios, and of course the honey nut kind 