As I write this review I am torn. First let’s discuss the good things about this cereal/snack. The taste is OUTSTANDING and is leading contender for top spot in the cereals/snacks I have tried in this area. It has nice crunchy texture both in the fakes and the REAL pieces of Strawberry (see my images) that it contains. In reading the list it is made up of them high-quality ingredients you would expect to see in this type of cereal/snack. Another great thing about it is its’ low sugar content (not sure how they did it with a cereal that tastes this good LoL). Now let us look at a few things that concern me. First look at the suggested serving size (and the ones that all the good statistics are based). They are exceedingly small. The snack size is 1/2 cup and the cereal size is 3/4 cup. When dealing with spatial reasoning I am the type of person that must see them to compare. So I did just that and then I took and included various images in this review for you to be the judge. You see 1/2 and 3/4 measuring cups full of the cereal. The bowl in the picture is 4 inches across at the top. In my other images you see the same bowl with both the 1/2 and the 3/4 cups servings. To me this seems an incredibly small amount of volume compared to other snacks/cereals of this type. Additionally, remember all the statistics are based on these sizes. For me maybe it is ok for a snack but certainly not for a bowl of morning cereal. Finally look a close up of the Nutrition label. The whole bag contains 3 cups of cereal (4 x .75 cup serving or of 6 x .5 cup serving). The price looks great until you consider the amount you are getting. So now that you know the decision is in your hands. Read more
I have a love/hate relationship with catalina crunch. I love it, but it hates me. Catalina Crunch uses chicory root fiber and pea protein in most of their products and for those people who have sensitive stomachs, please try a small portion first before you dive in and have a big serving. You will regret your tasty decision. This stuff is delicious, but it can be hard on the digestive system. My husband can eat an entire bag of this stuff in a day and then go back for their snack mix as a treat at night and be perfectly fine. It's a lot of fiber. This is the strawberry strudel flavor, which was new to us because he usually eats the cinnamon toast flavor. This bag is expensive. Eight ounces for $8.99 is a lot. Costco has 24 ounces of the cinnamon flavor for just $14. My husband enjoyed the strawberries. He liked that they were actually freeze dried strawberries and not just strawberry flavor added in. It does 150 calories per serving, which is more than the cinnamon (110 calories) and it also has fewer grams of fiber (6 grams as opposed to the cinnamon at 9 grams). We will probably keep this strawberry version of crunch cereal on our list of occasional treats we get, but we will stick with the cinnamon because the macros are better. If you really love strawberries, it is a good introduction to the brand and a high fiber cereal. Just start slowly! Read more
Well I'm a huge fan of the Catalina Crunch trail mix and I have tried a few flavors of the cereal so I thought I would try a new flavor. With the strawberry strudel, it does have freeze dried strawberries in it which is a really nice treat. They're slightly tart and have a little crunch to them and they really add to the flavor of the cereal however, there aren't many of them in there. Pea protein isn't my first choice for a protein but I don't think that's a deal-breaker. The corn flour and sunflower oil however are pretty pro-inflammatory so those are the only ingredients I would normally avoid. That said, regular cereal is full of toxic junk, preservatives, artificial flavors, and sugar which this product does not have. There is a slight aftertaste if you're snacking on this but not so much when you're having it in a bowl with milk. I use unsweetened coconut milk. What I do love about this is there's a very firm crunch. It takes a lot for this to go soggy. I also tried it over some yogurt and it was quite good that way. The size wasn't as much as a standard box of cereal but that's to be expected with a healthier product. All in all, I think this is good as cereal or with yogurt but not so much for just snacking out of the bag. Read more
I have trouble getting enough protein in my diet, so I try to find foods that provide a little extra. Catalina Crunch Strawberry Strudel Protein Cereal does the job. It contains 10g of protein in a 1/2 cup serving. It has 6g of fiber and is also low carb. I like that the ingredients are cleaner than most flavored cereals. It has a good, long-lasting crunchy texture that holds up well in milk, but I really like to crush it up and use it in my yogurt. This flavor contains dehydrated strawberry bits that soften quickly and have a real strawberry taste. My only complaint is they are too few and too small. I regularly buy Catalina Crunch products and am happy to add this cereal to my grocery list. It is expensive for an 8 ounce bag, but the taste and added nutrition make it worth the price to me. Read more
I really wanted to like this "no sugar" cereal but wow the chemically induced fake sweeteners used are horrible. The texture is fine, the strawberries are fine (and taste ok) but there is no getting around that rancid aftertaste. Why is it so hard to just have a no sugar cereal be "unsweetened"? Let the consumer add what they want to it if they crave a sweater flavor (allulose, erythritol, splenda, honey, real sugar, etc). The quality overall is great - just lose that stevia junk - almost no one likes it and adding monk fruit does not help. The carb content is also very high but the fiber and protein content sort of makes up for it. It stayed crunchy in milk which did subdue the nasty fake sweeteners but not enouh that I could finish the bowl. Read more
