alking down the aisles of a grocery store, something catches your eye. Its bright yellow and red packaging decorated with cartoon penguins and trolls draws you towards it, and you’re hit with a wave of nostalgia. We taste tested six of our favorite kids foods in order to see if their flavor can meet, or exceed, our childhood expectations.

Lunchables: Lunchables really haven’t changed since our elementary school days, but there are a few more options than we expected. We chose to try the pepperoni pizza meal, complete with three mini pizzas that you construct yourself, a Capri Sun, and a piece of candy. The pizzas were nothing special, and the ratio of sauce to cheese that they provided didn’t totally make sense.  However, the pepperoni was delicious and the Capri Sun was perfectly hydrating. ⅗ stars

Kid Cuisine: We were most excited to try Kid Cuisine, as we remembered it as being the ultimate frozen meal. Chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, corn, and chocolate pudding all on one plate?  Sounds like a childhood dream come true. But as soon as we opened the box, we were overcome with disappointment. The corn had leaked into the pudding, the chicken nuggets were flavorless and tiny, and the macaroni tasted like water. The only redeeming part was the corn, which was nothing out of the ordinary but still good.  ⅕ stars

Ritz Handi-Snacks: We didn’t expect much from these cracker and cheese packets, but they ended up exceeding our expectations. The crackers were quite salty, and the cheese resembled the substance in a can of Easy Cheese, but when the two components were combined, the snack was not entirely disgusting. Charlotte Boudour, age ten, genuinely enjoyed the Handi-snacks. “I thought they were delicious, didn’t you?” said Charlotte.  3/5 stars

Gushers: These sweet chewy snacks were by far the best of the bunch. Gushers take an unexpected twist on your typical fruit snack by adding a delicious juicy filling.The orange colored Gushers had a strong flavor that left our mouths tingling. The only criticism we have is that many of the packages of Gushers we opened were solely red. This was especially offensive because the red Gushers are the worst. 5/5 stars

Danimals: You may remember Danimals as being as being a delicious creamy treat in your lunch, or maybe you just remember enjoying the commercials with celebrity twins Cole and Dylan Sprouse. Although the commercials we re-watched for reference were entertaining, the drink was not quite as appetizing as we remembered. The consistency and after taste was similar to that of cough medicine, and the flavor was quite dull. Although we didn’t enjoy the Danimals, Charlotte thought that “It didn’t taste like poop.” 2/5 stars

Happy Meal: Perhaps the ultimate childhood dinner, the Happy Meal is a major part of American childhood culture. And, true to McDonald’s practice of serving the same foods the same way worldwide, it tasted exactly as we expected. The fries were delicious, although obviously unhealthy, the burger was small and probably beef, and the apple slices were crisp and flavorful.  The only part of this meal that didn’t wow us was the chocolate milk, which was simply not chocolatey enough. ⅘ stars