Liesener writes about the origins and fate of the Fluffernutter. The Fluffernutter (especially to the politician who tried to ban it from schools) is a guilty pleasure kind of food--the nutritional value is questionable, we all know we shouldn't really eat them, but we eat them. What food (or foods) are your guilty pleasures?
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I always try and defend myself whenever I'm about to consume something that just screams out to me curated arteries. This is because I know how awful they are for me but when I'm stressed or sick I just don't care. My biggest guilty pleasure is pop. I absolutely am infatuated with the bubbly carbonated sugary goodness that pours out of each can.
ReplyDeleteBut on a more homemade note my grandma's fruit salad is something I splurge with every time. It consists of marshmallows, lemon pudding, and fruit. I always tell myself it's not that bad for me it has grapes, mandarin oranges and pineapple but deep down I know that there is no escaping the cellulite inducing sugar folded into its whipped pudding consistency.
Another down right delicious meal I love to eat is buttered egg noddles and cabbage. This dish when made properly tends to be dripping with golden butter. I especially love when after it's journey on the stove top ends, it's cave diving experience in the oven is just beginning. When it goes in the oven the top layer of noodles and cabbage start to burn slightly giving it a nice crunch. This always offsets the mushy underlying layers. Ensuring that each mouthful has texture.
Another convicted dish in this raid of unnaturally processed meals is macaroni and cheese. I no that this doesn't seem like a contender in worst meals for your heart, but believe me when made properly macaroni and cheese can be lethal. (Especially to a lactose and tolerant one such as myself) Why do I still eat it you ask? Well no one can say no to this childhood staple. I love to go cheese wild with mine, and when I'm feeling like a real devil I use two percent milk. That's when I'm really cookin'. Mac and cheese is great because it can be served to children and adults depending on how you make it. Aside from sharp cheddar I like to add Fontina, Asiago, maybe even some goat cheese or Bri. Well that combined with butter and milk is a clear guilty pleasure. Sure I can "lighten it up" but sometimes the dark side is calling you and you can't ignore it. So, dare to be bad, just take it easy the next couple of days.
When it comes to guilty pleasures, there is one constant in all my addictions: salt. You can stick a bowl of candy or a plate of brownies in front of me, and I won't even notice. But if I were to be sitting next to a bag of chips or pretzels, they could potentially be gone within the hour.
ReplyDeleteThere have been countless times where I have opened a family bag of chips while watching a movie, halfway through realizing the bag was ¾ of the way consumed. I have since learned that if I simply pour the chips into a small bowl and sit with that instead, I can prevent myself from over-eating… unless I go up for seconds, thirds, etc.
Not only are chips high in calories, but also they are packed with sodium (from the salt). And even if I don’t necessarily gain twenty pounds from that unintended binge, later I will feel as if I did. Salt bloats people, especially when combined with water, which is the typical beverage of choice when I eat salty foods. So, I walk away from the couch and half-empty bag of chips looking about four months pregnant.
Barbeque, salt and vinegar, ranch Doritos, and sour cream and cheddar are just a few of my favorites. But it doesn’t take much more than the salt and fried nature of a chip to make my mouth water. I’m one of those people who can eat tortilla chips completely plain and find them equally as satisfying when paired with salsa or queso dip.
And when it comes to pretzels, Snyder’s knows how to get me. Their Honey Mustard and Onion and Hot Buffalo Wing pretzel pieces have become a couple of my currently most-addictive snacks. Even though I know I should steer clear of these salty, unhealthy, and guaranteed-to-make-me-feel-guilty foods, when I’m grocery shopping I still find myself putting them in the cart, treating myself to a few extra soon-to-be-regretted lbs.
Without a doubt, Pop Tarts are my favorite guilty pleasure food. They're delicious! Granted, pretty much anything sweet qualifies as a 'guilty pleasure' for me, as I generally try to eat a healthy diet. But if I'm at a friends house that has Pop Tarts and somebody graciously offers one up, I'm gonna snatch it up.
ReplyDeleteWhere to begin when describing the appeal of a Pop Tart... probably the frosting. Yeah, definitely the frosting. Not only does it make the pastry look like one of the most appealing things you've ever seen, but the smooth texture and the sweet flavor make it even better.
The actual body of the Pop Tart is generally forgettable - unless we're talking about S'More or Hot Fudge Sunday Pop Tarts, in which case the crust is chocolate. Holy. Crap. Are those delicious.
The interior usually harmonizes with the frosting in the most wonderful way ever; sometimes the flavors are the same, other times they complement each other. Either way, the combination is something that I simply can't resist.
Side note: Pop Tarts without frosting aren't worth eating. The frosting is SO crucial.
Best Pop Tarts, in order:
S'Mores
Hot Fudge Sunday
Brown Sugar/Cinammon
Cherry
Blueberry
Wildberry
Notice that I didn't mention strawberry... strawberry is definitely the least appealing of all of the Pop Tarts. Everything else is good to go, though.
Growing up in an extremely health-strict household, my access to sweets and snacks was extremely limited. However, that didn’t stop me from craving every sweet and snack that has ever graced the face of this planet. It is believed by some that if a mother consumes an unusual amount of sweets during pregnancy, the child, when born, will crave sweets. I truly believe (or at least really really want to believe) this is the case with my mother, and the cause of my seemingly unsatisfiable sweet tooth.
ReplyDeleteMy first guilty pleasure is undoubtedly chocolate. No matter what time of the day, I am guaranteed to be craving chocolate. Of course, I’ve gone through chocolate phases in which I crave only a particular type of chocolate –first milk chocolate, then dark, then white, and now I’m back to my originally favorite milk. Further, combinations of chocolate and peanut butter, chocolate and caramel, and chocolate and mint are also guaranteed to tickle my taste buds.
My second guilty pleasure is one others find unusually humorous. When you ask me what my favorite food is, my answer, without hesitation is “Taco Bell.” I can’t tell you why, when or how this fascination with one of America’s lowest-quality fast food chains began, but I can tell you I could (though I have never tried) to eat Taco Bell three meals a day, seven days a week. Maybe it’s all that cheese? Or maybe it’s because I choose to amit all that dog food-quality beef. Hmm…
Despite being raised a vegetarian, I’m not a picky eater – though I don’t like the taste of meat. I’ll try anything just about once, but the foods my taste buds yearn for is anything with an ungodly amount of cheese or sugar. So maybe they’re not the best choice for my arteries, but they’re s surefire win for my stomach.
I would have to say that my number one guilty pleasure has to be reese cups! Reese cups are hands-down my favorite candy. I can't resist the perfect ratio of creamy peanut butter and milk chocolate. I love the original, minis, easter egg shaped, and even the heart shaped ones (which i just managed to scoop up at wally world the other day). Valentines day is coming up, and there was a good sale going on so I didn't feel too guilty buying them that time. My biggest problem with reese cups though is that I eat too many at a time. Once I have one reese cup, I can't just stop there. I have to have three more. My addiction to reese cups was worse in high school though, I have to admit. I would come home from school, look in the closet full of goodies my mom always had and would see the twelve pack of reeses that my mom had just bought. Nobody in my family would touch the reese cups though, so I knew that they were there for me. I usually got home around two after school, and I ate lunch around ten in morning so I was always pretty hungry by the time I got home. Okay, so sometimes I would eat all twelve reese cups. All at the same time. I know that it is ridiculous but I am not exaggerating. If I didn't eat all of them at the same time, they were still always gone within two days. My sister would always ask me how I even enjoyed the reese cups when I would eat them so fast and take a huge bite. I am sure everyone use to watch the older commercials for reese cups and the advertisment would be that there are a so many different ways you can eat a reese cup. Well I am the person who scarfs one down, and takes no time. To me, this is the most enjoyable way for me to eat one though. I like to have as much flavor and taste in my mouth of the reese cup as I possibly can. This is probably why I eat so many, because they disappear so fast that I am automatically ready for another one. I know better now that its probably not the best to eat about twelve reese cups at a time, so I have slowed my roll a little bit. I still love to indulge myself in reese cups every now in then though. Especially since they have them at the market and in the icecream :P
ReplyDeleteIn today’s day and age of diets and healthy living, guilty pleasures involving food are slowly slipping away. That is for most people. Ever since I was a little kid I have had a sweet tooth for ice cream. I can remember having a bed-time snack every night before bed, and most of the time I would request to have ice cream. As the years went by, I continued to enjoy ice as a late-night snack and with the addition of a Handel’s ice cream around the corner from my house; my love for ice cream grew deeper. My favorite flavor at Handel’s is chocoholic chunk. This flavor is exclusively chocolate and includes dark chocolate ice cream along with chips of chocolate. Ice cream is not the only guilty pleasure I have though. It is almost a certainty that I leave the movie store with at least one box of candy. My favorite candy would have to be sour patch kids. Whether it be the traditional package of yellow, orange, red, and green spk’s or the newly designed watermelon candies, I am a total sucker for sour patch kids. Although I have made a pledge to myself that I will try my hardest to cut down on the consumption of “junk” food, it is very difficult. I feel as if it’s human nature to crave sweets every once in a while. Some people may consider drinking pop or soda as a guilty pleasure, but I don’t really see it that way. I mean too much of anything can sometimes be bad, but an occasional Coke or Dr.Pepper really can’t do that much harm in my opinion. Although pop is jammed with calories and sugar, it can sometimes serve as a great energy boost in times of need. I’d much rather drink a pop than trust an energy drink. My final guilty pleasure are potato chips. If I can’t get my hands on ice cream or sour patch kids, I will definitely grab a bag of chips. Lay’s barbeque, Dorito’s cool ranch, and Lay’s salt and vinegar are among my favorites. Guilty pleasures, although sometimes harmful to one’s diet and eating habits, are actually not so bad. In an article I recently read in Men’s Health, the author encouraged readers to indulge once every week in order to maintain pleasure and balance in one’s diet.
ReplyDeleteI am a shameless eater. I could eat deep-fried lard and have my only complaint be that I didn’t have enough hot sauce. I can’t say that I have ever walked away from a meal thinking, “Hey Drew! I caught you eating something that could seriously affect your health.”
ReplyDeleteHonestly, it’s because I don’t care.
I’m blessed with a naturally high metabolism so I don’t worry about getting fat. Even if I didn’t have a high metabolism, I don’t think that would affect my food choices. I eat for my mental health, not my physical health. It is more about what I enjoy eating than what I am “supposed” to be eating. That being said, there are many foods that I love dearly that would make health-conscious people cringe.
I think one of the best meals I’ve ever had is a filet mignon wrapped in bacon and covered in peppercorn. The filet speaks for itself but man do I love bacon. I’ve made chocolate covered bacon, bacon pancakes, and I pay the extra dollar at Subway to add bacon to my $6 dollar foot-long spicy Italian on Italian herbs and cheese. I’m pretty sure that sends a big old middle finger to Subway’s health-first Jared Generation. I also like to see how much money I can spend at Taco Bell and still eat everything. Everything is so cheap, so if I make it to double-digits it is impressive.
I actually find gluttony to be quite amusing. I have a cousin who is on a Weight Watchers diet and it works for her and she looks great. However, for Thanksgiving her 20 year-old little brother asked her to count how many points he consumed throughout the day. His point total by 6 o’clock was already equal to 6 days’ worth of food. He then continued eating and I continued rolling on the floor laughing. The rolling on the floor was the only physical activity I did on Thanksgiving besides the bicep curls I was doing with a beer bottle. Did I mention we deep-fry one our turkeys?
I am one of those people who tries something new and cannot stop. This is why I’m afraid to try crack. These mini-addictions usually last for about a month or two, until I get a new obsession. For example, my latest obsession was cottage cheese. No idea why. As you can imagine, this happens to me a lot with unhealthy foods. But my worst addiction by far, was one I contracted last year during fall quarter. It was beef jerky. I had never had jerky before last year, it never really interested me. But when my friend bought a bag at Nelson market and made me try it, I fell in love. Every kind of jerky is delicious: original, peppered, that one with the A1 steak sauce, or my personal favorite teriyaki. My terrible jerky habit followed me until the end of freshman year. Although I missed it during the summer, I had to admit to myself that it was getting ridiculous. I was so desperate for jerky I was willing to buy it at the market, where it is over the price of a single meal. Jerky isn’t even satisfying. I have never once eaten jerky and thought “wow, that jerky really filled me up”. If anything I think “wow, I ate that entire bag of jerky. Still hungry”. Because it was so delicious and unsatisfying, I would eat way too much. My jerky crazy has died down quite a bit since last year. This is in part due to how expensive it is, but mostly due to how unhealthy it is. I stand by this decision, and whenever my friend offers me a piece of jerky (which is more often than you’d think) I tell them I am recovering, and that they should be more sensitive. I enjoy jerky much more as an occasional snack than I ever did as my breakfast lunch and dinner.
ReplyDeleteCameron Fiksel
When I think of guilty pleasure food, I think of something that one can eat to feel better, or to get over a stressful day. My choice for a food that describes these qualifications is Graeter’s Ice Cream. The Cincinnati delicacy is a must every time I go to visit my girlfriend’s family. To me, visiting Cincinnati is all about relaxation. It means a trip away from school work and the other stressors here in Athens. While relaxing, I go to my guilty pleasure and get a huge, three scoop ice cream stack.
ReplyDeleteGraeter’s specialty is the definition of a guilty pleasure. The black raspberry chip is a fruity, but not too fruity ice cream with the perfect texture and creaminess. Inside are huge chocolate chips, the large ones the size of a Brazil nut, and the smaller ones the size of a marble. As soon as I make it through the black raspberry and into one of these chocolate chips, I forget everything that’s going on. For just under five dollars, you can get a plate or bowl with three enormous scoops. While, we’re comparing sizes, the scoops are somewhere in between that of a golf ball and a Major League sized baseball. Essentially a meal in itself, a large sized Graeter’s classic ice cream is enough to fill up even the saddest or most stressed out guilty eater.
Other flavors are offered at Graeter’s, but not many come close to the black raspberry chip. Caramel isn’t bad, and you can’t go wrong with classic vanilla. However, the only other flavor that is near Graeter’s specialty is very similar to it. In the summertime, they offer blackberry vanilla chip, which is essentially the same taste, but with a lighter taste due to the white chocolates. Regardless of the flavor, Graeter’s is a must in Cincinnati, and if you’re ever upset over something in Athens, a perfect guilty pleasure is only two and a half hours away.
Are guilty pleasures only guilty pleasures if you feel guilty? While ice cream may be bad for you, I absolutely feel nothing but euphoric after downing a pint of Ben and Jerry’s. Since I was little, ice cream has been my favorite dessert, my go-to food. Unfortunately, my mom was a stickler about health food and we rarely had dessert foods in the house, including ice cream. So I got used to eating my favorite frozen treat on special occasions only, for birthdays or if we went out to dinner.
ReplyDeleteSince coming to college however, all that has changed. On my meal plan, I can spend my unused meals like cash in the markets and since I almost always have leftover meals, I can stock up on drinks or snacks for my room. This also includes loading my freeze with ice cream. It’s come to the point where I’m eating ice cream every day. I take ice cream bars from the dining hall; I buy pints and SpongeBob popsicles in the markets. It’s rare to open up my freezer and not see ice cream in there. Even if I’m not eating it that day, it’s comforting to know the option is open, that I don’t have to pine away for it like I would at home.
My favorite ice cream is without anything minty and I’ve been getting Ben Jerry’s Mint Chocolate Cookie for a while now. It might be the best ice cream flavor ever. The pleasure and excitement I get from striking a cookie vein is indescribable. Besides mint flavors, the next flavor I am most fond of is the childhood classic Superman. I have no idea what those three flavors are but they are magic. My little brother and me insist on getting this flavor whenever we get ice cream during the summer. People make fun of us, especially when our tongues turn blue, but we can’t help it. It’s too good. Superman ice cream always reminds me of the zoo. That might seem strange. When I was little and my parents would take us all to the zoo, we could get ice cream. This was one of those special occasions. I would always get Superman. Ever since, whenever I eat a spoonful of that red, blue, and yellow delicacy I flashback to those fun summer afternoons.
I have to finish this up by adding that my guilty pleasure within my guilty pleasure is bubblegum ice cream. First off, it’s impossible to find. Seriously, no one sells bubblegum flavor and they should. It’s fantastic. I would buy it. I would buy it everyday. Secondly, this is the flavor that I get mocked for liking the most. Bubblegum ice cream gets a bad rep but I don’t care, I love it.
My guilty pleasure would be Girl Scout cookies. I was never a member of the girl scouts and had my first cookie during my freshman year of high school. Now, once a year, I find myself stocking up on Tagalongs, Samoas, and of course Thin Mints in ridiculous and slightly embarrassing amounts. They are supposed to last me the entire year, but I’m lucky if I make it four or five months without finishing them all. They are normally stored in the freezer, which hint; makes them ten times better. I have learned two important rules when it comes to Girl Scout cookies; one: never bring them to school with you, as soon as anybody finds out you have them you make like thirty new friends, especially when they are out of season. Two: Count your cookie boxes! My sister has been caught on numerous occasions eating cookies that she definitely didn’t buy, this also goes along for the rest of my family, and I now know that my roommates can no longer be trusted. My trouble with Girl Scout cookies, (besides the fact that once a year it consumes most of one of my paychecks), is that when it comes to eating these treats my brain, doesn’t know how to produce the thought “I should probably stop eating these”. There have even been moments of desperation when my friends and I attempted to recreate the infamous Thin min, and the results were disastrous. However I am glad that these cookie are sold only once annually, because if not my cravings for these cookies and my inability to not eat them, could lead to massive weight gain. I recently gathered enough courage to view the nutrition facts, and was slightly mortified, but not enough so to discontinue eating the cookie! Besides the occasional binge on sugar filled treats, I to maintain a “healthyish” diet, more or less so that I can later use it as an excuse while rationalizing to decide if another cookie is acceptable; which it always will be.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I have many guilty pleasures when it comes to food, my most guilty is Nutella. Nutella is a delicious, spreadable chocolatey hazelnut spread that I was first introduced to in high school French class, despite its Italian origins. The next year, I bought some for a stocking stuffer for my father, and ever since, it's been a permanent fixture on his grocery list.
ReplyDeleteI started simple, putting Nutella on chunky pieces of French bread, but soon I incorporated Nutella onto everything spreadable, including pieces of fruit, crackers, and cookies. My father was much more inventive, and he introduced me to Nutella and peanut butter sandwiches. A couple weeks ago, in a fit of late night hunger, I made a Nutella, peanut butter and honey grilled sandwich, like a demented, artery clogging grilled cheese.
I bought a big jar of Nutella to bring back to my housemates, and it seems they're even more inventive. Besides Nutella on fingers, they've created hazelnut pretzels, potato chips, and cheese slices.
My roommate even has a joke about Nutella:
"When I was a kid, I was very poor. All we wanted for Christmas was a new T.V., but we couldn't afford one. So my mother spread Nutella all over my glasses on Christmas morning. "There," she said. "We didn't get a TV, but now you can watch Nutella-vision."
The list is not a short one.
ReplyDeleteI pride myself on being a bit of a foodie nowadays, although I didn't grow up that way. I spend way too much on groceries to buy specialty foods that I (tell myself I) can't live without: Jeni's ice cream, cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake in D.C., imported cheeses (although I've imported quite a few myself over the years), artisan breads, and just about anything made by Stonewall Kitchen.
For me, the real guilty pleasures are from my childhood and therefore remind me of my low-brow food past:)
Kraft Macaroni and Cheese has to come in at the top of the list. I make a pretty mean "real" macaroni and cheese and I like to try out recipes with even more sophisticated cheese concoctions. But there is just something about the orange-powdered tang of that little blue box. Buttery, creamy, tangy deliciousness. I can't stop eating it. And my husband won't touch it with a ten-foot pole, which means if I buy it, I know I'll eat the entire box myself. I recently discovered the new "extra cheddar" variety. Who would have believed that you could improve on such bliss?
To further my shame, I also can't seem to let go of the good 'ole grilled cheese sandwich. Again, I happily enjoy all kinds of gourmet varieties, but sometimes the only thing that will get the job done is a couple slices of Borden on Wonder Bread. I think American cheese is revolting. I think Wonder Bread is revolting. Yet somehow when they come together with some butter over a low heat, it's gooeyorangedeliciousmagic.