I only eat yoghurt-coated raisins in the context of a cereal here in NZ called Hubbards Fruitful Breakfast. Outside of that, wouldn't touch them! Funny how context is everything x
If you’re ever in Chicago, pick up a bag or tin of Garrett’s Mix popcorn. A delicious mix of caramel and cheese popcorn that can’t be beat. It’s one of the treats I miss now that I’m living far away from Chicago. I prefer it fresh from their stores--they have one at O’Hare--but you can have it shipped to you too.
I have been eating Talenti gelato over the past year. The Salted Caramel Truffle gelato that comes in layers, and the Cookie Truffle layers and the Caramel Cookie Crunch are my current favorites, after a lifetime of liking “just” chocolate ice cream and never being a huge fan of caramel. Tastes change, I guess. I have never been a huge peanut butter fan, but I do like the occasional moose tracks. I absolutely do not save/ration sweet/sugary foods. They are completely consumed in days/hours, and then the urge passes for another month or months. Oddly, I trend more toward salty/savory than sweet. (I guess “salted” caramel was a clue.). I will eat sweet gherkin pickles out of a jar, as well as bread and butter pickles, all summer. There are always two jars of pickles in my fridge during the summer. I was on a Cool Ranch Doritos kick for a while, but I seem to have burned myself out on them for the moment.
I ALSO love pickles, and anything with vinegar. When I was pregnant I developed wicked vinegar/sour/tart cravings. I'd eat salads with JUST vinegar (no oil) and make "lemonade" that was lemon juice and water with no sugar and the cranberry sauce I made at Thanksgiving that year was inedible by anyone else. And post-pregnancy (ten years later) it's stuck with me. :)
Do you know what “Cucumbers and Onions” aka cucumber salad is? It’s an East Coast thing, mid-Atlantic really... sliced cucumbers, a few onion pieces, water, vinegar and sugar... and then let it marinade. (There are a few other steps.) It is the definition of summer food around here. The seafood restaurant down the street from me (I live near the water and it’s a very casual thing to get seafood) always has it made. I buy myself a quart of it every couple of weeks. Mmmmm. Now I’m hungry and it’s almost 7 pm. Guess I know what I’m getting tomorrow...
Oh, I love Talenti gelato! Ben and Jerry’s used to be my go-to, but it’s so rich that it tends to make me sick. But the gelato! Yes ma’am. Especially the pistachio.
I'm a fan of cereal bars made with Mom's Best cocoa crisp cereal and coconut oil (GF & DF and more popular at parties than regular krispie bars), King Arthur's GF brownie mix, So Delicious cashew milk salted caramel cluster, and UnReal mini PB cups.
On the salty side, a few McD's french fries (too many hurts), Lesser Evil's Himalayan sea salt popcorn (pink bag), and ruffled potato chips dipped in raspberry jam.
Jam + potato chips! I used to love potato chips mushed into a PB sandwich as a kid, and I love jam with scrambled eggs. Here's for unusual flavor pairings!
Have you guys ever had a Monte Cristo sandwich? It’s ham and cheese, batter dipped and deep fried, covered in powdered sugar, and you DIP IT IN JELLY as you eat it. It’s amazing and terrible and you can only eat a few bites.
This post made me cackle as I read it in the same tone of voice you use to talk to Maria 🤣 iykyk
My always-worth-its are definitely Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Ruffles Cheddar and Sour Cream chips, Oatmeal Cream Pies, my fave Cold Stone creation, and maple bar donuts.
Reese’s are best as pumpkins or trees because there’s more peanut butter, but I really don’t discriminate except against the “thin” version because then I just have to unwrap more to get the same amount of pleasure. They go straight in the freezer as a hiding place.
Ruffles haven’t changed their Cheddar and Sour Cream recipe since they were invented, I’m pretty sure. I still love them as much as I did when I was a kid taking them for lunch. I do wish they would stop only putting the sauce on one side of the chip now because it just means I have to really dig through the bag to find the most-orange-covered chips to eat. Licking my fingers after I finish is also a non-negotiable.
Oatmeal Cream Pies were my dad’s favorite treat to get us for lunches in elementary school. They pack perfectly, taste and eat the same even if they get squished by an apple, and are just the right size. I still love them to this day and grab a box a few times per year when I randomly stroll past them in the grocery store. Nobody else gets any from the box. I eat them after my son goes to bed so he has no idea that they exist and doesn’t try to steal them from me. I like taking them in my lunchbox for work, too, because then I can pretend I’m about to go play at recess after I finish it instead of continue staring at a computer screen.
Cold Stone is always 1/2 sweet cream ice cream, 1/2 cookie dough ice cream, with Reese’s, cookie dough, and Oreo mixed in. I get pissed when the person mixes it all up and then discovers it doesn’t fit in the container and leaves mix-ins sitting on the counter; it should always be scoop less ice cream first then fill any remaining space with more ice cream because I do not like to sacrifice my mix-ins! Sometimes they just scoop all the extras into another container and don’t charge me for it #blessed 🙏🏻
Maple bars are pretty much the only donuts I eat. They’ve been a staple for my whole life because our local grocery store growing up made them fresh every Saturday and Sunday morning and sold them for 25 cents each. We were poor, so this was the right amount to spend on breakfast. It was a bad weekend when my parents slept in and we missed the donut availability window and had to suffer with cereal or something equally unappealing. Now I live down the street from a small local donut shop and they make the most fluffy maple bars with an almost-crunchy maple drizzle on top. I got my son hooked on them (maybe on purpose) so whenever he has a donut craving I have an excuse to get one too; he’s 6 so donut cravings happen a lot thankfully.
I love how many of these are childhood memories. The idea of an oatmeal cream pie taking you right back to recess makes my heart happy. I'm not a donut person but Brandon is obsessed with maple bacon bars. His favorite.
I used to sneak the oatmeal cream pies as a kid. My dad loved them in his lunch (and the fudge rounds) but my mom didn’t want me eating the processed stuff as a kid.
I haven’t had on in years being GF but maybe I will try one and see if I add it to my “worth it” list!
I think Danielle Walker has an oatmeal cream pie recipe in one of her books, if you have to stay GF. I haven’t tried it, but if the original makes you sick it could be a good once-in-while treat to make!
The m&m and popcorn combo!! My fav! I have a few always worth it’s and mini butterfingers are definitely on the list haha. Have you ever had a Tom Bumble? It’s not quite a butterfinger, but similar, and so so good. I keep those in the freezer and they’re always worth it!
Jalapeño chips 🤤 We used to get “Bob’s Texas Style Jalapeño chips” by the giant bin at holidays as gifts because we lived so close to their factory. As a 5 year old I’d plow through them. That brand doesn’t exist anymore but jalapeño chips are still my absolute favorite - sometimes layered on a turkey sandwich in the summer with loads of pickles. My daughter has 100% caught me eating from the bag and asked me the very valid question of “why do you get to eat from the bag and not have to put them in a bowl?”
Has anyone tried the new caramel cold brew M&Ms (well at least new to me??). They have caught my eye but haven’t yet bought a bag to determine if they are worth it. They sound worth it /)
I can't remember the last time I had to McDonald's sundae, but I sure want one now! I might even bring it home and put the magic shell on it.
If anyone I know is traveling internationally, I ask them to look for Japanese Kit Kats in duty free for me (anything but matcha flavor). They are worlds above the Kit Kats we get in the US - I just finished a box I had in the freezer for over a year.
I have heard that candy in other countries >>> candy we get here. Like Cadbury Creme Eggs--everyone says the ones they sell in the UK are better. I've never visited during easter but if I do, game on.
I love Chewy Nerds but they are a no-brakes food for me so the worth-it decision calculus is shifting on them. But damn they’re perfect: crunchy and chewy; sweet and sour. The perfect candy.
I will only eat dark chocolate. Don’t give me milk or white chocolate...that bullshit is never worth it and I will spit it out when ambushed.
My salty favorite is Chex Mix and boy do I wish they made a GF version commercially! I will open a bag, pick out all the corn and rice chex and give the rest to my teenager who likes the other stuff better anyway. Win/win, but seriously...why not have a GF option?
Black licorice from Tractor Supply. I am stupid-old-enough to have to pay attention to the FDA's warning to not eat more than 2.5 oz per day lest I risk a cardiac event. 😒 This consequence of aging might be worse than wrinkles and saggy boobs.
• mimic the activity of estrogen, which is why people with hormone sensitive conditions, such as breast cancer or endometriosis, should avoid it.
• interfere with blood pressure, so it should not be eaten for at least two weeks before planned surgery.
• interfere with digoxin, estrogens, furosemide, blood pressure drugs, steroid drugs, and diuretics.
• alter the activity of drugs processed by the liver.
The FDA says adults over the age of 40 should limit their intake to 2 oz daily. The NIH says as little as .6 oz per day can be problematic.
The good news is that most US black licorice does NOT contain actual licorice root/extract; it contains anise or aniseed oil (it's cheaper). The bad news is that brand from Tractor Supply uses the better-tasting (but-bad-for-you) licorice extract.
I love dark chocolate, but don’t usually have to hide it cause my boys don’t like it. I get Reese's peanut butter cups and hide them from my youngest son. I also love Cadbury caramel or fruit and nut bars and eat a quarter at a time now. I realize the caramel oozes out now when I do this and have to put it in a sandwich bag! LOL! I also love popcorn and chocolate (sometimes m&m’s). I’m have trouble sleeping when I eat chocolate at night and had to curb these “cheats” at night now. Trying to do afternoons on weekends now.
I definitely do my popcorn no later than 7 PM, because anything too close to bedtime disrupts my sleep. I'll occasionally pop some later, but only if I know we're staying up until 10 watching a movie or something. (10 PM is VERY late for me.)
I LOVE the seasonal Reese’s cups because the chocolate:peanut butter ratio is the best!
Also, I’m looking forward to trying the popcorn and peanut M&M combo!
The popcorn/m&m combo is so so good! Buttery, sweet, salty, messy 😆 but so good!
I only eat yoghurt-coated raisins in the context of a cereal here in NZ called Hubbards Fruitful Breakfast. Outside of that, wouldn't touch them! Funny how context is everything x
If you’re ever in Chicago, pick up a bag or tin of Garrett’s Mix popcorn. A delicious mix of caramel and cheese popcorn that can’t be beat. It’s one of the treats I miss now that I’m living far away from Chicago. I prefer it fresh from their stores--they have one at O’Hare--but you can have it shipped to you too.
I have been eating Talenti gelato over the past year. The Salted Caramel Truffle gelato that comes in layers, and the Cookie Truffle layers and the Caramel Cookie Crunch are my current favorites, after a lifetime of liking “just” chocolate ice cream and never being a huge fan of caramel. Tastes change, I guess. I have never been a huge peanut butter fan, but I do like the occasional moose tracks. I absolutely do not save/ration sweet/sugary foods. They are completely consumed in days/hours, and then the urge passes for another month or months. Oddly, I trend more toward salty/savory than sweet. (I guess “salted” caramel was a clue.). I will eat sweet gherkin pickles out of a jar, as well as bread and butter pickles, all summer. There are always two jars of pickles in my fridge during the summer. I was on a Cool Ranch Doritos kick for a while, but I seem to have burned myself out on them for the moment.
I ALSO love pickles, and anything with vinegar. When I was pregnant I developed wicked vinegar/sour/tart cravings. I'd eat salads with JUST vinegar (no oil) and make "lemonade" that was lemon juice and water with no sugar and the cranberry sauce I made at Thanksgiving that year was inedible by anyone else. And post-pregnancy (ten years later) it's stuck with me. :)
Do you know what “Cucumbers and Onions” aka cucumber salad is? It’s an East Coast thing, mid-Atlantic really... sliced cucumbers, a few onion pieces, water, vinegar and sugar... and then let it marinade. (There are a few other steps.) It is the definition of summer food around here. The seafood restaurant down the street from me (I live near the water and it’s a very casual thing to get seafood) always has it made. I buy myself a quart of it every couple of weeks. Mmmmm. Now I’m hungry and it’s almost 7 pm. Guess I know what I’m getting tomorrow...
LOVE this salad (east coaster here!)
I can kill a jar of dill pickles in a single sitting if I’m in a salty mood 😂
Oh, I love Talenti gelato! Ben and Jerry’s used to be my go-to, but it’s so rich that it tends to make me sick. But the gelato! Yes ma’am. Especially the pistachio.
Love this post! Food freedom all the way.
I'm a fan of cereal bars made with Mom's Best cocoa crisp cereal and coconut oil (GF & DF and more popular at parties than regular krispie bars), King Arthur's GF brownie mix, So Delicious cashew milk salted caramel cluster, and UnReal mini PB cups.
On the salty side, a few McD's french fries (too many hurts), Lesser Evil's Himalayan sea salt popcorn (pink bag), and ruffled potato chips dipped in raspberry jam.
Jam + potato chips! I used to love potato chips mushed into a PB sandwich as a kid, and I love jam with scrambled eggs. Here's for unusual flavor pairings!
I love the idea of dipping potato chips in raspberry jam! The salty with the sweet! McDs fries are still my favorite!
McD’s fries dipped in an ice cream cone is the only way to eat them for me!
Have you guys ever had a Monte Cristo sandwich? It’s ham and cheese, batter dipped and deep fried, covered in powdered sugar, and you DIP IT IN JELLY as you eat it. It’s amazing and terrible and you can only eat a few bites.
This post made me cackle as I read it in the same tone of voice you use to talk to Maria 🤣 iykyk
My always-worth-its are definitely Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Ruffles Cheddar and Sour Cream chips, Oatmeal Cream Pies, my fave Cold Stone creation, and maple bar donuts.
Reese’s are best as pumpkins or trees because there’s more peanut butter, but I really don’t discriminate except against the “thin” version because then I just have to unwrap more to get the same amount of pleasure. They go straight in the freezer as a hiding place.
Ruffles haven’t changed their Cheddar and Sour Cream recipe since they were invented, I’m pretty sure. I still love them as much as I did when I was a kid taking them for lunch. I do wish they would stop only putting the sauce on one side of the chip now because it just means I have to really dig through the bag to find the most-orange-covered chips to eat. Licking my fingers after I finish is also a non-negotiable.
Oatmeal Cream Pies were my dad’s favorite treat to get us for lunches in elementary school. They pack perfectly, taste and eat the same even if they get squished by an apple, and are just the right size. I still love them to this day and grab a box a few times per year when I randomly stroll past them in the grocery store. Nobody else gets any from the box. I eat them after my son goes to bed so he has no idea that they exist and doesn’t try to steal them from me. I like taking them in my lunchbox for work, too, because then I can pretend I’m about to go play at recess after I finish it instead of continue staring at a computer screen.
Cold Stone is always 1/2 sweet cream ice cream, 1/2 cookie dough ice cream, with Reese’s, cookie dough, and Oreo mixed in. I get pissed when the person mixes it all up and then discovers it doesn’t fit in the container and leaves mix-ins sitting on the counter; it should always be scoop less ice cream first then fill any remaining space with more ice cream because I do not like to sacrifice my mix-ins! Sometimes they just scoop all the extras into another container and don’t charge me for it #blessed 🙏🏻
Maple bars are pretty much the only donuts I eat. They’ve been a staple for my whole life because our local grocery store growing up made them fresh every Saturday and Sunday morning and sold them for 25 cents each. We were poor, so this was the right amount to spend on breakfast. It was a bad weekend when my parents slept in and we missed the donut availability window and had to suffer with cereal or something equally unappealing. Now I live down the street from a small local donut shop and they make the most fluffy maple bars with an almost-crunchy maple drizzle on top. I got my son hooked on them (maybe on purpose) so whenever he has a donut craving I have an excuse to get one too; he’s 6 so donut cravings happen a lot thankfully.
I love how many of these are childhood memories. The idea of an oatmeal cream pie taking you right back to recess makes my heart happy. I'm not a donut person but Brandon is obsessed with maple bacon bars. His favorite.
I used to sneak the oatmeal cream pies as a kid. My dad loved them in his lunch (and the fudge rounds) but my mom didn’t want me eating the processed stuff as a kid.
I haven’t had on in years being GF but maybe I will try one and see if I add it to my “worth it” list!
I think Danielle Walker has an oatmeal cream pie recipe in one of her books, if you have to stay GF. I haven’t tried it, but if the original makes you sick it could be a good once-in-while treat to make!
Thanks I will have to look!
The m&m and popcorn combo!! My fav! I have a few always worth it’s and mini butterfingers are definitely on the list haha. Have you ever had a Tom Bumble? It’s not quite a butterfinger, but similar, and so so good. I keep those in the freezer and they’re always worth it!
No! I'll have to be on the lookout for it.
Jalapeño chips 🤤 We used to get “Bob’s Texas Style Jalapeño chips” by the giant bin at holidays as gifts because we lived so close to their factory. As a 5 year old I’d plow through them. That brand doesn’t exist anymore but jalapeño chips are still my absolute favorite - sometimes layered on a turkey sandwich in the summer with loads of pickles. My daughter has 100% caught me eating from the bag and asked me the very valid question of “why do you get to eat from the bag and not have to put them in a bowl?”
Has anyone tried the new caramel cold brew M&Ms (well at least new to me??). They have caught my eye but haven’t yet bought a bag to determine if they are worth it. They sound worth it /)
Private Selection MINT moose tracks is my all-time favorite ice cream. You're right about the fudge ribbons.
My 4yo is obsessed with movie nights because we do buttered popcorn with peanut M&Ms and let him go to town 😆
I too, have quite the penchant for Cadbury Eggs. That, and at Christmas time I always have a chocolate orange or two. Can only be Terry's.
I can't remember the last time I had to McDonald's sundae, but I sure want one now! I might even bring it home and put the magic shell on it.
If anyone I know is traveling internationally, I ask them to look for Japanese Kit Kats in duty free for me (anything but matcha flavor). They are worlds above the Kit Kats we get in the US - I just finished a box I had in the freezer for over a year.
I have heard that candy in other countries >>> candy we get here. Like Cadbury Creme Eggs--everyone says the ones they sell in the UK are better. I've never visited during easter but if I do, game on.
I love Chewy Nerds but they are a no-brakes food for me so the worth-it decision calculus is shifting on them. But damn they’re perfect: crunchy and chewy; sweet and sour. The perfect candy.
I will only eat dark chocolate. Don’t give me milk or white chocolate...that bullshit is never worth it and I will spit it out when ambushed.
My salty favorite is Chex Mix and boy do I wish they made a GF version commercially! I will open a bag, pick out all the corn and rice chex and give the rest to my teenager who likes the other stuff better anyway. Win/win, but seriously...why not have a GF option?
I agree! Why not! It's not that hard, when you have GF pretzels and GF versions of just about everything else.
Black licorice from Tractor Supply. I am stupid-old-enough to have to pay attention to the FDA's warning to not eat more than 2.5 oz per day lest I risk a cardiac event. 😒 This consequence of aging might be worse than wrinkles and saggy boobs.
Hahahahaha what's IN that licorice with a warning like that?!?!
Licorice root contains "glycyrrhizin," which can:
• cause a drop in potassium levels.
• mimic the activity of estrogen, which is why people with hormone sensitive conditions, such as breast cancer or endometriosis, should avoid it.
• interfere with blood pressure, so it should not be eaten for at least two weeks before planned surgery.
• interfere with digoxin, estrogens, furosemide, blood pressure drugs, steroid drugs, and diuretics.
• alter the activity of drugs processed by the liver.
The FDA says adults over the age of 40 should limit their intake to 2 oz daily. The NIH says as little as .6 oz per day can be problematic.
The good news is that most US black licorice does NOT contain actual licorice root/extract; it contains anise or aniseed oil (it's cheaper). The bad news is that brand from Tractor Supply uses the better-tasting (but-bad-for-you) licorice extract.
I love dark chocolate, but don’t usually have to hide it cause my boys don’t like it. I get Reese's peanut butter cups and hide them from my youngest son. I also love Cadbury caramel or fruit and nut bars and eat a quarter at a time now. I realize the caramel oozes out now when I do this and have to put it in a sandwich bag! LOL! I also love popcorn and chocolate (sometimes m&m’s). I’m have trouble sleeping when I eat chocolate at night and had to curb these “cheats” at night now. Trying to do afternoons on weekends now.
I definitely do my popcorn no later than 7 PM, because anything too close to bedtime disrupts my sleep. I'll occasionally pop some later, but only if I know we're staying up until 10 watching a movie or something. (10 PM is VERY late for me.)