Thursday, March 3, 2011

Favorite Things Friday - Snacks!

It's time once again to play favorites, as in Favourite Things Friday, hosted by the lovely Shay at Quilting in My Pyjamas.  She really is lovely, and a doting grandmother, as her sweet post today describes.

My favorite thing this week is snacks.  SNACKS!!  I am a big-time snacker from way back(er?).  My mom wasn't real big on the snacks thing, and I swear she had some kind of radar that enabled her to know from the far corners of the house when the lid was raised on the aluminum cookie jar.  So I learned from an early age to forage for snacks on my own.  This meant anything from raiding the garden to combing the neighborhood for candy.  Seriously, we used to ring the doorbell of this elderly couple who always had Hershey bars on hand.  Can you imagine answering your door to some ragamuffin kids looking for a handout?  What were we thinking, that it was Halloween all year long?  Sheesh. 

My sister (left) and me, picking/eating cherries.

When I say "we," I mean my sister and I, and/or one or more neighbor girls our age, like Dee-Dee or Cathy.  Probably Dee-Dee.  She was my favorite instigator.  We got into all sorts of trouble adventures together.  Like the time we tried to make gum.  We read the ingredients on the back of a Bazooka wrapper and decided we probably had everything we needed to cook ourselves up a batch.  Except for gum base.  That turned out to be pretty important.  Turns out Kool-Aid (artificial flavor and color, right?), sugar, and corn syrup cooked together makes for one sticky sweet, stain-producing mess.

At some point, I started to earn an allowance, most of which went straight into my pie hole in the form of whatever crap I could buy at the corner grocery or gas station and eat on the way home whilst pedaling my Schwinn.

Didn't my parents feed me? you may be wondering.  Absolutely, three squares a day.  Hey, I was just a hungry, constantly growing kid with a sweet tooth the size of a fiberglass farm animal.  It stands to reason I was a little on the chubby side too.


But I digress.  The point is, I still love to snack, but now I have to abstain from gluten and dairy products.  Say it with me: Wah.  This has put a serious cramp in my snacking style, as you can imagine.  Gone are the days of driving through Dairy Queen, and having peanut M&Ms rattling around in my desk drawer where there should be paperclips.  But I feel better, health-wise, and far less flatulent.  Yes, I went there.

So what do I snack on?  These are the current faves:

Nuts of all kinds...peanuts, almonds, pecans, etc.  Peanut butter on crackers (though in all honesty, I've about had it with those rice bran crackers).  

I am rarely without Tostitos in the house.  Lately, I've rediscovered Fritos too.  Did I tell you I found a recipe for chocolate-covered Frito candy?  I need to make that soon.

I dip the corn chips in jalapeno salsa, hummus, or guacamole (hence the avocado, which later became this rockin' guac).

Sweets...well, it's tricky, but rest assured I get my sugar quota.  I miss donuts, and I'm not sure, but I think they may even miss me at the bakery counter.  But I bake at least once a week, and today it was Maui Wowee Bars.  I use gluten-free flours, of course, and other substitutes for butter or margarine.  Today it was canola oil plus some coconut milk in these bars.

I do have to be careful with chocolate and make sure to read the label for dairy products.  Pretty much all the usual chocolate in the checkout lane is off limits.  My latest favorite find, though, is this Venezuela dark chocolate (from Aldi).  I also buy marzipan during the Christmas holiday, when it's available.  And there's always marshmallows.  Hey, that reminds me—it's Marshmallow Peep season!

Missing from photo:  Carrots, cauliflower, cucumbers, bananas, etc.  I do eat a variety of fruits and veggies, but didn't want to dump out my whole vegetable drawer for a picture.

So what do you like to nosh on?  Leave a comment, and I'll be back to read them shortly—after I grab a snack!

18 comments:

Sarah Craig said...

Oreos are my downfall - I could eat them all day long. And never put me in a closed car with a dozen hot Krispy Kreme donuts!! Twelve went in - none came out....... ;-)

seabreezequilts said...

Poor deprived child, guess you are making up for it now lol, Great FTF

Helsie said...

I read on a cooking blog that cocoa was just chocolate without the butter ( fat ) so you should be OK with that for cooking shouldn't you? I imagine that this restricted diet is wonderful for your weight? so there is a nbit of an upside!
Cheers
Helen

thea said...

Your favorite is one of mine too. My recent favorite is crackers with cream cheese and a raspberry chipotle sauce, though I love tostitos with salsa (my favorite salsa is a peach pineapple one in the grocery store brand)... chocolate covered frito candy sounds great .. did you ever eat fritos with oranges? one of my favorite combos.. that reminds me, I just love combos. Maybe I should just put a link to your post on my post? :)

Sara said...

We don't have most of those things in Australia - My preferred snack is Lamington Fingers - bits of sponge cake in a chocolate-icing-type covering and rolled in coconut.

Mistea said...

Snacks are very important to keep up ones energy through the day (and night). Until recently my snack of choice was any type of dark chocolate but something happened over the Summer now I tend to be eating more crackers with dip or peanut butter.

Great lot of snacks you have lined up there.
Enjoy your faves

Kirsten's Cooking said...

Love this post! I have the benefit/curse of being home all day - and it allows me to eat all of the time. My snacks are far and varied - but I also love the peanut butter with crackers, and I try to snack on fruits when possible.

I think it's hilarious that you would ring the doorbell of a neighbor to get candy! Kids are so funny, aren't they?

I bet it's been hard to cook without gluten or dairy! Good for you for baking in creative ways - it's sure better for you than hershey bars!

rubyslipperz1052 said...

oh, YUM your cookie bars with coconut milk, sound soo good! that would be very hard for me to eat totally free of dairy and gluten. But i do try to stay away from anything white. I limit dairy and "yeasty" things. thanks for sharing your food stuffs. honest. it gave me some really good ideas.

hugZ.
annie
rubyslipperz1006.blogspot

Vicki @ DottyJane said...

I could go for some chocolate covered Fritos. Do you suppose they make low salt variety? That would be perfection!
My go to snack is Hershey miniatures kept in the fridge. If I really want to indulge I'll go for a pastry, but not very often!
I love the picture of you and your sister..you especially with that "Huh?" look on your face!

Larri said...

Yum! A fabulous favourite! :o)

You haven't snacked until you tried Chili Cheese Fritos with Jalepeno Bean Dip. mmmMMM! I'm salivating just thinkin' about it. ;o)

Happy Friday, friend! :o)

SueWis said...

I am one to graze. Hey, I've read that one should have six small meals per day.

I see your low-sodium V8 there. I drink that every day. I snack on dark chocolate, chips and guac, bananas (sometimes with peanut butter), rye crisp crackers with laughing cow cheese, almonds, yogurt, apples & oranges (when in season).

Good thing I'm eating lunch right now.

Kathy said...

P that picture of you scowling at the camera is just hilarious! It is like the camerman is threatening to take away your snack and you will fight to the death to keep it!!!

Unknown said...

Very funny that you should love those snacks! Your mother didn't raise you that way! So she says...I had a son, who when he was 17 mos would say the word "cookie" as if he was begging for it...so the older kids would want to walk him and he would be placed in front of the neighbours' doors, the door would open and Ted would say "cookie", never failed till I put a sign on him that said "don't feed this kid!" so since the walkers couldn't read they wondered what was happening....

Pokey said...

I love the picture, boy, can you see that little girl has AttItuDe! (yep, I know it's of you, lol)! Probably you were just looking into the sun, but it's a cute shot of baby doll you. *vbg*
I think it's the sweetest thing that you were able to accomplish the sudoku quilt for your friend so quickly (I know, I'm mixing your posts), and it has turned out such a precious gift for a friend in need! You will be blessed as you are blessing, P.
:-}pokey

Kate said...

My favorite snack these days is chocolate yogurt, yum! I love the "fiber glass farm animal" comment. Enjoy your Peeps!

Kirsten said...

Oh I also love to snack..I snack on everything...lately I started lo live more healthy and snack on friut and veggies.

Elizabeth said...

P, what a great FTF! This post really made me smile. You are so fun to read. I loved looking over your snacks and seeing which ones we have in common. I love chips & salsa or chips & salsa & Guacamole. We buy Santitia's chips because they have just the right amount of salt and they're only $2 a bag. I love popcorn (ate almost a whole bucket at the movies last night) and applesauce and that pear looks really good.

I really love ice cream, but I have to be careful with dairy, so I very often do Haagen Daaz sorbet (peach, mango and raspberry are my favorites). Oh, and I really like quacker rice cake snacks. The ranch flavored ones are awesome.

Great FTF. Thanks for sharing.

xo -El

Shay said...

First off I think Sarah is my long lost sister. I take no prisoners when it comes to Krispy Kreme donuts and I think my love for Oreo's has been well documented.

Loved this FTF P, because I am also a snacker. Hand me a bag of salt and vinegar chips, a bag of snowballs, or cheese on crackers and I am a very happy girl. I am not all that into chocolate but at the moment am plowing my way through a lot (I cannot say how much because it is truly tragic) of pineapple chocolate!

What are marshamallow peeps and why do they have a season?