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!