Because of course today I'm all yin yang like that.
I am much more food-focused, and, unfortunately, much more sweet-snacky lately. I am clearly not going to be one of those women who ends her pregnancy under the expected weight.
The following is a list of mostly-unhealthy comestibles I like. I know that several of them are things that many other humans I know do not.
And Hillary, I'm not including raisins, although I have been on a kick as of late. I should, however, mention that while the people I know do not loathe them to the level of relegating them to the anus, there are a shocking number of raisin-haters out there.
Who knew?
So.
White Cheddar Cheez-Its. If I didn't have to think about weight or nutrition or really anything to do with health and well-being, I could probably subsist for quite a while on nothing but Cheez-Its and root beer.Salty black licorice. I found Dutch double-salt licorice at the tea store in Old Town where Nick buys his revolting foot tea. He thinks this licorice is one of the grossest things ever. He might be right, but at least it doesn't project the smell of dead feet across the room.
Pickled herring. In vinegar, not cream sauce. I think this preference comes down from my mom's Viking ancestry. I have only one friend besides Betty who likes it.
Banana cream pie. Someone got me thinking about this recently and I am dying for some. This for me is childhood dessert, and I am totally craving it.
Tapioca pudding. Also childhood food. I bought some recently and it is just not as good as Betty's. She, however, hates it, so no longer makes it. And yes, I know it looks kind of like snot.Cadbury cream eggs. I don't care how disgusting the egg-looking sugar gunk inside is. And I've never understood why they really want it to look like a raw egg. Even so, I love them. These and the mini eggs are two of my favorite things about Easter.
Peanut M&Ms. I love plain as well, but the benefit to these is twofold. One, you get a little protein. And two, the peanut cuts the sweet. So you can eat a whole lot more of them at one go.
Brussels sprouts. These are probably my favorite vegetable. And I think the only actually healthy thing on this list.Popcorn. Left to my own devices, I'd have popcorn for dinner just about every night. It's a delicious accompaniment to tomato soup. Or salad. Or pickled herring. Or watermelon. Whatever else you might be having for dinner.
In other words, really, anything.
I will eat it any old way, but I love it best popped in oil on the stove and then salted, but not buttered. I've been making popcorn for decades, and yet I have a complete and utter inability to make less than twice as much as the pot should hold.
Size of pot seems to make no difference.
Some people I might be married to find it baffling and irritating; I think it's part of my charm.
Ever had peanut butter m&m's? Oh, they are the goodness.
ReplyDeleteI craved whole grapefruts...eatten like an orange and tuna fish salad (I know fish...but so yummy). Carolyn
ReplyDeletei'll second the pb m&ms mentioned above and i'll also relcommend almonds... so deliciously addictive and yet good for you
ReplyDeleteall that eating sounds fabulous! popcorn is by far one of the greatest things... white popcorn with salt, or even making kettle corn... yumm, now i want some!
Brussel sprouts? Really? Cute as they may be, the smell makes me gag. Childhood trauma, I think. The rest of the snack options sound pretty good though!
ReplyDeleteLemmonex - Shockingly, I find them a little too rich. Which is weird, because I can put PB on almost anything.
ReplyDeleteCarolyn - Oh, I have been loving grapefruit as well! And I always love tuna salad, but am doing that whole limiting to twice a week business.
notsojenny - Almonds! Yum! Yes, and good for you. And popcorn is seriously one of the best things on the planet. I've never made kettle corn, though. Is that with sugar syrup?
Susan - Nick has that same childhood trauma reaction. His loathing is off the charts. I don't think I ever, ever had them as a child. I suppose we just didn't live anywhere cold enough.
This made me laugh. Stupid raisins.
ReplyDeleteI fully agree with you re: peanut m&ms. I feel like I'm being almost responsible when I eat them because of the peanut. They're not all bad.
And tapioca pudding? Looks like sperm. Sorry.
You're going to hurt their shriveled little feelings.
ReplyDeleteAnd yah, you are right. Especailly if you enlarge that picture. It looks like a big bowl of sperm.
Ew. Thanks, Hillary.
On the topic or wrinkly dry fruit, I ate so many dried apricots when I was pregnant that I was sure my poor kiddo was going to be born orange! Is there a difference between regular black licorice and what you are talking about? I'm intrigued. I may have to find some double salt black licorice somewhere. . . . Have fun! It's the only time in your life when you can eat junk and not feel too terribly guilty!
ReplyDeleteI like combining popcorn and peanut M&Ms. The salty/sweet is fantastic. And I'm mad about the tapioca.
ReplyDeleteCheez-its were my saving grace during my pregnancy. That and cold cereal. I could go through a box a day. Luckily (ha) I started having some serious taste and smell issues halfway through the pregnancy and couldn't really eat a lot of stuff. So I didn't gain nearly as much weight as I would have had I not had those issues.
ReplyDeleteHave fun with the food, though - it's one of the best parts of being pregnant (in my opinion).
I like many of the foods on your list. Tapioca pudding is awesome, but only when it's homemade. Candbury mini eggs are my spring time addiction. I like herring too, but only when it's in the cream sauce - there's something about the tanginess that makes them great. I like brussel sprouts, but only when they are cooked in chicken stock. It helps give them flavor on the inside!
ReplyDeleteI have to second what SM said about cold cereal. I've been going through boxes and boxes of Cocoa Puffs. That and apples are my faves right now. The pickled herring.... not so much!
ReplyDeleteI thought those brussel sprouts were wasabi peas for a second. I was waitressing with a woman who was preggers once, and she ate them by the TRUCKLOAD.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, popcorn the way you like it, is the same way I like it. I eat it for dinner more often than I should. Hmmmmm...
ReplyDeletepopcorn cooked on the stove in oil is one of my favorite snacks ever. I like mine sprinkled with soy sauce and allspice or soy sauce and parmesan cheese.
ReplyDeleteCheryl S - Alas, I have discovered dry apricots give me gas. Like, in 30 seconds.
ReplyDeleteAs for the salty Dutch licorice I've found, aside from being really salty, it's a lot less sweet, harder, and really really licorice-y. If you like the flavor of black licorice, I think you will like it.
FreckledK - Those are a stellar combination. Absolutely!
SM - I feel like I shovel food in my mouth ALL THE TIME now, so it would be helpful for me to start having aversions again.
lifeintheleftlane - That may be the case. The only homemade I've had is my mom's, and store bought just isn't great. And I've never tried Brussels sprouts in chicken stock, but it sounds yummy.
Luna - Ohhh Cocoa Puffs sound awesome at this moment! I'm trying to eat an apple a day - supposed to help with asthma.
LiLu - Ohhh, I love wasabi peas! I haven't had those in ages!
Beach Bum - I feel like it's a totally low-guilt food. I used to just eat popcorn as my entire dinner, but now it's a side instead of a main.
ReplyDeleteJoLee - YUM both of those sound fantastic! Must try!
Every once in a while I get a serious craving for pickled herring, in cream sauce though, never tried the vinegar kind. The hubby finds this completely disgusting. I'm going to have to try salted licorice, sounds like something I might like.
ReplyDeleteMy mom LOVED kimchee, but I could never get past the smell to try it.
Lisa, sadly (to admit this, though it makes me very very happy) when I eat popcorn it IS my entire dinner!
ReplyDeleteI discovered (when I might have been looking for a recipe for the stuff) that double-salt black licorice isn't made with table salt at all. Which is probably a good thing, in a way.
ReplyDeleteI like popcorn cooked similarly - it can be microwave-popped, but I like to put it in a gallon-sized Ziploc and toss it with very light olive oil, and sea salt.
Also, it's surprising how many people loathe Cadbury eggs. I kind of love them beyond what might be reasonable.
I agree with you on popcorn. It is sooo good! Not so sure about brussel sprouts though..:P
ReplyDeleteGreat list! Although not all together. I love popcorn, definitely on the stove and without butter. Yum!
ReplyDeleteAt least you can eat. With the recent stock market performance, I'm given the choice between "Ramen noodles" or (we can splurge a little and have...) "Ramen noodles with beef flavoring" by the wife.
ReplyDeletePickled herring rocks my world...even better, you can buy it wrapped around a chunk of dill pickle..they're called "roll mops", and I love them beyond reason.
ReplyDeleteAnd now I am off to find myself a damn Creme egg...
J - I am OK with it in cream sauce, but it's not my preference. And I like kimchee, but almost never go out for Korean food, and it would never occur to me to just buy.
ReplyDeleteBeach Bum - Yes! I love just popcorn for dinner. But now I feel like, oh, gotta shove some nutrients in too so the little guy doesn't suck them all out of me and leave me toothless.
Dagny - Of course you would know that random and interesting licorice fact!
And I will follow up with you on the nuking. I didn't know that could be done!
I do know a lot of Cadbury egg haters. They hate the inside stuff.
Hannah - I am always fine with non-Brussels sprouts people. Just means more for me.:)
HKW - No, not all together. Although I'd be OK pairing many of these...
Anonymous - Yah. You have a point there.
Miss Pickle - I have only had them in Germany - I LOVE those!
And those damn Creme eggs make everything a little better.:)
My question is which of these things did you like BEFORE little lemon? I could live with the brussels sprouts, popcorn, and peanut m&ms for sure. Maybe the Cheez-its at times. But the others....hmmmm..... I do like raisins though. I had no idea so many people hate them.
ReplyDeleteJules - I love all of these in my normal life and in my pregnant life. Although in my non-preg life, I pretty much never eat pudding and pie or really much of anything super fattening on any kind of regular basis. And Cheez-Its and chocolate I mostly eat when I'm really stressed out and can't resist.
ReplyDeleteBut in the new eat-everything-all-the-fucking-time life, well, that's what I do.
about the popcorn you don't need anything special... if you make popcorn on the stove with oil just throw in some sugar and it'll create the coating mixture itseld... it's like MAGIC! magically delicious that is : )
ReplyDeletei'll pass on the tapioca but i have a certain affinity for the vanilla pudding that comes in those huge ginormous cans that you serve in public schools and mental institutions (kinda the same?) - something about the slightly metallic taste the cans give the pudding... who knows? good stuff.
ReplyDeleteI really wish Hillary hadn't said that.
ReplyDeleteI had something else to say but my whole train of thought was prematurely something or othered.
Gosh I love Cheese-Itz. So much so that my coworker bought me a box as her "peace offering."
ReplyDeleteIt worked.
Popcorn is one of the reasons I fell in love with my boyfriend. We were watching a movie and he made me popcorn, popped on the stove with salt, and at the first taste I was in love. Seriously. With the popcorn oh yeah and with him.
ReplyDeletehahaha, waaaaay back in the day (like, years before i was born) my dad decided to go on a cheez-it and orange soda diet. that's all he ate, every day. and he lost weight!!
ReplyDeletethough, you know, not the most healthy long term weight loss strategy :)
Have you seen this?! Since we don't live in the UK, I believe it can be recreated in our homes! http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/03/the-cadbury-creme-egg-mcflurry-at-british-mcd.html
ReplyDelete