Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Guilty Food Pleasures

This post started out as my Top Ten Guilty Food Pleasures, but when I started the list, I could only come up with a half a dozen. I guess for me the ‘guilty’ part really outweighs the ‘pleasure’ part, or else I don't take much pleasure in guilt-inducing foods. I'd like to think that is more the case. There is very little junk food, fast food, or processed food out there that I eat. I don’t consider myself an über health nut, but, for better or for worse, I am a food snob, so would never look twice at stuff like pudding cups (especially the bubble gum flavor-blech-just the sight of it turns my stomach), Kraft singles, Twinkies and the like. The more processed and distorted from it origin the food item is, the harder I find it to stomach.

However, I am not without some secret shame and I list a few items below that never fail to tempt me and I never fail to indulge in when I have the chance! Of course there's lots of sweets, munchies and sugar-filled drinks that I will dabble in from time to time, but they are just riff-raff and not very high up on the 'pleasure' chart. To me, if you're not really craving it, perhaps you're just eating it because it's being served at a party, it's not worth the trouble. And by trouble I mean the fat. And the tooth decay, facial breakouts, heart stress and brain sluggishness. The list could go on, but as I am not an expert in nutrition, I'll leave the scientific facts out of it and just go with my standard yardstick for measuring junk food:

If my mother didn't allow it when I was growing up, chances are it WILL kill you.

I was asking around to a few people about this topic and was astounded by what I found. People really have some very astonishingly gross and potentially hazardous eating habits! Maybe I am just blind to what really goes on out there in those dark kitchens in the wee hours of the morning, but I am now immensely curious and must find out more.

If you have a guilty food pleasure –and I know you do- please share it with us at underthehighchair. We would love to hear from you the shocking stuff! the calorie mountains! the unthinkble combinations! Come on, we won't tell anyone else and it will be lots of fun.

What constitutes a ‘guilty pleasure’, you ask?
Well, it will be something different for everyone so I won’t define it , but one common thread is that it should have a very low nutritional value and the rest is self-explanatory. If you’re telling me you can’t resist bingeing on a sack of edamame, I’m not going to swallow it.
It may be a tad out of the ordinary, like whipping cream on toast (my brother) or the same as 80 billion other people: a Big Mac. (Yes, you should feel guilty about fast food. If you don’t have a clue why, go see Fast Food Nation for starters.)
I will also add that Guilty Pleasures are not weird combinations that you come up with when there is no food in the fridge…maybe we’ll address those wacky foods another time.

You can either email your guilty pleasures to me directly and I’ll do a follow up post, or just spill the beans as a comment at the end of the post.

For the record here are my few guilty pleasures:

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. They are so evil and so very good

Poutine: the Quebecois classic dish of fries, curd cheese and gravy. I don’t eat it often, but probably more often than I should. Once in a while I need a ‘fix’.

Microwave Popcorn. It’s so artificial tasting, that fake butter and all, but so addicting.

Sour Cream and Onion Ruffles. My weakness in the chip department

Blak: Coffee flavored Coka Cola. I’ve only had this once, but I may as well add it, because I loved it so much, I can tell we’re going to have a future together as soon as more stores start carrying it. Namely, Costco.


Tammy said...

Hmm... oh gosh, I love poutine! With a huge French population in Winnipeg, poutine's very often found on a restaurant menu. Mmm...

Other than that, I would say I have a weakness for freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, chili-lime kettle cooked potato chips and coconut lattes!

As for Krispy Kreme and Blak - Blechhhh...

Zaak said...

I've been wracking my brain for 10 minutes trying to thing of what junk I love and I've come up with those banana candies (the sort of hard sort of soft things that don't really taste like banana and leave a chemical taste in your mouth.

After my near-death experience with Krispy Kreme, I'm no longer tempted.

Danny B said...

I like to put a small bowl half-full of marshmallows and chocolate chips in the microwave for about 30 seconds or so. The marshmallows inflate to 5 times their normal size, and is worth watching. Once the microwave beeps, take a spoon and mix the goo all together. Then you get to chew this tough, stringy, chewy mass off the spoon, and it's really good! Doesn't look too pretty, but it's good!

Danny B said...

After reading Zaak's comments, I have to admit I love those red, strawberry marshmallow things. They also leave a pseudo-chemical taste in your mouth, but are oh-so-yummy.

Amber said...

I too love the strawberry marshmallow candies! Especially if they're just a little bit old and chewy, mmm. Now take into account I'm pregnant so food is on my mind a lot, but some of my other favorite sinful indulgences are: home-made turtles, maple-walnut icecream, fudge, and the pink starburst candies. I'm also a sucker for krispy kreme glazed donuts, but I know how to stop at one unlike my sweetheart:)

Miranda said...

ohh I love the gooey marshmallow mess Danny described, but its better if you add either peanut butter or graham cracker crumbs...but not both :) I also love crispy creme, sour starbursts, nutella, cookie dough, and new york super fudge chunk ice cream :)

Anonymous said...

I have been know (until now, only privately) to purchase a bag of marshmallows, get them home as fast as possible (otherwise I'd eat them all) and then make up a batch of RiceKrispie Squares. I'll get some before they even get into the pan, then eat half the pan. One good side to these treats is that they are very low in fat. I can't wait to share a batch with Noah.When Mommy and Daddy get home we'll have cleaned up every trace, and they'll never know....

Kevin said...

Ahem. For the record, pudding cups are an excellent source of quick sugar right before a short, intense workout. Sort of like a Power Bar or Power Gel. But then I don't know if that is considered "food" or "fuel". Oh, and Kraft Singles are great on grilled cheese.
In the "can't touch this" category, I would definitely put spray-on cheese. (Is it really cheese if it comes in a spray can?)


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