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The Fine Art of Snacking
I love snacking. Love. It. Of course, I adore eating in all its forms, but there is something special about snacking. Watching a movie, reading, playing with my phone, working on the computer, or chatting with family and friends: all of these delightful activities are made even more sublime with the addition of snacks.
So herewith, my nominations for the best snacks in each of the theme’s categories (plus one: savory). It’s important to note that a snack is different from a meal course: that is, my favorite dessert (chocolate chip cookies with milk or mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches) will be different from my favorite sweet snack.
Sweet
Post Honey Ohs cereal, dry, straight out of the box. This snack can’t be beat for crunchiness, sweetness, and sheer shove-it-in-your-face-like-there’s-no-tomorrow snackability. I’m (not really) ashamed to admit that one box contains approximately one serving. Best consumed while playing with your phone. Suggested beverage: fizzy water.
Sour
Salt and vinegar potato chips, preferably Cape Cod or similar extra-crunchy texture. (You can keep your Lay’s, thank you.) So sour and vinegary they make you pucker but you just can’t stop once you put that first delicious chip in your mouth. Best consumed while watching football. Suggested beverage: plain room-temperature water.
Spicy
Chips and salsa. I’m partial to Tostitos Bite Size Rounds because the size is perfect (I hate having to bite into a huge chip or try to fit a too-big chip into my mouth) and the quality (crunch, subtle saltiness) are very consistent. I know there are lots of other better tortilla chips out there, but Tostitos Bite Size are my choice for affordable, mass-market chips. As for salsa, any medium to hot salsa is fine: jarred salsa, the refrigerated kind from the deli, or fresh salsa made with vegetables from the garden. I usually blend it first because I don’t like slimy vegetables and prefer a smooth consistency. Best consumed when you are sitting at a table to use the computer and you can arrange the chips and salsa and laptop in a pleasing and convenient way. Suggested beverage: orange juice/diet ginger ale mixture.
Savory
White Cheddar Cheez-its. The best cheese cracker, hands-down. Cheez-its have the perfect amount of cheesy powder on each cracker and they receive bonus points for being so perfectly bite-sized. They are also filling, so they are a good choice for a mid-afternoon snack when you still have several hours before dinner. Best consumed while reading a book on the couch. Suggested beverage: Diet Pepsi.
Any other dedicated snackers out there? What are your favorite snacks, in any category?
Published in Group Writing
Serving size for Thin Mints = one sleeve.
One of my needs is to snack while reading – either a book or on the computer. Although it does turn into mindless eating – “I thought I had six cookies here, where did they go?”
I’ll eat just about any dry cereal but I do like frosted mini-wheats. Healthy and sweet.
Sort of trail mix: pretzels, chocolate covered raisins, m&m’s, cashews, (salted/roasted) pecans, or cocktail peanuts.
Fried Rice Chex – melt some butter in a frying pan, add garlic salt, celery salt, and onion salt, or some Mrs Dash. Add Rice Chex and stir until golden.
I have tried really hard to like plain old dark chocolate, but I just can’t do it, so I need to go with mint patties.
Popcorn – salted, buttered, made in my microwave popper (no oil). Also caramel corn or kettle corn.
Cucumbers and mini carrots
Not a fan of dips, salsa, or cheese.
My pretty much unvarying drink is iced tea, unsweetened.
I will have to think about this before I give any answers. But I am relieved that someone mentioned guacamole, so we can hear a certain member rant about avocados and the fancy-pants elitist who eat them.
I realize this may be scandalous to some, but I’m in complete agreement. Plain dark chocolate is like Starbucks coffee–just too bitter (ducks head).
As for caramel corn, this is the one food I can eat to the point of making myself sick. Growing up, I spent most every Sunday afternoon at my one grandmother’s, and she almost always had a huge bowl of homemade caramel popcorn. Heavenly. Until I ate enough to get a stomach ache.
I’m glad people like to eat guacamole, because I love to make it. Getting just the right amount of lime juice, garlic, and salt is rewarding. But I let others eat it. Just can’t quite get on board with the color and texture.
Cheetos. If a bag of the puffy ones are in the house, I will pick at for several days until it’s gone. If it is the crunchy ones, that bag won’t make it through the day.
If it’s a matter of having something on hand to guzzle while I’m working or reading, I’ve become of fan of the flavored seltzer waters. All depends on the flavor–some are great, like drinking Sprite or grape soda.
Yes to all.
Caviar in a silver bowl with perfectly trimmed toast points.
Either that or those Snyder’s pretzel bites that come in a variety of natural flavors like Buffalo wing, jalapeno, honey mustard, and cheddar. Good to combine different ones in a bowl.
I really like the white cheddar Cheez-Its but they need to add some kind of chemical to stop the “cheddar” from sticking to your hands.
LOL. Love this.
The honey mustard/onion ones are crack-level addictive.
@susanquinn Yes! They are made by Terry’s. They come in Dark and Milk Chocolate. They are very much in evidence around Christmas. You can buy them on Amazon as well. I give them at Christmas as treats long with a tip for service people.
Those are awesome, and . . . not at all healthy. I would eat bowls and bowls of them. I would also gain ten pounds.
The neat thing is that they’ve managed to take pretzels, which as snack (junk) food, are relatively “healthy,” and make them unhealthy.
Only 10? You must have a heck of a metabolism.
Looks like someone’s missing the point of snack time. :-)
God bless America!
It occurred to me to ask whether there was even such a thing as a healthy snack that was also a good snack.
Keep those celery sticks far away from me! Unless you fill the chute with Nutella.
What? Doesn’t everyone call it the celery chute?
I like guacamole, too, but after You make it You only got nine and a half minutes to eat it before it’s black.
From the flip side, I dislike those multi-colored chips- forget what they’re called. I associate them with liberals for some reason.
You got a problem with Diversity!?
Okay, I figured it out.
Chex Mix. Home made with the original recipe.
Usually not a problem.
😂😂😂
Why would one ruin perfectly good, delicious Nutella by putting it on celery?
Yes. But there’s also something about purple chips.
Agreed. Thankfully I have teenaged boys still at home who generally eat as much as I’ll make before the expiration minute.
In Wisconsin that’s called the relish tray, a Supper Club mainstay.
Two big thumbs down:
It’s more like “if one is forced to eat celery, at least put Nutella or Peanut Butter in the chute.”