Junk Food Confessions
Let’s be honest. We all have our vices and hidden underneath or behind our pantry shelves somewhere probably lies a half eaten box of Little Debbie chocolate cupcakes. It could possibly be our box of stress-relief after a long days work or when you need to quietly sneak your kid some sugar contraband just so that they can leave you alone to write your blog post. Either way, I know nearly all home cooks are guilty, at some point, of eating outside their “local, seasonal, organic and sustainable” repertoire. Why? because sometimes we all need our junk food fix and I would never judge anyone based on their box of Twinkies.
This thought came to mind again when Todd showed me a funny comic strip about a gardener dad and his kids. The images showed a proud dad and family surrounding their newly built organic garden planter. It had all the signs of a family committed to living a healthier, greener and natural way of living and eating. And then the caption is from the Father who proudly boasts about their accomplishment and decides to take the family to celebrate at “Burger King!”.
I laughed out loud. Really loud. Why? Because after a long days work on the garden, all I want is a greasy burger too, at In-n-Out. Add me a side of animal fries (extra crispy please) and neopolitan shake and I’m fueled up to plant another ten rows of organic vegetable seedlings.
The truth is, we all have our little junk food secrets that some of us would never publicly admit. Why? probably because many of us here are committed to fresh eating, home cooked meals, sustainable agriculture, ya-da, ya-da and more ya-da. Yes, it’s fabulous that we all are focused to a better food system and more sustainable food culture. But I’m not judging anyone and would never think less of an organic farmer who snuck a snickers bar (or two) on occasion.
Gordough’s doughnut eating fest with friends in Austin, TX. Instagram @DianeCu
So I wanted to be the first to list out some of my vices. I try my best to be a conscious citizen in this food world, thus our garden collection of almost 40 fruit trees and 10 vegetable plots. But dang-it, sometimes I just want a bag of potato chips. Sour cream and onion flavor, please.
I’m opening up to you all here, so please don’t think less of me. And let me know your confessions? I’ll love you more for it.
I’ll list my top 5 junk food vices, starting with favorite first:
Confession #1. Potato Chips. Potato Chips and more Potato Chips. I have a love affair with anything crunchy, salty and potato-y. I affectionately call them “my chippies” or “my crunchies” and when others reach for an afternoon espresso, I reach for my favorite bag of kettle cooked chips.
And when I have a headache, a bag of sour cream and onion potato chips will cure me faster than a bottle of Advil. How sad is that?
Confession #2: French fries. And I’m not talking about any fancy shoestring or “frites”. I’m talking about those thick, greasy, salty wedges of potato fries that you get from those little local burger joints. When I get a chance to sneak-in my drive thru moments, you can find me placing an order of large french fries with extra ketchup. Oh, and malt vinegar mixed in with the ketchup too! Pretty please!
Confession #3: One doughnut. I don’t have much of a sugary sweet tooth, but when I feel like a bad girl, I scream out for a simple glazed doughnut or a handful of doughnut holes. That’s it, that’s all I need and when I want one, I want it NOW.
Confession #4: In-n-Out hamburger, animal-style fries and a Neapolitan shake. I don’t care if the lettuce isn’t locally sourced. I don’t care if the potatoes aren’t sustainable. I don’t care to know the farmer who brought in the tomatoes. This occasional meal warms my soul, fuels my spirit and makes me duper happy.
Confession #5: Almond Joy candy bars. Gosh, I haven’t had one of these in years, but I still remember the days when one of these made me so satisfied when I needed to sneak in some guilty sugar pleasure. The combination of sweet coconut, coating of cheap chocolate and that surprise bite of almonds in the middle is the bomb!
Now, it’s your turn.
-diane
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I thought of a few others:
Moon Pie (I won’t buy any other snack cakes, but can’t live without these!)
Kroger brand chocolate chip cookies (like Chips Ahoy, but crunchier. And I am usually a homemade cookie snob)
Bacon, bacon and more bacon
Potato chips topped with chopped raw onions (I always do this at cookouts…SO. GOOD. Bonus points if some stray chopped bacon makes its way on there too)
Biscoff cookie butter
Peanut butter on a spoon dipped in mini chocolate chips
I’ve never been to the west coast, so never tried In & Out burger. Sounds right up my alley. My similar indulgence meals: steakburger sliders dipped in extra seasoning, fries and a salted caramel pretzel shake from Steak n Shake; slaw burger with fries (and these fries are a fry lover’s dream- thick, fresh-cut, soggy with grease…my favorite) and a cobbler shake from Cookout (a delicious chain in NC, SC, VA & TN); and the world’s most perfect grilled cheese and seasoned waffle fries from Friendly’s. I was fortunate to have TWO of these meals yesterday on a road trip from VA to GA- a happy day indeed. It got me thinking how funny it is that I can be so obsessive about fresh, scratch-made home cooking, yet when it comes down to it I’m pretty easy to please after all. Haha. Great post!
Peanut butter and cheese are mine. Also any kind of cake (without fruit in it). If it’s in the house, I cannot control myself.
I love a ginormous spoon of peanut butter dipped in milk chocolate chips and white chocolate chips! Oh my word! So good! I also have a weakness for peanut M&M’s, under baked chocolate chip cookies, and under baked brownies! Oh and I like to mix my own peanuts with milk chocolate chips,peanut butter chips and white chocolate chip! Delicious:)
I’ve given up junk food for winter (which it is now here in Australia) – so at the start of my 2nd month without eating it. Feeling good but LOVED reading all the comments – felt like I was living vicariously through everyone!
SUCH a good post. Let’s see… Cake. Cake with extra frosting (caramel, please). Hint of Lime chips (the only chips I can’t resist). White chocolate m&ms. Slightly-underbaked cookies, straight from the oven. Fudge or pecan pie. Cheese grits.
Can’t you tell I’m southern? 🙂
CHIPS of any kind: tortilla (which I’ll eat with an entire jar of store-bought salsa, none of that fresh stuff in the refrigerator section, please), popchips, kettle, pringles, Lay’s original potato chips, I can’t stop.
Also swedish fish. AHHHH.
Amazing post. Here are my confessions – please don’t tell anyone.
Like you- fries. Unlike you- I will take any kind!
Chocolate covered raisins – yummmm.
Cheesecake – plain – preferably from Cheesecake Factory.
Licorice Nibs.
Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream.
Domino’s Pizza!!! – My husband and I order this almost every Sunday night. Shhhh
Ribs.
York Peppermint Patties.
Damn, I have a lot of vices. Now I want it all. Thanks in advance for keeping this to yourself 😉
Xo
Dana Ivy
http://www.iadorewhatilove.com – Check out my blog!!
Man oh man, what a great topic.
Microwaved nachos.
Mashed potatoes – the boxed Betty Crocker kind. I could easily eat an entire box.
Chips, especially kettle cooked. Especially barbecue or sour cream and onion. Or Lay’s or Ruffles sour cream and onion. Also, French onion dip.
Chips Ahoy.
French fries.
Domino’s pizza. Ugh such a guilty pleasure! Periodically I try to make up excuses why we need to order Domino’s instead of quality pizza. “I think everywhere else is closed” “I think they’re having some kind of special” “They have a new crust! It…it….might be better” Also their cinna stix.
A chocolate frosted donut from Dunkin Donuts.
Totino’s pizza rolls.
Boxed mac & cheese.
This was really therapeutic.
My top weaknesses: bananoffee pie, molten lava cake, thin crust pizza, fried chicken and salted caramel ice cream! 🙂