Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with snacks

Zingers!? Good Grief!

evilcupcakes — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:49:16 -0800

Does anyone know an actual store where I can buy Dolly Madison (now Hostess) Zingers in the greater Seattle area?? The Peanuts Christmas special always has a Pavlovian effect on me, and now I MUST find some Raspberry Zingers!! Since I want to try and find some in the next few days for the office holiday party (I was told this would elevate me to official "hero" status), I would prefer a brick and mortar store, rather than pay for overnight shipping.

What is the best thing you ever found in your Chex Mix?

tryniti — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:44:48 -0800

What is the best thing you ever found in your Chex Mix? I am making Chex Mix as a gift for coworkers this year, and I'd like to make it really awesome. I'm leaning towards spicy flavors rather than adding anything sweet (I'm in south Louisiana - we make everything spicy). What would be some interesting additions to the Chex Mix that would be both unique and amazingly tasty? As of now I am planning to use pretty basic seasonings - heavy on the Worchestire and adding a ton of Tony Chachere's/Tabasco.

Any suggestions for yummy additions or recipes for a "cajun" chex mix would be wonderful!

tasty hot snacks

missmary6 — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:16:53 -0800

What are some good, WARM snacks that don't take too much prep? Now that the landscape outside my window is ice and snow, I find myself only wanting to eat heated food. This is fine at dinnertime, and even at lunch (apparently, you can grill any type of sandwich...) but for snacks I find myself wishing I could heat up that apple, or warm up those crackers and hummus. Any WARM snacks that y'all enjoy? I don't mind a bit of prep work, especially if it's something that will keep a little while and can be heated up later.

The Protean Life of Protein Snacks

Hwaet — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 12:44:23 -0800

I have recently started riding my bike 10 miles a day and lifting free weights 4 days a week. I need some healthy, lowish carb, high protein snacks AND savory vegetable snacks to stave off my crazy sugar cravings. I've had a notoriously demanding sweet tooth all my life, and it's exacerbated by exercising or forgetting to eat in a timely fashion. I'm working on it, but my recent spike in activity has left me absolutely dying for bready sandwiches, cookies, sugared coffee, etc. I'm trying to kick both processed sugar and get to a more balanced diet of 1/3 good carbs, 1/3 good fats, 1/3 proteins.

I'm looking for flavorful, healthy, hunger-killing snacks to get me through my worst sugar attacks. So far I really like hardboiled eggs or edamame, both with onion salt; cottage cheese; greek strained 2% yogurt; cherry tomatoes with kosher salt; organic turkey wrapped around cheddar and mustard; tamari almonds; and packed tuna with spring water. I'm trying to cut down on the tuna due to mercury, though. What else should I consider? I read several related questions and am interested in recipes like this one that recommends walnuts, gorgonzola and pear slices.

I definitely need to eat more vegetables, which I tend to only do when they're seasoned and/or savory, so I'd appreciate some easy recipes to take with me to work or that are easy to prepare with a few ingredients during lunch time using the oven at work. I'm not necessarily vegetarian, but cooking raw meat squicks me out, so I won't make anything that involves handling and cooking dead, squiggly skin.

What else should I be eating that's tasty enough to make me forget about the box of cinnamon graham crackers that my co-workers stack in the communal area?

Thanks!

Snacking around the world

doift — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:39:03 -0800

Blogs about regional junk food and snacks? I'm mildly obsessed with regional junk foods, and know that there are lots of folks like me. Some of them must have blogs, either writing about the specialties of their own region or seeking out treats from other areas. Bonus points if the blogs are especially well-done or popular.

I'm in the U.S. but I'm interested in American and international snacks. Beverages count, as do regional homemade specialties.

Help a health-conscious snacker bake!

schmoo — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 08:28:08 -0800

Please suggest me some snacks, light or portable dishes that are both healthy and involve baking or cooking. I love to cook. I especially love to cook recipes that involve lots of chopping, stiring, mixing, frying or baking. I don't like recipes that are just an assembly of ingredients, or which only take 2 minutes. I like to be in the kitchen! That said, I'm not looking to spend hours in the kitchen, so something that takes 3 days isn't really an option!

I cook a lot of meals like this in the evenings, but I'm looking for snacks that I can bake or cook. - Things that I can take to work in my lunchbox, snack on after work, or leave in the fridge and graze on for a few days.

However, I'm also pretty health-conscious and trying to, if not lose a few pounds, definately not put any on. This rules out the normal things that I think I would find fun cooking - cookies, cupcakes, muffins, quiche, samosas, breads, etc. That list seems biased towards sweet things, but savoury are just as welcome, if not more.

The kinds of things that I am looking for, and have experimented with already are: falafels (baked, not fried), healthy lo-cal dips (would welcome more of these!) and glazed nuts (not the most low-fat of snack but at least has health benefits). I would love any and all suggestions for things along these lines. I would also welcome low-calorie versions of the things that I don't bake - cookies, cakes, etc.

So - give me your recipes for low-fat, low-cal or just plain healthy snacks and light dishes which involve cooking or baking.

I have searched previous posts, and while there are many on health snack ideas, none that meet my particular criteria! Thanks in advance!

Satisfy my salty-sweet tooth!

rachaelfaith — Thu, 21 May 2009 12:40:30 -0800

What are your favorite salty/sweet food combinations? While I generally crave salty things like chips, pretzels and crackers and rarely crave sugary snacks, I sometimes like to aim for a salty/sweet happy medium.

I love the taste of kettle corn, and I have recently begun to explore the deliciousness of sprinkling sea salt on baked goods. [Sea salt on homemade caramels? YUM.]

What else works? I'm looking for any food, not just snacks.

What's up with dried fruit?

shrimpsmalls — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:29:29 -0800

What's up with dried fruit? So, I know that each prune is a whole plum minus the water. Is this true for all dried fruit? Upon eating a sprinkling of sun dried tomatoes today, I wondered if I was in effect consuming 7 or 8 tomatoes. Also, if this is the case, why do things like dried apricots, papaya, and so on have relatively little to offer in terms of fibre and other nutrition? (at least according to the info on the package) If each bite is a just the meat of the fruit minus the water, wouldn't each bite have the equivalent fibre/nutrition content of a whole portion?

Just curious. I've never made my own, so I'm not sure how it all works.

there is no more forbidden. why can't i understand this?

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:06:49 -0800

Raised in a super-strict, health-conscious household - I never learned "moderation" with not-so-healthy foods. Can I, as an adult, re-train good eating habits that do not include restriction, and do not include binging? My father was a biochemist/nutritionist. During my birth, my mother was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer. As a result, food and healthy eating was a constant subject in our house, and I had little freedom to come to decisions on my own.

"junk" food was kept in a locked filing cabinet, to which only my father had the key. Our rations would include anywhere from 1-4 cookies a day, depending on our ranking from youngest to oldest (I am the youngest of four). Additionally, prior to my birth and my mom's cancer, food was less of a issue. It's normal for older siblings to pick on the younger ones; in my case, I was picked on because of the change in eating habits that merged birth and sickness. "We could always eat (x, y, and z) before you were born" was something I heard for many years.

Brown rice, tofu, steamed veggies, lean meats, low sodium, no-soda (and so on) was the diet of our household. As a result of this, I actually do sincerely enjoy eating "healthy" foods - they taste great to me. My favorite snack as a kid? Seaweed.

We were allowed to go go trick or treating as kids - but never allowed to keep the candy. Our rooms were searched for storing snacks we might have smuggled from school. This, in addition to keeping cookies under lock and key. Learning to develop a moderate diet, inclusive of everything with no restrictions, but knowing how to moderate foods, was something I don't think I ever developped.

Beginning in middle school when we had a little more freedom, I'd buy snacks at school, and hide them in places my dad would never look.

When I got my license and began earning my own money, this habit magnified - sneaking in the bad foods, hiding them, scarfing them down before I'd be found out.

I feel like I've carried these unhealthy habits into adulthood. I feel like if I get junk, it's not going to stay around. And so I must eat it quickly, in private, before it's found out and condemned. And I hate this condemnation. Even living on my own now, it's hard for me to rectify this ingrained reaction to junk or indulgent food - nothing lasts for long, because nothing ever lasted for long when we were growing up. In my mind I know no one is going to steal my hershey's kisses in the cupboard - but I feel like I've deeply internalized that if I have 3 now, I can't count on them being there tomorrow.

My problem is not that I dislike good-for-you-foods - I love them, actually. But I also feel like I don't know how to moderate my eating, and re-train my mind when it comes to developing good eating habits, where nothing is off limits - and find a balance between restriction and binging.

Can I change the way I think about food?

Italian Treats for Children?

shrimpsmalls — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 09:37:07 -0800

What are some good Italian-themed treats for children? I lead an Italian club in an afterschool program one afternoon a week, where we do a combination of art, language, and cultural themed activities. I have one lesson fully devoted to food (where we are going to make pasta from scratch), but I am looking for quick, easy, and inexpensive treats I can give the kids (1st-3rd graders) after each week's lesson.

I lived in Italy for 2 years and can think of tons of great products, which are not easily available here in the states, or even Chicago. Aside from some nut-less biscotti, can anyone suggest other ideas? I can cook stuff at home, but I am ideally looking for something a bit less time consuming.

Specific healthy snacking suggestions?

Brandon Blatcher — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 04:23:33 -0800

Please recommend snacks that are: 1. low fat 2. low carb 3. crunchy 4. somewhat rich in protein 5. low in lactose Recently I discovered dry roasted edamame, which meets all these conditions. It's been great to add to the snacking toolbox, along with fruit, breakfast bars etc. However variety would be nice, so I'm looking for things to switch it out with.

better than sex

randomstriker — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 08:35:05 -0800

Vancouver source for biggest selection of ketchup chips? A friend of mine loves ketchup chips, lives overseas. I get on a plane tomorrow morning. I want to buy as many different brands of ketchup chips for her as possible, so would like to know where in Vancouver there is a store with the biggest selection.

Healthy snacks for gaining weight?

frobozz — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 11:25:05 -0800

What are some healthy and high-calorie snack/light meal foods I could eat to help me gain weight? There have been many questions about healthy snack foods for people who wish to lose (or at least not gain) weight, but I have the opposite problem. I am too thin (female, 5'7", 110 lb or a little less) and would like to be - well, not skeletal, at least. There are several reasons for my thinness - I'm quite a picky eater, have a very active job, am on a strict grocery budget (so a lot of the nicer pre-prepared stuff is out), and my body naturally tends towards the skinny anyway - I come from a very thin family. Since I have a small appetite just trying to eat larger meals doesn't help - I know I won't finish them, but I do need some way to add more calories to my daily intake. I don't want to just eat chocolate or chips all day; I'd like something healthier (and I'd get sick of that pretty quickly anyway). So I'm looking for food that is:

High Calorie
Healthy(ish)
Portable and can stay at room temperature for several hours
Not too expensive

Trail mix is an obvious answer but I'm really not fond of nuts (yes, picky, as I said). Any suggestions? Or even general suggestions for gaining and keeping weight for someone who spends a third of her time being highly active?

Thanks

What snacks to eat or work?

assasinatdbeauty — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 08:24:09 -0800

Snack/food that i can munch on continuously to appease my oral fixation that is tasty but wont pack on the pounds. I am looking for a snack food that, as above, i can sit at my desk at work and just munch on continuously. i'd rather it not be in the trail mix department, i'm not so much a fan of that. i'm not overweight at all, but i do need to lose a few, say, 10-15 pounds (i weigh 135) to get back to my ideal weight for my modeling hobby...but i don't want to deny myself my oral fixation, because it passes the time and is a good stress reliever. ideas? i'd really just like suggestions for snacks, not alternative things to do.

Help me find mid 90s fruit snack called Soda-Licious (picture inside)

anthropomorphic — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 19:54:19 -0800

Soda-Licious: tasty fruit snacks from the early 90s. Where can I find this in the US? You may remember the commercial. My googling skills have uncovered accounts of people in Canada claiming to have eaten them in the last year or two. How can I obtain some for myself?

Pack me a lunch for the urban jungle.

desjardins — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 10:21:37 -0800

What foods can I take with me to an all-day seminar? I have no access to a microwave or refrigerator. They have to comfortably fit in a backpack. I'm going to a 3 day seminar that runs from 10 am to approximately midnight. We get one break to go eat at a restaurant. Aside from that, we're supposed to bring our own food. There is a convenience store nearby, but I don't want to eat candy and chips for 3 days. I already have trail mix but I get really bored of that after the first day. I am not vegetarian nor am I allergic to anything. I don't like raisins or dried apricots. Exotic is fine, but spicy is not. Seriously, no spicy stuff. I'm not concerned at all with my weight, so calorie count is unimportant.

Note that I will not be able to refrigerate anything between 8:30 am (when I leave the house) until I get home each night. I cannot run home to get anything. We have intermittent, unpredictable breaks throughout the day.

Inability to locate or purchase desired products feels Unamerican

Robson — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:51:14 -0800

There's a particular snack product I want but can almost never find in local stores. What are my options? In particular, I'm looking for Rold Gold Honey Wheat Braided Twist Pretzels. Yes, they're good enough that I'm resorting to Ask Mefi for help. No, I'm not working for the company. If I were working for the company, product advertising would be the least of my problems, because the product is nigh-impossible to find.

I'm in Northern California. I've seen these once in a local Safeway (one bag -- I bought it) and my girlfriend has seen them once in a local Delano's/IGA (one bag -- she bought it). So between us these pretzels currently have the same reputation as a rare unicorn, and we're starting to wonder if they actually exist.

What can I do?

How many peanuts are in a Snickers bar?

caroljean63 — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:05:36 -0800

So how many actual peanuts are there in a Snickers bar? We're having a bit of a disagreement here about how many actual peanuts are in a King Size Snickers candy bar.

Definition of a peanut: the contents of one whole shelled peanut, both halves.

Size of a King Size Snickers bar: 2.07 oz.

I found one site that said there are 27-28. In other words, 54-56 peanut halves, or if they're cut in half, which I believe they are, over 100 peanut fourths! Sounds like a stretch to me, considering there is merely a layer of peanuts.

Movie Treats!

Sassyfras — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:29:08 -0800

What movies and treats go together? Tonight is Movie Night at our house. We're going to be watching E.T and as our treat, I'm serving Reese's Pieces. What other movie and snack combinations are there? I thought of Fried Green Tomatoes and um, serving fried green tomatoes. What else?

I already know about Russian dressing

Bookhouse — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 12:33:44 -0800

What's good to eat at Russian-immigrant grocery stores and bakeries? My neighborhood (in West Hollywood, CA) has a very large number of Russian immigrants, and therefore a large number of Russian delis, grocery stores and bakeries. What should I be buying at them?

I'm not interested in cooking my own Russian food or what to order at sit-down restaurants. I'm more interested in unique snack foods, desserts and drinks, fresh-baked stuff, delicacies and easy-to-serve items. Specific brand names for packaged stuff would be appreciated.

Veganize my love affair with dairy products...

lemonade — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:31:25 -0800

How to veganize my love affair with dairy products? And can I do it in a high-protein manner? I have been eating a lot of dairy as a major source of vegetarian protein...and now that I want to move to veganism, I love it too much to give up! Almond milk works ok on cereal, but isn't as high in protein--and I LOVE plain yogurt with fruit and non-fat cottage cheese with fruit and don't know if I can give those up without a replacement!

So what I'm looking for is, I think, 'cold and creamy' vegan snacks, and the higher in protein the better. Do these exist? Can I make tofu tapioca? Tofu pudding? Things like applesauce could be a good substitute texture-wise, how could I add protein to that? Fruit-and-veggie smoothies, with a block of tofu on the side? (Currently my best idea is just to put salt on a slice of tofu and eat it like a hard-boiled egg...)

You can't get that from here.

Lou Stuells — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 02:08:17 -0800

What goodies do we need from Phoenix, AZ? Husband is going there for a few days in July, and we're trying to think of what treats he ought to bring back to New England - stuff we can't find here at home. Cactus Cooler soda and prickly pear jelly/candy are all I can think of. See's Candies would be wonderful, but would not travel well. Any other regional favorites? Thanks in advance!

Snack us!

santojulieta — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 20:08:05 -0800

What are some creative black and white, bite sized snacks? We're making a snack bar as our favor, and we're trying to come up with a variety of black, white, or black and white snacks, and I have about three things I can think of.

Here's what I've got:
Mini oreos
junior mints
yogurt covered pretzels
those blackberry gummy things
pistachios possibly

But that's where I get stuck. What are some neat snacks, sweet or savory, that I'm not thinking of? I'd like them to be mini sized, if possible, so they can easily fit into a Chinese take-out box. And they should be available in bulk obviously.

Is fried cauliflower regional?

LucretiusJones — Tue, 20 May 2008 14:37:12 -0800

Is fried cauliflower a regional dish? Have you ever had it at a restaurant, and if so, where? Recently, on a trip back to my hometown, (in Western Illinois, along the Mississippi River), I had some fried cauliflower at a local tavern. It was really surprisingly delicious. However, I have never seen it offered anywhere else. I'm trying to get a sense of the regional geography of delicious delicious fried snacks.

Vancouver on $3.79! Or: treasure hunt help, please!

soviet sleepover — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 20:47:34 -0800

Vancouver on $3.79 (including tax). Or, help me make an amazing treasure hunt! I'm trying to put together a brief treasure hunt for two good friends in Seattle, as part of a project for sf0 (think: the real-life equivalent of a RPG, except designed by designed to be non-hierarchal and to work under the premise that madcap hijinks, to borrow someone else's words, are a form of activism and effecting change). The gist of the project is that I need to mail a penny to someone.

What I'd like to do is mail a handful of Canadian coins to friends in Vancouver, accompanied by four unexpired city bus tickets, to send them to a great location for a cheap snack (I have exactly $3.79 to spend on both of them, so two cupcakes or cookies are a good bet), then an interesting area to wander around.

They're in their mid-twenties, snarky intellectual types who like places/buildings/etc with interesting histories. One has lived in Vancouver for over five years; the other, for two years so far--so they're fairly familiar with the city. I'd like to send them to some out-of-the-way place (ideally an amazing secret place that abuts a commonly-known location or part of the city) on public transit. I'd also like to direct them toward a cheap snack first--one has a very adventuresome palate; the other likes familiar things.

Via a mefi thread from 2005, I turned up the Goldstone Bakery on Keefer at Quebec (is it even still open?), then a short walk to the Sun Yat Sen memorial garden. I'm only vaguely familiar with Vancouver, so I'm looking for a few more suggestions along those lines!