Guilty Pleasures?

There is so much talk here of great food. Whether the topic is authentic, bare-bones cuisine or a tasting menu with great wine pairings, there is always great information to be had.

But we all have our guilty pleasures. And by guilty, I don't mean food we know is bad for us (see: pork belly), but food that is almost embarrassing to admit we eat! The items that are so low brow we would never consider eating them if it wasn't for some irresistible pull they have over us.

For me it is lemon-lime Mr. Misty floats from Dairy Queen and Popeye's Cajun Fries.

What is it for you? Big Macs? Blue box Mac 'n Cheese? Twinkies? Spam?


'Fess up people.

fried pickles at cheeseburger in paradise.

every time im in there i swear ill never go back if i have to hear them sing another birthday song. other than that, the place is fairly tolerable. oh yah, and they'll make my burger truly medium rare.

- Buffalo Chicken Po' Boy at Poor Phil's
- Rodeo Cheeseburger and BK Mocha Joe Iced at Burger King
- Honey Barbecue Snackers at KFC
- Sliders with pepperoni and grilled onions at Miller's Alehouse (Lombard)
- Orange Chicken (crack) at Panda Express
- Jamocha shake with extra syrup at Arby's
- the occasional mortal sin: the large breaded steak sandwich at Ricobene's with sweet and hot

Our organs shrivel a little every day. Or, to put it another way, "Cosmo, I just want you to know no matter what you do, you're gonna die."

Somebody start a "Healthy Pleasures" thread and I'll make amends.

Great thread idea! For me it's a Whopper from BK, Velveeta Shells & Cheese, and gas station hot dogs from those roller cookers/warmers. I also love Spam doused in egg wash then fried and served with hot Jufran and white rice.

Little Debbie Nutty Bars.

McD "milkshakes"
Ketchup on my hot dogs
Frozen tater tots
Good Humor Toasted Almond popsicle

This book might be of interest to those of us who indulge in guilty pleasures:
What We Eat When We Eat Alone: Stories and 100 Recipes (Hardcover)
by Deborah Madison (Author), Patrick McFarlin (Author)

In What We Eat When We Eat Alone, the husband-and-wife team of chef and writer Deborah Madison and artist Patrick McFarlin set out to learn what people chew on when there isn’t anyone else around. The responses are surprising and far-ranging. Some solo diners relish the elaborate, while others prefer the bizarre. Some eat their favorite foods, some eat what’s convenient, and others choose their menus according to their moods.

Jyoti

Mine is Dunkin Donuts coffee. I a bit of a coffee snob and I roast my own beans so I can control the quality of the greens and the degree of roast, but dang it, I do love me some DD coffee with cream and sugar.

Peanut butter and jelly/jam - no bread - just smooshed and spooned
Trader Jo's Apricot Sauce with toasted pistachio's mixed in (discovered totally by accident when I had nothing else to eat in the house and craved something sweet)
A big bowl of pasta and bread at the same time

Blown Z wrote:Great thread idea! For me it's a Whopper from BK, Velveeta Shells & Cheese, and gas station hot dogs from those roller cookers/warmers. I also love Spam doused in egg wash then fried and served with hot Jufran and white rice.

You might want to see this thread (Junk food people would be surprised you like). There was another similar thread some years ago, which focused on guilty pleasures in fast food, but I can't immediately find it.

As for jygach's post - what you eat when you're alone, and in my case, when I need a snack, I take a few packages of string cheese, which I always have around, unwrap three, spoon giardinera on it, sprinkle with oregano and heat in microwave for 30 secs. The melty/spiciness of it seems to satisfy me for awhile.

Bread, bread, bread and more bread with unsalted butter. Sometimes, I toast the bread, butter it lavishly, sprinkle it with sugar, and consume copious quantities with strong black tea with milk and sugar (takes me back to my childhood).
It's the copious quantities that make it such a comforting, yet guilt-inducing pleasure.

Jyoti

Hostess cupcakes....I eat it from the bottom, lick out the "cream" filling, then delight in the thick layer of frosting.

Then there's the generic Cheeto's. Never liked the Frito-Lay brand Cheeto's, but I could eat a whole bag of Vitner's or Jay's in one sitting, until my fingers are covered in that nuclear orange powder.

Andy Capp's Hot Fries.

Those things are evil.

They have an "asian dipping sauce" at Cheeseburger in Paradise. I believe it had horseradish in it. At any case, I can eat a vat of that stuff.

Ruffles potato chips and Open Pit BBQ sauce. Heat the Open Pit in the microwave as hot as you can get it and dip the chips. Has to be Ruffles and Open Pit, nothing else works.

Santander wrote:
- Orange Chicken (crack) at Panda Express

I second the orange chicken. So good, but so, so wrong....

Jays Hot Stuff Chips

Giardiniera Sandwich on Turano French

"Accidentally" dunking my a gooey middle piece into the bluecheese dressing when enjoying wings with my pizza

A hopefully fresh Big Mac with a side of 20 piece

The Real Housewives of Atlanta

Pop tarts, especially brown sugar n' cinnamon variety
Honey-roasted peanuts
Aunt Jemima's pancakes

And then there are my weird habits that I partake in only in the privacy of my home and lonesome:
I ALWAYS have to have a supply of apples, either Granny Smith or Golden Delicious. I always eat them in a weird way, slicing them into eight pieces with an apple slicer. Each piece MUST be eaten in a different fashion, in 2 bites.

Wow, it felt good to get that off my chest.

-M@

This thread has prompted a memory of something I haven't eaten in years -- leftover rice warmed with butter and brown sugar on it. I used to LOVE to eat that. It sort of makes me want to order chinese tomorrow in order to have leftover rice!

As to other "guilty pleasures" -- I like Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich and their chili. Hardly ever get it too.

earthlydesire wrote:It sort of makes me want to order chinese tomorrow in order to have leftover rice!

Here's a crazy thought, make a pot of rice.

Oh no, GWiv -- that would be FAR too simple to do.

Coz then I'd have to use the rice and I don't really like it much. Except slathered in brown sugar and butter...and under chinese food.

or in Risotto -- but that's a whole 'nother paddy of rice.

10 to 8 Pirates in the eigth, I'm still awake. I'll play:

Mcdonald's pancakes (think they are made by Pillsbury.)
Pizza puffs. One, maybe two a year.
Fruit snacks, dagnabbit. Those things. Can't help it. Must fight...but..can't.
Potbelly oatmeal choc chip cookie. May never know how many I can eat in one day. I'd put the o/u at 10.
Cornbread. LEFTOVER cornbread. Here's my filthy, dirty secret. Been doing this since I was knee high, and my sister showed me what was up:
Take a piece of cornbread, slit it lengthwise like you're gonna make a sammich out of it. Spread copius amounts of butter on each freshly slit side. Broil it openfaced to a crispy golden brown. Douse it with pancake syrup. Let it soak in. Take your plate and hide. If caught, don't EVER let on that it's tasty. Agree with anyone who says it sounds gross. Pretend you are contemplating throwing your concotion away if needed. The less ppl who know about this in your household, means less chance of an all out brawl over leftover cornbread. My mom thought her cornbread was SOOO good...lol.

Spaghetti sandwiches on crusty Jewel french bread.

Crunchy Cheetos. Potato chips. Culvers butterburgers with bacon.

I know they are loaded with more preservatives than George Hamilton but those refrigerated cakes they sell at Walgreens. They come in carrot, banana and chocolate and for some reason I like them.

also

Thick Dark Pumpernickel Bread slathered with salted butter and hot cocoa for breakfast.

midas wrote:

Ruffles potato chips and Open Pit BBQ sauce. Heat the Open Pit in the microwave as hot as you can get it and dip the chips. Has to be Ruffles and Open Pit, nothing else works.

Potato chips and applesauce.


earthlydesire wrote:

This thread has prompted a memory of something I haven't eaten in years -- leftover rice warmed with butter and brown sugar on it.

Growing up, rice with sugar and cinnamon was one of our family's desserts. I still eat left-over rice that way.

Kennyz wrote:Ketchup on my hot dogs

Hooray!

elakin wrote:Andy Capp's Hot Fries.

-I'm partial to the Cheddar myself. Whenever I go on a road trip I make sure to check out the gas stations and vending machines for these. My dad came back from a trip once and brought me a bag; I thought I would cry.
-Speaking of which, I love those cheap, lardy, chocolate pudding pies also found at gas stations. I think they're made by Hostess. All I ever see is Cherry and Apple, so when I come across Chocolate, it's like finding artery-clogging treasure.
-Along with Mattkrc's apple eating thing, I eat egg rolls by splitting them in half crosswise, digging out the innards, and alternating eating them between bites of shell.
-Bacon dipped in maple syrup.
-Fries dipped in malts or milkshakes. Or a Frosty.
-Popeye's biscuits and fried chicken.
-Little Debbie's Banana Twins and Fudge Rounds. They're never big enough.
-Swedish Fish and Sour Patch Kids.
-Handfuls of marshmallows, or an entire box of Peeps. I feel no remorse and still wish I had more Peeps.
-I just had my first Taco Bell after about a decade of neglect. Oh my. There's something about that Wonder bread-like texture and taste of the tortillas.
-Sometimes I drink cream straight from the carton.
-If Pie Dude were writing this, he'd tell all about his peanut butter and butter sandwiches when he was a kid. Peanut butter about an inch high on two pieces of buttered toast.
-I used to suck on raw hot dogs until I could no longer taste the brine.

Popeye's Fried Chicken (not spicey) and large side of gravy

-Taco Bell
-Pepe's
-Great Steak and Potaoto -"Philly Steak", no where near a real Philly, but better than Philly's Best & anything else I have found around here. imho
-Open Pit BBQ sauce
-Big Mac
-Cuervo Tequila(its better than having no tequila when my wallet it light)

The Patty's Diner thread just reminded me: canned corned beef hash. I could eat the whole can.
The mention of Pepe's reminded me of Fried Ice Cream. Mmmmm.