MetaChat - What's your naughty food indulgence?

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17 September 2007

What's your naughty food indulgence? →[More:]

I try to eat healthily, low fat, no refined sugars or carbs, no junk food, but the one thing I refuse to do without is ranch dressing on my salad. The only brand on sale in the UK is Newman's Own, so whenever I visit the US I bring back a few sachets of Hidden Valley and mix it up myself.

I always use full-fat mayonnaise - I've tried substituting cottage cheese or yoghurt and it's just not the same.

I know it's a lot of fat I could probably cut out, but ... I love it!

So what's your guilty secret when it comes to food.

jonmc, you are exempt from answering this question by virtue of the fact that your entire diet appears to consist of nothing but naughty food indulgences.

post by: essexjan at: 13:16 | 69 comments

If we're talking about food that I shouldn't be eating so much of but adamantly refuse to give up, that would be cheese. Blue, cheddar, chevre, gruyere, stinky, colourful, anything really. I love them all.

But cheese is just a necessary part of my diet. Number one indulgence food? Ice cream, hands down. I loves me some dairy.

posted by gaspode 17 September | 13:22

Beer. I love it, and apparently each pint is the equivalent of a mars bar.

I also adore tortilla* chips and homemade salsa.

*Yeah, the L's aren't meant to be prounced as Ls, EVEN IN BRITAIN.

posted by chuckdarwin 17 September | 13:24

Oh. And beer.

posted by gaspode 17 September | 13:25

(you shouldn't use cut-fat foods, they're shit)

posted by chuckdarwin 17 September | 13:26

Like my 'pode, it's the beer and cheese. Although the weather is cooling down which means it's almost time for red wine and cheese.

posted by jrossi4r 17 September | 13:30

What isn't?

Brie cheese. Naan bread. Raisin bread and buns. Sweets and desserts of any kind. Calamari. Ringolos. Bailey's (or should that be included in the sweets and desserts, since it's a lot like liquid chocolate with an extra kick).

posted by Orange Swan 17 September | 13:32

croissants.

posted by small_ruminant 17 September | 13:36

Coffee. Well, espresso with lots of cream and sugar. Could not live without it.

posted by mosessis 17 September | 13:36

*looks down at lunch of frozen 'Red Hot Beef' burritos, covered in sharp cheddar, pineapple chili sauce, sweet habanero hot sauce, lime juice & sour cream and a can of Schlitz*

Lightweights. Too freakin' austere, people.

posted by jonmc 17 September | 13:42

Real mayonnaise here, as well, there just is no substitute. Plus, it is so handy as an ingredient: whisked into eggs before scrambling, mashed potatoes, and such.

I have found though, that a person can get away with a lot of cheating if one eats one meal each and every day of nothing but leafy salad and raw veggies.

posted by mischief 17 September | 13:53

Butter. Tons of it. I LOVE BUTTER. I LOVE IT SO GODDAMNED MUCH THAT I WOULD MARRY IT IF I COULD.

The really great thing about loving butter is that nothing seems quite so naughty in comparison. "all this cheese isn't so bad, it's the butter I've got to be more careful about." "I can't spend time wringing my hands over a drink or two or five when my heart must be completely full of butter at this point." "One more cookie is no big deal, as long as I don't butter it." And so on.

I have lost 20 of a desired 30 pounds this year. It had to be all by exercise, because I will not give up butter or anything else that I love without a court order, enforced by angry bailifs. I LOVE BUTTER!

posted by Lentrohamsanin 17 September | 13:57

Lentrohamsanin I am so with you! Julia Child became even more of hero to me when she had a butter tasting for her 90th (?) birthday.

In unsuccessfully searching for which birthday it was, I found this dead blog, which has a lot to say about different sorts of butter.

posted by small_ruminant 17 September | 14:09

Cheese. Chocolate. Good ice cream.

All of which, in small amounts, really aren't so bad. So, on the "no matter how little you eat it still ain't good for ya" side of life -

Doritos and Cheetos.

posted by tr33hggr 17 September | 14:22

I eat and cook with lots of dairy, and almost none of it is low-fat: heavy cream, butter, greek yogurt, cheese (St. Andre triple-cream brie is my fave -- sometimes for dinner I'll just eat a whole wedge, with french bread and a couple of glasses of wine), gelato, etc. My only concession is reduced-fat milk (1% or 2$).

posted by scody 17 September | 14:23

Cherizo, avacado, really good dark chocolate, fried anything...

posted by doctor_negative 17 September | 14:25

...er, 2% milk, that is.

And add me to the real mayonnaise brigade as well. Mmmm.... best artichoke dip ever is a cup of mayonnaise, a cup of grated parmesan cheese, and a can of artichoke hearts (not the marinated kind!), all run through the food processor and then spread in a baking dish. Put in 350-degree over till all golden and bubbly. Deelish!

I just remembered the other day that I mentioned to someone that I could happily eat some avocado and bacon every day for the rest of my life, too.

posted by scody 17 September | 14:26

Well, I'm on a mission to try various "chocolate" things whilst I'm over with the rather marvellous Specklet. So far, so either yuk or grimacingly sweet. Hershey's chocolate kisses taste the same as doggie chocs (that is, chocolates for your pet dog) in the UK. ButterFingers and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are so sweet I almost couldn't eat them.

But, on a day-to-day basis, wine, bread, butter, chocolate and carb-o-licious pasta. I know it's all bad for me, but...

posted by TheDonF 17 September | 14:28

Two nights in a row of sleep deprivation are doing to me emotionally what a bad acid trip does to the senses. I'm going to medicate this with a couple slices of pizza for lunch.

posted by pieisexactlythree 17 September | 14:35

Pasta is "good" carbs. According to the copy on the pasta box anyway, which I consider more trustworthy than any nutritionist who says otherwise. And bread is the Staff of Life. That's got to be healthy. I refuse to live in a world where pasta and bread are bad for you. That's utterly fucked up and I'm not having it.

posted by Lentrohamsanin 17 September | 14:35

Oh yeah. Mayo has to be the real thing. I don't like low-fat anything, frankly.

I've lost about 30lbs over the last few years, but I still eat cheese, butter, mayo, cookies. I just don't eat an enormous amount of anything. Once I started actually paying attention to what I was putting in my body, the weight came off without much trouble.

posted by jrossi4r 17 September | 14:39

Amatoors.

Deep-Fried Mars Bars. Salami, proscuitto, provolone & sweet pepper heroes. 'Artery clogger' subs. bacon & Horseradish chips. Disco Fries. Ribs. Deviled Eggs. Sausage, Pepperoni & bacon pizza. Pickled Eggs. cream cheese jalapeno poppers. buffalo wings. crab cakes. rare steak. potatoes au gratin. Ben & Jerry's. Reubens. Fruity Pebbles. Twinkies. Nutter Butters. Stilton Fritters. keilbasa. Chili Dogs. Scotch Eggs...the list goes on...

posted by jonmc 17 September | 14:43

Some of jonmc's indulgences are or have been mine, since I've eaten with him quite a few times.

I reckon I have about five days to live because of it. What can I say? Aside from gut flora most would find distasteful to say the least (including, among other nasties, dysentery), I have a normal belly. Unlike our friend jonmc.

You are a man!!! with guts like a tree shredder.

posted by Hugh Janus 17 September | 14:55

Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Doughnuts of any sort, really, and any doughnut-type foods, also, but, damn, I'll go through a dozen Krispy Kremes all by myself.

posted by mrmoonpie 17 September | 15:03

Butter isn't an indulgence, it's a choice. I choose stuff from a cow over stuff from a factory. I don't get what margerine IS and it scares me. I do use olive oil instead of butter if appropriate.

Mine are also beer, cheese, and sodium in general.

posted by rainbaby 17 September | 15:05

"I'll go through a dozen Krispy Kremes all by myself..."

... before I finish my first coffee.

posted by mischief 17 September | 15:21

All sorts of cheese and red wine for me. Really naughty would be Mo's Bacon Bar.

And TheDonF tried it and it does NOT fall under the category of "either yuk or grimacingly sweet"!

posted by Specklet 17 September | 15:26

Right now it's iced coffee and a donut (lemon or bavarian creme) picked up on the commute to the ridiculously early morning class. I would not be awake otherwise.

posted by casarkos 17 September | 15:27

Transcontinental booty call and you go for the crappy candy?
Where's my yenta fee?

posted by ethylene 17 September | 15:30

I told him not to eat it, eth, and gave him Mo's, but he fel compelled to try. He wants to eat a Twinkie and I keep telling him to stay away from Satan's sweets.

posted by Specklet 17 September | 15:34

I do not indulge in food- naughty or otherwise- I enjoy it as I see fit.

Yes I am wearing a monocle and yes that was a pompous and assy thing to say, but I am in a one man Jihad against the concept of a "guilty pleasure". I'll be nice and loosey-goosey in another thread.

posted by Divine_Wino 17 September | 15:44

Fried chicken.

posted by BoringPostcards 17 September | 15:48

Ohh wait, I want to change my answer:

Fried Chicken.

posted by Divine_Wino 17 September | 15:49

mmmm....Mo's Bacon Bar. I've had one, and, indeed, they are divine.

Fried chicken and barbecue are two things that I love so very, very much that I'd rather do without than have mediocre versions. Therefore, I don't tend to eat them very often, sadly. The MrsMoonPie made the former for my birthday dinner this year, and I haven't had the latter since the last time I was in North Carolina, the Lexington area of which being the only place on the planet where it can be made properly.

posted by mrmoonpie 17 September | 16:03

Jalapeno poppers - fried AND cheese AND hot! You cannot go wrong!
Chips of all varieties.
Beer, oh god, beer.
Occasional sodas, especially coca cola although purely for medicinal purposes (to cure the beer hangovers.)
Cheeseburgers. French fries. Steak.
damn, now I'm hungry and I WILL be on a diet ANY DAY NOW I swear it. Shut up, stomach.

posted by mygothlaundry 17 September | 16:05

Yes I am wearing a monocle and yes that was a pompous and assy thing to say, but I am in a one man Jihad against the concept of a "guilty pleasure".

Monocles are my guilty pleasure.

posted by jrossi4r 17 September | 16:11

Monocles are my guilty pleasure.

Deep-fried, presumably.

posted by essexjan 17 September | 16:31

Breakfast cereal late at night.

posted by octothorpe 17 September | 16:32

Monocles are my guilty pleasure.

Deep-fried, presumably.

Ah, putain, les Anglaises, you deep fry mon oncle? I keel you!

posted by Hugh Janus 17 September | 16:36

My French friend calls the English "Ze Roast Beef" and every single time I laugh and laugh and laugh.

posted by Divine_Wino 17 September | 16:48

Icecream. Also, my taste buds start thinking about my morning Hudsons coffee as soon as I get off the train on the way to work. Mmmmmm, dairy-based fat.

posted by dg 17 September | 17:19

mmm...beer!

posted by ramix 17 September | 18:12

High-octane 100% cocoa chocolate has cured me of any desire for milk or really any other kind of chocolate. I eat a half a square and I'm good for a few days.

But the usual suspects as far as indulgences go...beer, bread, any kind of mexican food.

posted by SassHat 17 September | 18:44

bacon: reduced sodium, no preservatives bacon. Dark chocolate. And another cheeser here.

posted by chewatadistance 17 September | 18:52

Biscuits and gravy and sausage and scrambled eggs and cheese and country ham and grits with butter and honey and hash browns fried in a pan with bacon grease topped with jalapeno slices and a ripe tomato slice and salt and pepper on a slice of ripe cantaloupe. And a pot of black coffee with a dollop of whiskey. Followed by a cigarette. And a nap.

Southern breakfast, y'all.

It's no wonder we never git nuthin' done down heah.

posted by BitterOldPunk 17 September | 19:22

I must say that I cannot pass a display of pralines without buying one.

posted by mischief 17 September | 20:21

Mayonnaise. Turkey bacon. Fried chicken.

And not very often at all I cave to Cheetos.

And anyone who has been in IRC with me more than once realizes that I make brownies pretty frequently.

posted by fluffy battle kitten 17 September | 20:23

delicious, seductive baaaaaaacon

posted by Miko 17 September | 20:52

I think of bacon as the guilty indugence because almost all my other food loves have some redeeming value, and fit into the lifestyle of an active person, in non-extreme quantities. But bacon? No redeeming value. Miniscule amounts of protein: like, less than a few cashews. Saturated pork fat. Salt. Nitrates. And it needs to be eaten in a fair quantity, like 3 or 4 pieces, because it's so light and crispy and it just disappears on the tongue - which means you take in a lot of calories in one sudden crunchy indulgence.

But there is something uncanny about the power of bacon. the scent of it, the grainy unctuousness. Baaaacon.

posted by Miko 17 September | 20:54

mrmoonpie, I'm under the impression that barbecue isn't all that bad for you, as meat goes. The cuts are usually the less-fatty ones, right?

posted by Miko 17 September | 20:56

cheeseburgers
beer
ice cream
chips and salsa

posted by LoriFLA 17 September | 21:05

mmmmmm cheeeeeese....

posted by gomichild 17 September | 21:23

booze.
cookies and milk.
pizza.
ice cream when i'm on pms.

posted by Ambrosia Voyeur 17 September | 22:55

I don't limit myself much.

*looks down at developing belly*

Maybe I should.

posted by me3dia 17 September | 22:59

Come on people... beer is not an indulgence. It's a bloody staple.

Me: zinger burgers.

posted by pompomtom 17 September | 23:12

Oh yeah, forgot KFC. I worked there for four years in high school and I still love it. There's no hope for me.

posted by Orange Swan 18 September | 00:47

I don't generally think in terms of indulgence, but Orange Swan reminded me: maybe two or three times a year, we go to Ezell's for some heart-stoppingly good chicken. As endorsed by Oprah, Lenny Wilkins, and a whole bunch of Seahawks!

posted by bmarkey 18 September | 00:53

Lately I've been working my way through the various pints ofChoctal (chrismear, if you're staying at a place with a fridge when you come to the states, do not pass this up) before my old fridge is taken away. I've craved different things at different times in my life--when I was at grad school I craved kosher salami, which I could only find two hours away in Des Moines. Sometimes I would buy a sourdough boule and dip pieces of it into sour cream. I don't like super-processed stuff as much as I did when I was younger--I've just tried the cake oreos and they taste like playdough.

posted by brujita 18 September | 01:01

Those Hershey's Cocoa reserve bars. Twice as expensive as regular candy bars, and 2/3rds the mass as well. But tasty.

posted by delmoi 18 September | 02:30

I am not a big dessert/chocolate type of person. I like meals... good food. I may have ice cream (in a little ramekin), but not always.

I'm lucky in that I don't have any food issues or a weight problem.

posted by chuckdarwin 18 September | 03:21

Anything that isn't vegetables or baked chicken is an indulgence for me (a diabetic). So ..um.. just about everything I eat is an indulgence.

Word of warning: low fat mayo, peanut butter, etc. usually has added sugar in some form. Avoid avoid avoid and limit your intake of the real stuff.

posted by deborah 18 September | 08:22

Mmm peanut butter,

posted by danostuporstar 18 September | 09:28

Oh man I love that comma, dano; it's like there's a world of opportunity opening up at the end of that thought. Mmm peanut butter, indeed,

posted by Hugh Janus 18 September | 09:32

Yeah. What y'all said. That sounds good. I'll have that. But no blue cheese or mayonnaise for me.

Yes I am wearing a monocle and yes that was a pompous and assy thing to say, but I am in a one man Jihad against the concept of a "guilty pleasure".

That's right!

I eat a pretty healthy diet. And when I get a chance to eat a biscuit dripping with butter and honey, or a goat taco, or a tortilla chip scooped through hot artichoke dip, I'm grateful for the bounty and I love it.

I only feel guilt when I've eaten something without enjoying it --- say, the occasional mindless, flavorless plow through a pint of premium ice cream. There's no joy in that. What a waste.

posted by Elsa 18 September | 10:26

Oh for some reason Elsa's comment reminded me of garlic bread. Mmmm garlic bread. Dripping with butter.

posted by gaspode 18 September | 10:28

Heh. My mother always has me make the garlic bread, even if she's having us over for dinner. She thinks I'm soaking it in buttery buttery butter, but I'm acutally using a bit of butter and a bit of good olive oil, and heating it together to bring out the oregano and chili flakes while mellowing the garlic. She thinks it's a guilty pleasure, but it's actually a good deal healthier than if she made it.

posted by Elsa 18 September | 10:35

I only feel guilt when I've eaten something without enjoying it

Absolutely; well put. I love having room for the occasional indulgence, so that it isn't 'guilty' at all if it's a treat. In fact, there's even more pleasure in eating it knowing that it's not part of a pattern of doing damage to your body.

My brother makes olive-oil based garlic bread like that, and it's fantastic!

posted by Miko 18 September | 11:11

Scody, an old friend (essentially a non-cook) gave me that recipe for artichoke dip maybe ten years ago, though she added a chopped onion and two cups of parmesan --- one mixed in, one scattered on top --- and it is fantastically good, especially considering how easy it is.

I actually prefer it with one scant cup of cheese, so I can still taste the artichokes.

I used to serve it at holiday parties, where it disappears with gratifying speed. I learned to make two small dishes, not one big one, and to put them out at different times, or it would vanish so quickly half the guests never got to try it.

These days, I've been serving a much lighter and thoroughly delicious artichoke dip made with an undetectable tofu base, but tonight I think I'll make the old-school style, as a treat!

posted by Elsa 18 September | 11:54

OH GOD PEANUT BUTTER WHY HAD I FORSAKEN YOU

we always have it in the fridge and most of the time I resist, and most of the time when I cave in, I eschew the bread or crackers out of guilt and just suck a spoon lolly of salty sweet pemum buhmah *slek slek slek*

I would rather have peanut butter than nutella, even. For the rest of my life.

posted by Ambrosia Voyeur 18 September | 17:15

I would rather have peanut butter than nutella, even. For the rest of my life.

BLASPHEMY!

AV, it's like I don't even know you anymore.

posted by spiderskull 29 September | 21:11

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