I joke with Erin E that she’s an AWKWARD food eater. The girl will put ketchup on bread and mix it in egg yolk as a snack, I swear (OK, not that bad, but she does put ketchup on saltines. The truth.)
We get stuck in our ways with our foods. They may not be home cooking worthy, but I love them for their convenience, for their use as an additive to a vehicle of taste, and because they are grab-and-go staples, no cooking required.
Read this list as some of the staples. I could live happily on this list alone [and pretty much do]. More interesting AWKWARD food reviews to come.
What is your AWKWARD [i.e. random favorite] food? Tell us now at erinsammyawkward@gmail.com
AWKWARD food #1: HUMMUS
You can dip just about anything in hummus - and eat it straight out of the jar, a la peanut butter, but with about 20 less grams of fat and 120 less calories. Ladies and gentlemen, hummus is the new peanut butter.
AWKWARD food #2: POWER BARS by: KELLOGS, LUNA or KAISHI
At about $2 each, this isn’t like getting the 2/1 candy bar deal. But for about 1.5 times the price, you get a sweet something with less fat and [hopefully] goodness to them. I’ve been known to eat two a day in place of real food.
Lowest calorie: KELLOGS // 180 calories
Most fiber: KAISHI // 6 grams of fiber
Best vitamins and with a gazillion flavors: LUNA // 23 vitamins developed for “women”
AWKWARD food #3: SPLENDA-BASED PRODUCTS
Seriously, splenda is God’s gift to women. I love it so much that I think I prefer the taste of splenda over real sugar.
AWKWARD food #4: SOY MILK
Soy milk tastes like a vanilla milkshake. I can drink soy milk straight from the glass like I was 10-years-old again and in dire need of calcium for my young bones to grow.
Soy milk is higher in calories and fat than skim, but that’s the tradeoff you get for this product that never goes bad. Put it in the fridge for two months - it’s the same stuff as before. Talk about amazing.
AWKWARD food #5: RICE CAKES
I’ve recently taken a liking to rice cakes, especially with jelly on them. It is like having low-cal toast. Bonus: You can buy an entire roll of the generic kind for $1. Take that shitty economy and rising bread prices!
AWKWARD food #6: KETCHUP
My Dad’s fiancee once said that everything is a vehicle for ketchup. I thought she was crazy at the time… but with my aging wisdom, I can now assert that she’s honest-to-goodness right.
Steak, fish, grilled cheese, omeletes, eggs, fries, saltines [for Erin E]… there is an abundance of foods screaming for ketchup. Teresa Heinz, God bless you and your 57 varieties.
AWKWARD food #7: CHAI TEA
Oregon chai tops the list - I’m not a particular fan of Starbucks chai (too spicy), but then again, I thoroughly enjoy chai from a machine. Try 7-Eleven’s new chai release. Pure sugar? Yes. Delicious? Yes. In need of splenda? Yes, and you can buy sugar-free versions, too!
AWKWARD food #8: GRAPES
Some call it nature’s candy - I call it my addiction. I prefer green, but I don’t think there is actually a difference in taste between red and green. It’s all in my head. I’ve been known to finish off an entire bag within two days. When I have the munchies, I grab grabes.
AWKWARD food #9: KAISHI GO LEAN! CRUNCH CEREAL
At a higher price point than the generic O’s you can get in a plastic bag below knee level at the Shop Rite, you have to be willing to dish out about $5 for a box of cereal meant mostly to regulate your body functions. In other words, this cereal has a ridiculous amount of fiber. Go Lean! has 8 grams.
So if you have a huge bowl, don’t leave the house for about 15 minutes. You’ve been warned.
AWKWARD food #10: IRISH SODA BREAD
My roommate bought this, I tried some, and I fell in love. I had no idea what Irish soda bread even was until I swiped some from my roomie, so I took the liberty of Wikipedia-ing it for you.
What it is: A staple to the Irish diet since 1840, when bicarbonate of soda was introduced to Ireland and replaced hard wheat, which was difficult to grow in Ireland’s climate. Hard wheat helps bread rise with the assistance of yeast.
So soda bread is a type of bread in which baking soda replaces yeast. Buttermilk is also used to make soda bread, and the lactic acid in buttermilk reacts with the baking soda to create bubbles of carbone dioxide in the bread.
AWKWARD food #11: OATMEAL
I had a legitimate problem with oatmeal for a while. I bought a big ole’ generic box of it… and just ate, and ate, and ate. For breakfast: A huge bowl of oatmeal, raisens, banana, blueberries, crackers, you name it: And I put it in that bowl of generic oatmeal.
Try generic oatmeal with banana, stick it in the microwave and then mix together. I swear to God, you are eating a banana sundae for breakfast.
AWKWARD food #12: SUSHI
I also had a legitimate problem with sushi last year. Offered in the food court at our student center, I was eating it about five times a week. Mercury, anyone? But really, I should move to LA I love this stuff so much.
AWKWARD food #13: ASIAN GINGER SALAD DRESSING
I guess it isn’t the most politically correct name, but the spicy brown stuff adds a bangable amount of flavor to your palate - and it’s not high cal or high fat like other salad dressings, either. Asian or not - the stuff gets your taste buds poppin’.
AWKWARD food #14: BROCCOLI
Freshman year at the Temple cafeteria, I’d request entire plates of the stuff.
It used to be one of those foods I hated. But after boiling it, with a dash of salt, the stuff is delicious.
AWKWARD food #15: MCDONALD’S VANILLA ICE CREAM CONES
Apparantly these are only 2 points each on the Weight Watchers diet. If I ever went on that diet, all I would eat are McDonald’s vanilla ice cream cones. I guess for 20 points I can have 10 then. Score.
*Posted by Sammy D
