What dessert or junkfood do you always keep in stock at home?

cheese_greater@lemmy.world to Ask Lemmy@lemmy.world – 78 points –
103

Microwave popcorn. It's convenient enough that I can make it easily any time, but just inconvenient enough that it doesn't all get horked down on the first day.

I find that stove top popcorn is even less convenient (so less tempting to eat all the time), but much cheaper, and maybe tastier in some ways.

Get a ~500 g (1 lb or so?) bag of whole kernels for $3-ish, some oil that you use for cooking other stuff anyway, and salt. Heat the oil on the stove with a few kernels, then when those pop, briefly remove from heat and add more. Make sure the pot has a lid. Keep shaking it side to side to keep the popcorn from burning.

I find it adds just enough oil to taste good, but not so much that I’m eating something super awful for me. (And it’s much tastier than air popped). And I assume you could still add melted butter if you want an extra treat.

I want to get one of those movie theatre style things where the popcorn can fly out of the pot.

I have one that's this style and I use it a lot. I got my parents this other kind though and think it works better

I always found these a pain to clean. I had both types. And it's another single use device. I switched to a pot on the stove and never looked back. Bought a special pot that has vented holes on the side so the popcorn doesn't steam and get chewy.

Anything remotely resembling a snack will not be left for long so we don't keep anything.

Yep. The only way to prevent daily snacking is by not having snacks in the house.

Same here. That's why I try to stock up on more than I think I'll need when things go on sale.

The two types of mentalities on display:

  1. I'll eat too much so I shouldn't buy any
  2. I'll eat too much so I should buy more

Or the worst one of all - more packaging. I buy some things in smaller packages to help moderate. Ritz crackers? Hell yeah, but what size sleeve will I finish? Soda, hey at least it’s diet, once it’s open I’ll finish it, so it better be in a can

Nuts. Many kinds of nuts - peanuts, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews... Various mixes, sometimes with dried fruits, then there's the spiced and coated varieties

Junk food is a metaphor for thermodynamics. Nothing lasts. if it's in stock, then it's eaten. So I try not to buy any. But even then I will dip strawberries in sugar.

Dark chocolate. Sweet enough to satisfy sugar cravings, but a low enough sugar content I can chomp on one to get my blood sugar up before going to the corner store for breakfast.

I was with you until you said before breakfast!?!

Dark chocolate (75%+) has a non-insignificant amount of caffeine in it, an ounce can have as much as a cup of black tea, so that may be why.

None. If it's here, I'm eating it. I sometimes bring some home on grocery day but it's always gone that day.

Usually, pototo chips, chocolate covered pretzels, gummies, chocolate cover gummies.

Frozen mango pieces. I love eating those whenever I’m in the mood for something to snack.

Not sure if it counts as junk food, but it’s something I always try to keep at home. Though lately they’ve been sold out at the supermarket. So I’m forced to fall back on my 2nd choice, frozen raspberries.

frozen raspberries

Haha those should be first choice. Basically the polar opposite in terms of flavor profile

Oh I love raspberries as well, it’s just that mangoes are more chewy when frozen.
Raspberries tend to be very hard and not as nice to bite down on when they’re straight from the freezer. But the flavor is great, no argument here :)

Pretzel rods. Chunky salt. Good crunch. Rods are the best hard pretzel shape.

There’s a brand of pretzel “crackers” that are nice and thin like a chip, but pretzeled. They also have a buffalo flavor with a nice little zing to it

Breakfast bars. They're not just for breakfast!

I'm also partial to chips & salsa.

I love chips and salsa - issue being that I'll house a party sized bag of tortilla chips and a big ol container of salsa in like 2-3 sittings, which I guess is fine... But it feels like that many corn chips ain't healthy. Main concern is my salt intake.

None. If I crave for something crunchy I eat carrots or nuts. If I want to eat sweets I make my own brownies, marzipan or chocolate chip cookies. And if I really want to each chips/crisps I make my own batch.

When you say you make your own marzipan, do you start from almonds? That seems like so much work- is it significantly cheaper or better than store bought marzipan or do you just prefer to be self sufficient?

When I have time I do it from scratch but usually I end up using almond flour.

Does it taste better? Almond flour is over three times the price of marzipan here, so it looks like it would be more expensive to make it myself, but I love marzipan and am down to pay more and put some work in for better marzipan.

I could also just see the prices being different elsewhere, though, given that I’m in Germany and marzipan is a much more common ingredient than almond flour here.

It's difficult to tell if it tastes better. Some store bought were better other worse. But the best thing about making it is that you can make the way you like it.

Unsalted cashew nuts and french fries. The nuts I eat as is and usually run out by the end of the week. French fries I toss into the air fryier when ever I don't feel like cooking.

Girardhelli brownie mix. Not claiming it's the best ever but it's 100x better than the Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines crap. But there's also the barrier of 5-10 mins prep and 25+ mins baking so it's not instant gratification y'know?

Once you bake a pan though it's pretty great for the next day or two. Assuming you're not too concerned with your waistline.

Edit: Oh and a box is like $3 at Big Lots. But you do have to supply an egg and cooking oil.

Plus you can get a Costco sized box!

Realistically this is also a healthy choice because it requires effort, so time to reconsider

Crisps or air fryer party mix containing stuff like frikadellen, chicken nuggets or bitter balls. If you don't know number 1 and 3 then I feel sorry for the sad life you have lived up until now and urge you to get off your ass and find a snack bar somewhere between Zierikzee and Delfzijl.

ricey crackers, they have chocolate and rice. everything one needs, besides some water..

Oh no now I need some 😛. Had totally forgotten they existed 🤤

I miss trader Joe's dried chili mango and candied hibiscus, their entire dried fruit section really.

candied hibiscus? like the flower is candied?

Hibiscus flowers are full of vitamin c, and taste like cranberries!

I had no idea. that sounds delicious.

the flower petals are so thin, how thick is the candy coating?

Typically i see them served in syrup and not coated in candy, and somehow they are so much thicker a petal than you imagine. I assume theyre using a specific type of hibiscus and not just the kind everyone grows for yard decor. More of a yucca flower texture honestly.

They may have actual candied ones to i didn't even bother looking it up yet, of course.

These are what i normally see https://www.wildhibiscus.com/collections/retail/products/wild-hibiscus-flowers-in-syrup

that is fascinating, thank you for sharing it.

I actually grew up with hibiscus around my house my whole childhood but never knew you could eat them.

which is nuts, because I feel like I try to eat everything else in my yard as a kid.

those look pretty good.

It's actually made with the calyx rather than the petals, same as with hibiscus tea.

are you sure? a lot of the ones I looked up look like they dehydrate the petals. the recipes call for the flower rather than the calyx.

Yup, those are calices, it's the bottom part of the flower, that holds the petals together.

I thought the calyx was the green part that holds the flower by its base.

like this?

and the flavor they're talking about sounds like hibiscus petals, which are supposed to be citrusy.

You can also eat the petals, but the stuff you'll find commercially are calices. I assume the petals are perhaps too fragile to process ? https://www.tyrantfarms.com/hibiscus-a-tasty-addition-to-your-edible-landscape-or-garden/#edible-parts-hibiscus-sabdariffa

no, apparently the petals are much thicker than I thought they were, which is funny because I grew up with them.

but all of these candied snacks and hibiscus tea and everything calls for the petals.

Suit yourself I guess, it's a common misunderstanding.

“it's a common misunderstanding.”

green and pink?

every source I could find says the pink calyx with the seeds removed is used as candied snacks, not the green part of the stem holding the flower.

you have the name right, but you're mixing up your plant parts.

The green one you're thinking of is the epicalyx.

The calyx is a smaller structure inside the epicalyx and outside of the petals holding the petals by the base.

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It changes for me but right now I got some Fat Boy ice cream sandwiches. This is my first time getting these and they are so delicious.

I fukken love fat boys. Sometimes I'll mix up the name to introduce some fun to a situation. One time I turned to my partner and said "be right back I'm gonna absolutely fucking destroy a fat man" and she was deeply confused until I came back with an ice cream sandwich.

An off-brand oreo called Kaleidos. Idk what it is but they are better than oreos, and they're cheaper to boot.

Also a bag of milk chocolate chips. spread some peanut butter on bread, sprinkle some chips on top and pop them in the toaster oven. Boom. Toasted PB&C, goes nicely with a small cup of milk. Great when it's cold outside.

A shitload of my favorite brand of protein bars, tastes just close enough to a chocolate bar that I dont feel cheated.

Also the fitness branded protein ice creams. 360 calories and I get to fuck up a whole pint watching TV?

And both of them help me hit my protein targets for the day.

Tortilla chips, Haribo gummy bears, ice cream and TJ's peanut butter pretzels are all staple junk food that I usually restock before I run out.

Granola Bars

Cookies

Chips and salsa

Apple's + pb

Popcorn

Redbull. It’s not quite what was asked, but it’s about the only thing that is always stocked.

anything that comes in little pieces, like toffeefe or manner.

I'm on a diet but a huge sweettooth. This helps me grab one of them as a dessert after a healthy meal.

The things that Tim had in his coat pocket that he was so delighted to rediscover that he swore about it.

And if you're wondering "Who's Tim?", oh boy do I have the turn-of-the-century Edgar Wright miniseries for you to watch.

And I don't even do the drugs that require munchies-curing sweet snack foods. I just [expletive verb] love [these particular confections].

Lame to recommend a show and not name it!

I’ve seen Spaced a few times but it’s been a while and I don’t remember what Tim had in his coat pocket. Guess that means it’s time for a rewatch! (Not a hard sell.)