Comfort Reads discussion

So, what do people like to snack on while they're comfort reading?

Lee, this is unfair, you're going to make us gain weight. Well, here are some of my culinary "sins." I love spiced or candied almonds, whole wheat pretzels and any kind of spicy whole wheat crackers (I've recently found some Moroccan seed crackers that are simply divine). Sometimes, I'll dip these in hummus or tomato pesto, but when I'm reading I'm always afraid of dripping dip on the book. Oh, and a nice glass of Shiraz!!

Oh yummy! I love hummus too especially with those organic red corn chips. Very naughty. I also love popcorn.

Organic red corn chips, I got to try those.

Chocolate with wine or hot tea (or alone if I'm in a hurry).

I'm going to use the first bunch of answers here as a base for a poll so don't be afraid to admit to more than one. :-)

Gundula wrote: I love spiced or candied almonds . . .

Teriyaki Almonds

Heat 2 tablespoons oil (*not* olive) in a frypan. Add one tablespoon soy sauce, one teaspoon sugar, and one-half teaspoon cayenne. Stir that about for a few seconds, then add one-and-one-half cups almonds. Stir that about until the sauce gets thick and sticky on the almonds. Drain them on paper towel briefly; longer will make them stick.

Peregrine wrote: "Teriyaki Almonds . . . Heat 2 tablespoons oil (*not* olive) in a frypan. Add one tablespoon soy sauce, one teaspoon sugar, and one-half teaspoon c..."

Yum! That sounds delicious, Peregrine. Thanks for sharing.

I'm not much of a snacker (extremely sensitive stomach), my comfort stuff is typically liquid; coffee, tea, wine (red in winter, chilled white in summer). I've recently been on a Travicello kick for red wine; it's not too sweet, not too dry, simply perfect for my taste :)

Thanks Paula for the wine tip! Thanks Gundula for the recipe!

I don't want to take or get credit for something that is not mine, the recipe for the teriyaki almonds came from Peregrine, but I'm dying to try it out.

Thanks Peregrine! Sounds like something I will enjoy, but I might take a little less cayenne (I'm a wimp!)

Well, I'm terrible at multitasking so my snacks with reading usually means taking some bites, then reading, then stopping and eating a bit more, etc. but my favorite snack foods to eat between reading periods are

popcorn

chocolate candy (my favorite is Whizzers Chocolate Beans imported from England but they're expensive so a rare treat)

raw carrots

whole grain spicy rice crackers

dry cereals such as Cascadian Farms Purely O's (kind of like organic Cheerios)

vegan gummi bears or gummi rabbits candies

EDITED TO ADD:

Oh, and sandwiches!

EDITED AGAIN TO ADD:

(because of Susanna's message #41):

hot tea

Lisa, the organic cherios sound wonderful (I'm going to have to see if my local health food store has them or will order them).

Gundula wrote: "Lisa, the organic cherios sound wonderful (I'm going to have to see if my local health food store has them or will order them). "

Gundula, Yes, they're good and very easy to eat, so very easy to eat too many of them.

Popcorn for me! I sprinkle nutritional yeast on it. Sounds gross, I know, but I love it.

Nutritional yeast is yum! I've never tried that but another friend mentioned the same snack to me the other day.

Really Lee? I've never heard of anyone else doing it, yay I'm not alone! It adds kind of cheesy flavor. Plus, as I shove the popcorn in my mouth, I can doubly comfort myself with thinking, hey it's healthy!

I've tried that and it is good. But, I don't like doing it when I'm reading, as it sticks to your fingers and turns the pages yellow.

Yes really, and it was a GR friend too! I thought it sounded really interesting. I use nutritional yeast quite a bit for other things as well.

Another great snack using nutritional yeast is to toast whole wheat organic bagels, add some squashed avocado as a spread and sprinkle nutritional yeast on top; you can add tomatoes if you like.

One of my favorite toasted sandwiches is a combination of hummus, avocado and tomatoes. I wonder if adding nutritional yeast would be overkill?

Lee wrote: "One of my favorite toasted sandwiches is a combination of hummus, avocado and tomatoes. I wonder if adding nutritional yeast would be overkill? "

I think it would be, with the hummus. I like to put nutritional yeast and Braggs Liquid on avocadoes and tomatoes cut up in a bowl. I put melted butter, nutritional yeast, and Braggs on my popcorn. Also, plain yogurt with the yeast and Braggs stirred in makes a good snack on its own, or a dip for carrot sticks or oven fries.

I just bought some Braggs Liquid for the first time but haven't cracked it open yet. What's the difference between Braggs and Tamari soy sauce? I don't get it.

Gundula and Lee - those sound wonderful!

I forgot all about Braggs that's something I used a long time ago. Since I do alot of stir fry, I wonder if it would taste as good as soy sauce.

Lee, I really don't know, now you've got me quite curious if Braggs is soy based. I do know it's got lots of enzymes.

Lee wrote: "I just bought some Braggs Liquid for the first time but haven't cracked it open yet. What's the difference between Braggs and Tamari soy sauce? I don't get it. "

Braggs has just soy and water, and is unfermented. Soy sauce is fermented, and has salt, often wheat and/or alcohol too.

Thanks Peregrine!

Lee wrote: "Thanks Peregrine! "

You're welcome, Lee! A nice salad dressing, too, is equal parts oil (whatever kind you want), apple cider vinegar, Braggs, and nutritional yeast. This is amazingly tasty; I don't use it as often as I'd like because I'm sensitive to vinegar, but really, I could drink this stuff!

Lee wrote: "I just bought some Braggs Liquid for the first time but haven't cracked it open yet. What's the difference between Braggs and Tamari soy sauce? I don't get it. "

The other difference, for me, is that while I don't use a lot of soy sauce because it's so salty, with Braggs I literally just spray it on. It's so strong. I think it's also supposed to have all the amino acids, which soy sauce does not, but I'm not sure.

Lee wrote: "One of my favorite toasted sandwiches is a combination of hummus, avocado and tomatoes. I wonder if adding nutritional yeast would be overkill? "

No, not overkill! Delicious! You would need only a small amount to get a lot of flavor.

Lori wrote: "Popcorn for me! I sprinkle nutritional yeast on it. Sounds gross, I know, but I love it."

I love nutritional yeast on popcorn, except, like Gundula, not when I'm reading.

When I read, I try to eat things that have no mess at all.

I hate myself when I drop food on a book! I read with lunch most days and try to be careful!

If you drop food on clothing etc., you can often clean it, but stains on books are really hard to remove (often impossible). And, many of my children's literature books (especially the school and college stories) are vintage, so no eating when I'm reading those, even drinking wine is a no-no when I'm reading a vintage book.

Gundula wrote: "Another great snack using nutritional yeast is to toast whole wheat organic bagels, add some squashed avocado as a spread and sprinkle nutritional yeast on top; you can add tomatoes if you like."

Oh my goodness; I have no idea what nutritional yeast is, but the avocado/tomato spread on a toasted wheat bagel sounds scrumptious!!

Oh, now I'm ready for a snack! Thanks, Peregrine, for the Teriyaki Almonds recipe. :)

I keep the snacking simple when I'm reading a book...chocolate or cookies (thinking now of ginger cookies--yum!) and milk or sometimes flavored green tea (on a blueberry kick right now). I eat my messy foods with a magazine or the paper!

Dark chocolate - no nuts- prefferably Godiva

Chocolate covered pretzles - dark chocolate- preff. Malley's or Malleys pretzles babies (think pretzle ball drenched in chocolate) (If you don't live in the Cleveland, Ohio area, you can order them online at www.malleys.com where you can get all of candies Malleys offers. They will ship all over the U.S.)

Goldfish crackers- cheddar, parmesean, or garden veg.

Cheetos- cruchy

Pita chips- sea salt

or cheese and crackers

All at the same sitting or individually -- sounds good!

A homemade fruit smoothie!! I usually make mine with fresh or frozen berries, bananas, soy or almond milk, a bit of wheat germ and some maple syrup (that's optional). Can be both a snack or a quick breakfast substitute.

Jeannette wrote: "All at the same sitting or individually -- sounds good!"


One or two at a time. For example, pretzel babies and parm goldfish...

Chocolate and salt is appealing. I occasionally eat vanilla ice cream with potato chips.

Now that sounds like a very interesting combination!

Jeannette wrote: "Chocolate and salt is appealing. I occasionally eat vanilla ice cream with potato chips. "

There is a wonderful place in Door Country (the tip of the 'thumb' part of Wisconsin) called The Chocolate Chicken, where they sell chocolate-covered... everything. I remember trying the chocolate covered potato chips and wondering how they did that while still keeping the chip part somewhat crunchy.

Mostly hot tea or hot chocolate, this time of year.

Try chocolate dipped Pringles or a ridged potato chip. You can just melt chocolate chips (or candy melts) and dip the chips in the melted chocolate and let it set. I just do about 1/2 the chips and set them on a cooling rack with waxed paper underneath. They make great gifts too.

This year the Iowa State Fair -- home of everything-on-a-stick -- had chocolate covered bacon on-a-stick! Glad I'm a vegetarian!!

Lee wrote: "Now that sounds like a very interesting combination!"

You need a good vanilla ice cream, like Breyer's and you let it get soft, like soft-serve consistency (stir it). Then you scoop it up like dip with a good chip, like Lay's Classic. Haven't done this since I was a teen!

Jeannette, I was just going to have lunch, but after reading about chocolate covered bacon, I've lost my appetite.

Unbelievable, isn't it? I had to take a picture of the little stand. And they were open at 8am!

All I can say is "yuck!" And, were people actually buying this?

Yes. They just introduced deep-fried butter this year. Balls of butter, wrapped in a dough and deep fried. Yum! xp

Gross, gross and gross.

Iowa is a great place to live! I think we are in a direct competition with the Texas State Fair, too.