Snacking away ay, snacking awayyy ay..
Sunday, February 1, 2009 at 10:45PM Yeah yeah.. For some reason Ian Anderson is doing the rounds in my head, but that is another story.
This weekend, the boss finally allowed me to go freak out at the local costco to buy healthy snacks. You see, a month without potatoes has left me with a big void to fill!
What can I eat as snack food if Pringles, baked lays, chips (bbq, sour cream and onion flavors), kettle chips, veggie chips (which are really potatoes with different veggie flavors), samosas, aloo parathas, puffs, etc. are all off the table?
Trying to give up potatoes and living in the USA is like living in a small island and giving up sea food!
The wife and MIL are begging me to break the self imposed "vrath" because of various reasons. The obvious one is that it seriously limits the stuff they can dish out. The not so obvious, devious reason is that a potato free man tends to take the remaining foods more seriously. His tastebuds have somehow become more sensitive..
What can I compare this to? Have you ever gone to an ENT doctor in your high school, early college years to get your ears cleaned with a syringe?! You walk out of that clinic and all of a sudden you feel like the world of sound is open to you. You come back home, switch the cassette player on and start hearing those odd chimes that Ilayaraja so strategically placed in the background, stuff you completely missed just before the cleaning session? Something like that.
Suddenly, I can detect the ratio of salt/chili/tamarind to the second decimals. Now that is really getting on the wife and MIL's nerves. They would rather have me stuff myself with bland potato filler than be more critical! Looks like it is harder on them than for me.
Well, the 34 size pants still fit and that means the aloovrath goes into its second straight month!
Only one problem. The brain still sends the hand to an imaginary cup on the couch when watching TV or working on the laptop at odd hours, well at any hour for that matter and when one goes to the kitchen and surveys all those potato thingys on the shelf one tends to get depressed and grabs chocolate instead. That problem has been corrected and the women of the house decided to give away all the candy stash or hide it from me. So the hunt for new healthy snacks began this week.
We have now purchased
1. Dry roasted Edamame (soy beans) - truly amazing (Sea point forms brand I believe). Low fat, high protein, as good as peanuts (which as you all know is a no no in this house).. loving it
2. Mrs. Mays almonds (they are back in costco) - delicious!
3. Pretzels (yes, they are high carbs, and we have to chip off the salt crystals before eating them).. but they are a better alternative to other junk foods
4. Mixed nuts (cashews, almonds, walnuts, pecans) - no peanuts, no peanut oil. What more can we ask?
5. Pistachio Crisps (by True North) - very yummy and supposedly healthy!
Add to this the usual Honey nut cheerios and we could make a new type of mixture (granted it wont be as good as grand sweets), but it will be a mixture that is high protein, medium carb and is potato/peanut/sesame seed free!
All these have been purchased on one condition. None of this shall go to waste!
Based on what is being crunched and munched right now as this post is being typed, we can be assured that it wont!
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aloovratha, costco, good eats, potatoes, snacks
Reader Comments (9)
Those pista crisps are addictive. I have eaten peanut clusters by the same brand...and I finished a small pack in one shot - not good for the body I tell you. So I stopped buying them!
Definitely healthy... but not overly attractive to my taste buds!!! I prefer to be on a chocolate/chips/ice cream diet! ;-)
What a hard life! :-) But yeah, I hear you...or rather, my waistline does :)
Can you eat corn? I've found roast coarn, with salt/chillie (our local farmers mkt carries them) is lovely - better than edamame. Also wasabi peas...you live in the land of Trader Joe's...should find it there...
Good Luck!
M
no potatoes huh? That must be tough. Hmm.. that must be tough. And I'm guessing your a savoury snacker. So fruits can't be factored into this.
What about tortilla chips?and stuff like poricha kadalai or sundal as snacks. Cuz my mom sometimes makes sundal on the weekend just so we won't munch on crap, it has your spice, coconut bits for crunchiness and protein in the chickpeas.
Don't go too crazy with nuts either! Good for you for making the effort and good luck :)
Hi Sundar,
1. "Trying to give up potatoes and living in the USA is like living in a small island and giving up sea food!" - this sentence is utter rubbish. just because you are consuming it, don't justify! it's been months since i touched potatoes.
2. "34 size pants still fit and that mean.." - are you wearing the pants Prashanth's style or SPB's style? in any case, having a waist size of 34 is not something to be proud about.
3. In most of the households, husband control wife's eating habits. unga vettula ulta-va irukkey.
You seem to be concerned abt your kids, but it's a shame that you are setting a bad example when it comes to eating habits.
Sundar, you're famous! You have a troll!
anon, take it eazyyy!
JAM, hope the almond clusters are better for the body..
Swetha.. I was on the Top Ramen/ Chips Ahoy/ Lays diet for a full year during grad school. It did not do me any good..
M.. yeah.. hard life indeed. moderately allergic to corn. Okay to eat popcorn in small amounts, but baby corn brings out the skin rashes. will go check out Wasabi peas. I think have had it before. thanks.
sivajini, savoury snacker is right. sundal is a great idea.. my friends used to call me sundalraman.. my israeli friend Sagy's daughters call me Sundal uncle and it is hilarious. thanks for the wishes.
anon, why? why? why?
please calm down. looks like you are already on potato withdrawal symptoms. As one guy in potatohab to another, I give you some advice..
hang on! don't give up! don't pick up that bag of chips!
you are right on one thing though. I am a very bad example to my kids. but then again, I do eat greens for lunch and dinner and thankfully, my kids dont have food allergies and they are not big fans of potato snacks.
terri, don't need fame or flame!
Sriram, there is no taking it easy with anon commenters who just plain vent and say things like "34 waist is nothing to be proud of"..
unless this is a person who is maintaining a chart of my waist size over time and have some grounds to make that statement.
I am soooooooooooooooo happy to stay with a 34 and not have to buy 35 pants.. letting the whole world know it, now!
:)
can anyone please tell me how many weight watchers points true north crisps have?? that would be great
thanks