Between-meal snacking the high-intensity flavor way

by cogg — September 26th, 2007

There has been a lot of discussion lately about 100 calorie snack packages. Most of the discussion focuses on how expensive they are or on how to create healthy versions. Certainly I am in the target market for these snack packages (I have ordered food at restaurants asking them to just leave side dishes off my plate — my will power ends once the food is in front of me), but to a certain degree they miss the point for me.

I don’t snack because I am hungry. I snack to keep my mouth entertained. This is the same reason I consume way too much Diet Coke. I find the slightly irritating taste and high acidity keeps me from getting bored while I sit in front of the computer all day. This has lead me to develop an unusual form of snacking: snacking on things with high-intensity flavors. Examples:

  • One square of good, very dark chocolate (30-50 calories)
  • One pimento olive (10 calories)
  • One slice of very sharp cheddar cheese (100 calories)
  • Two 1/8″ slices of high-quality salami (60 calories)
  • 1 big piece of beef jerky — good because it is hard to eat quickly (80 calories)

I have found that a little of any of these are satisfying enough to make me not crave more. How many pimento olives can you eat in one sitting anyway?


3 Responses to “Between-meal snacking the high-intensity flavor way”

  1. sarah on September 27, 2007 10:46 am

    i can eat an entire jar in one sitting. is that bad?

  2. TK on September 27, 2007 12:06 pm

    I don’t know about pimento olives, but I do know a guy that used to make black olive & mayo sandwiches :-).

    - TK

  3. cogg on October 1, 2007 10:49 am

    @TK - I had forgotten about those. Off to make one now. For those that are interested:

    Ingredients (4 servings)

    • One small can chopped olives
    • 4 tbsp mayo
    • Your favorite bland bread (if isn’t bland, you won’t taste the olives)

    Instructions

    1. Mix olives and mayo
    2. Spread on bread
    3. Enjoy!

    You’ll have to ignore the fact that the sandwich will look roughly like you are eating ashes from your fireplace and simply enjoy the taste.

    This is roughly 350 calories/sandwich, more than a McD’s cheeseburger but less than a Quarter Pounder. Not that I ever eat at McDonald’s…

Trackback URI | Comments RSS

Leave a Reply

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Speak your mind