Cravings can rule, but options are out there

What do you crave? Salt and vinegar chips? Spoonfuls of peanut butter? Chocolate layer cake? Even the healthiest among us have cravings, sometimes so strong that everything else becomes background noise until our palate is sated. The trick comes in knowing when our bodies have what they need and stopping. Mireille Guiliano, author of French Women Don’t Get Fat, writes it isn’t constant smoking that keeps them slim, but the Three-Bite Rule — three bites is all it really takes to fulfill a craving. People may be abiding by this, but looking at the growing obesity epidemic, I think they are using ladles rather than teaspoons.

Nevertheless, junk food is part of our culture and despite hefty guilt (diabetes and heart disease) associated with Yodels and Jax, it is here to stay.

Especially for parents, who may witness hourly tantrums for a taste of the forbidden, it is our responsibility to make a sort of best-of-the-worst decision as to what junk food we allow in the mouths of our babes. We all have a fantasy that our kids will be the ones who get super excited about the raisins and apples in their Halloween totes, but it is like they all come wired with pre-knowledge of how delicious Snickers are.

Here are some of my favorite kid (and husband)-approved junk foods.

Lay off the Lay’s, give them Food Should Taste Good’s Sweet Potato Tortilla Chips. I am not a chip-person, but these are insanely gratifying. Made with a handful of natural ingredients, these gluten-free, low sodium, no-transfat chips have a ton of flavor and light, crispy texture. Kids love them with their sammies and adults hover when served with guacamole and fruit salsa.

Kick chicken nuggets to the curb and give them Gardein Seven Grain Crispy Tenders. I am a firm believer that kids should eat much less meat than they do. These are a vegetarian option that closely mimics the texture and crispiness of the real thing, but with much less fat and salt. They are available in the frozen food sections of most supermarkets. They have a big selection of more gourmet choices such as Chick’n scallopini, beefless tips and buffalo wings.

Why waste calories on regular ice-cream when Maple’s Organics gelato exists? Even though gelato is assumed to have more fat in it because of its creaminess, it actually contains less than ice-cream; it has less air in it making it more dense and the flavor more intense. The local gelato star has many wonderful flavors, but their Sea-Salt Caramel Almond is pretty much the closest you get to heaven. Whoever decided sea-salt and caramel go together should be sainted.

If gelato isn’t your kiddo’s thing, Smooze Fruit Ice will be. I am addicted to these. They are small push-up pops made from coconut milk and fresh juice on a farm in East Sumatra. Whole Foods sells them unfrozen, which makes buying several cases of them for the next 100-degree day quite easy.

I remember when I was little wrapping fruit roll ups around my thumbs and sucking on it while playing outside (I shudder at that bacteria-filled thought). Kids love all things gummy, but be careful because most are loaded with sugar and additives. Annie’s Homegrown Organic Bunny Fruitsnacks are Baby Boy’s favorite part of the day. I am not kidding that the first thing he asks for the minute he wakes up is “Poo-ple Nunnies.” (He only gets one pack in the afternoon.) These are so tasty and juicy that I have been known to snatch a bag when he isn’t looking. They are expensive, but sometimes Target or Amazon has them for a dollar or so less.

Stop letting the brood go to the gas station and drink those anti-freeze colored slushie things. Those make me cringe. I can almost see their insides being eaten away from chemicals. Many local coffee houses offer caffeine-free mocha ice-blends and smoothies. Starbucks has a passionfruit tea/lemonade blend that is refreshing, low in sugar and is still bright pink for those who need color to be cool.

 (Maggie Knowles is a columnist for The Portland Daily Sun. Her column appears Wednesdays.)