Crave-worthy, "can't believe I ate the whole thing" foods - winter edition

[fldhkybnva]

My cravings are off the charts so I thought it was time for a winter edition of this thread.

I currently can't keep my hands or brain off of jalapeno cheddar Cheetos and have decided to no longer fight the intense urges to order Chinese food at least once a week! My usual routine for years has been an epic grocery store run on Friday nights but in the last few weeks I stumble into the house early and reach for the phone and the closest Chinese food menu and have a lovely feast. I'm hoping it's winter as I've decided to not fight the feeling anymore.

Also for some reason I have been craving raw spinach and have really enjoyed daily salads with a new homemade dressing for a week or so now.

[jmcarthur8]

We were up in NY this weekend, and picked up a dozen rosette cookies from an Italian deli in Schenectady. They are little domes of frosted vanilla cakey cookies with sprinkles on top. The dozen lasted two days, and that's only because we had two huge Italian subs to finish off.
A dozen may not sound like a lot between two people, but each cookie is the size of two or three regular flat cookies. If I had had another dozen rosettes, they'd be gone, too.

[cresyd]

I am with the OP on take out Chinese food - and more specifically soups. I got very sick in December, and was basically living off of egg drop soup for a few weeks, so perhaps this is just an extension of that.

[fldhkybnva]

Well, today's craving is a grilled sausage with ketchup, mustard and a steamed bun. I guess I'll be cooking up some Kielbasa soon. I rarely eat either hot dogs or sausages for some reason but the thought of biting into a hot sausage and the bite of the casing is irresistible right now

[POAndrea]

pizza margherita. 12". And a bottle of wine. Last night.

[Teague]

I get cravings for protein in the winter. Right now it's fish cakes. Had to make them last night for dinner. Had a fish cake sandwich for lunch on Pepperidge Farm Very Thin Whole Wheat, toasted with cabbage (shredded) and some tartar sauce I made with low fat hellmans, dill pickles and capers. Pretty yummy. Also been buying beef head barbacoa at the carneceria, that stuff is luscious, making tacos out of it with black beans and cabbage. So good.

[liza219]

Egg nog. First all by itself. Then made it in the ice cream maker. Big mistake. Went through a quart.

[majordanby]

it's nearing the end of apple season here in CA. so, ive been eating A LOT of apples paired with cheese. it's become an obsession!

[Puffin3]

We're not expecting a little gift from heaven are we?
For me it's those terrible tasting chemical laden 'Cheezies'. I've never self-loathed myself so much as when I see I've just wolfed down a large bag while watching 'the littlest hobo'.

[fldhkybnva]

Blargh, I meant to end the post with "and, no I'm not pregnant" as that the first question that everyone asks. Not pregnant but my cravings got the best of me in the store today. A quick trip to grab some veggies for lunch turned into a trip with 1/2 cart of food for the weekend despite already having an idea of what we were planning to eat. However, this plan just seems so much better...so far on the menu as a result of the cravings shopping frenzy - grassfed steak and crab cakes with Parmesan Balsamic roasted asparagus, baked salmon with sauteed cabbage and bacon, of course enough spinach for many a spinach salad, and chicken, kielbasa, mushroom Alfredo. It should be a great weekend. Giving in to the cravings recently has made for awesome eats although tonight's craving is for some Chinese food so we'll see if I give in to that guy.

[deraj]

At this time of year whole foods has these big boxes of truffles at a very reasonable cost... I can go through a whole thing before my next grocery trip (oops). Good thing I don't live next door to one anymore and don't stop in nearly as often. In general winter is a time for cruciferous veggies for me (or really any of the heartier veggies) and I go through batches intended for multiple meals in one evening.

And finally... pizza. We're Chicagoans and may or may not have ordered and polished off a deep dish two nights in a row last month..

[afridgetoofar]

I've rarely craved meat, so the intense cravings I've had lately for pot roast and other forms of beef are unusual. I had a fairly serious surgery last winter and a lot of dental surgery since then (age/meds related, whatever), so I subsisted for a long time on yogurt, congee, veggie purees and softish pastas and noodle dishes, and eggs in all forms. Lately I've been gorging on beef - pot roast, steak, burgers, sammiches, consomme, beef, beef, beef. Low-level anemia, perhaps, but all I want lately is beef, as though I'm making up for a lifetime of not eating cows...

(...pot roast and mashers on a bed tray is really, really wonderful comfort stuff, all around...)

[fldhkybnva]

As a meatatarian (so named by my friends) it sounds amazing.

[afridgetoofar]

Spinach cravings can also be a sign of anemia. I love me a good creamed spinach! Or a raw salad. But lately a stir-fry of beef with pea pods and garlic and carrots, ahhh, chewy meaty good eats! Maybe this is a new leaf for me, so to speak, turning meatatarian :) after decades of not eating meat, but if so, that's oh-kay; I'm thinking now about the liverwurst in the fridge as I type this, good bedtime snack (in bed, with crackers, heh heh).

[fldhkybnva]

Good to know. I had blood work checked a few months ago and it was OK, but you never know now. Perhaps a 4 month check up is in order as I rarely crave spinach. Well, in fact it's many vegetables, I also started craving cabbage, asparagus and mushrooms (though not a vegetable) and need them nearly every day

[cresyd]

Craving spinach would be an odd way of indicating that you are iron deficient because the human body does not digest much of the iron in spinach. But that's not to rule out a more 'psychosomatic' craving of associating spinach with iron as it's a common cultural assciation.

[melpy]

Cento oil cured black olives in a jar.

[pinehurst]

Oh good gravy, yes to those olives.

[Teague]

Reece anchovy-stuffed olives! God I love them

[juliejulez]

Ugh mac n cheese is mine. So I've been scouring the 'net for recipes that will hopefully satisfy without being super calorie-full. The jalapeno popper mac n cheese I'm making tonight (shared in the WFD thread) will hopefully do the trick. If not, I'm making a sort of mac n cheese next week with peas and bacon.

[fldhkybnva]

Unfortunately most of my cravings involve high calorie foods

[Teague]

Well, mac n cheese is delicious, so craving it is perfectly understandable. I love Amy's Whole Wheat Shells & Cheeze, which might be slightly more better for ya. Stay away from Hudsons, that is some bitter, rancid stuff. When I make my own I use ricotta in addition to cheddar and velveeta. Probably not any lower fat, but it makes it feel a bit lighter

[EWSflash]

Mine too, sad to say.

Even worse, I've recently been craving Haribo Gummy Frogs.

[fldhkybnva]

The Haribo can't enter this house unless I plan to consume the entire thing no matter what size

[suzigirl]

i have found myself having serious cravings for hot and sour soup and green curry. Both of them are from specific restaurants in my area and cannot be from anywhere else. It seems that I rarely ever want to sit down to a steamy bowl of either during the summer months, but right now I can't get either out of my head. The funny thing is that I live in Florida and the weather doesn't change much.

[fldhkybnva]

Yea it's interesting that my cravings are for foods I rarely want to consume at any other time. The fact that you live in Florida makes me feel better - it must be the Earth tilt :)

[suzigirl]

Earth tilt....yeah,that's it. Lets go with that