Snacks are one of life's best guilty pleasures. And oh, what a pleasure they can be!

If you are on a diet, and eating three low-cal, low-fat, low-fun meals a day, plus "snacks" of celery and skim milk, snacking pleasure is in short supply. But, if temperance is out the window and a tinge of gluttony is your aim, read on.

My favorite snacks are associated with the time of day or night. That's the best explanation or excuse - that I know to avoid picking just one favorite, and to share with you lots of snacking ideas.

Mid-morning: Cinnamon butter toast with hot chocolate in the winter, and blueberry muffins with orange juice in the summer will give you more than a little lift.

Mid-afternoon pick me up: I eat an apple every day. They make me feel virtuous and I like them. For a perfect snack, I would add salted nuts. For an unvirtuous perfect snack nothing beats potato chips and chocolate together, of course. The person who invented trail mix with chocolate, one of nature's greatest inventions, much have started with potato chips and chocolate. The salt and crunch of chips along with the sweetness and fullness of chocolate will perk you up for the rest of the day. (Let's just ignore the arteries it will clog.)

Pre-dinner take the edge off: If you get to have a little alcohol, everything tastes better. Add to it chips and salsa, or chips and guacamole, or crackers and cheese. Depending on what you are having for dinner, you might just want to stop here.

T.V. watching: If you didn't have dessert after dinner, have it now. I would say this is the one time of day when sweet works best for me, over my salty, crunchy favorites. Ice cream cannot be beaten for its smooth, satisfying feel.

Middle of the night: Let's just agree that none of us should be snacking at two in the morning and then talk about what we would eat. This is major leftovers time. Peruse that refrigerator with an open mind. Cold spaghetti, lasagna, potato salad, chocolate cake, apple pie, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and the ever present dagwood sandwich or peanut butter and jelly will make you happy you got up. Now you can return to bed and to sweet dreams of the next meal you get to eat when you awaken.

To enhance the guilty aspect of snacking pleasure, do it alone. Don't share and don't invite anyone else. Make it a complete indulgence with just yourself in mind. That little secret you have will keep a little half-smile (could be a smirk) on your face all day long.

If I absolutely had to narrow down my snacking choices and commit to something that works any time of day or night, I'd have to settle on peanut butter on crackers with a little jam or jelly. That takes care of salty, crunchy, sweet, starchy and filling. Or, would I really choose trail mix with chocolate, salted nuts, and dried fruit? Or, do I really favor potato chips with cookies? Or, how about that apple with...?

You decide, but, be careful. Snacking could become a way of life and then you you might have more guilty pleasure than you can handle!

(Note: the potato chips referenced here are American, not the British chips which Americans call french fries. Although french fries are a superb snack food.)

Learn more about this author, Marian Davis.
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