My favourite guilty pleasure kids' food

I must admit that when I was a kid, I loved eating junk food.

Fruit Roll-Ups, Chef Boyardee ravioli and Pizza Pops were among my favorite things to eat when getting home from school and watching an episode of The Facts of Life. (And please don’t ask why I was watching The Facts of Life as an 11-year-old boy).  

But now, I am happy to report that my taste buds have matured. I love eating tofu, any type of sushi and I recently ate a lentil chili without incident.  

The thought of eating a Cheez Whiz sandwich on Wonder Bread — which used to seem like a delicacy — now triggers my gag reflex. However, there are still a few unhealthy kids’ foods that I like to eat whenever they are in the house.  

This week, I figured I would share the five unhealthy kids’ foods that are still my guilty pleasure — even as an adult.

#1. Kraft Dinner
There is nothing natural about the bright-orange cheese powder from a box of Kraft Dinner, but no other company has been able to replicate it. When our kids eat Kraft Dinner, my wife and I will always hover around the pot and end up eating the rest of it. My wife will actually put some freshly ground pepper on top of it, as if it’s the mature and dignified way to eat Kraft Dinner.

#2. Popsicles
When we buy popsicles for the kids, I will end up eating 50 percent of the box. We usually pick up the box with assorted flavours and I will routinely hide the good colours — like purple and pink — in secret places in the freezer. I mean, what kid is going to look behind the pack of frozen edamame to find a treasure trove of popsicles? And I absolutely love it when the ice cream truck comes by our house and our four-year-old is unable to finish the Space Jet popsicle she ordered.  

#3. Chocolate pudding cups
Have I been guilty of licking the lid of a chocolate pudding cup before I throw it into the garbage? You bet.

#4. Cinnamon Toast Crunch
As a general rule, we don’t allow sugary cereals into our house. But every so often (ie. when I go grocery shopping), a box of Lucky Charms or Cinnamon Toast Crunch will mysteriously appear in our cupboard. For me, nothing tops Cinnamon Toast Crunch and the delicious residual milk it leaves behind. One day, I would like to take all the milk in our fridge and let it soak in Cinnamon Toast Crunch for an hour.

#5. Oreo cookies
I may have mortgage payments, a mountain of bills and retirement funds to worry about, but I’ve yet to outgrow the thrill of dunking an Oreo cookie into a glass of milk. And I still enjoy the fierce debate over whether or not you should twist an Oreo open and eat the icing first or if you should just the cookie as a whole.

Are there some kids’ foods that you still enjoy eating?

Photo by jfournierphoto via Flickr.