Remember those foods you had all the time as a kid? Or the snacks that got you excited whenever you saw them in your parents’ grocery bags? You may not eat them anymore, but they still hold a special place in your heart. Take a trip down memory lane and see how to recreate those childhood favorites without looking like a child at the grocery store.
Dunk-A-Roos
These snacks weren’t widespread, but those who ate them know how insanely delicious they were. After all, what was tastier than dipping cookies into frosting? It’s something our parents would never let us do normally, but the innocent packaging and the smiling kangaroo on the box kept them from figuring out that every bite of Dunk-a-Roos was pure sugary goodness.
The Adult Version:
You’ve already found a replace- ment for Dunk-a-Roos, whether you’ve made the connection or not. Nutella is the new dipping spread of choice, and it’s socially acceptable for adults to eat. It may not be the same as dunking cookies into frosting, but it’s just as yummy. You probably already know that you can dip nearly anything into Nutella, but to cre- ate an authentic Dunk-a-Roos experience, try dunking graham crackers, chocolate chip or cinnamon cookies. It’s not the same, but it’s still appetizing and will remind you of your favorite childhood dunking snack.
Fruit Roll-Ups
Whether you rolled it into a ball, tied it into a knot, curled it into a tube or just ate it flat, you probably had loads of these as a kid. Opening your lunch box to find the shiny silver
wrapper jammed between your sandwich and your Juicy Juice was like a gift from heaven. You didn’t know what was in it or how it was made. All you knew was that playing with Fruit Roll-Ups was just as awesome as eating them.
The Adult Version:
Fruit Roll-Ups is one of those snacks you probably gave up completely as you morphed into your adult self, except for when one happened to cross your path and you bit into it thinking, “Isn’t this nostalgic?” But fruit leather is a grown-up alternative you can buy in stores or even make yourself if you have the pa- tience. (It can take up to 12 hours to bake.) One brand you can try is Stretch Island Kosher Fruit Leather. It’s made from real fruit and has no added sugar. That might disappoint you if what you loved about Fruit Roll-Ups was the blatant artificial flavoring. But hey, at least it’s kosher. Mazel tov!
Hi-C
These little yellow boxes were awesome — for the two to three sips they lasted. Orange, Fruit Punch and Pink Lemonade were the most popular flavors, and each one was packed with high-fructose corn syrup and a taste that lingered in your mouth for at least an hour. Nevertheless, we drank these like crazy when we were kids, and it was a definite staple in our lunch boxes at our soccer practices.
The Adult Version:
You can find Hi-C Fruit Punch in the dining halls, but it doesn’t exactly make you feel like an adult. Add a few ingredients and put it in a punch bowl, and you’ve got a classed-up drink you can enjoy without the risk of becoming a man-child. There are lots of recipes that use Hi-C Fruit Punch but one recipe from Cooks. com calls for a quart each of ginger ale, club soda and orange juice, a can of Hi-C Fruit Punch, a cup of lemon juice and some ice. You can also add a small jar of maraschino cherries and garnish with orange, lemon or lime slices.
Goldfish
Every ‘90s kid probably had these little fish-shaped crackers in their lunch box in little plastic bags that usually ended up getting crushed along the way to school. They weren’t the most exciting snack to munch on when you were younger, but they were addicting. Once you got to the bottom of the bag, licking your finger and picking up the crumbs was a necessary ritual.
The Adult Version:
There’s nothing wrong with indulging in a childhood favorite, but if it bothers you to eat crackers that kids a quarter your age enjoy, there are plenty of “grown-up” options sold in stores, such as Kashi’s TLC Country Cheddar Crackers. You may not be able to bite the head off first and cackle evilly to yourself as you hold the tail like you did with Goldfish (these crackers are uninspiringly rectangular in shape), but luckily they have seven whole grains, zero grams of trans fat and don’t make you look like you’re holding onto your childhood too desperately.