I'm not apologizing for it.
Today, on the way to Richmond (about 35 miles from West Point and pretty much the closest "cool" place), Haley and I felt the need to stop at a local gas station for a snack. Surprisingly, this place had a pretty decent assortment of typical convenient store eats, so the decision as to what we were going to munch on for the remainder of our trip into "the cigarette capital of the world" was going to be tough. Life being full of surprises, we settled on some pork rinds.
Obviously, I am a meat eater, or the thought of anything with "pork" in its description would freak me out. But, to be honest, until today I did not know for sure if pork rinds were made of pork skin or if that was just what people called these strange little treats. But, yes, they are indeed little deep fried pieces of pig skin. And, let me tell you, they are actually pretty good. Think Andy Capp Hot Fries with an added dose of guilt.
And, in case any of you are somehow still subscribing to the Atkins Diet, they are carb free! Yes, they are a little high on the sodium side (370 mg per serving, 3 servings per 1.5 oz. bag), but what's a few swollen fingers amongst friends?
The Tom's brand of pork rinds (we chose "Hot" flavor) are crispy good and light as air. While packaged as "hot," they did not have me scrambling for something to drink (but I had a green tea standing by) and thankfully did not have me running for the bathroom right away. They were pretty salty, but that's why it falls under the "salty snack" banner.
So, we ate the whole bag, which puts us at about 700 mg of sodium each.
If you're tired of boring chips, pretzels, or crackers and you are a carnivore/omnivore, then why not give pork rinds a try?!
Ingredients:
Pork Rinds, Salt, Dextrose, Salt, Spices including chili pepper, torula yeast, maltodextrin, paprika, monosodium glutamate (???), onion powder (veggies!), garlic powder, extractives of paprika, yellow #8 lake, natural flavor (???), caramel color, and red #40 lake
Miscellaneous Pork Rind Fun!
