Guilty Pleasure

The hubby and I were able to visit with my brother and sister in law (Mr. McGoo's brother and his lovely wife) and our niece on Sunday evening. We learned that Mr. McGoo's brother received a jerky maker for Christmas (totally up his alley) and is now making homemade beef jerky on his own. We were able to sample some of his creations and he even sent Mr. McGoo home with a few.

During this discussion and seeing how the jerky maker simply took raw meet and heated it while pulling out all the liquid within the meat, I came to the realization that I had never really known where jerky came from or what it was made of, just something I never thought about.

I knew I had a guilty pleasure, LOVING SLIM JIM's, but I had never really thought much about the tasty treat to acknowledge what it was made of and possibly how bad it is for me... maybe that's why I never thought about it, I was afraid of the results.

Anyway, today I did a little research on my guilty pleasure. The history of the "slim jim" is actually pretty interesting... see...

Overview

Slim Jim is a convenient, one-of-a-kind snack with the intense flavor and snap that consumers love. Slim Jim's unique combination of spice and attitude is captured in its advertising, sponsorships, and promotions. Slim Jim is the No. 1 brand of meat sticks and is available in a variety of flavors of meat sticks, beef jerky, beef steak, and beef and cheese. Snap into a Slim Jim! 

History

Adolph Levis sold pickles, relishes, sausages, and other popular snacks and condiments from his basement in Philadelphia during the Great Depression. But these foods just weren't the easy, spicy treat that bar patrons craved. Levis experimented with different ways to serve sausages, culminating one day in 1928 with the development of a cured beef sausage that would curb consumers' cravings. Printed on the jars that the beef sticks were sold in was a picture of a tall, elegant man complete with top hat and cane. Levis named him "Slim Jim," and the now-famous spicy snack was born. Early advertisements for Slim Jim touted "the ready-to-eat spiced sausage treat" that was packed in cellophane and sold for a dime.

I love how the name originated. ha!

So I checked the nutrition facts on my guilty pleasure treat... turns out it's about 3.5 grams of fat and 40 calories - however, as long as I only eat one of them instead of the 4 sticks per serving size, I'm looking good on my daily values of fat, cholesterol, sodium, and carbohydrates. I'm only in trouble if I consume 4 at a time, then I'm over my limits for fat and sodium. Also, I confirmed, the slim jim is made of actual beef - it's the first ingredient listed on the nutrition label, and I learned in nutrition class that means it is the most plentiful of all ingredients listed. The only disturbing this is that the second most used ingredient is "mechanically separated chicken" - huh....

Regardless, I've introduced you to my guilty pleasure, the Slim Jim.
Eat happy, my friends. I enjoyed one today (sorry, dad, if your stash is depleting sooner than expected)!