I have this bad habit of choosing not to eat something believing I eat it “all the time” only to realize it’s actually been ages since I last ate it.
Like bananas. Every time I’m at the store, I think “I like bananas but I could eat a banana any time, I should pick some more interesting fruit”. It wasn’t until a couple of months ago that I realized I hadn’t actually eaten a banana in over a year and finally bought some. They were delicious and I was a fool for not eating more of them.
Every time I go to a Thai restaurant, I mentally think “I shouldn’t order Pad Thai, I have that all the time”. Again, it wasn’t until a few months ago that I figured out the last time I had Pad Thai was probably 2 or 3 years ago.
Just the other week, I dug out some frozen mince from the back of my freezer and I was trying to figure out what to do with it and meatloaf popped into my head. “Nah, you make that all the time”. But hang on, I’ve probably only made meatloaf 3 or 4 times in my life, and every time, it was delicious. So I made meatloaf with that mince and then I made another one this week because I need to catch up on my meatloaf quota.
Does anyone else find this happening to them? It’s pretty annoying but I’ve gotten better now that I’m aware of it.
I have the opposite problem, actually. I go to restaurants and order pretty much the same few things every time, not because they’re the only things on the menu I like, nor because I’m hesitant to try new things, but because my thought processes go something like this:
I’m going to a Thai place tonight.
I love Thai food. I especially love Pad See Ew.
I know it’s one of the two Obvious Dishes that everybody gets, but…
I also like all other Thai food I’ve tried, so I could definitely order something new and enjoy it.
On the other hand, I don’t actually go out for Thai that often. At least, it feels like a while since I’ve last enjoyed its yummy goodness.
My God. Who knows when I’m going to get to eat Thai food again?!
I mean, this could be my one chance to have Pad See Ew for months!
Or years!!!
Oh my god!
I better get it just in case. Wouldn’t want to miss out on the opportunity.
I’ll have the Pad See Ew, please.
…And inevitably I’ll go out for Thai food again just a week or two later. Only to undergo exactly the same mental calisthenics described above, and end up getting Pad See Ew again.
This doesn’t happen to me too much. I am odd in that I can eat the same thing every day for weeks at a time. Eventually I’ll move on to something new, but I rarely say to myself that I won’t eat something because I have it all the time.
My family’s italian, so I grew up with it. Now whenver my wife & I cook something, or go somewhere to eat, italian is never on the list. We can have it any time, so we never do.
I don’t think my kids even know what chicken parmesan is.
Rice. I think I’m always making it, but the last time I did make it was about 3 months ago when it was all I had in the house. Same with ramen noodles.