Inspired by the sleep quirks thread. I’ve done this before, but it’s been a while so this is a good chance for the newer people to participate.
Some people can’t have food on their plate touching other food on their plate. Some people have to completely finish on food before moving on to another. Some people refuse to have anything sweet before having anything savory. (That last one describes me.)
What are your quirks?
One of mine is that I have to finish all of my foods evenly. At the end of my meal I need to have one last fry, one more bite of hot dog, one last forkful of slaw, and one last sip of soda. The last bite of the meal is the thing I like the most.
(Note that this thread is not about foods that you love or hate, it’s about how you eat.)
The only thing I can think of is that I never drink the last bit of my beverage. I must refill it when it is 3/4 of the way empty. My mother does the same so I may have gotten that particular quirk from her. I never have an empty glass at the end of a meal.
I am pretty adept with chopsticks, and use them when eating at home about 75% of the time.
My gf keeps a box of “instant mashed potato flakes” in the pantry. She would never think of making them as part of a meal, but will make them for herself if we come home after a night out. They are her drunken comfort food.
After a particularly tasty spicy meal my wife always wants to febreeze the house. I dont get it. The food smell wad wonderful while you cooked and while you ate. Why would you want to get rid of the food smell after. I don’t get why you would want to wash your hands or brush you teeth immediately after a meal unless you seriously had something in your teeth. You should savor the meal and its after effects. Not wipe out all proof you just had a good meal.
For the most part, yeah. But if I fry up ground beef, I get a pretty lingering smell, and I find it pretty unpleasant after I’ve brushed my teeth. Not enough to do anything about it, but enough to be a little annoying.
I always open bags of chips from the bottom. My theory is that the seasoning settles at the bottom of the bag, so if I eat from the bottom, the seasoning will redistribute itself throughout the bag. I’m certain it doesn’t really work that way, but I do it anyway.
I don’t like my food touching, but I’ve grown a bit lapse on this over the years. I don’t mind if the food has touched on my plate, but I take great care to pick the corn out of the mashed potatoes and won’t eat both in my mouth at the same time. The only exception: turkey and stuffing has to be eaten at the same time, in the same bite. Also, things like omelets that are supposed to come mixed with something (cheese, ham, bacon, etc.).
I always try to save what looks like the best bite for last. If I have chosen poorly, it will ruin the whole meal for me.
I don’t like my food to touch each other either. But I can live with it if it does.
I eat one thing at a time and I don’t finish everything - there is always one bit of each type of food left on the plate.
I have some food issues, I know.
And there are some times when I am making a huge meal (think Thanksgiving or Christmas or Easter or something) when I just can not bring myself to eat it after I’ve spent all that time preparing it. I’d rather go out on the deck and relax. After dealing with all the food, and the guests, and the “can I do anything” and all of it, I just want to be left the hell alone.
Mainly, I don’t like foods touching – but really the foods that are likely to “contaminate” each other.
Knife stays in my left hand, fork in the right. No switching.
I usually cut off any odd looking edges around cuts of meat, and won’t eat it. I avoid veins of fat at all costs. And I can’t stand touching raw meat or even cold cuts. ::eyyuuck::
If it even touches the sea, by way of habitat, I won’t eat it. No seafood, at all. Both a taste and psychological hang up. Which leaves me with land mammals (really your main livestock, and on the rare case, venison) and two flightless birds: chicken and penguins.
First meal of the day has to be “breakfast food.” Doesn’t matter how late I’ve slept. Doesn’t matter what time it is. Doesn’t matter if I skipped breakfast, have been up for hours and it’s now lunchtime. Doesn’t matter if this is what they eat for breakfast in [some remote corner of the world]. If I end up eating “dinner food” first thing after waking, it just feels wrong.
Also, it feels weird to eat with a coat or jacket on. I’ll do it, especially if it’s outdoors and cold, but it still feels weird and I’ll take it off if I can remotely tolerate the cold.
Two bad habits drilled into me in childhood (WTF, mom?) that, while I’ve pretty much conquered them, I still have to talk myself into it as often as not:
Never eat the last bit of [food] in [container]. I think this was supposed to be courtesy to family/siblings or something, but it was ridiculous. Even knowing that someone is going to finish the cereal (or else we’d be wall-to-wall in almost-empty cereal boxes), I was in early adulthood and living on my own before my rational brain was able to win over my irrational brain more often than not.
The second was always clean your plate, which does terrible things for a person’s relationship with food. I still have to tell myself that it’s perfectly okay not to eat it all if I’m full, I don’t need to stuff myself just for the sake of finishing it, and I’m allowed to put it away for later. Sadly I don’t always win this one, even now. I mostly have to regulate it by keeping portions small to begin with.
Surprised it took 16 posts to get to it, but I am similar to Kaio: I have to clean my plate. No exceptions.
I also can’t stand leftovers. I don’t mind eating them and some things are better left over, it just bothers me when they exist. It reeks of bad planning. (This causes many issues with my wife, who purposely plans meals to be 2 to 4 times too big so that there are leftovers.)
If you can get the Idahoan Instant Mashed Potato Cups, she will love you forever.
The Loaded Baked® Flavored Mashed Potatoes Cup are insanely good. As are the Four Cheese Flavored Mashed Potatoes Cup. You peel off the top, add some water, stir around to moisten flakes, microwave for 1.5 mins., stir some more. Done. Eat right out of the paper cup. You don’t even dirty another pot or dish. They are the epitome of instant comfort food. They don’t need anything added. Sometimes I may stir in a little sour cream, if I have some on hand.
P.S. Don’t bother with the so-called “buttery” ones. Blech. Flavor and texture way off.
