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If I'm hungry, I will only eat something that tastes good, not something that's expedient or else I consider it a waste of eating. The Mister thinks this is totally bizarre and does not understand why I'd rather wait to get home and cook than eat at (for instance) Subway. Not that I don't eat fast food (I like Chipotle, for instance), but if I'm not enjoying the taste, why am I eating it?
To steal from Bill Bryson (but then I thought of it before he wrote about it): never eat at places that have laminated menus featuring pictures of the food.
I'm pretty big on taking a small portion, eating it, and then seeing if you are still hungry, rather than taking a big portion right off the bat.
I'm not sure whether "shop the outside of the store first" counts as folk wisdom, but I totally do it. It helps me cook from whole food - I don't even see most of the boxed packaged stuff, let alone get tempted.
Eat breakfast! I adhere religiously to that.
Don't lie to people about what's in their food ('they're vegetarian, so don't tell them we cooked the meat in the sauce...he shouldn't have caffeine, I'm giving him decaf instead and he doesn't even know').
"No thank you helping" - this was something we had as policy for kids at camp and field study school. It means that a basic rule at every meal was that you had to take at least a 'no thank you helping' - one teaspoonful - of all foods onto your plate. You didn't have to eat it, but you had to take it. That had the effect of not stigmatizing any food - everyone had it on their plate - and, indirectly, of encouraing them to eat it. Often those 7 peas or 3 wax bean segments would be the only thing on the plate while everybody waited for the kitchen to call seconds, and often, because of that, they got ATE.
opposite to trinity8-director - my rule, learnt through experience, is that "acquired tastes" are often worth acquiring. Food/drinks in this category I've grown to love as an adult include coffee, Marmite, olives, beer.
Rule of portion size - even if you're really really hungry, you might only need a little food, so start with a small portion and go from there if necessary.
If I'm hungry, I will only eat something that tastes good, not something that's expedient or else I consider it a waste of eating. The Mister thinks this is totally bizarre and does not understand why I'd rather wait to get home and cook than eat at (for instance) Subway. Not that I don't eat fast food (I like Chipotle, for instance), but if I'm not enjoying the taste, why am I eating it?
I'm religious about that too! Except that when I'm very hungry I become very difficult to be around and it's frustrating to those around me that I'm not bringing myself back to normal more quickly. But I really really really hate the idea of being starving, when delicious food is going to taste even better, and then just shoveling some crappy pretzels in my mouth or something. Ugh.
Okay, that was not food wisdom at all. I was just excited to see someone else who does that!
If you can cook it better yourself, don't order it at a restaurant. Exceptions abound, like breakfast, on travel, laziness, etc., but basically this is my rule of thumb for places like Applebees and TGIFridays.
Mesquite-grilled onions, jalapeņo relish ... wait a minute, those are Southwestern ingredients. Mango-lime salsa? That's the kind of bold flavor they enjoy in ... Albuquerque!
altolinguistic, I've also grown to enjoy foods as an adult that I didn't like as a kid. I don't think that's what I mean, though.
What I'm thinking of is food that you have to try repeatedly before liking it, as opposed to trying every several years just to see. I'm not going to keep eating something awful in the hopes of learning to like it.
No trans-fats, no diet anythings. All butter, whole fat, real sugar stuff in moderation. Always. If I diet, I don't eat diet cake, I simply do not eat cake.
This translates to: never ketchup on anything, only mustard. There's hidden sugars in everything pre-made from pasta-sauce to bread, thus - make my own because it tastes better and I don't have to worry about sugars. No store bought cakes, always bake, no pre-mixed hot chocolates, always make your own (drastically reducing sugars). I take sugar in my coffee (or honey), and I drink a lot but I could bet you a hundred dollars that I eat less sugar each day than most people because I never eat hidden sugars. Real sugar (cane or beet) is not evil. HFCS hidden in foods that should be savory however is. Fructose sugar from actual fruits is not evil. Hell, 100% fatty butter is not evil either just don't eat so much of it every day.
Always eat organic foods. Those packets of silica gel look tasty but can really mess you up.
Don't eat anything green; that means it's spoiled.
No matter what kind of party it seems to be, do NOT stick your dick in the mashed potatoes. Exceptions can be made for spotted dick (though rarely).
Garnish your food with toothpaste rather than condiments. This assures you will have a happy and clean mouth for years to come.
High fructose corn syrup can and will kill you if you give it the chance. Avoid eye contact and accede to all its demands in order to get it to leave the premises faster. Only trigger the alarm after it has left, and immediately begin documenting all you can remember about the incident for the police.
Close your mouth when you chew or I'll close it for you. I mean it. I have high fructose corn syrup, and I'm not afraid to use it.
Breakfast is not just for breakfast. In fact, if you're eating breakfast, you're probably one of those uptight, Type A people. You're going to give yourself a heart attack at this rate. Relax, yo. Sleep in a bit. Breakfast will still be there at lunch.
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