Guilty Pleasures (food edition)

So, there’s a very big chance that I might possibly be the pickiest food eater in the world, but I don’t see anything wrong with that. I just happen to have a very limited palette and I know what I like. When I go to a restaurant, I almost always order the same thing (depending on the restaurant, that is). For example, at Olive Garden, I’ve been ordering the Cheese Ravioli (with alfredo sauce) for probably twenty years.

My friends tease me that I’ll mix it up someday, but I never do. I’m worried that if I veer from what I know, it might be terrible and then I’ll just wish I’d ordered my old stand-by. At Chili’s, I like the Chicken Caesar Salad and the chips. At Sizzler, well, I actually do mix it up there, but that’s only because I worked there for 100 years and know what’s in every item on the menu. I even crave the cheese toast if I go too long without it (that stuff is intoxicating!). But I’d like to know the little rituals people have when either no one is looking, or they’re having a hard day. What comfort foods make you feel better? What foods are your guilty pleasures? Here are a few of mine:

• I love eating the toppings off pizza. Just the toppings, couldn’t care less about the crust. My primary toppings are pepperoni and extra cheese, but sometimes I can mix it up with pineapple, mushrooms, or olives. Not very often, though.


• When I’m eating Cookie Dough Ice Cream, I pick out all the cookie dough.
• I like the muffin tops, but I’m not a big fan of the muffin (hmmm, are we sensing a theme there?).
• I hate red sauce, but will eat it in small amounts on spaghetti or pizza (although I wish I didn’t have to).
• If I make spaghetti, I’ll just make the noodles with butter and parmesan. No sauce at all.
• I love green pesto. Would probably eat it by itself.
• I’d rather eat cookie dough or cake mix plain than the actual cookies or cake. I love raw cookie dough and yummy mix (without the eggs, of course). I could eat a whole bowl.
• I hate onions and would tear up any food to get them out of it.
• I love Diet Vanilla Pepsi and would pump it into my veins if I could. If I’m in a restaurant, I order Diet Pepsi with grenadine (my friends and I have deemed this a “Slim Roy”).
• I hate my food hot and would rather cook it and let it sit out and cool down than eat it hot. I don’t even care if it’s cold.
• I love to burn the cheese in a quesadilla in my microwave. The burned cheese is just so much better.
• My favorite food is steak and I love it rare and juicy. That's probably the craziest thing I like to eat.

I’m telling you, I’m the most boring eater in the world. I did try snails once, which I did enjoy, until I started obsessing about the snails being in my stomach. Perhaps the title of this post should be secret food confessions? :)