Switching It Up

There's nothing more putrid than stagnant waters. This sentiment is more commonly expressed in other terms, such as to say that a rolling stone gathers no moss. A related saying suggests that variety is the spice of life. I've noted how easily comfort can have me paralyzed. The waning time of summer has me making some changes, large and small. I've said plenty with regard to moving. Even my internet habits may need to change depending on how things play out, but probably the biggest change to have happened already has to do with my eating habits. I tend to fall into grooves that last months if not longer where the meals I eat at home are concerned. When I hit on something that works, I stick with it as long as it does work. Eventually, I get just too sick of the thing to stomach it anymore. When I can't make myself eat it any longer, I switch it up. That doesn't happen frequently, but it just has.

Changes have come about which affect two meals. For some time, I was eating breakfast bars with my coffee every day. I bought a big, big box of them, and went through the individual boxes inside, flavor by flavor. That satisfied me, especially since I have the hardest time finding breakfast foods that I'll eat. I probably would have gone on with the cereal bars indefinitely, were it not for mysterious free market forces which brought up the cost of the cereal bars beyond what I was prepared to pay. I am not sentimental enough about such things to absorb unreasonable costs. So it was that I searched for something else. I considered the vast quantities of oatmeal I had bought and abandoned when I couldn't get myself to prepare and eat them on a consistent basis. That didn't suit me. What I did instead was buy Pop Tarts at a cost lower than I had been paying. I ought to note that I don't have a toaster to cook them in. I eat them cold, with the alternatives being to cook them improperly in the microwave or the oven.

The other change I've made was in the dinner category, and it was one which was motivated much more by taste than by practicality. For quite some time, the primary ingredient in almost every dinner I've eaten at home has been rice. It's a cheap, nutritious staple that sustains billions around the world as part of local dishes or on its own. The simplicity and humbleness of it appeals to me, as does the cost. I usually indulge in the luxury of flavoring it. For months and months, I've used a crude homemade sauce consisting of prepared spaghetti sauce and a Mexican hot sauce. That combination really had legs, and I went with it with gusto for a long time. Finally, though, enough was enough. I had all I could stand, and I couldn't stand no more. I got tired of the taste and the smell and the cleanup and all. At the grocery store, I looked high and low for an alternative. I considered nacho cheese, chili, and soy sauce, but found them all wanting in some respect. I settled on baked beans, whose flavor has appeal in itself and also in the fact that it is quite distinct from what I had before.

Obviously, I'm a bachelor. Someday, the best, most perfect woman in the world will turn me away from such habits. I don't expect her to just cook up food and be at my beck and call, of course. Probably what will happen is that she'll razz me and coax me into improving and eating better, more sophisticated meals myself. I look forward to that.