Senior portions at restaurants. Now I know why.

I’m pushing 65 and can’t put it away like I used to. Example, a pound of crawfish will do where in the past the fellas and I would open with 5 pounds each.

Now stick 4 dozen good raw oysters in front of me and they will be destroyed. :oyster: :oyster: :oyster:

10 Likes

My mom’s appetite drastically changed once she hit about 70. Not saying this is the same for everyone, but she used to be able to pack a very hearty meal too, even though she’s always been a more modest eater. But now a days, she eats like half of what she used to. She also now eats quite blandly, but not for any medical reasons. Makes the family dinners a little harder for the rest of us, but at least we get a fairly healthy meal for those occasions.

6 Likes

I’m on the cusp of 70 and find myself unable to eat as much as I used to, and am bothered by highly spiced and especially highly salted foods. Also don’t enjoy fried food much anymore. I used to be a very adventuresome eater and cook, but now I’m content with more basic meals at home. When we go out to eat, it’s not unusual now for me to order from an appetizer menu or order something that will reheat well for leftovers to take home. Have to admit I sometimes looking longingly at the children’s menu…I’ve not seen any senior menus where I live, even though there are a large number of retirees who live here.

4 Likes

Just over 70 and def notice I have less appetite. Small servings and half!:thinking: sandwiches!! Also have always loved Mexican and Indian food - still do but cannot stand it to be too hot whereas in younger years I loved the heat.
Tho, even if my appetite is much reduced, it has not translated to the waistline :joy:

6 Likes

Yeah, what’s up with that anyway???

1 Like

Yes across the board. I make my favorite sandwiches with just 1/6lb of roast beef or turkey, down from 1/4lb, on half a ciabatta roll. What were portion-sized slabs of protein that I froze are now two portions; I eat half and save the rest. Three ounces of pasta are now also too much for one meal. I’m 65.

3 Likes

Funny, I’m not a senior yet, but my mom is in her 90s and lives with me. She eats as much (if not more) than I recall when she was younger. Maybe she no longer cares about maintaining her girlish figure :heart_eyes:

And she loves heat more than ever . . . she adds peppers and hot sauce to everything and has discovered wasabi in the past few years. I thought maybe her taste buds had dulled and she compensates by heating everything up.

ETA: I’ve never seen senior portions offered in my area (Philadelphia), but some restaurants do offer 1/2 plates.

5 Likes

We might have previously mentioned a departed and very much missed Mexican restaurant where the super burritos were football-sized. The servers routinely brought go boxes and plastic bags along with the dinner. Restaurants catering to the Early Bird crowd might take a cue.

1 Like

The downside happens when the kids menu and the seniors menus are the same.

5 Likes

This. My mother passed away in Nov 2019 at age 89, and for the last 20 years of her life, her portion size went WAY down. She also preferred food that was more bland, and NEVER liked “spicy” foods. She liked flavor, but I still had to curb how much garlic I’d put in various meals I made for her. And as her taste buds faded, so did her desire for food. She ate to live (until the end when she refused food completely), vs. “people like us” who live to eat (former motto of that “other” site).

I’m early/mid 60s, and I’ve found my salt tolerance is getting increasingly less. Recipes I made 30 years ago I realized were salt-laden, and I cut way back on salty ingredients. Thankfully, my desire for “tasty food” is still there and I still love to experiment with herbs and spice blends.

My portion sizes are still relatively the same…much to my belly’s chagrin. The wine I drink has nothing to do with that, of course. :wink: Although I’ve found that small plate eating benefits me as I’ll eat more slowly over a longer period of time, which means my stomach is able to tell my brain “Umm, you’re full - you can stop eating!” after a couple of tapas vs the often “Holy SMOKES why did you eat so much?” message from my brain I sometimes get.

9 Likes

That’s the case for me. Except for macaroni salad. That’s my downfall.

3 Likes

Yes, macaroni salad. I can shovel that in with reckless abandon!

2 Likes

Mine is deviled eggs. I could eat 4 halves without any issue at a gathering if I didn’t force myself to walk away. I made 3 hardboiled eggs for my Independence Day meal, and made sure I only put 2 halves on my plate with the initial meal and the leftovers.

4 Likes

The one place we go that has a senior menu seems to have lower prices but not smaller portions. We still take half of the main course (as well as the dessert) home.

2 Likes

I recently made 18 deviled eggs (36 halves) for cocktail hour for a group brunch that included five deviled egg eaters (plus me). I was busy in the kitchen so not noshing too much. About an hour (aka three mimosas) after everyone arrived, my husband warned me that I better go grab one if I wanted one, because they were about to be gone. And there were LOTS of other snacks! :joy::joy::joy::joy::joy:

5 Likes

Deviled eggs seem to be a nostalgia thing…you don’t see them for awhile, and then someone brings them to a gathering and they’re the first thing that disappears.

4 Likes

They are an inexpensive thing to make for a potluck, but what they lack in funds they make up for in how much a pain in the ass they are to peel. I can’t even begin to estimate how much time I’ve spent reading the best way to buy them, store them, cook them, cool them and peel them so they come out whole. I usually cook twice the number I need for insurance when I make deviled eggs to take anywhere, then turn the ugly ones into something else.

2 Likes

I felt the same way until I discovered the Serious Eats method. Bring water to a boil, add eggs, reduce heat to maintain a bare simmer for 15-17 minutes (plus or minus a minute or two if you like them firmer or softer). Adding the eggs to boiling water seems to cause the membrane to separate easily from the white so you get a clean, easy peel every time.

1 Like

OK - that’s new. I’ll go there. Thanks! My DH & I spent about 10 minutes trying to get the shells off of eggs I cooked for egg salad sandwiches the other day. All from the same carton, cooked in the same pan. Some peeled like a breeze, others we had to pry the shells off with a spoon.

2 Likes

Agreed. I boiled 4 for my Independence Day meal. One peeled so ugly it went into the egg slicer for my potato salad.

1 Like