Eat what I love and love what I eat.
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Thanks, Autumm2 - I agree side salads can be easy, and I’ll go back to a few favorite cookbooks to find ones that are also “interesting” to me. We have spinach salads 4-6 time weekly (my husband’s 1st choice). I am VERY tired of raw spinach salads with or without granola toppings or creamy poppy seed dressing. For a bit of variety I get a couple of bag salads with the toppings/dressing every few months, but I think those are pricey even when on sale.
You might see if Raising the Salad Bar appeals (used copies are super inexpensive from an array of online sources). It was a quite successful COTM on Chowhound back in the day, including with me. It offers an array of green salads and dressings, as well as grain and main dish salads, often with vegetables included. It’s indexed on EYB.
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Thanks, I’ll look for that. I have “A Good Day for Salad” by Louise Fiszer and Jeannette Ferrary and my Dinner a Day cookbook has salads on most of the daily menus, many that I’d marked as good. Tricky to by the produce in appropriate amounts for a 2-person household.
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I feel that, and have experienced it. I’m lucky now in that my preferred market has a variety of baby salad greens sold in bulk (spinach, arugula, spring mix, romaine) so one can buy as much or as little as needed. They’re all the same price so can be mixed and matched in the same bag, too.
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I like cloves in rice that I’m boiling.
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Don’t joke about hives. Twenty years ago, out of the blue, I started breaking out in severe hives. It took about six months and visits to multiple doctors (almost had to also try witch doctors) before the allergens were identified as rice, beef, and coffee. Mercifully that’s in the past.
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I’m not joking about them.
I have a sulfite and nitrate sensitivity. I’m sensitive to some preservatives used on fruits and vegetables that have residues when served raw.
I’ve had all the allergy tests. I see an allergist once a year. I don’t have an allergy to any foods. A sensitivity to salts doesn’t have a lab test. It’s a matter of trial and error. I do have antihistamines ready.
I have narrowed down the restaurant foods that give me the most reactions: prepared salads , garnishes , some cured meats, some shellfish that is less fresh. Some pepperoni on some pizzas, but not other pepperoni on other pizzas. In that case, I keep track of which pizzas work and which don’t. Some ingredients being used at some Thai and Korean restaurants give me hives, too. I haven’t figured out which ingredients yet, so I keep track of what I ordered and where. I often have hives after tasting menus. I suspect it’s a cumulative effect of many salts in many dishes, and sometimes unwashed fresh herbs.
I have worked in a kitchen, and I have watched some caterers at events. I know some restaurants and caterers don’t wash their raw herbs, vegetables and fruits before serving.
I’m fine eating salads at home.
I also get hives after some frozen foods that get reheated. I don’t shop at M & M because their products usually give me hives. I avoid most frozen commercially-made main courses from the grocery store.
Luckily, I don’t get hives from frozen perogies or frozen dumplings.
So far, 2024 has been hive-free! But I haven’t eaten at a restaurant yet 
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I have used cloves in borscht, as well as in Greek, Turkish and Indian foods. I like clove.
I’d like to make use of the Himalayan salt plate that I got recently. I’d like to perfect challah, focaccia, and pie crust. I would like to continue using up stuff from our freezer and pantry.
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I don’t know if this is a culinary aspiration or not, but I’m trying to go without any chain restaurant food or chain fast food as long as I can.
It’s more about helping the little guy, helping smaller businesses, maybe trying to keep the money more loxal, than about shaming chain food or fast food.
I’ve also decided to keep very close track of what I order. My friend kept track of all the recipes she made, and all the food items and meals she purchased, for 2023. Let me go find her stats. It impressed me.
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I try to do that, especially with groceries. The only time I’ll do chain restos— and by that I mean drive throughs— is if I’m seriously desperate and have nowhere else to turn. My locals have much better stuff. Even sandwiches to go! I want to support local everything. It’s becoming a depressing goal.
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I try to, when I can, as well.
I had gone a few years without any chain fast food between my last trip in Feb 2020 and April 2022.
In downtown Toronto, a lot of restaurants that used to be open between 9 pm and midnight started having shorter hours due to inflation and shortage of staff, so I ate more McDs and chain pub food in 2022 and 2023, after plays and gallery openings because nothing else was open. A couple restaurants that are independent and open won’t do take-out anymore, too. I moved neighborhoods last summer, and now I have a few more late night indie options, and Chinatown is closer and open late. That said, I’ve been eating more oatmeal and cereal, and fancy baked goods, than late-night chain food since moving to my new neighbourhood.
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[Standing O]
Wahine and I have this schtick routine we do whenever we drive past an Olive Garden, Carraba’s, Appleby’s or the like: One of us remarks to the effect that “No, really, we should try it sometime.” The driver invariably turns, and one of us raises an eyebrow…
How do I reconcile that with my occasional furtive drive-through frolic?
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If I do a chain drive-thru, I stick to the limited time only stuff. (I tried the Jalapeño Egg McMuffin in Oct 2022 in Newcastle, ON)
Or, maybe an 80/20 rule of some sort?
On Saturday, I was starving, and I drove past a Burger King, and a Starbucks, and a Popeye’s. I drove out of my way by about 10 miles to stop at a small town indie bakery on my radar, which turned out to be closed. So I found some indie tacos inside a building with a few vendors that I had visited a couple years ago. I ate the tacos in my car, then got back on the road. The 2 tacos came to around $17 including a small tip. My Starbucks Grande Cappuccino with a slice of lemon loaf or a breakfast sandwich is now running around $15 and change.
I want your strength.
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You have more tempting fast food options in the States. I probably would be trying more fast food in the States. I still have Waffle House and Sonic (for the cherry limeade or freezie, not the food per se at Sonic) on my wishlist.
I’ve never even seen, much less been to, a Waffle House … they’re not everywhere 
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There are also some in the Toledo and Detroit area. That’s probably where I’ll check it off my list. I should have visited the one I saw in Pigeon Forge, TN.
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