What is it exactly that happens to our taste buds between the ages of 11 and
20? Why do we eat certain foods when we are kids but abandon almost completely when we become adults? When
you're an adult, and you move into different social circles and experience new foods and you're a little more
adventurous, you can say that you do or don't eat certain foods because your palate has become more mature (or whatever
the food-centric phrase is). Unless, of course, you're the type of nine-year-old who used to eat caviar,
risotto, Caesar salad, or elaborate chicken dishes.
Below are the 8 foods I loved and always ate as a kid, but don't (or rarely) eat now. What's on your list?
1. Meatloaf: I don't eat much meat in general anymore (just chili during the fall and winter and maybe a random pepperoni pizza here and there), but my mom used to make meatloaf once a week and I loved it. It's probably because (in addition to the above don't-eat-much-meat factor) I don't want to take the time to make it, and if I do have hamburger, it won't be in loaf form.
2. Marshmallows: Used to toast them on the flame of my old stove in the house I lived in as a kid (once started a small fire, but that's a story for another day). Used to plop them in hot chocolate, and even ate them out of the bag as a snack. Now I never have them (nor do I have anything that has marshmallows in it).
3. Lemonade: I had this a lot as a kid, but as an adult, though I drink about a gallon of iced tea every day during the summer, lemonade is too sweet for me.
4. Sara Lee All-Butter Poundcake: Oh, how I used to love this. When I'd go food shopping with my mom, circa 1974, I made sure she got one of these for me (along with one of those giant Hershey's candy bars). I would often eat the whole thing in front of the TV, cold, right out of the aluminum tray. Hmmm...I think I'll buy some this week.
5. TV Dinners: And by "TV dinners" I mean the classic Swanson or Banquet full meals that come in the aluminum trays. I still buy frozen meals, lots of them, but they aren't the same as TV dinners. I bought a TV dinner a few years ago because I hadn't had one in years, and it was rather ghastly.
6. Kool-Aid: Everybody devoured this when they were a kid, and I still drank it (or similar brands) in my 20s, but I haven't had Kool-Aid or Zarex in years. There are many things I'm still kid-like about, but Kool-Aid isn't one of them.
7. Creamed corn: Does any adult eat creamed corn
anymore? (I know, I know, you have your recipes and I'm sure I'm going to get a ton of comments about it). Love
corn in all forms (canned, fresh, on the cob, popped), but this just seems unappealing to me now. Oddly,
this was the type of corn I used to have all the time when I was a kid. I used to mix it with the mashed potatoes on my
plate into a mass of vegetable goodness, but I haven't had it since, oh, 1980.
8. Tuna fish or ham and cheese sandwiches: I used to have one of these for lunch almost
every single day, but now I only eat a few of them a year. I don't eat that much ham anymore, and I'm sick of getting
that real fishy-smelling tuna fish you sometimes get from cans (plus mayo is horrible for you). All my sandwiches these
days seem to center around turkey and chicken. Though I still love grilled cheese sandwiches.
Go figure.
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