They say opposites attract. And when it comes to eating preferences, that is so very true of the husband and myself.
If I eat the same thing too much, I start to hate it. I can’t even force myself to eat it, it makes me gag. I don’t know if there is a “name” for this tendency (it’s not really a condition or disorder, per se, just an oddity). I tried a little googling but came up empty.
When I was 8, my family moved to Washington state from Arizona. It was a 3-day car trip, where we had potato chips to snack on. We ate a LOT of potato chips. All 6 of us, in the station wagon, munching on chips. Halfway through the third day, I hit my breaking point. I was sitting in the middle front seat, we were in Oregon, had just passed a sign for Ashland, and I realized if I ate another potato chip, I would throw up. I didn’t eat a potato chip for years after that. (I am now happily back on potato chips. 
When I was 11, I made a list of all the foods I hated and posted it on the refrigerator. Tacos, spaghetti, and potatoes made the list. Why my mother didn’t beat me for that little maneuver I still don’t know, but most everything on the list was the dinners we ate most frequently. She didn’t change her menu planning, but she made sure there was always bread available. It’s a miracle bread didn’t make it onto my list of most hated foods …
It doesn’t matter how much I might love something - if I get over-exposed, onto the bad list it goes. After enough time passes, it usually finds its way back onto my good list.
I am always trying new recipes, new foods. I like to go to new restaurants, and even at a restaurant I know, I’m just as likely to order something I’ve never had before as something I know I like. I have thrown away many a half-eaten meal when I discover yet another thing that I don’t like.
The husband is the quite the opposite of me. He has found a community of souls like himself on the internet, they call themselves adult picky eaters. Basically, it seems to be what happens when supertasting meets OCD. Thankfully, the husband is not nearly as extreme as many of the people on the adult picky eater forums; many subsist on a diet of mashed potatoes and multivitamins.
The husband does not like to go to restaurants he’s never been to before. We generally stick to well-known chains. If I can find a menu online and make sure there is at least one thing on the husband’s ‘good’ list, then he will generally consent to trying it out.
The husband has a short list of things he likes to eat for dinner. At least, I consider it a short list. It’s only got 2 weeks of things on it! My list is more than twice that long. (I just made a list of 33 things, and I’m sure I could come up with another week or two of dinners if I kept going.)
So we eat out a lot. Restaurants provide an easy way for us to eat separate meals. Unfortunately, restaurants that serve ‘Josh food’ don’t provide all the variety I would like. Like Chinese, Thai, Japanese, or Mexican food! We do get to eat at Greek and many Italian restaurants; for whatever reason, Greek and Italian places often serve burgers and grilled cheeses.
Tonight, after spending a day on the couch napping and watching tv in my robe, next to the husband who spent the day in his sweats, I discovered something even better than going out to a restaurant: Carry Out Coach. They deliver food from many area restaurants - they’ll even pick food up at TWO different places for you! So after a day of being miserably sick at home, I got to eat miso soup, california rolls, tempura, steamed rice and teriyaki chicken! Every single one of which makes the husband a little ill just to think about. And the husband got a chocolate shake, cheeseburger and fries. Which are currently on my bad list due to over-exposure …
Admittedly, the delivery charges cost as much as our food did. But it was soooo nice for us to each get to eat exactly what we wanted on our sick day. (You know you don’t feel good when you don’t even put clothes on.) We don’t quite have the budget for Carry Out Coach as often as I’d like, but it’s nice to know it’s there for special occasions. Like when you don’t want to be bothered to put clothes on to pick up a couple of carryout orders.
