I was watching my husband eat tonight and realized this discussion has never been addressed on Forum- that I know. He eats each item separately. He often eats a salad last. He often eats the bread last. He drinks none or little while eating. He has become a slower eater, and usually watches tv from the table. Chili, stew, soups, the crackers and or bread are a side item. I am a mixer. A bite of this and a bite of that, nibble of bread. Sometimes sip of drink .I normally eat a salad with the meal. I do not mind if my food touches on my plate. Soups, stews,chili, I crumble up crackers, or chips, or corn bread to eat with it. We both love raw honey, and after the meal meal often have a leftover or saved portion of bread to have with honey. i just think it is of interest how we all eat differently. He claims I eat faster than him, odd since technically I have less teeth than him. I pointed out to him he eats on large plate and I have always eaten on a smaller plate. His servings are larger than mine, and while he stops eating in order to view the tv off and on - yours truly is eating. I do not believe I was taught to eat my way , but do remember watching my parents eat, so I assume that is where my eating habits came from. According to various food authority, we should eat salad first, then veggies then meats or chicken, and eat separate .Somehow that just does not sounds as tasty as mixing it up What is your style? Oh, and I am not a bag eater. I always take a portion and put the bag back.
I 'm a mixer like your self. I quit eating bread with a meal when I went on a crash diet many years ago. I found I could taste everything else better without the inclusion of bread too. Also, I don't know why they bring the bread out first at a restaurant. Why would you want to fill up on that before the main meal?
That's pretty much what I do, except that I'm not a slow eater. When I was single, I would prepare meals that way too. I might start out with some meat, cooking and eating that. Then, I'd prepare a vegetable, and eat that, and so on. Now, while I cook some of our meals, my wife usually does, but I tend to eat one item at a time. Twenty years as a paramedic taught me not to be a slow eater, though. Just tonight, we had sirloin steak, corn, and rice. I ate all of the corn, then I ate all of the rice, and then I ate the steak.
I am the fastest eater I know. I sit in front of food to make it be gone, not to savor each bite. In fact, I cut all my food up before I begin to eat, just as little kid would. Then I can shovel it in without any time-consuming steps. I've had a few coworkers mention my eating that way when I'm at work gatherings (that's where I was told that a kid eats that way.) Everyone else cuts a piece of food, puts it in their mouth, chews slowly, smiles and looks at their coworkers, cuts another piece of food, etc. I guess my career could have gone further if I concerned myself with such pretenses...or if I took fewer meals with coworkers. But I'm not in a Downton Abby episode, dammit. I almost always have a salad, which I eat before plating up the meal. I take a bite of each food (meat/starch/veggie) in sequence such that there is only a bite of each to consume at the end. It would be off-putting to eat all the meat, then all the potatoes, then all the veggies...I can't imagine ever doing that. One interesting thing I learned from cooking Chinese is that starting with soup is a western thing. In China, soup is served at the end of the meal, as it is a way to use the scraps from preparing the meal. Perhaps westerners do it first to show that we are affluent enough to dedicate ingredients specifically for the soup...we don't need no stinkin' scraps.
I'm a fast eater, too. Not sure why; just a habit I suppose. I don't eat in any particular order that I'm aware of... just random bites of whatever's on my plate. I seldom eat salad before my meal unless I'm in a restaurant. At home I serve salad with the meal and people can do whatever they please with it.
If it's a meal that contains 3 food groups (meat, vegetables, carbs) cooked at the same time, I either like stuff completely separate, in which case I often do this: But more often, this: OR, completely mixed up, like a curry only not so soupy. For example, rice with fried onions and ground beef. Throw in any vegetables on hand. Mix it all up first. Never eat a salad with a meal except at a restaurant, but often make a salad in a mixing bowl, big enough for a whole meal. Never eat bread, fruit, or dessert, with a meal. I eat fast if I'm not paying attention.
I almost always eat by myself. I find that if I'm in a social meal situation where there's conversation occurring I'll eat slowly...and I'll eat less. When I eat alone, I shovel it in so fast that I'm still eating before the "FULL!" signal can be received.
I guess it's a form of obsessive-compulsive behavior but when I'm eating something like pancakes and bacon, I have to make sure I have a piece of bacon for each bite of pancake. I'll just automatically cut the bacon strips into enough pieces to match the amount of pieces of pancake on the plate. Four little pancakes and two pieces of bacon? I'll halve each pancake and cut each piece of bacon into four pieces. I can't even start eating until everything is "ready". Silly, I know. My great-grandfather poured sorghum molasses on everything he ate. He'd grab the jar and douse the plate with that nasty stuff and then start working his way around the plate.
When I was growing up, getting away from the dinner table was paramount. So I developed a bad habit of gulping down my food. When you get older, that can cause choking and it'll slow you down in a heart beat. I've never thought about how I eat till I read these posts. I seldom drink while eating. Don't care if the food touches and I think I just eat a little bit of each item that's on the plate. I'm a bit more of plant based right now, though I do eat chicken on occasion and ham slices. This is interesting, I'll have to pay more attention. I was always, eat to stop the hunger pains.
Had a guy who was a regular at our restaurant in Idaho. Even if the juice from one food would come into contact with another, he’d go ape. We came up with the idea of getting him a kiddie or picnic plate with the sections on it and got him one. The guy couldn’t have been happier.