They're Off The List!

Add another quirk to my list. I got home tonight after my girls’ night out and sort of wanted something to eat but didn’t want anything too savory or sweet. I went with my one of my standbys: peas.

Usually when I am in this situation, I’ll go for an orange or apple or corn or peas. Tonight, I’m tired enough that peeling an orange was too much work for me. Pathetic really, but it is what it is. And the corn actually seemed like it was going to be too sweet for me. What that’s about, I’m not sure. (Anyone sensing a theme with me just being off lately?)

So I plopped some peas into a little bowl and added a touch of water, then stuck them in the microwave to heat. Unlike the wee ones, I don’t have an appreciation for frozen peas. While I’m fine with eating food cold out of the fridge, the freezer is a bit much (ice cream, of course, being an exception). Then again, the wee ones don’t like leftovers straight from the fridge and insist I heat them up. Now that I think about that, the paradox of this intrigues me.

Anyway, back to my peas that have now come to an eatable temperature in the microwave. I came back to the couch to put up my feet for a moment (no surprise, another long day today – including 3 hours of work when I was supposed to be off). I took a spoonful of peas and put them into my mouth.

I took a bite, and they sort of squeegeed against my teeth – or at least that’s what it felt like. It made my mouth and my skin crawl – a pretty good trick, if you think about it. I quickly swallowed and thought about it. It vaguely reminded me of eating shrimp that’s been cooked and has that (in my mind) weird texture that I can’t even come up with a good description of. It doesn’t “bite” like most foods, but you can tell that you’re tearing it. I think that’s my issue. Or at least one of my issues!

I tried a much smaller bite of only two or three peas and had the same issue. I thought maybe it was because I was chewing them in the back of my mouth. Nope, same issue when I tried the front.

How have I been fine eating peas for well over thirty years and now one day suddenly been unable to deal with the texture? Even now, thinking about eating the peas gives my mouth the heebie jeebies.

Apparently, peas are to be removed from my standby list. Fortunately, I don’t have the same issue when peas are an ingredient, but I used to love just having a bowl of veggies that required no preparation when I was tired. Do I get to call this an eccentricity at least?

And you thought you were in for a normal post tonight… Tomorrow, I promise!