what do I eat?

As little as possible, as rarely as possible.

That was my sister-in-law's question, and my initial answer, last fall. She was trying to decide what to include in my Christmas food drop.

Today I made a little list.

The things I can be counted on to prepare and eat most of the time: Eggs, dairy, wheat bread, bagels, sausage, peanut butter, jelly or jam, breakfast cereal, pasta with tomato sauce, nuts, sugar, onions, garlic, tomatoes, mayonnaise, yellow mustard, ketchup, hot sauce.

Things I probably won't prepare and eat, even though I don't object to them: rice, dried beans, canned beans, green beans, peas, corn, mushrooms, pad thai (packaged like pasta, but has the taste and texture of chicken noodle soup noodles; nasty with spaghetti sauce).

Things I won't eat under any circumstances: fish, shellfish (anything that lives underwater, basically), liver, artificial sweeteners in any quantity whatsoever, cilantro (tastes like soap).

I just took an inventory and I have 15 cans of Green Giant corn and 12 of green beans. It's unlikely that I'll eat all of this before it goes out of date; in fact, 7 of the cans of corn went out of date last October so I can't even give them to a food drive.

I also have about 10 lbs. each of rice and flour. I don't bake anymore, ever, so I have little use for the flour. I don't like to cook rice because it always comes out sticky or overly juicy, and it is too bland for my tastes anyway. My "meals" are boring enough already.

I feel bad that so much food is going to waste, but as I said at the top of the page, I eat as little as possible, as rarely as possible. I do not buy fresh fruit or vegetables anymore because they end up rotten and in the compost pile.

Without the assistance of cannabis, I rarely have any appetite at all; this week I might get an appetite on Friday, because it is payday and I'll be able to smoke a bit. Today I ate a cinnamon raisin bagel around noon, though I wasn't really hungry. It had been on the shelf for about a week and I thought it might go moldy if I didn't eat it. Other than that, I've had a cup of coffee and about a half-liter of water, and I'm not hungry at all.