Picky Eaters - Trying new foods

I'm happy to report a TWO POUND loss this week!! (Ok, actually it's 1.9, but still!!).  YES!!!  Tracking food really helps me stay focused on what I'm eating.  I am liking the points system better than tracking calories.  When I was tracking calories, I wasn't getting near the fruits & veggies that I am now.  Since they're 0 points with WeightWatchers, I eat a lot more of those so I'm not as hungry and I'm forming some healthy habits.  I do have to plan a bit more, so I'm in the process of re-vamping my menus to be more point-friendly.  There are so many WW friendly websites out there with so many recipes, I'm looking forward to trying some new stuff.

Speaking of new stuff, I have to share this experience.

First off, if I haven't mentioned it before, I don't like onions.  I don't mind certain onion flavor (i.e. onion salt, onion powder, etc.) but the texture is awful.  To me, raw onions are very bitter and cooked onions, while mostly flavorless, are slimy little worm-like bits of ewww.  Every time I go out to eat, I ask the server "no onions please" or "does this have onions?" and special order those dishes as necessary.  If the onions can't be taken out, I'll sit there and pick out onions for several minutes before I start to eat.  Crazy, right?  Maybe with a sprinkle of obsessive, I'm not sure.

Lately though, I've been trying to step out of my comfort zone where food tastes and textures are concerned.  So, last week, when we went out to Texas Roadhouse, I ordered the 6 oz sirloin.  My daughter apparently inherited my distaste for onions and ordered the "Roadkill" sans onions and mushrooms.

Well, I love mushrooms, so I asked if we could just get her mushrooms on the side.  I said nothing of the onions.  When they brought our food, guess what they brought in the cute little side dish bowls... yep, mushrooms AND onions.  Ah well, I thought, such a waste.

But as I'm eating my yummy steak and mushrooms, I had a thought - why not try one?

The texture sensitive part of my brain screamed "WHAT?"

And before it could react further, I slid one of those slimy little buggers on my fork and stabbed a mushroom and a piece of steak and ate it.

Hmmmmm, interesting - it's sweet.  The steak and mushroom hid the texture nicely.  Ok quick, try just onion and steak!

Wow!  It's really sweet.

"Claire, try this!" I say as I'm shoving a bite of steak and onion at her face.

"What was that?" she asks, "that's pretty good."

I tell her what it was and she gives me the evil eye for a second.  Then the scrunched brow look.  Then the "humph" shrug along with a quiet "Not bad."  HAHAHA!! Two for two!

Is it a flute?  Did they sugarcoat those onions?  What the heck just happened?  I ate onions and liked it. Ok, it's official, the world has ended.  The closest I ever come to eating onions are those little fried onion straw deals and that's only if they aren't too thickly sliced.  But now, I've ventured into new territory.  What could possibly be next?

Well, it looks like this post is already long enough, so I'll post my new Weight Watchers Points Included Week 1 dinner menu tomorrow.