Food preferences that change with the seasons?

[QueenOfTheMeadow]

Does anyone elses food preferences change with the seasons? I eat barely any meat during the summer. I don't go completely vegetarian. I'll have a hamburger or hotdog at a cookout or fish, but in general, I'll eat a lot more vegetarian meals during the summer than winter. During the winter, we eat mostly wild game with every meal. But the summer, it's usually run out and we are eating store bought meat.

I just don't crave meat as much in the summer, but I'm absolutely crazy for veggies and fruit during the summer. So is there some sort of left over biological instinct due to vegetables and fruit being more available when it's warm or is it just because I am seeing so much more good looking veggies in the stores now? Or am I just a weirdo (umm, in the respect to food, there are many weirder things about me than my food preferences! )

[joyfulheart]

My food preferences totally change with the seasons!

I eat so much fruit in the summer, and love grilled veggies. I eat more raw food in the summer, too - like 50% or more of my diet. Fall and winter I love soups, root veggies and cooked grains.

I think it's kinda fun to change what I eat based on the seasons! It keeps things interesting!

[BetsyS]

I eat a lot more veggies in summer, too. The meat is always an afterthought to the yummy veggies that are coming in from garden/farmers' market/etc.

[Princess ConsuelaB]

My preferences change too. During the fall I find I mostly want grains and breads, nuts, soups or stews and sweet potatoes. Winter I seem to only want meats and starches like potatoes, during the spring I start to transition away from that and by summer I'm eating only fruits and veggies and only very little meat.

I totally believe it's leftover instinct. I used to fight it...trying to force myself to eat more of my "summery" veggies and salads and denying my meat cravings in winter for example(I eat mainly poultry anyhow) but it didn't feel "good" so now I just go with it. (I still eat veggies in winter but I seem to crave more squash, cabbage, spinach and the like in the winter...not so much salads or hummus)

[samy23]

The only difference I really notice for us, is we eat a lot more salads in summer time. Don't tend to want much salad in the fall/winter months because it is a cold food and the weather makes us cold enough!

[BetsyS]

Originally Posted by samy23

The only difference I really notice for us, is we eat a lot more salads in summer time. Don't tend to want much salad in the fall/winter months because it is a cold food and the weather makes us cold enough!

We do this, too. In fall/winter, I probably make soup at least once a week. In summer, I tend to make main dish salads at least once a week.

Where I live, lettuce is a spring and fall crop (it's too hot in the middle of the summer), so our salads are lettuce based spring and fall, then other salads in the summer. I grew up with a huge garden (and now am blessed with dh and my mom having one), so it just makes sense to eat what's coming out of the garden, rather than the store. That's why we sort of automatically transfer into the no-lettuce salads.

[caiesmommy]

We are mostly vegan(no dairy, eggs for dh and dc none for me) and we change with the seasons.

Winter is soups, stews w dumplings, slowcooker meals, vegan lasagna, shepardless pie
Spring is a lot of peas, greens ect
Summer salads, hummus,pita, gazpacho, grilled veggies
Fall we live off of stuffed squash LOL

[Alyantavid]

Yep. I want warm, filling things in the winter. Summer is all about cool foods, fresh fruits and veggies.

[kittywitty]

Mine definitely do. I really only want fruit from about April-September. Too warm for cooked food.

[audsma]

I agree. I want food seasonally, but go one step further-- when there is something that is out of season offered to me now, I just don't taste it any more. Tomatoes are a prime example.

It was odd of her to do, because she knows we eat seasonally and locally, but when my mother-in-law brought us blueberries in February it was all I could do to even cook with fresh ones. I'll cook frozen fruits any time, but to make muffins was almost beyond me at that point.

We've now had strawberries at our farmstand down the road for 2 months, I'd say, and my strawberry season is definitely over. I go there out of habit, but bearly eat them this week. Conversely, I gorged myself silly on them earlier in the summer, as I do every summer.

[QueenOfTheMeadow]

Originally Posted by audsma

I agree. I want food seasonally, but go one step further-- when there is something that is out of season offered to me now, I just don't taste it any more. Tomatoes are a prime example.

It was odd of her to do, because she knows we eat seasonally and locally, but when my mother-in-law brought us blueberries in February it was all I could do to even cook with fresh ones. I'll cook frozen fruits any time, but to make muffins was almost beyond me at that point.

We've now had strawberries at our farmstand down the road for 2 months, I'd say, and my strawberry season is definitely over. I go there out of habit, but bearly eat them this week. Conversely, I gorged myself silly on them earlier in the summer, as I do every summer.

I tend to shop more seasonally, but it's less of a conscious decision than a financial and taste one. It seems like fruits and veggies out of season just don't taste as good. Maybe it's the time it takes for them to be shipped? Also, out of season is so much more expensive (most of the time). But I am trying to be more conscious of my food decision. I want to try to do more freezing of fruits and veggies while they are in season.

[mumm]

Originally Posted by QueenOfTheMeadow

Does anyone elses food preferences change with the seasons? I eat barely any meat during the summer. )

I eat more meat in the summer. I don't know how to cook meats in an oven but can work a grill. So in the summer we'll eat both beef and chicken almost every week. In Jan, Feb, March it is too cold to keep going out so we just skip it.

[Bellabaz]

Yes, me too. I eat way more salads int he summer as well as more pasta with veggies and pasta or couscous salad. I think its normal with warmer weather your body wants "lighter" food and easier to digest things. In the winter you want warm, "heavy" foods.