Unexpected Distaste

Most of us have at least a few go-to meals to make when we’re lazy and don’t feel like cooking. Pasta with marinara sauce has been one of those staple meals for me over the years. I’ve always kept a jar of marinara sauce from the supermarket around for those times I want a fairly quick and effortless meal. It’s been the same brand of sauce for years, but not long ago I took a bite of my pasta with a good douse of marinara sauce and thought, “Wow, this is sweet. I don’t think I like this anymore.”

My taste buds did a 180 that created a bit of havoc for my go-to meal. It just took me by surprise, as just a few days prior I was eating this marinara normally with no qualms. And then BAM! My taste buds no longer appreciated this marinara sauce that had served me so well for years. [Sigh.]

My solution was to just make my own sauce (which turned out fine), but a part of me is somewhat disappointed that I just can’t grab my old instant supermarket marinara sauce and eat it with the same satisfaction that I used to have. I suppose if I really cared about having an instant sauce on hand, I could taste test various brands of prepared marinara sauces to find one that I like. But that sounds like a lot of work (and probably tasting a lot of not-so tasty sauces). And even if I found one that I liked, my taste buds could change again and then I’d be right back to where I started. So in the long run it’s probably better just to make my own sauce that I can adjust as my taste buds adjust (and make enough to freeze so that it’s “instant” when I want it).