Hungry or Bored?

I suggest you try and not eat for 6 or 7 hours one day so you can feel what hunger really feels like. When you're hungry, you'd be pretty much willing to eat anything. Or your stomach is growling. But it's a physical sensation. What you have is a craving.

Do you absolutely have to only eat when you're hungry though? For me, no. What you're describing happens to me all the time. I'm not hungry, but I want some food. And typically, I'll have it... in moderation. In the end it doesn't really matter as long as I stay under my calorie goal (but it also means I'll probably have to log forever because of that habit).

I'm usually in bed by 10pm to avoid that problem, lol. But I typically eat 3/4 of my calories by 2pm.

I struggle with this same thing ALL the time. I definitely will eat even if I'm not hungry. Bored, stressed, tired, all results in snacking for me. My body doesn't need the calories, but my brain wants them. Especially in the afternoon at work, or at night after my kids go to bed and I'm trying to veg out for an hour or so to settle down for bed. Here's my tips when you're feeling snacky without the hunger pangs:

1) Make yourself some coffee or tea (just be mindful of what you put in it that will add calories - a few tsp of sugar is no biggie, but a 350 calorie latte defeats the purpose). That way you're getting some flavor, too, instead of plain water. I also find that a hot beverage works better than, like, a diet soda or some Crystal Lite or something, but that's just me.
2) Chew gum. This actually doesn't do a lot for me, but it works for some people.
3) Take a walk. Even just a trip around your office or a few trips up and down the stairs at home, or whatever.
4) Keep low cal snacks on hand that you like but aren't your most favorite-est thing in the world. If you're not hungry enough to eat that grapefruit or celery and yogurt dip, then you're not really hungry.
5) Plan out your day ahead of time to both (a) reduce or eliminate things like this morning where you found yourself eating 3/4 of your daily calories in a fast food breakfast - unless that's what you want and you've planned for it, and (b) structure it so that you've got multiple snacks built into your day. Meal timing doesn't matter for weight loss in general, but if it helps you stick to your goal to have a morning piece of fruit and string cheese and an afternoon yogurt and nuts planned into your day that you can eat when you feel like eating without exceeding your calories, then that's only a good thing.
5) Practice makes perfect in terms of self-control. Really listen to your body and learn to recognize boredom vs. hunger. This might take some time for sure, but the more easily you can recognize it, the more easily you can combat it by using one of the tips above (or whatever works for you) or just straight up talking yourself out of it.

I definitely eat out of boredom/habit/craving. I have trouble recognizing hunger, so that's basically my main motivation for eating anything. It's also good that you're trying to figure out why you're eating instead of just snacking mindlessly every time you feel like it (not that snacking is intrinsically bad.)
Anyway, the best thing you can do is to try to distract yourself-- tell yourself that you're going to work and be productive for 45 minutes and then you can have a break, or watch an episode of something and focus on just that instead of eating. If it's a specific taste, try either making tea (you can add stevia for sweetness with no calories and there are some chocolate/apple cider/etc. tisanes). Go for a walk-- it will burn calories and give you something to do. It works for me.
Also, a salad is not the worst thing you could be craving :P you could also try celery, or if you want to snack without guilt you can cut up lots of vegetables (cucumber, peppers, etc.) and eat as many as you like. I put salt and sometimes pepper on them, so if you think vegetables are boring or whatever that can help.
Good luck!