Non-veggie/fruit eater

AwfHand

Okay, so I'm a picky eater who never grew out of it. I don't like more than a few vegetables (corn, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes-but only in sauces- and some peppers) and I eat no fruit (unless OJ or wine counts). I really enjoy beans/legumes and have numerous hummus, baked, refried, etc recipes that I eat a lot of.
I really want to turn this around, but the texture is just off-putting. I told my wife this summer I'm going to get $#!tfaced drunk and eat a salad, but that might not be the way to go. Is there a way I can get into eating vegetables and eventually fruit that might not involve leaping in while inebriated?

gaurdgoose

google Green Smoothies

AmazonMayan

puree some veggies and add them to spaghetti sauce, chili, hummus, etc...good way to hide them and still get the nutrition and fiber without dealing with texture and/or taste. i put greens in a lot of stuff that normally wouldn't have greens and you don't even taste it. (for the record I love greens, I just look to beef up nutrition sometimes)

Need2Exerc1se

AwfHand wrote: »

Okay, so I'm a picky eater who never grew out of it. I don't like more than a few vegetables (corn, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes-but only in sauces- and some peppers) and I eat no fruit (unless OJ or wine counts). I really enjoy beans/legumes and have numerous hummus, baked, refried, etc recipes that I eat a lot of.
I really want to turn this around, but the texture is just off-putting. I told my wife this summer I'm going to get $#!tfaced drunk and eat a salad, but that might not be the way to go. Is there a way I can get into eating vegetables and eventually fruit that might not involve leaping in while inebriated?

There are so many vegetables with so many different textures. How can they all be off-putting?

What vegetables have you tried and how were they prepared? What texture is it that you don't like?

otheliemoor

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

AwfHand wrote: »

Okay, so I'm a picky eater who never grew out of it. I don't like more than a few vegetables (corn, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes-but only in sauces- and some peppers) and I eat no fruit (unless OJ or wine counts). I really enjoy beans/legumes and have numerous hummus, baked, refried, etc recipes that I eat a lot of.
I really want to turn this around, but the texture is just off-putting. I told my wife this summer I'm going to get $#!tfaced drunk and eat a salad, but that might not be the way to go. Is there a way I can get into eating vegetables and eventually fruit that might not involve leaping in while inebriated?

There are so many vegetables with so many different textures. How can they all be off-putting?

What vegetables have you tried and how were they prepared? What texture is it that you don't like?

Pretty much what I came to say.

sjaplo

Or you could simply behave like an adult..............

satisfyingmyinnerfatkid

I really hate doing this but I just stuffed my face full of a serving of cooked organic green peas (they were originally frozen). No salt or butter added.

I am not as bad as you, I do like to eat fresh vegetables.. sometimes..but I don't eat nearly enough and I constantly don't meet my fiber goal each day here on MFP.

I eat frozen vegetables for one reason and one reason only... because I can buy organic cheap enough. Otherwise I'd have to buy 50% conventional/50% organic raw vegetables.

All that being said, the above poster is right,...sometimes you have just have to behave like an adult and eat them next to that 1 slice of pizza you allowed yourself (also try green smoothies because when you can afford them it helps a lot!)

futuremanda

Changing the foods you like is a slow process. Getting drunk and force feeding yourself a salad will change nothing, and could very likely put you further off salad.

If you think about it, I bet you can categorize your foods beyond "like" and "hate". I have a category of foods that I tolerate, to varying degrees.

I don't really "like" peas. But I tolerate them pretty well. I don't really "like" white fish (say, cod) but I tolerate it... okay. Then I had a serving every week almost for about 1.5 years and now I am off it for awhile. Because it's that or I'll stop being able to tolerate it at all.

Identify foods you CAN work on liking. Find ways to prep it -- they do NOT have to be "healthy". Roast it in oil. Put it on a pizza. Stick it in a sandwich or burger. Bake it into your lasagna. Figure out if you can learn to like it, and go from there.

Keep in mind that how you prepare food changes taste but also texture. So if it's a texture issue, explore things that will change it. I don't tolerate carrots unless they're cooked to totally soft. I only eat fairly not ripe bananas, because they're firmer. But who cares? I can eat carrots and bananas.

Set realistic goals. You do not have to eat salads. You don't have to like to snack on raw veggies. It would be nice to have some fruits and veggies that you enjoy eating in some capacity though. I am really, super proud and excited about the foods I've managed to learn to like, and I really don't care if it comes with some qualifiers.

And from personal experience, give any foods that have any indication of truly negative tolerance a good long time off before trying again, and try them prepped very differently.

WickedPineapple

I'm also very picky and sensitive to texture. I also can't handle hot/spicy or bitter. What I've found is I eat those veggies/fruits that I do like often. Raw spinach is really mild flavored, so I put it on sandwiches and in wraps instead of lettuce. When I do salads, they're typically spinach, carrots, shredded cheese, and chicken. I slather all my pasta in marinara sauce and use it as a dip for other things (I also only like tomatoes in sauce form). I have an apple everyday because I like them.

Smoothies are a great way to get around the texture issue and get in more fruit. There's one I love with frozen blueberries, strawberries, OJ, oatmeal, and vanilla greek yogurt. (I suggest it because you said you like OJ.) It's delicious!

As people have suggested above, be open to trying new things. You might find a certain preparation method you like.

HeidiCooksSupper

I feel your pain as I drink a cherry smoothie "adulterated" with spinach making it look like blended frog skins.

We tend to paint vegetables with a single "YUCK" sign but this is more mental/emotional than anything else. Vegetables, cooked and raw, are so variable in taste and consistency that we really can't intellectually justify saying that we don't like them as a class of food.

If you closed my eyes, I couldn't tell that there's spinach in this smoothie. Intellectually, I have no reason to say yuck. Darn thing actually tastes pretty good but that doesn't mean I've fully accepted emotionally what I know intellectually. In my diet, the smoothie with spinach fits better in my diet, providing me with more of the nutrients I need. It still looks awful and I'm fighting the yuck response.

I don't want to eat as many vegetables as I need so I have to sneak some past me. Pasta prima vera (heavy on the vera). Hiding a couple grated carrots in meat loaf. Or glorifying a veggie. The other night I dressed a pile of green beans with candied walnuts, dried cranberries, crumbled blue cheese, and a balsamic reduction. Another night, I hid them under mushroom gravy.

Do this sort of thing often enough and you'll start to like some veggies and crave them when you don't have them. There may be some veggies that remain on your yuck list. I think okra is a crime against humanity -- but saute me some red cabbage with vinegar, brown sugar, and caraway and I'm your girl!

futuremanda

@HeidiCooksSupper you might look around for a reusable lidded cup with straw. They look like a reusable version of a soda cup from a fast food joint.

I have a really pretty green one with a design on it, but they also make opaque (or nearly opaque) ones. I think I just wandered into like, a local store that sells kitchen & home things and picked one out, but if you wanted a specific opacity, you could Google around.

Assuming you can deal with plastics! I can, but prefer glass. Mine's plastic and I still really like it, as it's kind of fun and personal, and helped me like my shake routine when I had one.

Annnd in trying to find a sample pic for you, I also found a website that sells a sturdy lid + straw combo (opaque) that fits onto your own mugs/cups. http://www.greenpaxx.com/shop/

(Have not tried the thing I linked so not "endorsing" it per se, just found the idea interesting.)

Might help with overcoming the colour.

Sabine_Stroehm

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

There are so many vegetables with so many different textures. How can they all be off-putting?

What vegetables have you tried and how were they prepared? What texture is it that you don't like?

This. It's time to learn to eat the foods that are good for you. Try them different ways. Have your friends invite you over to eat them. Order them in restaurants.
Eat like an adult. if you have children PLEASE don't model your food issues to them.

SoDamnHungry

I roast them or put them in things. When they're in sauces it's a lot harder to notice the gross flavors. I also really dislike vegetables but can get myself to eat quite a few of them if I work hard at hiding them, and also just suck it up and force them down on the occasion.

melimomTARDIS

all veggies? even starchy ones like potatoes, corn, peas and carrots? and all fruit, including juices and smoothly-blended smoothies?

My son has a sensory disorder that severely impairs his ability to eat most foods. Even he has a variety of juice he can drink, and can eat both corn and apple slices. not to mention french fries.

Good luck to you OP, I have heard of people with more dietary restrictions than my son, but I imagine taking multivitamins and eating fiber-enriched breads/cereals would be key if that was the case.

dinosaurparty

I agree with everyone suggesting that the easiest way to get veggies into yourself would be by hiding them in sauces and stuff. Blend them up and you won't know they're there. I like putting spinach in smoothies, you literally cannot taste it once it's blended up.

Honestly though, I think you should just treat this like a challenge and try to eat a new veggie every day or something like that. I mean, I don't think a lot of us enjoy eating veggies, but we do it anyway because eating isn't 100% about enjoyment. The more you eat them, the more likely you are to start enjoying the flavor, or find new ways to cook them so they're more bearable.

Think of it this way. If your child refused to eat anything but starchy, high sugar veggies and nothing green or colourful, you'd probably impose a 'three bite rule' or something like that. They might not enjoy it, but it'd be for their own good. Do the same for yourself

I honestly hated bell peppers until I decided enough was enough and started putting them in salads and pizza. Now I like them.

Christine_72

sjaplo wrote: »

Or you could simply behave like an adult..............

This, or can slather your veggies in cheese sauce.
Or invest in a blender and shove as much fruit and vegies in with a scoop of chocolate protein powder

libbydoodle11

I have another vote for green smoothies or green juices. Google and see what comes up for you.

karaboo20

Idk how well it would work, but when there is something I'm not crazy about I just force myself to eat it. I love all veggies and fruits though. I'm not crazy about certain dairy stuff though

jgnatca

You might be a supertaster. Let me know if this fits. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertaster
What, specifically, is off-putting? Is it the texture, the bitterness? What is it about the vegetables that you like that you enjoy them?

I had stomach surgery this past summer and getting it used to new foods was a weekly chore. I called my stomach my "six month old baby". I was advised to try new foods and if I reacted badly, try again in a couple weeks. It has been about seven months now and I am eating a wide variety of foods again.

So if you treat your infant taste buds like a baby and introduce it slowly to new textures, you might just amaze yourself.

What about picking up one new vegetable a week, finding a five star recipe on the internet, and trying it out?

jgnatca

Oops, I see it is the texture. So OJ is OK, but chewing on an orange section is not? What is the condition of your teeth? I figured out I was avoiding apples because I hated bits getting stuck in there. Cutting up the apple and flossing afterwards took care of that.

BeginningAgainMay14

I heard that it can take between 7 and 20 times of eating a new food before our taste buds adapt and start liking it. Apparently one of the reasons some parents end up with picky kids is because they try a new food only two or three times and don't try it any more after it's rejected. So I would say, find a three or four kinds of vegetables with the LEAST objectionable texture (and btw, if it's really texture that bothers you, that's often a function of how you're preparing the veg, so if you clarify what textures you don't like we may be able to help you with that) and try them in lots of different preparations until you've eaten them at least 10 times. (I wouldn't try the same one every day because forcing down the same vegetable I don't like every day would just make me hate it forever...give yourself a few days between attempts.)

Have you ever roasted veggies? They're wonderful and taste very different. What do you dress them with? Are you always just cooking them into submission? What about steaming or sauteing or grilling? How about in soup? Roasted tomato soup is wonderful, and so is butternut squash soup. Or you could make a minestrone with lots of vegetables and some beans in a tomato broth.

DirrtyH

This might not disguise them enough for you, but I like to roast vegetables in olive oil with some salt and pepper.

KrunchyMama

I tell my kids "You don't have to eat it, but you do have to try it", and once they try something enough times, they actually start to like it. My 4 year old really doesn't like collards, and protests every time I serve them, but I just say to him that we are going to be eating collards in this house for a very long time, so he may as well get used to them. Last time I served them he exclaimed "hey! I LIKE collards!". So I guess what I'm trying to say is to keep trying them, eventually you should acquire a taste for them

I also agree with the posters above who recommended green smoothies or juicing. Also check out a cookbook called Deceptively Delicious.

I think it's great that you want to change your mind about veggies, that is a great start!

awesomewastaken

I used to hate both cottage cheese and tuna (and other fish), but after finding out I'm not getting nearly enough protein, I have begun trying to adapt myself to them slowly and so far so good. Have you tried "easing yourself into it" - a side of salad here and there, a couple of cucumbers or a carrot occasionally? Fruit and vegetables are quite great actually

Alatariel75

My husband wasn't a big veggie eater aside from carrots, peas and basic salad and I got him eating mushrooms, zucchini and capsicum by chopping them finely and cooking them into things like pasta sauces, stews, casseroles and soups. The pieces got bigger, he worked out they weren't that bad, now he happily eats them.

RodaRose

AwfHand wrote: »

Okay, so I'm a picky eater who never grew out of it. I don't like more than a few vegetables (corn, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes-but only in sauces- and some peppers) and I eat no fruit (unless OJ or wine counts). I really enjoy beans/legumes and have numerous hummus, baked, refried, etc recipes that I eat a lot of.
I really want to turn this around, but the texture is just off-putting. I told my wife this summer I'm going to get $#!tfaced drunk and eat a salad, but that might not be the way to go. Is there a way I can get into eating vegetables and eventually fruit that might not involve leaping in while inebriated?

Google various parings like I did here.
Also go to Pinterest.com, make an account, and try various search terms.

Beans and corn. ~~ Black Bean and Corn Quesadillas
Beans and potatoes ~~ Black Bean and Corn-Topped Potatoes
Beans and carrots ~~ Kidney Bean-Vegetable Soup (omit any tomatoes)
Beans and tomato sauce ~~ American-Style Red Beans and Rice
If you like hummus you also might like ~~ Roasted Chickpeas