Rant space- Picky Eaters

teamAmelia

Yeah. Me. I don't like vegetables, sauces/creams that people tend to cook with, so when we have potlucks at work, I never eat anything because I know that I won't like it. As far as the sauce thing is concerned, the only thing that I can tolerate is mustard and ketchup, and I'm still picky about that. I don't like the smell of either of them, but I love extra mustard on my burgers. For my fries, I eat ketchup, but I try not to put the ketchup on my tongue because I don't like the flavor THAT much. I know, it's weird.

quirkytizzy

I generally have no problem catering to people's preferences when I'm cooking for them. But I recently had a dinner party for some people I'd never cooked for. I sent out the usual email asking about food allergies or any hated foods and got back an email saying "I don't eat anything too sweet, too salty, or too oily" along with a long list of detested foods. At that point I could only say "too sweet, salty or oily is in the eye of the beholder" and cook what I thought would taste good.

She did bring some of her own food, I suppose just in case.

I have another friend with a complicated list of food rules - not hot and cold on the same plate, foods that are supposed to be served hot (rice, potatoes, pasta) must not be served cold (in salads). And that's just the tip of the food rule iceberg. I've known him for years, and don't worry about it any more. He'll eat what he eats.

As someone who never cooks (and thus has an insanely high amount of gratitude for anyone who does put in the effort to cook for me) - that would drive me UP THE WALL. Wow. If someone is willing to cook for you, you'd damn well better be grateful for their efforts to please you. I'd be soooo annoyed - you have MAJOR patience!

ktdidit78

I think so much of pickiness is mental attitude.

My husband was super picky when he was growing up, but I'm a damn good cook and I wasn't about to make him a separate meal, so after a year he was trying different things. Even his mom was amazed. Now he travels all over the world and is trying new cuisine all the time. But he still doesn't like broccoli. I'll allow it.

I have a friend who doesn't like sour cream, mushrooms, several veggies... she won't eat ANYTHING if it has sour cream in it. We had a party one night and she just LOVED what I served - it had sour cream and a few of the veggies she 'hates'. Apparently she still won't try to use these items in her own cooking at home, but she will try anything I make and has never disliked it. With her new son, she is making him try all different foods so he doesn't get as crazy, er, I mean, as picky as her.

Mutant13

Yeah. Me. I don't like vegetables, sauces/creams that people tend to cook with, so when we have potlucks at work, I never eat anything because I know that I won't like it. As far as the sauce thing is concerned, the only thing that I can tolerate is mustard and ketchup, and I'm still picky about that. I don't like the smell of either of them, but I love extra mustard on my burgers. For my fries, I eat ketchup, but I try not to put the ketchup on my tongue because I don't like the flavor THAT much. I know, it's weird.

I'm not trying to pick on you, but it's statements like 'I don't like vegetables' that I don't understand. I find it impossible that you could have tried all vegetables, cooked in all styles and concluded that you don't like any of them. Could you explain this further?

MerBear1985

I would consider myself a picky eater. I do try new things, but I don't like a lot of food. Part of it is the texture of things, I know this sounds weird but for instance, I like the taste of green pepper but can't stand eating a raw piece of a green pepper. I will not eat food I don't like, that's just the way it is. I don't like a lot of things that I know are good for me, I wish I did honestly, being a picky eater isn't always a choice. I literally gag eating some things that I know are healthy for me and I am not going to make myself gag just to eat something I don't like. Sometimes it really sucks because I will be out at someones house and not like hardly anything they serve. I will choke some down to be polite, but I don't see why I should have to eat something I don't like just because it is healthy or convenient for someone else. I don't have a huge food budget either and it is very frustrating. So please take it easy on some of the picky eaters out there, my parents didn't make extra meals for me, they told me to at least try things, and we BARELY ate out when I was younger. I have since tried many things that I didn't like in the past....still don't like many of them. I used to eat EVERYTHING when I was little but now, pretty picky.

vaderandbill

My buddy's list of foods he will eat:

Hamburgers, plain...he will had the ketchup
Steak (not prime rib)
plain chips
chocolate milk
scrambled eggs and toast
pizza, plain
spaghetti, only if made with his mother's sauce recipe
French fries
Potato (baked or mashed w/o skin)
occasional pork chop with ketchup
Footlong hotdog from a specific seafood shack
Coke/Pepsi
crystal light fruit punch
Chocolate covered donuts
Reeses
Snickers
Peanut butter sandwich (just peanut butter)

That is it.

TheTrym

I'm a somewhat picky eater, but not to the point where I'd come across as rude if I'm being served something I'd prefer not to eat. I think most of it comes from being a creature of habit, there are certain food item I will only eat if they are the brand I have always eaten (unless I need to in order to not be rude).

sissiluv

I don't know much about his diet currently but my former BFF was pretty goshdarn picky.
That boy loved his processed foods, to the point he'd out and out refuse home-made steak for a pre-made, frozen pogo-stick. Dinners usually consisted of either pogo sticks, frozen pizza, fries or chicken strips and whenever we'd go out to eat it was ALWAYS fries and chicken strips. Hell I remember one time we went out to a restaurant, me paying, and that was an appetizer option so there wasn't very much of them, maybe three or so?
So he asks for more, which the waitress tries to talk him out of, and ends up costing me double the money it would have otherwise because he essentially had to order it twice.
We'd likewise have to make sure that we were going to a restaurant that would serve something like that, for my birthday, otherwise he just wouldn't come.
Strangely enough it only seemed to get worse as he got older. When we were in highschool he'd eat just about whatever his mom made for dinner.

I saw him for the first time in a year or two in December and no shock, the processed food caught up to him. He used to be a stick, nothing but bones to him but I'd guestimate he's probably gained 40-60lbs. It was pretty alarming.

As for me I mostly just don't do nuts, brussel sprouts and asparagus, though I might make myself eat more nuts. Mom couldn't afford a picky-eater so if I didn't like what we were having for dinner, I just didn't eat. Too bad so sad.

quirkytizzy

My buddy's list of foods he will eat:

Hamburgers, plain...he will had the ketchup
Steak (not prime rib)
plain chips
chocolate milk
scrambled eggs and toast
pizza, plain
spaghetti, only if made with his mother's sauce recipe
French fries
Potato (baked or mashed w/o skin)
occasional pork chop with ketchup
Footlong hotdog from a specific seafood shack
Coke/Pepsi
crystal light fruit punch
Chocolate covered donuts
Reeses
Snickers
Peanut butter sandwich (just peanut butter)

That is it.

I think I'm dating your friend. That literally just about sums up what my BF will eat.

And Merbear, it's admirable that you do admit eating picky on a limited budget is frustrating. The BF won't even admit to that, merely throwing mini-temper tantrum when we don't have the money to get what he wants. And while I honestly don't think anyone should eat foods they don't like, I think it's imperative that they not go hungry when other food is available.

It's possible that most picky eaters might not be as drastic as my BF.

veggievixen79

My ex was like this! He wouldn't try anything new, and he pretty much only ate pasta, white bread, chips and grape pop. I love cooking and trying out different recipes, and everyone loved my food except for him. It's actually one of the reasons we broke up--I couldn't imagine spending my life with someone whose first response to anything new is "I don't like that."

Mutant13

Vixen, that's a good way to put it.

tryclyn

If I do not like something I will not eat just to make someone else happy. I find it easier to simply not eat with people who have a problem with my idiosyncrasies. A simple "No thank you" works very well for me when co-workers bring food in that I don't eat.

I like my food simple. I like to be able to identify all the ingredients. I prefer most vegetables raw. I don't like onions so much that if they screw up my order and put onions on anyway I won't eat it even after removing them. Mushrooms are nasty. I do try new foods, but only if I prepare them.

With all that said, I really do enjoy cooking and love to experiment in the kitchen. I make many dishes for my family that I don't actually eat, but they love.

This makes sense. As long as you are able to procure the foods you do like without causing undue stress on yourself or others, I can see where pickiness would be less of a problem and more of an idiosyncrasy. And I have no problem when the BF prepares my food differently than his, or if I have to put in some work to rearrange the dish to my personal liking. (I eat condiments more like side dishes, he can't stand them. So I often get up and ready all that for myself.) It's just when we don't have the option to cater to his tastes that it becomes a problem.

I think you're absolutely within your rights to not eat something you don't like just to make someone else happy. I also imagine (you sound really reasonable) that you would not allow yourself to pass into physical pain from hunger, either. I really wish the BF were more like that.

And Ubermensch - that is AWESOME! God I hope the BF and I can pass into that point eventually. He has begun learning how to cook dishes he does like and will even sometimes experiment with different spices or cuts of meat, which is a huge sign of progress. Maybe someday we will be where you guys are!

I am older now and have had a few years :laugh: to experiment so, yes. However when I was younger I learned that hunger pangs can be ignored until they go away. We were a bit poor so that may have had something to do with it, too.

My 14 year old niece has a very limited repertoire of what she will eat. I worry about her, actually.

When I was a teen, I had a very short list of things that I would eat and didn't see a problem with just eating bread and butter whenever something that I didn't like was being served. I remember wondering what all the fuss was about. Does she like to cook? I was more likely to try things when I was the one doing the cooking.

MrGonzo05

There's someone at my work that is INSANELY picky. It always bothers me because I like baking and making stuff for my friends at work and she not only won't eat a lot of things but she is proud of it almost...."OH...I don't eat that. Oh no...not peanut butter, see I don't like peanuts unless it's peanut chews."

Maybe she saw the dog nomming peanut butter in your profile photo. The peanut butter aversion is her attempt to be polite. LOL

SparkleShine

Welcome to my world,my son has autism and is SUPER picky!

It would take too long to type the food he won't eat, or once upon a time wouldn't even be near!!!:laugh:

I love him to pieces and wouldn't trade him for anything. It does drive me a little nuts at times. I used to more. I'm used to it now. He's 17.

n2thenight24

This is me, unfortunately. I am such a picky eater. And my response to many many things is "I don't like that" even knowing full well that I've never even put it into my mouth. My mom was one that would make me a separate supper when I was a child when she made something that she didn't think I would like. I hate that I am like this, but there's not really much I can do about it. Think of one food that you just really can't stand. Think of being told you have to eat it, the thought of putting it in your mouth repulses you right? That's how all these foods seem to me. Now that I'm a little older, I will TRY new things now and then, things that I never would have tried before, but I typically don't like them.

I am trying to end the cycle with my children, they eat what I make, or they don't eat at all. Being a picky eater is no fun, especially when you are trying to eat healthy.

clover5

Yes, I have picky eaters. My husband and 2 teens. It's frustrating bc I will eat almost anything, and like to try new foods and/or preparations.

I'm lucky though. Usually one of them is in an open minded stage and willing to try a few new things, but never all 3 at once. Currently my daughter is the most picky, followed by my husband (Adkins), and my son is the "fun" one.

ubermensch13

This is me, unfortunately. I am such a picky eater. And my response to many many things is "I don't like that" even knowing full well that I've never even put it into my mouth. My mom was one that would make me a separate supper when I was a child when she made something that she didn't think I would like. I hate that I am like this, but there's not really much I can do about it. Think of one food that you just really can't stand. Think of being told you have to eat it, the thought of putting it in your mouth repulses you right? That's how all these foods seem to me. Now that I'm a little older, I will TRY new things now and then, things that I never would have tried before, but I typically don't like them.

I am trying to end the cycle with my children, they eat what I make, or they don't eat at all. Being a picky eater is no fun, especially when you are trying to eat healthy.

I call BS, sorry. There are no foods I detest. Why? Because I try them in many different forms and usually find a way I like them prepared. I didn't like shrimp for almost 20 years, but recently I made a decision I would find a way to like them. So I started to try them different ways, and guess what, after some time, I started to actually enjoy them. Unless there is an actual dietary/medical/ethical reason to not eat something, I don't buy the "I don't like that" excuse. There is something you can do about it. Seriously, who likes the taste of most alcohol when they first try it?

lveh8lve

My Ex used to tell people he was a vegetarian, but really he ate like a 7yr old spoiled brat!! He didn't eat ANY meat. He would eat: Pizza, French Fries, Ketchup, Rice, Oreos, Cheerios, Pineapple, Pasta with RAGU only. One time we went to eat at an Italian restaurant (only place he would go eat because god forbid I could eat where I wanted to) and he told the people while ordering "Don;'t put any of your sauce on my pasta because your sauce is horrible, I'm just going to put Ragu on it at home, that stuff is the best." I literally wanted to kill him at that point and I'm pretty sure we got extra special sauce that day.

His mom coddled him like you wouldn't believe. We were at family dinners and she would be crazy cooking a huge Kosher meal just to stop everything and make him pasta with Ragu!!! I told her once "you know he is a grown man and completely capable of making his own food." She told me she just wanted to make him happy!!!!! Eventually I was the only person ever to get him to eat something new and he started having Veggie Burgers and stuff like that. Still very processed, but he is a grown man!!!

Another time we were out with friends at a burger place. He had an enormous basket of fries and a big plate of ketchup. Rest of us had burgers. A friend took a french fry not even remotely near her burger and dipped it into his ketchup. He broke down like a 2 yr old that you just shut off their favorite Nick Jr. Show. I told everyone to ignore him and not get him another ketchup because he is acting like a baby not a grown man. I have zero tolerance for that stuff

I grew up with "Thank you portions" at the dinner table. I did not have to like anything, but I had to have a small portion to thank my mother for preparing the meal and then I could peacefully leave the dinner table to go play. Now, I eat everything and anything. Only thing I don't like is citrus fruits. They just aren't appealing to me.

And the ex - after 5 years he decided one day when we were going to move in together that he didn't love me anymore and didn't even want to try at working on it. He literally dumped me and ignored me. leaving me with the 6 animals we adopted together to fend for ourselves. So the boy has much more issues then just picky eating!

n2thenight24

This is me, unfortunately. I am such a picky eater. And my response to many many things is "I don't like that" even knowing full well that I've never even put it into my mouth. My mom was one that would make me a separate supper when I was a child when she made something that she didn't think I would like. I hate that I am like this, but there's not really much I can do about it. Think of one food that you just really can't stand. Think of being told you have to eat it, the thought of putting it in your mouth repulses you right? That's how all these foods seem to me. Now that I'm a little older, I will TRY new things now and then, things that I never would have tried before, but I typically don't like them.

I am trying to end the cycle with my children, they eat what I make, or they don't eat at all. Being a picky eater is no fun, especially when you are trying to eat healthy.

I call BS, sorry. There are no foods I detest. Why? Because I try them in many different forms and usually find a way I like them prepared. I didn't like shrimp for almost 20 years, but recently I made a decision I would find a way to like them. So I started to try them different ways, and guess what, after some time, I started to actually enjoy them. Unless there is an actual dietary/medical/ethical reason to not eat something, I don't buy the "I don't like that" excuse. There is something you can do about it. Seriously, who likes the taste of most alcohol when they first try it?

One of the reasons I don't drink, ever. That **** is nasty.

Gallowmere1984

This is me, unfortunately. I am such a picky eater. And my response to many many things is "I don't like that" even knowing full well that I've never even put it into my mouth. My mom was one that would make me a separate supper when I was a child when she made something that she didn't think I would like. I hate that I am like this, but there's not really much I can do about it. Think of one food that you just really can't stand. Think of being told you have to eat it, the thought of putting it in your mouth repulses you right? That's how all these foods seem to me. Now that I'm a little older, I will TRY new things now and then, things that I never would have tried before, but I typically don't like them.

I am trying to end the cycle with my children, they eat what I make, or they don't eat at all. Being a picky eater is no fun, especially when you are trying to eat healthy.

I call BS, sorry. There are no foods I detest. Why? Because I try them in many different forms and usually find a way I like them prepared. I didn't like shrimp for almost 20 years, but recently I made a decision I would find a way to like them. So I started to try them different ways, and guess what, after some time, I started to actually enjoy them. Unless there is an actual dietary/medical/ethical reason to not eat something, I don't buy the "I don't like that" excuse. There is something you can do about it. Seriously, who likes the taste of most alcohol when they first try it?

But...but...shrimp doesn't make me hit on questionable women, and make a total *kitten* of myself in public, so it's different.

That being said, I am definitely in the 'indiscriminate' eater category. I'll eat damn near anything, so long as it fits my macro profile, and sometimes when it doesn't.