Can you help a picky eater?

Instead of telling you to quit being picky let me give you some real advice.

I am picky as well. However I know that most of this is all in my head. I realize that I'm never going to be the type to sit down and eat a bowl of lettuce. However there are some things I do to ensure I get more veggies in my diet.

First I really love juicing. Juice some healthy veggies and mix them with fruit. You get a nice tasting fruit juice with the extra nutrients of the vegetables.

As for cooking I find that chopping veggies really small and mixing them into different food helps. Stir fries are good for this where I'll put peppers, tomatoes or spinach into a chopper and throw them in with meat or noodles.

My boyfriend is like that he only eats peas. Do you like fruit instead? Thats what he does and salad mix. I didn't like a lot of things but after eating them awhile i got used to them.

I am a pretty picky eater especially with veggies and fruit but am getting better. I also have tried them different ways. Example - tomatoes, I dont' like a large slice on a sandwich but do like cherry and roma tomatoes, diced in salad or on tacos. I don't like broccoli or cauliflower cooked but do like it raw. I used to be the type that if I did not like the way it looked I would not eat it. Also your taste buds change. Things I did not like when I was younger, I like now and vice versa.

You may get used to the taste of some veggies by "hiding"them too. This is a trick many use on children......for example, I have a recipe where you grate and blend vegetables with garlic and then use them as a pasta sauce...... or look at the message boards for cauliflower crust pizza........dips and soups are great for hiding vegetables too......and cake. Zucchini cakes, I have a great chocolate cake recipe that hides this. Iv'e seen prunes in pie and all sorts of great "hidings". Message me if you want any of these recipes! Good luck.....

I think you definitely need to go on a recipe search. I agree with some previous posters about "hiding" your veggies in with your meats or sauces. It can be a great way to begin to acclimatize your taste buds to new flavors. I really never liked cauliflower for the longest time. But I just recently found a roasting recipe that is great. Seasoning can make all the difference in the world! In a perfect world you would just "get over it" like some of the brilliant previous posts suggest. And as helpful as those posts were, maybe some of the other suggestions on here can help you begin to "get over it." I have hated cottage cheese my entire life, but I recently found that drowning it in fruit and a little bit of stevia is delicious! Don't give up. Just keep trying different things. This is a PROCESS.

Those of you who are saying OP needs to just get over it are being pretty rude.
I also don't eat most veggies, or most fruits. It's not because I don't want to try them. It's a sensory issue, and I only recently realized that's my problem after dealing with my kids' sensory issues. If a food smells the least bit unpleasant, I literally gag while trying to make myself try it. If the texture is "wrong", same thing. Cooked produce a sure fail. I cannot help it.

I have the exact same problem so I am really bad about getting my veggies in. I manage by sometimes getting the V8 Fruit and Vegetable juices or in place of pasta ill use the ronzoni garden delight pasta which gives you a serving of veggies. I've also been trying something new each month. This month I tried spaghetti squash for the first time. As far as my normal eating habits since im so picky I spend alot of time looking up recipes and ive found some great healthy alternatives to my favorite foods and ive really liked them. I have a few recipe websites that I check every single day that have provided some great healthier alternatives if you would like to know them feel free to send me a message.

Fellow picky eater right here. :happy: I am not as picky as I used to be, however. My foods I didn't like fell into 3 categories: those (like tomato anything) that would make me gag- literally. 2. stuff that sounded wierd/gross that I just never tried or gave a chance. 3. stuff that I never liked eating because the way it was prepared didn't do it much good.

After over 13 years of working on me to get me to like anything with tomato in it, my hubby finally got me to the point where I can eat some really good/flavorful chilis, some bbq sauces, and I even found 2 maranara sauces I could eat at nice Italian restaurants. So, it may take some time, but work on it and see what happens. I have a feeling though, that I will never be able to enjoy a tomato straight, a BLT, or regular pizza.

What veggies do you like, and which can you eat if it's in with a lot of other stuff? Post what you do like here and I'm sure we can come up with meal ideas based on those. I like fruits more than veggies, and so I find myself drawn more to the sweeter veggies - winter squash, carrots, sweet peppers, sugar snap peas, etc. Start with veggies that have similar charasteristics to those you like and those that pair nicely with those you like (I enjoy stir-fries with onion, bell pepper, and zuchini).

If you like salads, go for more than just the iceburg lettuce. Get mixes of red and green lettuces. I was surprised to find that I liked baby spinach in salads too. Veggies that grill or sautee well (I use cooking spray) such as asparagus or zucchini are WONDERFUL with granulated garlic and a touch of salt. Get some whole wheat or veggie-based pasta (elbow, rotini, etc), use light italian dressing, and add finely chopped cukes, onion, and bell pepper. Shredded carrot also goes nicely in there.

There are so many great suggestions in this thread! My wife was a notoriously picky eater when we first met, and though she is still much pickier than I would like, she has learned to enjoy a much wider range of foods than she used to.

The best advice I have is for you to take the time to identify the specific flavors you do not enjoy, and then learn to cook in ways that mask or eliminate those flavors.

My wife thought she hated onions. The sharp taste was borderline painful to her. She found that she enjoyed onions when I caramelized them. She now LOVES onions, so long as they get cooked long enough to break down the chemical that gives them a sharp flavor.

My wife is also one of those people for whom broccoli tastes bitter. Most people who hat broccoli can taste a bitter flavor in it that the rest of us cannot taste, or at least do not taste to the same extent. Once I realized this, I began roasting or stir-frying broccoli for her. Dry heat (like roasting or frying) breaks down the bitter chemical, whereas wet heat (like steaming) does not.

I could not serve salads with dinner, because my wife found them boring, and many of the veggies carried flavors she disliked. I now keep a few hard boiled eggs, as well as some crumbled bacon in the fridge at all times. Chopped egg and bacon on a salad really turns it into a completely different meal, and there is no harm done so long as you account for it in your meal planning.

Good luck in your quest to become a less picky eater! With time, I am betting that you will rediscover all sorts of foods that you at one time disliked.