Healthy recipes for picky eaters?

[Cali Mae]

As the title suggests, I am trying to change my eating habits. My main problem is that I'm picky when it comes to vegetables, as well as many other things, so carbs/meat/seafood make up the majority of my diet. I think that with vegetables, it is primarily the texture that ruins it for me... but I'm not sure.

My mom has been doing a wheat and gluten-free diet for the last couple of months, and it is going extremely well. She does buy wheat and gluten-free pasta, but that is the one thing I'll eat. She has brought home quinoa and various other healthy substitutes, but I just can't force myself to eat it.

Anyways, I was wondering if anyone has any healthy recipes for extremely picky eaters? Or a website/forum/etc that has advice and recipes.

 

[AgilityPup]

Try changing the way you're cooking things you don't usually like. For example, I don't like boiled broccoli. That said, if it's steamed or raw, I will eat an entire meal of that alone.

And don't be afraid to TRY NEW THINGS! My boyfriend is a very picky eater and I am forever trying to get him to just TRY something. If you don't like it, fine. Move on. But hey, you never know, you might LOVE it!

Besides that, I have nothing helpful. lol

 

[Dogdragoness]

It's funny as adults how picky we are. Lol. As a kid I NEVER would have turnes down a meal, because if you didn't eat what mom served then you didn't eat. Period.

Maybe that's where the pickiness comes in, because we CAN choose now lol.

There aren't many things I won't eat, but I don't like peas by themselves, but in something like a pot pie or soup, I will eat them.

 

[FourIsCompany]

Turkey Vegetable Meatloaf.

Jennie-O ground turkey breast. (package is 1-1/4 lb.

Cut up a bunch of veggies real small (onion, garlic, shredded carrots, bell pepper) until you have almost as many veggies as turkey by volume.

Add a 1/2 c of uncooked oatmeal, an egg.

Mix 1/2 c of tomato sauce with 1/4 c apple cider vinegar and add a little maple syrup or brown sugar and some red pepper flakes.

Mix it all together and put in a casserole dish. Bake at 375 for 50 to 75 minutes (depending on how thick it is) till the center measures 165 degrees with a meat thermometer.

Delicious and healthy! And gluten-free!

 

[Beanie]

Agree that sometimes if you just change how you cook it, it's different. I like steamed broccoli, that's the only way I like it! Raw is kinda gross, boiled gets too mushy.

Force it.

Chop veggies up REALLY small. I am a big texture person with my food too, and I like the taste of most of them, but not the texture. So I chop them up super small in my food processor.

Saute them in bacon fat/grease. I haven't done this yet but I hear it's a game changer for a lot of veggies.

Know that tastes change as you grow. I will sometimes re-try something I know I didn't like when I tried it five years ago or so to see if I like it now.

 

[Cali Mae]

Thanks for the recipes and tips, everyone!

Beanie, my mom always reminds me of that as well. When she was younger, up until she was in her twenties, she was exactly like me in terms of food choices... but now, she'll eat about anything and enjoy it.

I'm getting better about forcing myself to try new things, although sometimes it doesn't go too well. I still remember when I tried eating a bit of salad, and almost puked in the middle of a restaurant.

I'll definitely try all of these though! Chopping up the veggies in tiny pieces could work quite well... there are times when I'll try a vegetable and I'll actually like how it tastes, but then I start thinking about the texture and refuse to have another.