I was one of the pickiest eaters you've ever met...
...besides being picky...
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Besides being the picky one... there's a lot more to me! Here's a few tidbits...
I'm a 28 year young gal who loves to break the mold.
My husband and I started dating in high school. We got married on a campground in our bare feet.
I'm a 28 year young gal who loves to break the mold.
My husband and I started dating in high school. We got married on a campground in our bare feet.
...growing up picky...
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Looking back, I grew up as one of the pickiest people I know.
No, really. I mean with a capital P-I-C-K-Y. And not just as a kid, I mean the whole way into college.
Honestly, I must have given my parents some major headaches over my eating. I didn't try to be difficult. I just, plain and simple, didn't like any foods. I'm not sure if it was the smell, the appearance, the texture, or just some pre-conceived notions about foods, but I refused to even try most of them.
My parents tried to get me to eat new foods... trust me, I "sat at the table 'til I was a little old lady" so many nights that the dinner chair might as well have been my bed! Bread, fruit snacks and Flintstone vitamins are what I attribute to making it through childhood.
Broccoli was the only vegetable that I liked as a kid... but only the "leaves," never the "trunk!" (Sometimes, I still just eat the leave, they are my favorite... and some habits are hard to break!)
I didn't even try french fries until age 10 and I think this was the second "vegetable" that I can consider learning to like. I know, what kid doesn't like french fries?!? This kid!
No, really. I mean with a capital P-I-C-K-Y. And not just as a kid, I mean the whole way into college.
Honestly, I must have given my parents some major headaches over my eating. I didn't try to be difficult. I just, plain and simple, didn't like any foods. I'm not sure if it was the smell, the appearance, the texture, or just some pre-conceived notions about foods, but I refused to even try most of them.
My parents tried to get me to eat new foods... trust me, I "sat at the table 'til I was a little old lady" so many nights that the dinner chair might as well have been my bed! Bread, fruit snacks and Flintstone vitamins are what I attribute to making it through childhood.
Broccoli was the only vegetable that I liked as a kid... but only the "leaves," never the "trunk!" (Sometimes, I still just eat the leave, they are my favorite... and some habits are hard to break!)
I didn't even try french fries until age 10 and I think this was the second "vegetable" that I can consider learning to like. I know, what kid doesn't like french fries?!? This kid!
...the realization...
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I continued in my set eating patterns for a loonng time, middle school, high school, college... without ever questioning my strange habits. They were normal to me, and I just told people that I was picky. (How Picky?)
It wasn't until my junior year of college when I randomly paired up with my new roommate, Jess, who observed my pickiness... Jess has a great, open, honest personality, and instead of just ignoring my strange habits, she asked me "Why don't you like it? When have you actually tried it to know that you don't like it?"
When my answer was no, she continued with, "Then, how do you know you don't like it?" I think she was referring to all foods, but she especially didn't understand my disgust with veggies.
It sounds so simple. I'm sure lots of family members tried to ask me this while growing up, but it wasn't until this moment, that something clicked... I couldn't name a single "hated" veggie that I could actualy remember trying. I didn't really know if I liked them or not.
I agreed to try a meal she was making with sauteed chicken, onions, bell peppers and cheese. To my surprise, it wasn't bad! I wasn't immediately in love with vegetables, but it made me realize that maybe these veggie things weren't as bad as I thought... Maybe they could grow on me...
It wasn't until my junior year of college when I randomly paired up with my new roommate, Jess, who observed my pickiness... Jess has a great, open, honest personality, and instead of just ignoring my strange habits, she asked me "Why don't you like it? When have you actually tried it to know that you don't like it?"
When my answer was no, she continued with, "Then, how do you know you don't like it?" I think she was referring to all foods, but she especially didn't understand my disgust with veggies.
It sounds so simple. I'm sure lots of family members tried to ask me this while growing up, but it wasn't until this moment, that something clicked... I couldn't name a single "hated" veggie that I could actualy remember trying. I didn't really know if I liked them or not.
I agreed to try a meal she was making with sauteed chicken, onions, bell peppers and cheese. To my surprise, it wasn't bad! I wasn't immediately in love with vegetables, but it made me realize that maybe these veggie things weren't as bad as I thought... Maybe they could grow on me...
...working on it...
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So I slowly started trying new things, but mostly revolving around meat and other items that most people eat on a regular basis...
...like hamburgers.
Yep, hamburgers... I never had one until I was 20 years old. My menu started growing and I was becoming a lot less picky than I had been growing up.
Not many of these new items involved vegetables though.
I see it like this... if I think I hate something, that is only holding me back in life.
Regardless of what it is, I should work at getting over it.
Another reason for me to learn to like veggies... If "what goes around comes around" is true when I have kids, I'm doomed! And if I still eat like I have been, how could I ever expect a child to eat healthy, if I wasn't setting that example myself?
So why, in my adulthood, have I still avoided veggies? I think it is because I didn't know how to properly cook them. If I can learn to make the veggies in a way that I like, then maybe I'll make them a regular part of meals.
Dumping a pile of shriveled veggies out of a can is not appetizing to me. So I needed to learn how to cook fresh vegetables. I decided to take a toned down approach of "Julie & Julia," where a lady cooks a new her way through a Julia Child cookbook with a new recipe every day for a year... I knew I didn't have the time to try a new veggie recipe every day, but every week was a more attainable goal.
And here we are! I know I won't like them all, but trying them is half the battle!
Step 1: Deciding to try it.
Step 2: Actually trying it.
Step 3: Not absolutely hating it.
Step 4: Acquiring the taste and (eek!) learning to like it!?!
Please send me vegetable or recipe suggestions! I love recommendations!
Feb 2013 Update: Teaching yourself to like veggies really is possible! Now a year after deciding venture into veggie-world, I can proudly say that I like more veggies than I can count on my hands and make them a regular part of our weekly meals!
Email me { [email protected] }
...like hamburgers.
Yep, hamburgers... I never had one until I was 20 years old. My menu started growing and I was becoming a lot less picky than I had been growing up.
Not many of these new items involved vegetables though.
I see it like this... if I think I hate something, that is only holding me back in life.
Regardless of what it is, I should work at getting over it.
Another reason for me to learn to like veggies... If "what goes around comes around" is true when I have kids, I'm doomed! And if I still eat like I have been, how could I ever expect a child to eat healthy, if I wasn't setting that example myself?
So why, in my adulthood, have I still avoided veggies? I think it is because I didn't know how to properly cook them. If I can learn to make the veggies in a way that I like, then maybe I'll make them a regular part of meals.
Dumping a pile of shriveled veggies out of a can is not appetizing to me. So I needed to learn how to cook fresh vegetables. I decided to take a toned down approach of "Julie & Julia," where a lady cooks a new her way through a Julia Child cookbook with a new recipe every day for a year... I knew I didn't have the time to try a new veggie recipe every day, but every week was a more attainable goal.
And here we are! I know I won't like them all, but trying them is half the battle!
Step 1: Deciding to try it.
Step 2: Actually trying it.
Step 3: Not absolutely hating it.
Step 4: Acquiring the taste and (eek!) learning to like it!?!
Please send me vegetable or recipe suggestions! I love recommendations!
Feb 2013 Update: Teaching yourself to like veggies really is possible! Now a year after deciding venture into veggie-world, I can proudly say that I like more veggies than I can count on my hands and make them a regular part of our weekly meals!
Email me { [email protected] }