Picky Eaters

[Buckly]

Originally Posted by pao2310

I remember asking for my sixth birthday to have seafood pizza, my favorite food. It was my favorite because that is just what my dad would ordered when we went out for pizza, I guess I did not know I had a choice to get a "normal" pizza like cheese or peperonni - lol!

I have a similar story with my daughter. I love to cook and try many different things. My daughter grew up this way and when you ask her what she wants to eat is steamed veggies and usually steak. I remember when she was about 5 or 6 and I was in a rush and made cheeseburgers and french fries at home. She was so excited and said "I didn't know we could have these at home". She thought they only came from fast food places. From then on I tried to let her pick what she wanted to eat at least once a week.

Picky eaters drive me nuts too. No one in my house can afford to be picky. Heck, I just pulled a golden zucchini out of my dogs mouth this am. But my mother is VERY picky. And eating out with her is embarrassing. Not only does she not like anything that is not dipped in grease she wants whatever else cooked to her liking (which is always over cooked and not right) and will send things back or gripe about it. We only eat out once a year.

[StewartG]

Originally Posted by playawannabe

"If God didn't want us to eat animals, he wouldn't have made them out of meat..."

I really COULD make a Jeffry Dahmer joke here, but I won't. It would be in bad taste.

(get it?)

Originally Posted by playawannabe

There is not much that I won't eat, but I have a number of food that I don't care for, like raw and green onions, mushrooms, peppers (they don't like me!) fresh tomatoes, shrimp (its rubbery and weird).

Shrimp, when prepared IMPROPERLY, can be rubbery. Shrimp are VERY easy to overcook! When very fresh and prepared properly, however, shrimp should be firm and tender with a very mild flavor.

[queencityfan]

I think I was fortunate to be raised in a household that encouraged trying new things. We traveled quite a bit too and had the opportunity to eat "local" all over the country.


I'm about the least picky eater I know, the only exception for me is olives, don't know why I just don't care for them. I do still try them every once in a while, just in case my tastes have changed.


We have some very close friends that are picky eaters and to tell the truth I dread going out to eat with them cause nothing on the menu will suit them, it all has to be altered especially for them.


My kids are all fairly aventurous about food with the exception of my 17 year old, she's pretty much a meat and potato girl.


I was never a Mom who fixed separate meals for my kids because it did'nt suit them , seems to me that's causing kids to be more picky and demanding.

I love reading reviews where people say they are picky like it's something to be proud of!

[StewartG]

P.S. I hate catfish. I think it tastes like dirty, nasty mud.

[farmgirl]

I love this thread, thanks!!
In our house we have me who will eat almost anything, then my husband who is very picky, drives me nuts!! He also has a brother who grew up on cornflakes because he is so picky. My 2 older kids will try everything and actually like alot of different things. My younger daughter is starting to come around (13), but my youngest boy (10) is horrid!! He won't try anything new. He eats some meat, some raw veggies and cereal. He wouldn't even eat steak until I told him that it was what they grind up for hot dogs (little white lie, but it worked). I've tried to get him to eat things, but he litteraly gags at the table at the sight of cauliflower or broccoli. When he was alot younger his dad would always say, leave him be, he is just little. So, my thoughts on this one are that it is learned, not born into you. My husbands mother was very accomodating to her kids too. If we could go back and not have my husband encouraging the picky eating, I think my son would be a better eater. He won't even eat potatoes unless they are french fries!! In mexico he lived on fries, 3 meals a day. I encourage my kids to keep trying things, that their tastebuds mature as they get older. Worked with the older kids, maybe will work with the spoiled baby, who knows!!

[Ranger]

Originally Posted by StewartG

P.S. I hate catfish. I think it tastes like dirty, nasty mud.

I'm not a catfish conasoir (sp) but you may stumble on a way that it's prepared that makes it taste good.
I am not at all picky, everything goes. My wife had a somewhat limited iet due t her father not liking things like lamb. Now she does very well, wont eat a lot of things I do but will try a lot of "non darkside foods".
My parents are pretty picky (my mothers fault) they say that I eat the way thier parents ate. My mothers parents came from Europe pre-WWII and ith 11 kids they grew up with little, but my grandmother was a fantastic cook and I aways ate whatever she had from pickled herring to stuffed cabbage and a strange thin stocked mushroom soup. My mther still ells my faher that HE does'nt lke mushrooms and he always says "they look ad smell good"'.

[Gulliver]

I am a picky eater. Mostly meat and potatoes, very few vegetables. Not much sea food either. I believe that greens and vegetables are the food that gets fed to food to fatten it up. Or something like that.

[tlegray]

Someone talking about food???? It's a good day.

I lean more toward foodies are made but it's not just about the food they were given as children. It's about being encouraged to be adventurous and independent too. It's also about friends...goes back to obesity is contagious. I'll eat just about anything. I'm not crazy about raw onions or olives. I don't eat blue cheese or peaches...both have a hairy taste to me. Very weird I know.

Stewie do tell where the Polish market is located. Any other markets you'd like to share would be greatly appreciated too. I travel all over Houston to buy my groceries. I'm especially looking for an Italian market, where to get good homemade breads, a cheese store, and a butcher. Also where do you buy lamb? (This I haven't really looked for yet. We usually get this when going out to eat)

[ELECTRA]

Very interesting Suzie QRoo!

My opinion is that a picky eater is MADE.
It is a result of packaged and frozen food. This type of food stems from our fast-paced society where both parents are working and little time is left to prepare meals etc.
I came from a family that said "what you don't like the food mom made for you? It is all good, natural, and it is good for you! You can eat it now or you can go to bed hungry!!"

Children are taught to eat! It should be said however that there are foods that produce allergies etc or foods that just do not agree with our systems for one reason or another. I, for example do not like chicken that is on the bone. I get a taste in my mouth that affects every cell in my body, a kind of sensation. Allergie?? perhaps not but definately some kind of reaction.

I have always eaten home cooked meals and even pack them for lunch. The other day I had small packed lunch and had to buy something else. I went into McDonalds and though I would try the "chicken wrap" "At only $1.39!!" (commercial echoing in my head). It was the most bland, tasteless, textureless thing I have ever eaten!!
I came back and told a co-worker (she lives on frozen, packaged food) and she said "Ohh I Loooove those!!".
I was in shock. Good food is something you have to learn. You learn frozen and tasteless, and that is what you will consider good food and you will reject the rest. You learn good food starting at home as a child, in the kitchen, with mom and grandma, Not in the freezer or microwave. Home cooked food is the foundation by which you expand your pallet as you grow up.

.

[Rissask]

Originally Posted by Susie Q Roo

Are they born or made?

I don't know if this frustrates me so much because I used to be one or what, but it's one of those things that annoys the hell out of me. (And, yes, it IS irrational to feel that way... why should I care what anyone wants to eat? )

In my own defense of when I USED TO BE one, I was raised in a home with a mom who really didn't cook to speak of and for whom Kraft Dinner was a staple. If we were lucky, there was meatloaf, or spaghetti (sauce made from tomato *juice* ), but usually it was chipped chopped ham or bologna sandwiches and, eventually, freezer meals and every man for himself.

But... I left home, I grew up, I expanded my taste buds and my food horizons. Lots of people do. Why don't the others? Why are they stuck with the taste buds of a 4 year old?

Jeez, Babaloo, eat your damn beets already!

[Rissask]

But seriously....

I think they are made, not born, too. I think it's mostly just upbringing and culture. My husbands family is Mennonite and talk about BLAND food...basically the only spices in his mom's cupboard was salt and pepper when he was growing up. Once he left home his horizons were expanded a bit, now he loves spicy food, Indian food, etc.
But when we have his mom over for supper I have to be very careful to make the food really bland or she won't even eat it!

I am picky about some things, I admit. I never used to like seafood, now I like it, but I still hate salmon or any really 'fishy' tasting fish.

I can't choke down horseradish or wasabi or pickled ginger for the life of me, although I love other strong tasting foods...I don't think that makes me picky though, everyone has likes and dislikes. I am willing to try new things, but if I don't like it, I am not likely to try it again.

[MWC]

Originally Posted by Rissask

Jeez, Babaloo, eat your damn beets already!

Really!
I'm not sure he has been a good influence on our Susita.

[Babaloo]

Originally Posted by Rissask

Jeez, Babaloo, eat your damn beets already!

i am not a picky eater - at all
i will try most anything
i don't like everything i try
i prefer some foods over others
in china, i ate duck's tongue and leeches
that ain't picky
of course, i had no idea what it was when i ate it

foods i choose not to eat - but will (to be polite):
Brussels Sprouts
Olives
Liver
Cow Ass
Cooked spinach or collard greens

[Susie Q Roo]

Originally Posted by Rissask

Jeez, Babaloo, eat your damn beets already!

Believe me.... if HE was the one who frustrated me, he wouldn't be here! I broke up with a guy one time because he wouldn't eat anything green! I took him to a chain Mexican restaurant one time and he made me order for him. He didn't know what anything there was and didn't think he'd like it.

Now, Rick doesn't like to eat things the way I prepare them sometimes, but it's not the food itself. I tend to like a lot of things chopped fine, and he prefers big pieces of whatever it is. According to him he likes "to recognize his food." There's a fine line for me between vegetables cooked right and undercooked, and if I have to choose between over and undercooked (veggies only), I'd prefer overcooked. I think he'd prefer under. Anyway, we get along just fine on the food front, mostly.

EDIT: Beets?

[KMS]

I have to believe that picky eaters can be born or made. My youngest son is probably the pickest eater I have ever seen, but has been like that since the day he sat in a highchair and ate solid food. He absolutely would not eat vegetables, would spit them out and his whole body would shudder until you moved them away. We always offered them, but even as an 8 month old baby, he would not touch anything on the tray until the vegetables were off they tray. Thinking maybe the green color of most vegetables turned him off, I tried carrots, cauliflower, etc. but didn't work. To this day he doesn't eat any vegetables at all, no fish, very little in the way of fruit, dairy products, and is even more picky then he was as little kid. Even the smell of alot foods makes him feel sick, or so he says.
For 8 years through grade school, he had peanut butter & jelly every single day for lunch. I talked to his pediatrician at almost every visit when he was young about how to get him to eat more foods, and basically was told you just can't force it, keep offering different foods is the best you can do. I worried alot about it mostly because it was so unhealthy. His brother, on the other, who is only 1 year older will try most everything. I once read an article about people who have extremely sensitive taste buds and are picky eaters because of that, don't know if I believe it, but it sure seems to be the case with him.