I have the Same problem with my now 6 yr old and to make matters worse my 2 year old watches his reaction and behaviors to food so he will only eat the vegetables big brother eats but if big brother eats it he will too which winds up being corn or carrots ... he cant have carrots ! for allergy reasons... and then corn ! corn ! you know the stuff that has no nutritional value and you poop it out whole ( and he DOES poop it out whole ) ....my husband is the SAME way hes like a child If I make a different vegetable or I make a vegetable prepared a certain way he won't even TRY ONE BITE UGH... even when we get stir frys or or sauces that I make with little tiny specks of red peppers or green peppers ( he will actually pick out the little specks or not eat it at ALL ) its ridiculous and I know this is where my 6 year old learned it from and now teaching my 2 yr old .... they all 3 drive me nuts ... my husband always says " salads are for rabbits"
I also agree with nelie and yoyoma about genetics and upbringing ...
My husband was raised not eating vegetables or spiced up foods ..I was opposite I was raised on EVERY vegetable or fruit you can think of and different ways of eating them and spices ! I mean if something called for 1 clove of garlic my moms rule was 5 cloves to every 1 called for in recipe
and also I think everyones taste buds are different as in "more or less sensative" I wouldn't mind if my husband tryed a bite and honestly didn't like something ( I wish he would try for the kids sake but) I really just get irritated when he wont even try one little bite .... thats is the crap my 6 yr old does .... grow up hubby!
I hated peas growing up and no matter how hard my mom tried .. I was not eating them they smelled like stinky feet... but THEN I grew up and now I eat them and they taste good!
my 6 year old IF I can even get him to try a bite of something hes already made up his mind he doesn't want to like it so even if he secretly does like it he wont admit and says " I don't like it" ( he will continue eating bites if we are not looking )
mxgirl737 - I can definately relate to you that is how I feel about mushrooms and your post cracked me up !
this reminds me of the V8 commercials haha * did you have your veggies today? *BONK*
Personally--I don't care what other people eat! I'm too busy watching what I eat... And, I don't care what other people like or don't like, unless I'm inviting them to my house for dinner...
Oh I agree about one or two veggies or wahtever. I don't like brussels sprouts. I've had them boiled, steamed, baked, broiled, roasted, grilled ... I just don't like them. I'm not terribly fond of pickled beets either (although I love raw beets). Oh and okra in any form other than fried makes me gag -I think it's the sliminess of the "juice".
But to blanketly reject ALL veggies as "gross" ... just on principle. Give me a break.
And Jay, I'm all about live and let live, but when you ask me a question and then shriek "ewwwwww" like a bratty 3 year old? Then, yeah, I get a little peeved.
my bf always claimed he was illergic to vegetables....
that was until he met me n started coming for t at my house....
finally found out it wasnt the case at all....
he simply hadnt tried any of them....
now he has at least three portions a day....
I LOVE my veggies and feel sorry for anyone who doesn't!
One of my dear friends has a 10 year old daughter who not only will eat no veggies (or actually she does now eat baby carrots, which my friend treats as a major source of pride!), she only eats one or two fruits. I recently took a large tossed salad to a party where my friend and daughter were present - salad consisted of romaine and spinach, feta, walnuts, strawberries. I served with a raspberry vinagrette and it got RAVES and was gone quickly. I tried to coax her daughter to eat some of the strawberries plain -- she had NEVER HAD A STRAWBERRY BEFORE!!! This was shocking to me. This child lives on fast food and when at home either chicken nuggets with ranch or mac and cheese (her two dinner staples)
It is because she has not been EXPOSED to veggies by my friend, her mom, who brings home fast food at least 3 times a week. This little girl will grow up into an EWWW adult when veggies are mentioned. It's sad, though, because it's not her fault.
Last night I prepared the following dinner - fresh, shelled butter bean (tiny limas) bought at the farmer's market - served with drizzle of olive oil, salt, lemon pepper, and a dash of dill; green beans with sauteed with a light asian sauce; fresh sweet corn; sliced tomatoes (also from market); and my dh was given a small chicken breast with this. I made mine into a huge salad and added black beans (just canned). I ate the butter beans in a separate bowl, and they were delicious. It was a hodge podge of what I had on hand - for me a delicious meal of just veggies, and for DH a good "cleansing" meal (as he informed me this morning - lol). We currently are anxiously awaiting peppers, cukes, eggplant, tomatoes, zuchinni, and squash from our garden.
I LOVE my veggies and feel sorry for anyone who doesn't!
It is because she has not been EXPOSED to veggies by my friend, her mom, who brings home fast food at least 3 times a week. This little girl will grow up into an EWWW adult when veggies are mentioned. It's sad, though, because it's not her fault.
I feel the same way! I feel sorry for people who don't appreciate veggies. They don't know what they're missing out on. Just like I didn't before I changed my lifestyle.
When I bring a platter of roasted veggies to the table, my DH comments almost every single time just how attractive they are. We (my family) scarf down an enormous platterful. When I serve butternut squash, baked with apples, walnuts and maple syrup, I've got people fighting for the last drop of it. When I make a salad full of baby spinach, romaine hearts, mango, yellow peppers, strawberries, red onions, mandarin oranges, and walnuts, we're scrapping the bowl trying to get each and every bite in. When I make spicy roasted cauliflower with cayenne pepper, cumin, garlic and onion I need to make more then 2 heads at a time, to just try and accomodate every one. Oh I can go on and on........
As far as the EWWW about veggies. What she and many others should be EWWWing about - is that fast food she dines on 3X a week.
BTW, lots of your veggie recipes look delicious - I will be trying butternut that way next winter. I've seen you post about it often. YUM!
As far as being attractive, I agree on that one too... last night when I handed my DH his plate, his first comment was "This is a colorful dinner." I forgot to add that we also had leftover cauliflower and red pepper salad. It was different shades of green, orange, red - so pretty!
I wish I loved veggies. I really do. It would make life a lot easier. I keep trying them in the hopes that new and different preparations will make a difference.
I have 'acclimated' to some new ones, but others give me a gag reflex (mushrooms are a great example of that). Do you ever have that where your throat just locks up? (Buttermilk by itself does that to me, too. My grandmother used to drink that by the glass and I tried one time LOL!)
I have found that pureeing them and adding to other foods like tomato sauce is a great way for me to eat them. Can you say little kid anyone??
So, I will plug along eating the few veggies I do eat everyday: broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, radishes, bell peppers, fennel. I'll keep trying new ones, but as long as I am getting in something - that is a huge step for me.
Last edited by fiberlover; 06-22-2008 at 12:22 PM.
I have found that pureeing them and adding to other foods like tomato sauce is a great way for me to eat them. Can you say little kid anyone??
I puree certain veggies too! I got my mom a magic bullet it is amazing! My parents puree onion, celery, and bell pepper and seperate it into freezer bags and throw it in everything we eat.
Have you tried cauliflower mashed 'potatoes'..It is absolutely delicious and better than real potatoes!
After reading all this, I'm grateful that my husband (native southerner who grew up on boiled vegetables and gravy) is as into veggies as he is. If he thinks he doesn't like a particular veggie, he will at least try it when I prepare it a new way, and he's very into ethnic cuisines that include lots of veggies and beans. Our 12-year-old will eat nearly anything, including any veggies and fruits. The 7-year-old is a super-taster, we think, so he hates everything...but he eats a few veggies and fruits. The 5-year-old is the worst, but her issue with veggies is just to have a power struggle with us, probably.
So yeah, phew, I'm grateful it's not so bad at our house!
I wish I loved veggies. I really do. It would make life a lot easier. I keep trying them in the hopes that new and different preparations will make a difference.
I have 'acclimated' to some new ones, but others give me a gag reflex (mushrooms are a great example of that). Do you ever have that where your throat just locks up? (Buttermilk by itself does that to me, too. My grandmother used to drink that by the glass and I tried one time LOL!)
I have found that pureeing them and adding to other foods like tomato sauce is a great way for me to eat them. Can you say little kid anyone??
So, I will plug along eating the few veggies I do eat everyday: broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, radishes, bell peppers, fennel. I'll keep trying new ones, but as long as I am getting in something - that is a huge step for me.
Oh yes, I feel VERY fortunate that I like so many vegetables. I do agree that it's made this whole lifestyle change MUCH more enjoyable and without a doubt easier.
You happen to like some of my favorites - broccoli, carrots, peppers and broccoli. But I despise fennel and don't care much for radishes. We really are all different.
When people say they don't like vegetables, I wonder if they're exaggerating. I mean can they really not like the whole entire vast varieties of veggies that are out there? I surely hope not.
Even someone who doesn't like many veggies, like Lori, has found at least some to enjoy.
Last edited by rockinrobin; 06-22-2008 at 02:23 PM.
My husband and daughter are allergic to many fruits -- bananas, strawberries, nectarines, peaches, pineapple, watermelon, etc. The fruit literally makes their throats itch and sting. They've definitely carried this over to the veggie arena. Can't say as I blame them; I'd be very reluctant to try something new if I thought it would make my throat go crazy. As for the people responding 'eewwww' when you say veggies -- so what? They're entitled to their opinions, different from yours though they may be. If they don't want to try something new, it's their loss. If someone responded to me that way I'd just smile knowingly and have a big old plate of various veggies.
Personally--I don't care what other people eat! I'm too busy watching what I eat... And, I don't care what other people like or don't like, unless I'm inviting them to my house for dinner...
I like vegetables. I wish I could cook them as good as my grandmother does, but I am experimenting.
I can pinpoint 3 kind of veggies I can't eat. White big beans (I love their taste but every time I ate them I would get really sick in the stomach), okra (they feel extremely slimy in the mouth. Mum and I always argue because she loves their taste to pieces) and butter-squash (I find it to be sickening sweet).
my mom never really made us eat veggies. my parents weren't really into them so... my grandma would try, but me, my bro, and my sis (who are stick thin!) would reject them. Sometimes even throw a little fit. We NEVER ate salad. my parents don't like it... so we were never around it. I JUST ate green pepper for the first time a few months ago. It's my favorite!
I think it has a lot to do with how you're raised. Mom made a lot of hotdishes and we ate a lot of fruit. My brother and sister will still not touch most veggies. They'll maybe eat like 3 --carrorts, potatoes, and mushrooms. My brother is 21 and will still have a tantrum if there is onions or tomatoes that still look like tomatoes in ANYTHING. (again, mom never really cooked with them...or if she did, she'd make us kids a different meal).
It's just how we were raised. Very plain, picky eaters. It's hard to change that. I have made HUGE progress. But I still refuse to eat some things that I won't even try...sorry.
I have the Same problem with my now 6 yr old and to make matters worse my 2 year old watches his reaction and behaviors to food so he will only eat the vegetables big brother eats but if big brother eats it he will too which winds up being corn or carrots ... he cant have carrots ! for allergy reasons... and then corn ! corn ! you know the stuff that has no nutritional value and you poop it out whole ( and he DOES poop it out whole ) ....my husband is the SAME way hes like a child If I make a different vegetable or I make a vegetable prepared a certain way he won't even TRY ONE BITE UGH... even when we get stir frys or or sauces that I make with little tiny specks of red peppers or green peppers ( he will actually pick out the little specks or not eat it at ALL ) its ridiculous and I know this is where my 6 year old learned it from and now teaching my 2 yr old .... they all 3 drive me nuts ... my husband always says " salads are for rabbits" 
