I am definitely Veggie challenged....
 

I have been this way ever since I was about 5 or 6, before that my mom has told me that I loved veggies (even used to eat cabbage raw). One day I just could not or would not eat specific veggies. She tried everything on me even asked the pediatrician what to do and his reply was to simply wait it out. Well, I am now 31 years old and am still waiting. I only eat a select few veggies like tomatoes (only they have to be in sauce form or paste), potatoes, carrots (raw only), onions (only for flavoring something and then either blended up of pulled out), and a few others only blended. I know this may sound like a very bad joke but sadly it is not. I have an issue with texture it gets pretty bad in fact I have made several attempts at eating lettuce and my gag reflex took over. It stinks because I really do wish and want to eat veggies I just can't get over the hump (some salads looks very good and even smells good to me but I'm afraid of the gag reflex). Not sure what to do about it and have run out of ideas so I'm hoping maybe someone on here may have an idea or two. Thanks.

The trick to eating veggies you don't like is to try preparing them a different way. Onions raw are okay in some dishes, but must be cooked to a sweet, caramel brown color for other dishes. But that's just me. I love veggies, but never tried anything new as a teen. (I was told i used to eat brussle sprouts like candy when I was a baby but stopped and I didn't try them again till I was 22...for no reason.) I made a vow when I wanted to be Moe veggitarian that I would be a healthy one, so I wanted to try a new veggie every other week or so. Most I love, like kale (raw or baked crispy like chips) and mustard and collard greens. All 3 i've never had till last year.
You might want to think about really making a goal or trying a veggie made in different ways until you find that you like it. (Though there will be some you will never like no matter how you prepare them. ) just never give up. It's always nice to see a bright colorful dish of nature's vitamin supplements. They fill you up will little calories and it's the way nature intended for you to get your fiber, vitamins and minerals.

Maybe try finding some dishes that have veggies and dice them up very small. Try the same dish the next week but this time cut them a bit bigger. Tonight I made homemade chili and it called for yellow peppers. I hated any peppers until I tried this trick about a year ago. Now I actually try to find recipes that use them. Your not abnormal! I hated any kind of veggies until I was about 36. Don't give up. Just get creative.

I don't like veggies and sadly not big on fruit either. I have tried over the years to eat them to no avail. I am also a texture person, but they don't appeal to me visually either. Not sure how what to do about it besides take a multivitamin.

Yes! When I cook, I always chop the vegetables very small. My boyfriend likes huge chunks of veggies, but that just puts me off. I don't mind the taste of veggies, just the texture!

thebigskinny, maybe you could slowly up the ratio of vegetables in certain recipes? Or use recipes that call for lots of veggies but don't *seem* like they do? That probably doesn't make that much sense, haha. Something like a stir-fry, maybe? I didn't like veggies at all before, but now I think I am used to them. Part of the appeal is thinking about how good for you they are! :D

Note--Sorry if this posts multiple times--this is my first post and I can't tell if it is going through!!!


Hello Jinxy! I used to have a lot of "food phobias." Most of them had to do with fruit. I figured out that I wouldn't eat most fruits and many veggies because, to be honest, my parents were poor and kind of mentally ill so they bought cheap, not-fresh produce on sale and then didn't keep the kitchen clear of food waste in any kind of normal fashion. I have no idea if your veggie aversions have to do with some early experience you may not remember, but --mine really did. Does anything come to mind?

Anyway, the way I got over my phobias was to bravely eat food prepared by others that had a small amount of the dreaded ingredient. For example, I couldn't eat raw tomatoes, but when I felt up the challenge and I was offered a salad, I would wrap a tiny bit of tomato up in a piece of lettuce and chew gingerly. It took about ten years for me to go from eating only starchy veggies, cooking greens, and grapefruit to including raw tomatoes, berries, cooked apples, all citrus, mangoes, and...I don't remember what-all. That includes getting over aversions to taste, texture, smell, appearance, and/or how long they stay fresh.

Anyway, this apporach takes time, but I was never successful forcing myself to eat anything. Often I would just take a bite or two of the food then pick the rest out, but now I ADORE veggies.

Another idea--seasonings can really improve the flavor of dishes with lots of veggies. If you don't use a lot of herbs and spices now, you could try experimenting. :)

I am right there with you also....I have tried many the ideas that people have put on this website itself. I now eat turnip fries...you chop up the turnip in fry shape put a little olive oil over them and then put them in a bag with some sea salt and seasoning, shake them up put them in the oven and bake....they aren't that bad....and if you can't handle them plain add a little walden farms dressing or ketchup to them :) another one I am going to try tonight adds a vanilla ip drink packet and a handful of spinach and ice all together with the alloted water and mix it up in a blender and your not supposed to taste the spinach. I have taken cabbage and grated it up like cheese you then put in a microwave safe container with vents (no water or anything added) and you let it more or less steam itself up it winds up like rice and when you cover it in steak or another protein you don't really notice. Google that you hate vegetables and need recipes and there are others out there. I am trying some a little at a time but I know what you mean.....lettuce and salads look awesome but to me they smell like but spray and the texture issue nails me and it's gag time.........your not alone. I hope that you can find something that works for you.:)

I've been trying to eat more veggies.i love fruit,but i have to be careful with them cause i can binge on them.I like fruit better than sweets

i was really pissed when the nutritionist told me to limit the amount of fruit I was eating. But I have gotten used to it and I only pig out occasionally now :p:

I am definitely veggie challenged. I can't eat any without having to chug water with it, or have something like soup or sauce masking it. Fruits don't fare any better with me, I can only eat bananas alone, the rest I have to blend or juice to consume. I wish there was a powder or something that I could drink that would change my taste buds.

Me, too - veggie hater. They're ok swimming in butter or some kind of cheese sauce, but I don't like them naked.

I'm trying different ways to cook them to disguise the taste. And when I can afford it I want to try that Ninja thing that makes fruit/veggie smoothies where you can't taste the veggies......that would work.

Great thread - I hate vegetables to have done since I was about 8, I'm 25 now and am still waiting aswell. I too like them in cheese sauce but not on their own, I find the taste repulsive. However I did read in a magazine that it takes 21 days to form a new habit so I am currently on day 6 of trying to form a veggie eating habit (naked veggies that is). I have also found putting oyster sauce on them can actually make them edible (just)

I'm like you gals! :grouphug: We need to form a support group! I'm a picky eater in general. Have made some progress over the years but at 51 I doubt I'll ever eat like a "regular person."

Anyway, I'm trying to drum up interest for a picky eaters support thread, if anyone is interested please send me a PM!

I like them when other people cook them :) There are quite a few I don't like, or avoid. Sometimes, as others have noted, it's a matter of how they're cooked. We're all different, but for me, I like broccoli steamed, but but not raw. I could not eat broccoli salad, until one day I steamed it just for a minute or two and it made a difference. Some people hate green beans that are cut on the diagonal, but like them cut crosswise. Experiment? Try a different vegetable every week?

We are spoiled, aren't we? Whenever I try to deal with all the things I "just can't eat," I think of the cave. Can you imagine someone 10,000 years ago saying, "Not Mastadon again!!" (insert temper tantrum) We would have eaten anything -- including a whole lot of green leaves!

I have to "disguise" my vegetables to make them appealing, in most cases. I like raw onion on some things (Mexican things, mostly, and cheeseburgers, which are not on my "happy list" right now, lol). But the rest of them I have to put in a dish. Try adding them to stir fry dishes--I have a sesame chicken recipe that tastes good with random vegetables dumped in, and when you cook it with the sesame and soy sauce, the veggies taste pretty much just like the chicken (and then you can drown it in kung pao sauce or something else, if that's appropriate to the diet you're on).

The other thing I like to do to get my veggies in is make soup. I will double the amount of veggies the recipe calls for, add more "juice" to compensate, and slow-cook it all day. Same result: everything in the pot is similar-flavored and cooked soft.