Picky Eaters: When Waffles and Fries Are All You Eat

ABC News ^ | 8/10/10 | Emily Friedman

[Marie]

We once hosted one of my husband’s single soldiers for Thanksgiving Dinner. The guy wouldn’t eat anything I made. He didn’t “like” turkey. The gravy was an “odd color”. The homemade rolls smelled “too much like bread”. (I think he meant that he could smell the yeast.) The scratch vegetable chowder “had onions in it”. He ate the crust of the apple pie, but not the filling. He actually gagged once. I’ve never been so insulted.

As soon as the meal was over, he left.

I told my husband, “At least we now know why he’s single!”

This is the first and only time a single soldier has behaved with nothing but respect and gratitude. I’m glad that I kept hosting dinners.

[stayathomemom]

My elder daughter at 26, still has problems with Brussels sprouts (Barbie cabbages) although she is an adventurous eater and cook too. I had her try the sprouts the way I make them. She deemed them passible. Kroger has some pretty mild frozen ones. I heat them in the microwave then add butter and Pepperidge Farm seasoned breadcrumbs. My husband and I love them.

[Nepeta]

That is why I tell me children they HAVE TO try everything. They dont have to eat it if they dont like it, but they have to try it (and swallow)

Children and adults have different taste preferences, which is part of why children are less than enthusiastic about vegetables. I did not like any kind of cheese when I was a kid, but that changed, as did my liking for a wide range of vegetables.

Adults who only eat a limited number of foods have problems. Some of them were spoiled as children; some learned that their mother's cooking was the only way to eat. They aren't much fun to be around (I once knew a woman who would only eat ONE vegetable dish--peas with tiny onions) and they are also missing out on a world of flavors.

[chris_bdba]

I’ve had them that way too and still can’t swallow them.For me they come under the more you chew the bigger they get.ICK!

[CaspersGh0sts]

“In the General/Chat forum, on a thread titled Picky Eaters: When Waffles and Fries Are All You Eat, ViLaLuz wrote: Since when is a personal food choice a medical condition? Sheesh.”

I guess one could say that shooting up heroine is a personal choice. There are, per se, few health consequences that stem directly from it. That whole resulting endocarditis and spiraling addiction thing, however....

Same thing goes with a diet of little more than processed carbs and fat. The man is a fool, and his body is paying the price for it, no doubt.

[SoftballMominVA]

I’m with you

When my two were growing up, I made a decision to just not make food a big deal. I made it, served it, and they ate or didn’t eat. Either way, food was there. I would offer to make up a plate of leftovers if anyone was a bit uninterested.

No real snacks in the house for anyone after dinner. If my girls didn’t eat, I just didn’t make any kind of deal about it. I wanted NO control issues over food like I had when I was growing up and my dad would FORCE scrambled eggs in my mouth.

Go figure, when there are no control issues over foods, kids tend to try different things, especially when they get hungry!

[Mr Fuji]

I like your approach. It sounds like a win/win to me. The kids get good food put in front of them and if they don’t honestly like it, they get another nutritious alternative and not coddled to by giving into them with junk food and junk snacks after the fact.

I’m not such a hard butt in that I believe that you have to eat everything placed in front of you or else. I know there are foods that kids and adults honestly do not care for and that’s fine by me. On the other hand, I believe in nutrition for children too and not feeding them a diet of boxed mac-n-cheese, pop-tarts and frozen pizza because they won’t eat anything half-way nutritious.

[ComeCulturedGirl]

Omg ! That’s my favorites

[VoiceOfBruck]

So pretty much, you eat everything except salt?

I try to keep salt to a minimum - high blood pressure. Actually my amateur gourmet wife informs me that one of the Indian spices she uses is actually a mineral resin of some kind (?).