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sigh. There are very, very, very few things about my FI that annoy me, but one of them is that he is a picky eater. In my mind, all he likes is "kid food." (pizza, macaroni, ham sandwiches, pasta, etc.)
contrasted to me, the one who does the cooking (usually,) I LOVE experimenting with new foods, and trying different ethnic food and trying new things. Sometimes...it's just so hard to find things to cook that don't have ingredients he doesn't like in them!
Here's a partial list of what he doesn't like (the things I can remember at the moment)
-peas
-bacon
-hummus (one of my favorite things!)
-ground beef (he says it doesn't taste like beef... umm...true, I guess...in a scary way...)
-shrimp
-mushrooms
-pretty much anything else that is remotely "strong" tasting, like blue cheese or olives
And even when I think I've got a good meal, there is always SOMETHING that he pushes to the side of his plate, usually just cuz it's "weird" (like artichoke hearts.)
Maybe he is like a little kid, in that I just need to introduce things to him several times before he will eat them!
@joy2011: I have one of those guys in my home too, but luckily for me, I've convinced him that trying things isn't always a bad idea, and sometimes he's pleasantly surprised. The best you can do is keep plugging away at him, and just remind him that you're cooking things differently each time, so while he may not have enjoyed that pea in a casserole, he may like it in a soup?
Just keep a mental list of the progress you make with him, like certain styles of cooking or spices you may have used that he's gravitating towards, and you'll be able to develop a list of things he'll eat. Also, maybe you can trick him by sliding some "good for you" food into thiings he does like-- maybe some mashed cauliflower into his mashed potatoes? Things like that.
I know it gets frustrating. Stick with it. :)
@JulesSchnooks:thanks! He usually is pretty good about "trying things," and I appreciate the effort, I just need to remember that he really and truely doesn't like as many things as I do! And appreciate his effort. And keep trying to find ways to "disguise" things. :-)
Actually, we have a theory: his sense of smell is really strong (he's always smelling things that other people can't, like talking about how there is a different smell for every single person's house!) and I've heard that smell and taste are directly related, so maybe that's why he is a picky eater...
@joy2011: Well if that's true, maybe it would be helpful for you to play around with a more bland diet for him and gradually introduce the new things into it. I agree that hearts of palm are a little more pungent than a lot of things. Or artichoke hearts can be a bit of a shock for someone testing out their pallets.
Maybe try some rice-heavy or pasta type dishes? Work up to things that might be overpowering?
When all else fails, hand him a nose plug. :) ;-)
I've always been a picky eater, but I've definitely improved a lot since I was a kid. I love cooking and making new dishes, but for me it's essential that something looks appealing. If something doesn't look appealing, chances are that I won't like it.
I also don't like ground beef. It's not so much the taste as the consistency... it just seems gross to me.
I don't like melted cheese (although I love pizza... weird I know), most types of seafood and mushrooms.
I'm sure your SO can improve as well. Maybe try to find new ways to prepare ingredients that he doesn't like? Maybe try to get him used to spicy food as well, that might improve his dislike for "strong tasting" food.
Agreed. Maybe look at recipes with him, and ask him which he'd prefer to try first? Having him involved in the process is a start too! :) I'm sure you do that already, but it could be a nice bonding experience if nothing else. And cook the meal together. Maybe he'd be more apt to like something he put in some labor preparing along with you?
I like doing it that way, personally. If I relied on my picky eater to cook for the both of us, I'd be eating the same 2 things for the rest of my life. :) I know you said you did most of the cooking though, but I know it can be frustrating when it feels like you're limited.
Oh man I feel for you...that would really frustrate me because I love to cook as well and those are just so many limitations.
Is he willing to taste new things?
Maybe to make it easier for yourself- what if you made chicken but on your plate you added olive tapenade sauce and he could just have it plain- or steak with blue cheese sauce and he could just omit the sauce...as a way to cook for both of you without having to limit things yourself...?
When we first started dating, his only foods: fries/tater tots, cheese-only quesadilla, tomato soup, refried beans, cheese or pepperoni pizza, and potato chips. That is literally all he would eat.
We've slowly worked on adding meat (his mom enforced a vegetarian diet). He will now eat chicken tenders, hamburgers, hot dogs, and sirloin steaks. We've also added rice, caesar salad, baked apples, and chicken noodle soup.
Still won't eat: nachos, barbeque, macaroni, any other vegetable, most fruits, olives, beans, any type of sandwich.
Sometimes I force: spaghetti, ramen, bread products
Every person's house DOES have its own smell. Even if you can't notice it directly, think of when you slept over at a friend's house and returned home...your pillow no longer smells like YOUR house, it smells like theirs.
But not liking bacon? What's up with that? lol. My hubby is a somewhat picky eater, (seafood makes him sick, so I don't blame him for not eating that!), but I don't think he's QUITE as bad as your FI.
I saw an episode of "Freaky Eaters" the other night, and the lady could ONLY eat french fries. Every meal, every day, for 26 years. They did genetic testing on her, and her results were incredibly abnormal regarding taste. I guess some people are just programmed to be pickier.
Been there! I'm very lucky, he's converted to eating everything and enjoying every second of it! Now he uses more garlic than I do! : ) He's becoming a great cook and food critic :D
My FI is extremely picky when it comes to food. I would get really frustrated when I would cook something and he would eat like 1/4 of it. Okay, okay, I'm not a good cook but still! So now we have a great arrangement that seems to have solved this problem. He does ALL the cooking. Lord knows I will eat just about anything so this really work for us! ;)
I am so glad that both of our parents were the "you can't not like something you haven't tried!" camp. Hubs is still a more picky eater than me, but I am pretty adventurous (and lucky for me my bff forever is too, so we can eat weird stuff together). And it also works that the foods I'm allergic to (sweet potatoes, mushroom, coconut) he doesn't like, so that makes things easier.
I know a few picky eaters, and honestly it drives me nuts!!! I can't understand having such a limited palette...
I think I've got you beat in this department. FI eats the following foods and only those foods: chicken breast (plain, no seasoning or sauce whatsoever), rice (again plain), protein shakes, peanut butter on whole grain toast. Very occasionally he eats baby carrots dipped in ranch or apples with peanut butter or a turkey burger with no bun, just plain meat dipped in ketchup. This is seriously all he eats. I love all types of food and its so frustrating. People wonder why I don't cook much, what would I make ? It's not fun to make a big meal for yourself.
He's not picky, but because of health reasons he recently switched to a grain- and sugar-free diet. I am vegetarian (have been for about 10 years). It is NOT EASY to find recipes that are no-sugar, no-grains, and no-meat!! So I feel your pain.
@RR: Actually, I am not 100% sure what channel it was on! My hubby and I were channel surfing one night when nothing good seemed to be on, and I stumbled across it. It sounded interesting, so we gave it a go. They have two therapists who help, (or try to help), people who are "Freaky Eaters"....one guy ate raw meat every day. Not RARE, raw. And it wasn't the choice stuff either...cheap steak, ground beef, chicken. Ugh...he didn't think it was a problem until they tested him and found out he had a parasite.
Anyway, I am PRETTY SURE it was on either TLC or Discovery Health & Fitness.
Just looked it up...looks like it's a TLC show. Maybe the OP should watch it...it might make her feel better about her picky eater. 
My SO says I'm a picky eater, but I don't think so. I'll try pretty much anything once, but I still hate tomatoes, mayonnaise, green olives and meringue.
Obviously I'm not going to eat cow intestine soup, but anything else I'll try.
He, on the other hand, is a garbage disposal.
Although he absolutely hates squash.
No, in our relationship i am the "picky eater" though, i perfer to be called "selective"
he will eat almost anything, and his whole family is like that, and when we go to their house it's a huge deal if i won't try something or don't like something. I don't have a problem not eating stuff. I've been to enough parties and such that i've only likes about one or 2 things that were available. I'm fine with that. but it seems it's more of a burden to other people than for him. which i think is ridiculous. If I'm fine with it, so should everyone else. sorry for going off on a mini-tangent lol. but we just had this conversation two days ago because his mom stresses out about it.
Once, I was making a new dinner (I had it before but it was new for him). I didn't tell him what was in it. He came up and said "is that chicken?" It was tuna, but I KNEW if I told him it was tuna he wouldn't even try it so I said, "Does it look like chicken?!" And he took that as a yes that it was indeed chicken. After he ate seconds I told him it was tuna and he pitched a fit. Now I cook things and he tries them. If he doesn't like it that's fine but now at least he tries new food before making judgements.
/rant over.
My FH doesn't eat much variety either. If he could eat steak, ribs, burgers, and BBQ chicken everyday he would. THe only veggies I use to be able to talk him into was green beans and corn.
Thing he WILL NOT eat:
I blame his mom... they didn't have such a nutritious beginning as kids. Also he said he remembered her food tasting like dog food....poor guy. Good thing is that he is opening up to more veggies, and I can't complain about that. He knows I like to be culturally adventurous when I eat so he bucks up and does his best to try new things. He said I'm the best cook in the world (which I know is a stretch but it makes me feel good) He said because of the way I cook, he is able to eat more things he didn't like growing up like bell peppers and onions.
I am the picky eater in our relationship, same thing with pretty much liking kid foods. And I think you need to be careful because it really bothers me when people give me a hard time about this, it is soooo hard when you're in a situation where you're eating socially with people for the first time, knowing they're judging you about it. I can't help my taste buds and the fact that they are overly sensitive. Often when I try to eat something 'weird' I'll actually start gagging and have to spit it out - not a fun time for anyone, so I generally stick to foods I know that I would like. It especially stings when my friends make comments like some of the ones here about how my pickiness drives them crazy - I don't ge that at all. How is what I order and eat at the restaurant we go to affecting them at all? I can't control it and I wish people would back off.
DH is like this! And his mother is ever worse (as in, she has just recently tried eating common fruits and veggies like strawberries and carrots). I try to encourage him to try new things and sometimes he'll even get online and find some new recipes he wants to try. We're also trying something new. I've been feeling like I don't get to eat out enough at places I like (Mexican, Indian places, etc), so we're going to have one night every week or two where we order takeout and eat it at home....OR where he sits with me while I eat and then we grab something for him.
FI is a picky eater and I blame it on his mother. She catered every meal to him. If they were having breaded chicken, there would be one nonbreaded chicken breast on the pan. He is 25 years old!!!!!!!! It's sick. He also hates cheese (all kinds except parmesan..he said that it's not considered cheese) so when he eats pizza, he takes the cheese off and just eats the bread. He also doesn't eat peanut butter, any thing creamy like alfredo, clam chowder, potato salad, etc.
when we first started dating he despised seafood. Now, I have him hooked! He is the kind of person that knocks it before trying.
My FI will just about eat anything...seriously. He doesn't like blueberry pie (due to an unfortunate pie eating contest incident as a child), but other than that, he's game.
That is my husband! Kid food, for reals. You can bet 9/10 times if we go to a restaurant he'll order chicken fingers and french fries...and the other 1/10 it's hamburger and french fries. He has a long list of things he doesn't like...and really the ones he does are things I don't like to cook because it's not real food. I try to make healthier versions of the foods he likes, and some are okay, but I know he doesn't like them as much as the processed version. He is usually willing to give everything I make a try, but he'll let me know if it's not a winner. It's really frustrating for me becaue I consider myself a good cook and I enjoy cooking...I just don't get any validation in that area from my husband. I just have to remind myself it's not ME, it's HIM.
I'm the super picky eater in our relationship. I won't eat the things your SO won't eat either (other than bacon and beef). I would suggest making him at least try things that you cook. A lot of times when I say I don't like something, I've actually never tried it-I just don't like the way it looks/smells/name. Don't give him a hard time about what he eats and doesn't eat. It makes a person get defensive. Don't push him to try new things, just suggest it. He'll eventually give in. :) Good luck!
@mightywombat: I am vegetarian
It ate my post! I'm vegetarian and thank God my FI doesn't eat just burgers anymore, we just laughed at that thought last night.
@Gabrielle123: Ah, we went through that, too! It's funny- my best guy friend won't eat any cream sauce, cheese (except pizza), as well. My FI wouldn't eat any sour cream, mayo, salad dressings (especially ranch) most cheese as well-- but now he's hooked (which is really not a good thing for you, but oh well!). I've noticed in my own experiences 20 somethings have the pickest eating habits? What do you bee's think?
@Wonderstruck: I get what you're saying and I think the biggest problem is when you live with a person that is very picky in their eating habits. It makes things a lot harder... it sometimes forces the other person to eat the same things you would because of cost and time of preparing two meals when the other person doesn't have a sensitive palate. Just as you don't like the weird foods, the other person doesn't enjoy eating the same thing over and over, ya know? It's tough for a couple to work out if they have completely different eating habits. You through kids in the mix and you could be possibly making 3 meals at dinner.
FI was a picky eater when I met him. THE MAN HAD NEVER EVEN TRIED A HAMBURGER! Now he loves Indian, Thai, certain Japanese foods (excluding sushi) and he's at least tried sushi, some seafood, and he loves burgers now. I'm grateful that he'll at least try things now, whereas before, he wouldn't!
My SO doesn't like vegetables, other than potatoes. If it were up to him, he'd eat from 4 food groups - fruit (he LOVES fruit), red meat, potatoes, chocolate. He does, however, eat a lot of different things, but the veggie thing... I think that's just his quirk.
I don't see how anyone could not like bacon. That's my hands down favorite food. I am a bacon addict. I even have a talking plush bacon
Mine will not eat chocolate cake, brownies, potato salad (though he loves mayonnaise and potatoes separately), almost any condiments besides mayonnaise and ketchup, anything that "smells funny" (asparagus, broccoli, hummus, artichokes, guacamole, pretty much anything green), anything that has a lot of cheese (I made ricotta stuffed shells last night and they were rebuffed), anything spicy. He will eat onion rings but will not tolerate onions in a dish, even if they are chopped fine. No mushrooms and nothing "weird" which to him means sushi, Thai food, or any cuisine anymore adventurous than Mexican or Chinese. He will not eat subs because all he likes is ham and mayonnaise so subs do not appeal to him since he gets none of the toppings that make them so delicious. SIGH. He's difficult to feed.
@RR: Yeah, I get the complaint when you live together. But when you're going out with friends to eat, as long as their habits aren't controlling the place you go to, what they decide to order and how plain or kid-like it is shouldn't matter.
@Ryansgirl: This! He was raised "vegetarian". ie, his mom said that meat wasn't healthy because they didn't eat meat in the garden of eden. So of course, it was ok to have tater tots with cheese melted over them on sunday morning before church. I wish I was kidding in this one, but he recently told me that was what they ate most church mornings.
Yes, we cook seperate meals. I won't eat meat, fish or chicken out of a can or jar. I love veggies. I like to spend a little bit more money on better quality food. He eats like a broke college student. And he makes the weirdest food ever because he is so picky, he will not touch fruits or vegetables. I think he's going to get scurvy.
I am the picky eater out of our relationship... but I'm bad. probably worse than your FI. I wont even eat pizza. the smell of it even makes me sick. yuck. anyways my biggest thing is everyone KNOWS I am picky so they will TRY to get me to eat things and that just makes it worse b/c I hate to be pushed into eating something. Like if I dont want to try it then i'm NOT going to try it! I honestly just ate my first salad last year (I'm 24) and thats just because I accidently tried italian dressing and loved it so i put some lettuce with it. I dont eat any veggies... (bad I know) i havent even tried half of them out there. like an orange, peach, watermelon strawberry cantaloupe, did try a grape once and spit it out cause of the texture, it freaked me out. didnt eat meat for 9 years (bad childhood memory of deer hunting) As for ground beef I always eat turkey meat. YOU probably cant taste a difference but some reason I can. My hubby swears up and down it taste the same. Hate onions.. forget mustard and mayo. cant even smell a pickle. like really its bad. BUT like I said if HE wants to try something new. he will. If he doesnt like something. let him push it to the side. He's been picky for this long he is used to pushing things to the side. I am at least.
I have this problem too! My bf won't eat ANYTHING besides meat and potatoes. (which is a problem for me, because I am a vegetarian!) UGH! I can't stand it! I looove all types of foods, and love trying to cook new things, but he won't even try it. Because I cook meatless things most of the time, he will go to mcdonalds or something, which makes me mad because I would want him to at least try it. I cooked some sweet potato fries the other day, and asked him if he could try it, but he wouldn't! He does that with EVERYTHING. HOW HARD IS IT TO TRY SOMETHING??? Also, he likes things to be very bland, and I loove flavor. Also he only likes the way his mom cooks. He will eat anything his mom makes, but if I make the same thing, he won't try it. GRRR...makes me mad. Im glad other people have this problem too.
I find it funny that a lot of us are saying that our SO's don't like condiments. weird. Mine won't touch any kind of condiment/sauce/gravy.
After reading all these, I'm sooo grateful for DH. The only thing he won't eat is broccoli, and even that I can get him eat every once in a while (competely begrudgingly, granted). Other than that he's like a human garbage disposal. I had an ex-bf, though, that wouldn't eat anything white...white gravy, mayo, yogurt, ranch sauce, tarter sauce...grossed him out. I never understood it.
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