I have a problem. I know all the fatty and fast foods that I eat are going to one day cause complications for me. I’m 24 right now, and the quick and easy lifestyle of consumption has led me on a path that I can forsee being a problem. Here’s the meat and bones of the matter: I’ve got the fussiest attitude towards food known to man. I can’t come to terms with eating anything new. So, what foods would you recommend for a terminally fussy person? I don’t eat seafood, period. I don’t eat chinese food. You know the type of person. Hamburgers? They have to be plain… well… ketchup isn’t bad. Kraft Mac and Cheese is the only kind of mac and cheese I will eat. I will not eat kraft thick n’ creamy mac and cheese though… So, any suggestions?
My, you are the picky one.
First off, don’t forget fruits. They have a lot of vitamins and minerals, and many are low in fat. Thebanana is the king of fruits; it has many nutrients to offer (see link).
Second, do you like any vegetables? Carrots, for instance. Celery. Green peppars. Onions or garlic. If so, you can easily make a stir fry that will beat the pants off of anything in a Chinese restaurant. It’s really simple. Put a little bit of oil in a wok or skillet (the higher the sides the better) and coat the pan by tilting the pan to and fro. Put the pan on high heat and wait for it to heat up. Fry the onion-y-type veggies: onions, ginger, garlic, shallots, etc. Put these on a plate. Now, without adding oil (unless necessary), add the veggies you like. Stir fry until they are cooked but still a little crunchy. While they are still on the heat, put in a simple sauce (anything you like, such as pepper, soy, vinegar), toss the onion-y veggies in, stir completely, and you’re done.
Eat with brown rice, and you’ve got about as healthful a meal as you can have. You can also make the above with any kind of meat you like, throwing the meat in after the onion-y vegs are half-done, then you remove these both before you do the main vegs.
(Note: I know some will argue that you don’t have to take out the onion-y vegs, but I would say from practical experience that they will tend to burn if you just add the other ingredients after them. If you use meat, it’s easy to overcook it, too. YMMV with a huge commercial wok on very high heat, as in a real Chinese restaurant.)
Now, looking at the above, you’ll see that you don’t have to challege yourself too much if you don’t want to. Just use the vegetables you like. Brown rice is also great. If you have to force yourself to like anything new, I would say make it whole grains cooked in a rice cooker. As a good rule of thumb, you can use the measure included with the rice cooker to cook any grain, and the same amount of water will work, too.
Good luck finding a diet that suits you!
It’s difficult to suggest foods for other people, especially if you’re a picky eater, but off the top of my head I can think of a few things which aren’t difficult to prepare:
–Pancakes (inexpensive and easy to make, especially if only use flour, baking powder, and milk.)
–Quesadillas (Tortillas + cheese…even easier)
–Baked Potatos
–Soup and French bread
Food is good.
Take what you know you like and combine it. You like hamburgers and mac and cheese, so why not make a casserole with ground beef, macaroni and cheese, and add some tomatoes?
Or add things to what you know you like. You like burgers, add vegetables as toppings. (Lettuce, tomato, onion, peppers.) You like mac and cheese, add some veggies to that. Broccoli, spinach and peas are all great additions, as are tomatoes, onions and green peppers or mushrooms, or some combination of all of the above.
The worst thing that can happen from trying new foods is that you’ll discover that there’s something you don’t like. Buy small quantities of new things so that not much will be wasted, and just dive in. There’s nothing to lose but your own self-imposed restrictions!
You sound just like my ex. The only things she’d ever eat were chicken strips or hamburgers with ketchup. She was worried about her diet (she was trying to lose weight) and yet she wanted Jack-in-the-Box every freakin’ night! Being as I was a cook, this was quite an ordeal.
We can probably help you out, but a bit longer of a post with a little bit more detail would be helpful. Here’s a couple of questions:
1.) as Aeschines said, you’re going to have to add at least a few vegetables and at least one fruit if you’re going to make yourself a tolerable healthier menu. My ex loved apples and oranges, so at least we got her on a little bit of fruit. I had to push her on even one vegetable, though. I finally got her to start eating what she called a salad, which consisted of lettuce, shredded cheddar and croutons. Baby steps…
2.) speaking of cheese, what kinds will you eat and in what circumstances? I’ve known one or two people who would eat cheese raw all day, but the thought of eating any kind of cheese melted made them ill. I see you’ll eat some kind of cheese-flavored-processed stuff (not really cheese, and not really cheese flavored in my opinion) by the fact that you’ll eat mac&cheese. Speaking of which:
3.) pasta (and rice). How do you feel about these? Pasta and rice can be used in many different ways to make hundreds of dishes. I’ll assume that just because you don’t like chinese food doesn’t mean you have an aversion to rice overall. Once again, one of the things I succesfully sold my ex on was rice by making a rather plain chicken dish out of it. It became one of her favorite dishes, and another small victory in the palette war.
4.) chicken, eggs & pork. Will you eat any other meat at all besides beef? Most people I’ve known will at least eat eggs if they’re scrambled. While pork is not the healthiest meat, it tends to be a flavorful meat that can make many dishes more appealing if you like it. And what about chicken? I’ve found chicken to be the saving grace in most cases with picky eaters. It goes with anything, is equally tasty hot or cold (IMHO), and can be cooked in almost anyway imaginable to man (exception being raw, and yes, I know that’s not a cooking method 
)
Let’s start with these, and then we can weed and refine from there. These may not sound like the healthiest starts, I know. But, like weening other bad habits, like heroin, it helps if you have some methodone to get you started 
Here’s where the view gets even more narrow…
The vegetables I like: potatoes, carrots.
The fruits I like: Apples
However, I’m not above drinking orange juice, or some other juices (as long as there is no pulp involved. eeeeyuck.)
As for some of the foods you all listed: Onions? Sorry, I only like the Wise Potato Chip Onion Rings. Rice is fine, but, for example, I’m only a fan of white rice like Uncle Ben’s or something to that extent.
Cheese - I only eat white american land o lakes cheese. I drink only Hood brand milk. (Never Garelick. Which is another brand out here that adds a small quantity of fish liver oil into the mix. That grosses me out.
Pasta - It’s great. But only if I have it with NO sauce, and I need to top it with butter (so it doesn’t stick together and harden) and Kraft Parmesean Cheese.
Eggs - As the saying goes “only in my cake.” or cookies. As a part of the batter. I don’t eat scrambled eggs… eggs over easy… or… well, you get the idea.
Pork - No way. Not unless it’s a hot dog. (and if it’s a hot dog, ANYTHING but nathan’s. It’s disgusting with their hard shell hot dogs that crunch when you bite into them.)
Someone suggested mixing the mac and cheese and hamburger. Allow me to explain that I am very fussy, and the mixing of foods also makes me ill. Just the thought of it.
The best way to try to make a suggestion would perhaps to act as if I were a three year old. A very inhibited three year old.
Why don’t you have scurvy, or beri-beri, or something? Seriously, at this rate, I fear for your health, sooner rather than later.
OK, so, why not try making your own mac and cheese? It will at least not be full of chemicals and preservatives.
I guess you should start small, by cooking at home more and just cooking those things you will eat. One day you can start adding green onions or peas to the mix.
I have an essay by a famous SF writer about what a picky eater he was–at this level, pretty much–and then he went and lived in Brazil for two years. At first, he nearly starved, but then started trying things out of sheer survival. He is now an excellent cook and adventurous eater. People can change if they have to!
I thought of the whole sheer survival tactic, but I’ve said before to a friend that I’d probably starve to death before I could, say, bring myself to eat a pickle.
It was only recently that I was brave enough to eat a sesame seed bun! I used to pick off the top layer of bun at restaurants…
I don’t have any particular suggestions regarding specific receipies, but could you check out parenting magazines or books dealing with kids who are fussy eaters? That may give you some ideas of things to try.
Are there any meals you will eat at a restaurant?
And you suggested pasta with butter and parmesan - add a veggie or two and you have the makings of a fairly healthy meal.
Having said all this, if you were my sibling, spouse or child you would probably have starved to death by now… 
You seem really focused on “I don’t like that” and “I won’t eat that” and “that makes me ill.” You say that you only like certain things, but you haven’t said what you’ve tried, or how you’ve tried it. You seem to be fond of a lot of processed crap and fast food but can’t handle stuff that’s natural or good for you.
Really, I don’t think your problem is in your stomach, your problem is in your head. You need to get over your preconceptions about food, and start trying different things. That’s the only way to solve the problem. Quit thinking “Ew, I don’t like that.” and just eat stuff.
What did your parents feed you? I’m sure you weren’t raised on a steady diet of pulp-free orange juice, hot dogs, plain hamburgers on plain buns and boxed macaroni and cheese.
Well, I can use this thread to show there’s someone a little worse than I am, though I’m virtually the same way. I bought a book called One Bite Won’t Kill You that has some good recipes in it and I try to diversify some.
But, honestly (and people can’t seem to wrap their minds around this), I’ve tried a lot of the stuff I don’t like. That’s how I know I don’t like it. So I take a multivitamin.
Wow.
You may actually be more fussy than I am. Which says a lot. (I eat cheese. But I do eat pasta the exact same way, and I agree with you on mixing foods.)
But, I’m willing to try anything at least once. Some things I’ve tried several times - (about twice a year, I give seafood another shot. It’s still not good. Neither are tomatos, nor olives, nor …) So I recommend that. Going ahead with new foods from time to time. It’s not always going to work, in fact, quite often it will fail…but every so often, something will click.
I joined a cooking club a few years ago, mostly to meet people. So, once a month, we have a potluck dinner together, usually around a theme, and I bring something that I know I’ll like (so at least I’ll have something to eat) and I end up trying several different foods - many of which I don’t end up liking. But some are great - as it turns out, I like asparagus. Who would have guessed? But you have to at least get it into your mouth in the first place.
As far as eggs - try a carton of egg whites, yolks creep me out and they don’t taste good. But egg whites, I’ll eat, if fried completely so they’re no longer the least bit wet, otherwise, no.
You’re not leaving this table until you eat your vegetables!
Forget manutririon—on a diet like yours, I’d probably die of boredom!
Hummm…this seems to fall in the category of a food disorder, so talking about eating isn’t going to change anything. It isn’t normal to feel this way about food; but, I guess you know that. Just like someone who is bulimic or anexoric, your relationship with food, something that is necessary to life, has been damaged. I think you should try to get some counseling, if you are determined to change, because I can tell you probably won’t change much on your own. The thing is, with a 3-year old, they will grow out of it, so it’s not the same thing at all. And as far as vitamins, they are only enzymes; they can’t enable a reaction that can’t take place because the body is being deprived of nutrients. This reminds me of a work friend who had a brother who would only eat five foods and when he enlisted in the Army you can imagine what happened. They finally had to discharge him. It was interesting that she herself had food issues and once went on such a restricted diet that her hair fell out. It’s tempting to assume that since they had the same parents, therein lay the problem. But, being a parent myself, I would hate to be blamed for all the foibles of my children. It’s hard to say if coming to a place where you could actually eat more normally would actually put you into a living hell and not be worth it, or if you could reach some kind of compromise. Like anything else, it depends on how much you want to change. I don’t think you are headed down the road to physical deterioration. In some countries people survive on a less varied diet than you have described. The human body is a wonderous thing and can actually do quite well on a limited diet. Think about what you really want, and make your goal to come to terms with that, whatever it is, so you can stop worrying.
Mm, that’s one among many possibilities. I’ll admit, one of my reactions to the OP was “Is this some kind of eating disorder, like anorexia?” Perhaps a psychiatrist or psychologist could trace the OP’s attitude back to an attempt at asserting control, or a manifestation of general reluctance to try anything new or venture outside a narrow comfort zone, or something. Or perhaps there’s a physiological factor, like highly oversensitive taste buds, or food allegries. I am so totally not an expert in this, but I would think that, if the OP really wanted to change his attitude toward food, these are things he could reasonably look into.
You know, I used to be a lot like the OP. Growing up I didnt’ even like pizza becasue flavors were mixed. My parents still talk about the one summer vacation when I wouldn’t eat anything but chicken soup, requiring us to eat at Waffle House every single meal.
When I moved out and my parents could no longer force me to eat vegetable, I got worse. I became a vegetarian but that really meant I’d eat things like a bag of potato chips for lunch and popcorn for dinner. I used to brag that I wouldn’t eat anything I couldn’t eat out of the box I microwaved it in.
But, I grew out of it. I realized all my cool friends liked all these really cool foods like Indian and sushi and Ethiopean that I’d been avoiding for years. I realized it was my own stubborness and refusal to try new things that kept me eating like crap.
And I also was pudgy and unhappy with how I looked and felt. So I started reading a lot about nutrition and realizing how awful my diet was and trying to eat a more balanced diet. It’s still a struggle. My favorite food is still cheese dip and chips. I have to force myself to eat vegetables but when I do, I sometimes discover they aren’t so bad. (I actually like kale! Who knew?)
So, anyway, the OP is young and may eventually grow out of extreme pickiness. Ask yourself honestly if you really just don’t like something or if it’s just “different” and you dislike it out of stubborness. Educate yourself about food. Try new things to find stuff you do like. Experiment eating out at ethnic restaraunts. It’s often hard and expensive to make stuff from scratch when you’re trying something new (due to lack of cooking skills and a spice “library”) so find a good gourmet or natural food store that makes take-out meals and try different things. You may not do this right away, but, eventually, you’ll probably be ready to move beyond hot dogs and mac n’cheese.
Hmmmmm…
Well, you seem to like beef enough. Will you eat a roast? It’s not exactly mixing your food. I would suggest a roast with carrots, potatos and a side of pasta with butter would be a decent meal. Have a glass of juice with the meal and you’ll be doing all right.
Another meal suggestion: try some rice with a grilled chicken breast and a side of baked potato. Again, a glass of juice should probably be on the side. If apples are about the only fruit you’ll eat, you should probably get used to the idea of having either a glass of juice or water around for your meals. Milk is ok if you get bored of juice. DON’T TOUCH THAT SODA! Ween yourself off of soda as much as you can. If your diet is as unhealthy as it sounds, that should be the first thing to go of you drink it.
If you get a junk food craving. try breaking out that apple. It might kill a little of the sugar craving that you get from overeating that kind of stuff. Also, not the healthiest suggestion, I know, but if you’re a drinker have a beer. It’s loaded with sugar, but at least it’ll help flush the system a bit instead of eating away at it like a soda will.
There’s nothing wrong with a good burger. Try to avoid the fast food grease bombs though, and grill one for yourself. Although I consider ketchup to be an abomination of nature, if it helps make a burger or a hotdog more appetizing then by all means.
Try taking a week off from one thing at a time by substituting for a slightly healthier version. For instance, forbid yourself potato chips for a week. If you get an overwhelming urge, cook yourself some other kind of potato. My not sound like such a great idea, but it’s a start of getting your body into craving something a bit more healthy when you crave something crappy. The next week, bring back the chips and loose something else. DO NOT TORTURE YOURSELF WITH THIS METHOD!!! No good will come of it.
As far as not mixing foods, that’s fine. Just make yourself a several course meal and eat each part separately.
If I can be of any more help, please let me know!
MeatBeast
I don’t really think there is a solution until you get over this picky eating; if you won’t try new things, what is the point of suggesting new things you might like to try?
It really does sound like your problems could be quite deep-rooted; have you considered professional psychiatric help?