Living with picky eaters

Does anyone else live with others (spouse, siblings, parents, whoever) who are extremely picky eaters?

My entire family eats the WORST diet. My mom isn't as horrible as my dad and brother, and gets offended when you call her a picky eater, but she is. She'll eat any kind of meat, fish, whatever...but she doesn't like a ton of spices/flavorings, ethnic foods, etc. Won't eat any kind of grain that isn't basic pasta or rice - quinoa, barley, something like jasmine rice or saffron rice - nope.

My dad and brother, I can list what they eat on less than two hands probably. Plain chicken,
spaghetti or plain pasta with tomato sauce (no lasagna, ravioli, baked ziti, pesto, etc.)
hamburgers (my brother only eats american cheese and my dad ONLY eats cheddar, can't be melted)
chinese food - orange chicken, chicken and broccoli, fried rice ONLY
tacos (only beef, soft tacos, from a kit) or enchiladas (chicken only, from a kit). If I make these from scratch, they complain they taste funny and aren't good.
broccoli, green beans, carrots or peas. These are the ONLY vegetables they will eat.

And then a few thing they'll eat individually....my brother will eat pizza (dad won't), dad will eat a turkey or ham sandwich. He'll also eat mushrooms.

The list of things they won't eat is ENDLESS. Barbecue sauce, anything spicy (except buffalo wings???), zucchini, eggplant, sweet potato, whole wheat bread or pasta, avocado, anything with nuts or nut flavor (including cooked in peanut oil or with peanut butter), sour cream, most cheese, any soup that isn't from one or two cans they'll tolerate, peppers, anything with green flecks (herbs) on it, pumpkin, cinnamon, cajun, ETC.


Now, I do have the option of just cooking for myself...but it sucks. First of all I don't eat all that much and get sick of eating leftovers twice a day for a week straight, I can freeze stuff sometimes but there's not much room for that. I HATE spending an hour cooking a meal to have everyone complain about it or not eat it and then go to the diner and order hamburgers.

Our menu in this house is literally like three meals we rotate. My mom started making pancakes for dinner like twice a week because no one eats anything else. It's ridiculous.

Aside from NOT telling them what's in stuff and hoping they eat it (occasionally works. rarely. usually if it doesn't taste EXACTLY like what they ate three days ago they don't want it), is there anything I can do? Any dishes for people with an allergy to tasty things?

All I can offer is sympathy.

I deal with it daily and its just gotten to where I don't tell him whats in it (onions that I mince) or I find ways around what he doesn't like and keep meals for them

Its the guys though and there is a reason behind it so I work with it and if they end up not liking something they love grilled cheese and tomato soup or something equally as easy.

Uhh I am the picky eater in the family. I have really bad texture issues (asperger's wheee) and I will literally gag with a lot of foods, to the point where if I make myself eat it, I will throw up trying to swallow it. Cooked vegetables of any kind are my biggest offender; I just CANNOT physically make myself swallow something that wet and mushy *gag*

I also can't eat anything with mayonnaise in it. Every single time I've eaten it, I've gotten deathly sick for up to a week. No idea what causes it, as I'm not allergic to eggs.

Thats the issue here PP. I just cut the onions to the point he cant even tell though. Im talking McD's small. Morgan will not eat meat protein.

LOL we're all picky here.

I'm pescatarian and can't eat certain textures.
My brother will eat pizza, chicken wings and hot dogs.
My sister will eat steak and chicken wings.
My dad will eat any meat that's burned to a crisp.

My mom's the only not-picky one xD We just make our own meals

I'm a picky eater. You name it, I probably won't eat it.

When we were kids my brothers and I were awfully picky but the rule was, you had to AT LEAST like the "base" of meals. AKA: You will eat veggies, meat, pasta, rice, etc.. we will work with you when it comes to extras like cheese, sauces, etc.. that you don't like but otherwise, you eat what is put in front of you.

When it comes to picky eaters now.. deconstructing the meal usually works well around here (where we have kids of all ages/kinds/eating habits) as in.. the main meat dish is cooked and we will make smaller portions of sauce/spice mixtures and put them in separate bowls so people can pick.
Then will be a big plate of pasta or rice or cuscus and whatever else...and side bowls/sprinklers of cheeses, sauces, salts, spices, etc..
and then of course all the veggies spread out and separated by type and cooked/uncooked.
PLUS at bigger family meals with especially picky kids we will also put out bread, wraps etc .. we have a few kids that will ONLY EAT NEW THINGS if it's in a sandwhich. weird.

as a result.. we have giant family dinners that look A LOT like fancy buffets lol but everyone eats and even the pickier younger kids work around it.

It takes a lot of time.
but..at this point my mom is really good at making smaller portions of different sauces and creating meals that can be enjoyed different ways and it's really cool to see what everyone ends up with!!
My brother likes to make wraps, my dad goes all big bowl of everything, my mom eats everything she cooks and I like to eat very simply.

Everyone is happy

we do alot of that as well glad I'm not the only one LOL.

That sounds awesome.

I'm the picky eater in my family as well. Some of it is just plain my preferences; I also have food sensitivities that I've never gotten a good diagnosis on, and as a result I'm just not adventurous with food.

Can't offer anything but sympathy!

It's hard to be understanding when it's SO frustrating!!!

Ugh yes I know what you mean. Not in this house but when I lived with my dad. He is the reason I didn't "know" how to cook anything but a very few plain dishes.

spaghetti (sauce from a jar)

Plain chicken breast (and he got the cheapest kind he could and the texture of it was NASTY)

Hamburger gravy which consisted of ground beef and then add gravy to it, peas (from a can) and mashed potatoes

sausages, hamburgers, baloney sandwiches

and my PTA casserole (a pasta, hamburger casserole)

that about summed it up.

I hated cooking. it was so BORING and tasteless

Now though, none of us are overly picky. when Hannah was younger she didn't like much and I really didn't mind making her something else for dinner since Brian got home late (too late for her to be just having dinner). for a while she would only eat sandwiches lol. All kinds of sandwiches but had to be sandwiches. then she wouldn't eat anything with a skin (beans, corn, peas, etc) Now though she eats just about anything I cook. There are certain things I make that I know she doesn't like and I make it knowing she doesn't like it so I usually have some leftovers in the fridge ready to go for her on those nights lol. I don't FORCE her to eat things I know she genuinely doesn't like though... I am pretty sure that's how my dad turned out the way he did with food. He had to eat everything on his plate as a kid even if he really didn't like it... so now he doesn't like anything and I don't want to do that to Hannah lol. one of her favorite meals is chicken pot pie with all the veggies.

When my dad comes I have to be careful about my meal planning or he'll just not eat anything lol. but he will eat my roast chicken meals, homemade chicken noodle soup, baked chicken and PTA casserole so when he's coming I just try to plan the meals that are still good but I know he will eat. He really has a thing against frozen veggies they have to come from a can. I buy him a few cans for himself and we still eat our frozen veg

I guess my question is...why do they have to change? Can't you just buy/cook your own meals? Or do you have to cook for them too?

I'm kind of a picky eater, but I'm not afraid to try things..I just know what I like and what I don't. My mom is really bad, and so is my brother (he has food allergies though). I don't like seafood at all (except fried calamari??), and I eat pretty basic things.

I've been going on business trips with my boss and I'm almost embarrassed when we go out to eat at fancy restaurants.. I have NO idea what I'm ordering. I'm just not that into food, I wasn't raised like that.

Can you cook something like plain rice that they're welcome to, and then make little jazzed up versions for yourself?

I do not understand picky eaters. Pretty much if it's not a raw tomato or an olive, I'll eat it.

As a kid we were always told tough luck and none of us are picky at all.

I don't have to cook for them, I said that in my first post.

It's just way more convenient to cook meals that more people can eat, plus...I just like to cook for people. I have no motivation to actually cook for myself, but if other people will eat I'll cook all the time.

Plus, it's kind of a pain in the ass to buy ingredients and make one meal out of it. Yeah, I can come up with stuff that's easy to freeze, whatever...but it does really kind of limit what I can make. Even buying spices and stuff to use...if I use them for one meal that only I eat, they end up going bad.

you are assuming they eat rice.
they do not.

They also do not eat pasta unless it is spaghetti.

I am not a picky eater.

Things I will not eat:
- mushrooms
- olives
- sushi
- cherries (or anything that contains them; pies, cobblers, etc)
- pineapples (makes me sick everytime I eat them)
- avocado
- oysters
- sardines
- walnuts, pecans, and macadamia nuts
- red velvet cake

That's it. The worst out of that list would have to be olives. I can't even stand the smell of them, makes me nauseous.

Everything else is fair came.
Any kind of mexican, italian, chinese, japanese, and any other foreign food I will eat like there is no tomorrow. Anything spicy, tangy, or SUPER hot, is also fair game.