OS marital ethical dilemma

Bargain_Rzl

MATH - for a moment there I misread your post and thought you'd said that if your family was fussy, you'd "mince things small through your teeth" :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

rlm_3

LOL! This thread has made me laugh. Nowadays I like most foods except peanut butter. I like peanuts but I think it's the texture of peanut butter I don't like. However, I do try things I don't like every so often just in case it turns out that I do like them. When I was in my teens I really hated olives (probably too salty/bitter for my palatte) but tried them when we got some on our table in a restaurant. Now I can't get enough of them.

I wasn't always like that though. I found out recently from my parents that I was a really fussy eater when I was little. Apparently, I wouldn't eat an omelette if my parents called it an 'omelette' but would if they called it an 'eggcake' and put a smiley face on it with tomato ketchup!

CoD_2

i do think that retrying food is key. when i was younger eating prawns used to make me actually vomit. but i've still kept trying them and now love them.

its fair enough to retry and still dislike, Mr Cod can't stand green thai curry, but loves red and yellow thai curry. fair enough.

however i do find it challenging for someone with no allergies to say i hate all veg or all fruit or all fish, as as food types they're so massively different to each other.

eating things correctly cooked and prepared is also vital, a friend hates carrots but then i found she had been boiling them for an hour minimum. carrot mush isn't as appealing as lightly steamed carrots with a bit of bite.

i also think there is a difference between someone hating something and hiding it in and say putting pulses or extra veg to bulk up meat. there is precious little (save green curry) that mr cod won't eat but i still bulk up/ hide however you put it lentils into food, barley, beans, veg chopped finely in the magimix etc. i'm not going to list ingredients in a dish just so that he knows that i used xyz. i make it, if he then likes it then fine

comping_cat

My grandfather used to add vinegar to everything he ate!!!!

Im sure ive read somewhere that it takes about 15 attempts at something to see if you do like it or not - unfortunatly my fussy children dont believe me - although im a great believer in 'hiding' food, normally they wont eat butternut squash, sweet potato or brocolli, but i put it in our stew, they ate it and said they enjoyed it before i admitted what i had done!!!

Churchmouse

MATH wrote: »

I'm so very lucky! Mrs MATH and the MATHLETTS eat almost anything.
The MATHLETTS don't like mushrooms so I deliberately leave them cut large enough for them to pick out. However, every 6 months or so, they do have to eat one to see if they like them yet. LOL I keep telling them their tastes change as they grow up and one day they will just luuuurve mushrooms. They give me that look that only children heading for teenagedom can give - withering, I think describes it best:D

Mrs MATH isn't mad on cauliflower cheese so I save that for the nights she is out and I'm not mad on roast Pork so we never eat that:rotfl: Well, there has to be some perks to bring to head cook and bottle washer:D

I've done this with mushrooms for years. The DS who hated them will now eat them, but still doesn't like them, and wouldn't eat them as a separate vegetable, only as an ingredient.

As for the pork bit, this is what gives me a problem!! I bet none of us cook and force ourselves to eat food we don't like!!!:rolleyes: Having said that, for years i cooked roast parsnips because DH and then the boys all loved them. I hated them, but would periodically have another taste and now I quite like them in small doses:D I was a very very fussy eater as a child, but now I'll eat most things and will try lots of new things. In fact when we're on holiday, i usually try to eat "new" foods at least 50% of the time.

I can agree in principle that you can't know you don't like something if you've never tasted it. But I will never try raw oyster, witchety grub or dog! Now I have no objection to anyone else eating these foods (yes even dog if it has been raised as a food and is humanely slaughtered) but I know I would not like them because I feel nauseous at the thought, and my own peculiar revulsion would prohibit any enjoyment.

I did "encourage" my children to try foods at frequent intervals, just in case their tastebuds had developed. And I did "hide" minced up veggies in some recipes, but always told them I'd done it. They never objected, agreeing that they couldn't tell. I think there's really only a problem when someone excludes an entire foodgroup e.g all veggies.

Tiger_greeneyes

My mother has a hard time with her husband... He's a nightmare. If he was mine, then the word 'ex' would come into it pretty quickly! What do you cook for a man who is allergic to 'the smell of food cooking'. Bearing in mind he'll go to Sunday or Christmas dinner at his son's house and the smell doesn't bother him. He's not allergic to microwave chips but boil a potato (where's the smell there???) and he'll make everyone's life a misery for ages. It would be quicker to tell you what he 'can' eat, rather than what he won't. Everything has to be cooked and served dead on the dot of 6pm too :rolleyes:

I think I'm very lucky! Although Mr TG-to-be didn't grow up with loads of different foods (his mum is a meat and two veg cook as many people are - fair play), he tries everything and anything. He'd never tried Indian, Mexican or most Chinese foods, nor had he tried anything other than the most common of meats, veggies and fruit. I'm a very adventurous cook - if I see something on tv or in a magazine and it looks nice, then I'll give it a go. Sir will always try it, and if he doesn't like it then I'll do him something else next time. Luckily, he'll eat most things I do ask him periodically to re-try things he doesn't like though.

I also don't like the 'I don't like it even though I've not tried it' mentality, and people who say they've got an allergy - when they're either fussy, don't like it or never tried it before - make me want to scream!

I've also been guilty of hiding things too! Where's the harm in hiding carrots in fussy kids' meals because they won't eat them off a plate? They need their vitamins and minerals more than anyone. Sometimes you've just got to do what you know is right because you're the adult and you care. If they like what you serve up then what's the difference?

The way I see it is the more you pander to whims and fussiness, the harder life gets. You'll end up making a different meal for everyone in the house at different times of day and night!

moanymoany

My FIL would not eat cabbage or custard - why? It is common:rotfl: :rotfl:

Also included in the 'common' list was custard. My SIL would go on at length about how she detested custard. One day I had had enough and pointed out that the yellow stuff in the trifle she and her family ate copious amounts of, was - yes custard!!!!!!

My mother would not allow me to use vaseline for my dry skin because she said it once gave her a red patch - and that was before she had dementia:rolleyes2

3106catherine

I have never laughed so much at a thread before!!

I have less problems feeding my 2yr old than some of you seem to have with OH's and IL's.

I disagree with allicouldwishfors previous comments, from personal experience I spent 26 years saying I didn't like curry, without even trying it and despite my DH pleas for me to just try a Korma. Eventually I gave in and it is now my favourite meal!

DH on the other hand says he doesn't like breaded cod, however he loves fish fingers, and will eat carrots raw but not cooked??

scuzz

I think one of my old schools had the right attitude. Everyone sat at the table together and the teacher served you. You weren't allowed to refuse anything, so even if you said you didn't like broad beans, you'd be given one, and your plate had to be emptied. Otherwise, no pudding as you were obviously full up. I'm only going back 15 years or so, but that wouldn't be allowed now - it would be considered cruel. (just for the record I'm 23)

I used to say I didn't like curry, because Dad's were super hot and included anything he found in the cupboards. The rest of the family loved them, but I didn't. Eventually I tried a korma and I love that. I still don't like spicey foods that much - mainly it's the burning sensation and not the taste. But I keep trying things with chilly added and I'm slowly starting to like it.

Another one was cauliflour. Used to hate it now I love it. My friend's a veggie so she's always getting me to try new veg or ones I've not had in ages

On the subject of bad food through childhood shaping your grown up tastes, I've experienced different. My BIL had awful food as a kid, and now tries anything cos we can all cook nice things. And he now cooks himself. Last night it was fish pie

seven-day-weekend

I was helping to prepare a buffet for the Sunday School Christmas party and one boy (of about twelve) looked at it and went 'Bleeuuurgh!' at the top of his voice and said he didn't like anything on the table.

I told him he could always go home and eat or stay and go without if the food wasn't good enough.

I thought afterwards I should maybe have acted in a manner more befitting of my Christianity!