Picky Eater.... UGGG HELP

Ok... so my hubby is a picky eater.   It's not that he doesn't like things... it's that he doesn't like to try new things.  So I have been making two meals each evening.   For example, when we have pork chops:

His is cooked in cream of mushroom soup in the oven and mine is cooked on the George Foreman grill.   That's not so bad.  

My dilema is that I cannot find a new meal that will suit both of us.  We have our staple dinners.  Spaghetti (we eat different noodles), French Dip Sandwiches (he eats white bread I eat wheat and no sauce)  we have chicken (he gets thighs and I eat the breast).  So I'm used to exchanging things for my meals to be healthy.   But he doesn't want to try anything new!  He wants his same ole meals all the time!      So... I'm reaching out in hopes of someone with the same issue and lets see if we can come up with new meals that the PICKY one's will eat!! 

Note: He won't eat many veggies  but I love them!!!!!

I'm afraid I take a dim view of people that not only have fussy eating habits but then also expect someone else to cater to those habits.   It's just selfish.   I would quite honestly cook the foods you like to eat and, if he turns up his nose, hand him a pan and a wooden spoon..... 

Start cooking his favourite meals really poorly, while keeping the veggies perfectly steamed/sauteed/grilled/whatever? Hehe. Or you could COMPRIMISE and say "I'm trying to make our lives healthier, so I'm going to limit *such and such* to only once a week."  If he doesn't like what you make, he doesn't have to eat it. I'm sure he's a big boy and could fend for himself once or twice a week! =P

Maybe try some of those jessica seinfield recipes where you  hide the veggies in the meal. Maybe she has a recipe that he won't turn his nose up at and then when he's done be like "oh snap, look who just ate vegetables! Wasn't that bad was it?" Or maybe take him to a doctor who can tell him that if he keeps eating the way he is now with food that has no nutritional value that it will just lead him down a pathway of disease and being downright uhealthy. Maybe then he will be more willing to try new foods. If he still doesn't budge then I agree with the first poster. I am sorry but I am not going to be cooking separate meals for anyone I am with because they want to be picky.

What about kabobs?  You could do chicken or lean beef and put pineapple, green pepper, red pepper and onion on it (or whatever veggies you like).  Lasagna using eggplant and spinach with low fat ricotta and motzerella and I add ground pork but rinse it before it goes in pan so reduces fat.  Veggie beef soup is another good way to get veggies in.  Turkey chili, perfect for winter.  What are your favorites and maybe we can suggest some different ways to prepare them?

LOL  When I moved in with my husband he was very picky.  I mean PICKY!!!  He complained constantly about my cooking.  His idea of spaghetti was Campbell's tomato soup, ground beef and noodles.  I told him I run a household not a restaurant and if he wanted to eat crap he could hit the nearest McDonalds or cook his own.  We're still married, he eats my cooking and doesn't say squat.  That's not to say we haven't compromised..he just doesn't know it! I picked up a baby blender and I grind up anything he will whine over.  How fitting is the name baby blender?  Now if I make something that doesn't have the item he used to complain about he will complain that it tastes funny.  He has no clue that he is eating celery, mushrooms, onions and assorted other veggies that he would turn his nose up at.  I can't count all the things he swore he would never eat.  16 years later I'm here to tell you that he eats them and likes them..he just doesn't know it. 

You can always try the guilt trip.  Tell him that you want to grow old and gray with him and that it worries you when he doesn't eat things that will benefit his health.  Didn't work at my house but you never know...maybe your man will be different heehee!

Hi.  I'm a picky eater.  I can count the vegetables I eat on one hand.  (Before the recriminations about how bad that is: it's tough when most vegetables make you physically ill.  Lettuce makes me gag.)

At any rate, you're not really talking about healthy vs unhealthy, you're talking about expanding his horizons.

I recommend making things easier to try just a taste - make things with sauces on the side.  Don't make casserole type dishes where everything is mushed together.  Make dishes with integrated vegetables either with large pieces that can easily removed or with very small pieces that can potentially be ignored.  If you don't know which would work better for him, ask him.  Treat him like an adult.

You have my sympathies. DH is a VERY picky eater (basically he doesn't like anything 'healthy'!) so a lot of the time I just give him what he wants (he'd eat hamburgers six days a week and pizza on the seventh...) and I have something healthier. 

i can absolutely relate.  now that i think about it, i absolutely love and miss eating variety of foods, so how did i end up in this relationship?  haha.  honestly, i blame my boyfriend's parents, because i hated most things i ate as a child but was forced to eat it.

 

enough ranting...i try to sneak in veggies, but he has the taste buds of a child (he's almost 30) and it took me 5 minutes to get him to eat a sliver of green bell pepper.  i recommend compromising by using healthy ingredients on pizza or mince up some onion to add in the spaghetti or puree some veggies to add into things you make.  also, see if he'll go try different foods with you once a week or twice a month, etc...  occassionally, my boyfriend really enjoys salads, so try making really tasty ones (like chicken fajita salads, asian salads).  that way, you can sneak in tons of veggies.  try newman's own lighten up dressings.  oh and i recommend sneaking veggies in quesadillas, paninis, or what not.

honestly, if this doesn't work, i agree with gi-jane; give him the pan.  note: if you only make him veggies he likes every single day, very soon, he'll ask for something else.

Original Post by gi-jane:

I'm afraid I take a dim view of people that not only have fussy eating habits but then also expect someone else to cater to those habits.   It's just selfish.   I would quite honestly cook the foods you like to eat and, if he turns up his nose, hand him a pan and a wooden spoon..... 

 amen!

Here, here, GI-Jane!!  If my husband doesn't like what I've cooked, he can make something else for himself.  Period.  Then I even have yummy, healthly left-overs for the next day.  It's amazing how he says, "I hate fish," while eating the fish I baked.

So, you turn on the oven to bake his meal and grill yours? Seems like a waste of power to me. I would grill both and make his sauce separately which he can pour all over when it's on the plate!

My hubby is a picky eater. Wont eat vegetables except certain salad items and potatoes. But we have learned to compromise in ways such as that one I mentioned. And at least he will take turns cooking or we prepare the meal together. He will grill two chicken breasts for us, then his will be served with mashed potato and mine with steamed veg or a salad. I precook a lot of food which saves time and bother. Like, I will cook several cups of brown rice or lentils. Then put into the freezer in portion sizes. Then while he is cooking his fave spicy white rice, I can pop my portion of brown rice in to the microwave and presto we both have what we want.

Some days I only want salad or steamed veggies, and then he picks up take-out or microwaves a lean cuisine. He loves their flat breads and the suiza's, so it is not a punishment for him.

GI Jane is right though. He has to be prepared to compromise a bit. If he is so fussy he cant even do that, I would show him where the kitchen is (since he clearly has no clue now) and tell him to cook his own! How did he manage before you came along?? Nobody is born knowing how to cook, those who do, learn it. He can do the same.

It is a parent's responsibility to teach their children how to fend for themselves. When my sons left home, they all knew how to make a few easy and cheep meals, spag bol, chili, veggi soup etc. It's really not hard and they soon learn to appreciate the efforts you put in when they have a clue as to what is involved. Teach em young, that's what I say!

 

I am in the same boat!

What I do, though it's not working very quickly, is make something completely different for dinner. Ask him to try it. I usually cook something that's not too far of a stretch. For instance, I recently made beef and barley soup. It had potatoes in it, as well as other things he didn't like, but he ate at least half of it, mostly the meat and potatoes. Then I made him a sandwich. Next time I hope that he'll eat more of it, but I'll probably make it a little more to his liking by taking out the barely which I didn't know he didn't like.

I've also made things he absolutely couldn't tolerate, but as long as he tries it, I'll make him something else.

Anyway, it takes at least 5 tastings to get a kid to like something. Since his mother didn't ever do this for him, I'm stuck doing it now. =/ (I'm never resentful towards him though. It's something I have to accept about him, as there are many things he has to accept about me. I would never show him the kitchen or he would simply starve! But considering he has the income to purchase the food, how can I complain? Without him, I'd starve!) So I hope that in the next ten or so I will eventually widen his tastes to accept something other than meatloaf, pizza, and hamburgers, haha.

Invest in some good cookbooks. Go to the ingredients he likes and see if there are any recipes that are varations of things he already likes. This is where I start. (A lot of cookbooks now have nutritional information so that you can immediately rule out recipes you can't eat.) Try one new recipe a week to mix things up. (Maybe he'll start wanting something new.)

Some ideas: Chicken fajitas, beek/pork roast slow cooked (so it's still tender without cream of mushroom soup or anything),  stirfry (often works out well because if you add a little sauce then the veggies pick up that flavor and don't seem to veggie-like but you can add it after you take out your portion), baked chicken with some interesting veggie sides, grilled marinated chicken/steak on the Foreman is also excellent with a salad for you and a side for him.

for your spaghetti days, you could make a homemade sauce and puree some vegetables in it. what he doesn't know can't hurt him.

maybe you should just tell him that you should both just cook your own meals?

Thank you to those who did not try and push me to leave my man!  ha ha  I ask for some food help and some people came off like they were offended!  I'm not looking for support for a relationship.....   just new foods to try!!!   :)  He is picky! But I still love him and am willing to make it work!  Food will not end my relationship!     He can cook.  He cooks well too.... just not anything healthy.  Which is why I cook more often. 

I am looking for meals that you and your spouse both like... that are not full of fat and grease!     

Thank you to those that offered some ideas!  I will try the fajitas!!! Something I have not made yet in the house!  Thanks  tincognito!

Omg I have got all this to look forward to! lol I've just started dating a guy who I know doesn't like any vegetables except for peas and carrots... so I told him, if I ever get a chance to cook for him I'll make him eat his veggies and he thinks I was joking... the challenge has been set heehee

My daughters also a quite a bit fussy, so we've got her involved in meal planning. I also try to find different recipes using veg that we wouldn't normally like but in a new way. She's determined not to like them from the start... but she does try them! and now she loves a fishfinger wrap with pickle and carrot sticks... chicken and beetroot in a wrap too. I'm picking up on the fact that she prefers to eat finger foods so now all I have to do is devise a way of eating casseroles and soups like that