Were you a picky eater as a kid? What foods wouldn't you eat? Mine were liver and mixed vegetables

[debm55]

with lima beans. Still don't like them. Edit to add--City Chicken, which was really pork , cooked on skewers.

[hlthe2b]

1. Liver & Lima Beans

Just, no!!!!

[kimbutgar]

2. Those are also the same two my husband refuses to eat

I grew up eating friend liver and onions myself but I have never cooked it for him!

Mine is Lamb and anything with bell peppers.

[debm55]

6. I wonder what it is about lima beans, but I would gag when trying to eat. Same with liver

[debm55]

4. Agree

[leftieNanner]

3. I wasn't a picky eater -

But I hated fish.

Love it now.

I agree with the lima beans. Add okra to that list.

[debm55]

18. Never had okra. What about it didn't you like?

[leftieNanner]

24. I grew up in a frozen vegetable house

Dad would boil frozen okra and put oleo (butter was too expensive) on it.

Slimy. Icky.

[Shermann]

27. I ate those f'n frozen mixed vegetable packs as a kid

Carrots, green beans, corn, and peas...oh my! Sometimes there was broccoli, cauliflower, and lima beans. Blegh!

I love a fresh salad as an adult with many of the same vegetables. But you can stick those vegetable packs!

[debm55]

31. I grew up with the frozen and canned versions , YUK, I also like salads today.

[debm55]

33. Had frozen and canned vegetables--never fresh or a salad as a kid.

[leftieNanner]

35. Me too

Now, I'm happy to eat salad three meals a day.

[yellowdogintexas]

47. Boiled okra is slimy and nasty. Fried it is Food of the gods nt

[Different Drummer]

55. Agreed.

I love fried okra!

[lpbk2713]

5. Beets.

My mother made them too often to suit me.

[debm55]

19. If she was like my relatives, it was one of those --It's good for your hair, blood, skin , etc.foods

[Walleye]

7. Bell pepper. Still don't like it

[debm55]

20. I ate in salads, but not cooked. It tasted strange.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

8. If you don't eat your meat, you can't have your pudding!

[debm55]

11. My mother didn't believe in desert, except for holidays.

[Midnight Writer]

9. I was a picky eater. I still am. My list of food items I will not eat is very long.

[Freddie]

10. Never had liver!

Grandma made Mom eat it and she hated it, so never made it for us. Yay Grandma!
Still don’t like mushrooms, Mom did so I had to pick them out of the spaghetti sauce. My kids don’t like them either. They are far more adventurous eaters than we ate. They (Millennials) like sushi, pho, lots of things I never heard of.

[debm55]

13. You're lucky.

It was cooked to very well done as in shoe leather.

[Shermann]

23. I had cow liver once with onions and it was OK

Fried chicken livers are another matter, that's a damn good Southern comfort food. Liver is very rich though, just a few of those and I'm good.

[niyad]

12. Stuffed peppers (though I love stuffed cabbage). Pickled pigs' feet (though I

liked the aspic). On the other han, unlike many children, I LOVED spinach (although not the green slop in school cafeterias), and carrots, and liver. Still do.

[debm55]

16. Yes, I liked stuffed cabbage but not stuffed peppers. Something about baking the peppers left an

acid taste to them. I like fresh peppers.

[niyad]

25. I adore peppers*, raw, cooked, pickled, everything but stuffed. When I was about 4 or 5,

a relative forced me to eat a serving when I did not want anything to eat at all. This was something my parents never did, so I was absolutely sickened. I did not tell them for years why I simply could not eat them, but they never forced me, always let me have something else.

*the hotter, the better. Even as a child, I adored hot, spicy foods.

[notemason]

14. Boiled okra

slimy yuck

[Shermann]

29. You gotta fry that shit!

Southerners have that vegetable mastered.

[notemason]

32. Amen

[Shermann]

38. There was a BBQ joint here that used to serve fried green beans

I swear they are better than french fries.

[yellowdogintexas]

45. Amen again.

Fried is another whole world
I now like it in gumbo too, but boiled? An abomination.

Another great way to cook okra is to slice itin thin discs and stir fry it . Then take it out of the pan, make up a nice stir fry of squash, bell pepper, celery, onion and garlic. Add chicken, pork or andouille sausage. Season with Cajun spice powder and Worcestershire sauce. then add the okra and some diced tomatoes and serve over rice.

You can spice it up with crushed red pepper if you like

[pandr32]

15. Liver for sure.

If I smelled it cooking I tried to get invited to a friend's house to avoid it.
Also foods I avoided, but not with such desperation:
asparagus
mushrooms
avocado
parsnips and turnips
olives
oysters

I am pretty sure the vegetables were just never prepared properly because I love them now. Oysters...meh. Freshly smoked or in a stew, okay. I think it's the snot factor.
I love all kinds of olives as an adult, and if my family had introduced me to Guacamole I am quite sure it would have been a favorite.

[debm55]

42. Same with runny eggs. When we go out, I tell them I don't want them snotty. My family never had f

fresh veggies. Either frozen or the dreaded canned ones. I love fresh green beens now. As a kid I hated them.

[patricia92243]

17. The question was what would I not eat but what would I eat - Hotdogs and peanut butter.

I don't see how I didn't have some kind of disease (scurvy.)

[debm55]

44. As a kid, did you every eat hot dogs uncooked? I liked them then rolled in a piece of white bread.

As an adult the thought of eating it makes me gag.

[Elessar Zappa]

21. I wasn't really a picky eater.

My folks wouldn’t tolerate that. The only things that I hated were onions and pickles, both of which I like as an adult.

[debm55]

46. Good, sometimes you can develop a taste later in life.Sometimes you stop liking the foods of your

youth.

[Shermann]

22. Wasn't a broccoli or cauliflower fan

Oddly, I can't imagine a salad without broccoli now as an adult. That taste you can apparently acquire, but you can still keep the cauliflower.

[3catwoman3]

26. We were not allowed to refuse to eat...

…anything that was served. I would have refused liver, canned peas, and canned creamed vegetables/cream of vegetable soup.

I do not like banana or acorn squash.

My dad insisted I dip an oatmeal cookie in his cup of coffee one time - can’t stand the taste or smell of coffee to this day, and this would have been at least 60 years ago.

[debm55]

34. Sorry about the coffee. Never had the desire for coffee even though you could smell that odor all

through the house all day.

[3catwoman3]

36. Even this many years later, I can't understand why....

…my father would force me to do this. An obedience “because I said so” thing? It wasn’t like I was refusing to do my chores or homework. Why did this matter to him? (rhetorical question)

[rsdsharp]

28. Lima beans and brussel sprouts.

I love sprouts, now — roasted, not boiled!

My father hated liver so we never had it. I used to work in a meat department of a grocery store. The sound a beef or pork liver makes when it hits a block is disgusting. (So is the smell).

[debm55]

48. Hated liver and lima beans-never grew out of it. Have no desire to eat.

[Niagara]

30. I wasn't entirely picky.

I didn't and still won't eat sauerkraut, pea's and beets.


I couldn't hold down mushrooms, brussels sprouts and anything from Penguin Point, and I actually liked Penguin Point. Penguin Point was similar to Kentucky Fried Chicken. There was occasions where I was forced to eat mushroom and brussels sprouts and they came right back up.



I'll eat mushrooms now as an adult, but no sauerkraut, pea's or beets.

[Ocelot II]

37. Onions, Brussels sprouts and lima beans.

That has not changed.

[thatcrowwoman]

39. Lima beans, peas, and fish.

Mama didn’t eat liver, so that wasn’t an issue growing up.

I still won’t eat limas. Texture, taste. I just won’t.
Peas are okay in chicken pot pies, but not as a side dish.

Fish I used to couldn’t get it past my nose.
Then I married a man who loved fly-fishing for trout, cleaned and cooked them, too. Wow! And yum!
When he was little he’d go fishing with his mom and granddaddy. When we were just beginning to court and spark, he would take my Grandpa Linus fishing. They became great fishing buddies, even tied their own flies.
I knew we were meant to be together when he showed up on time for the wedding and his pants weren’t wet up to his knees. 🩵It was opening day of trout season. 🩵
He and his best man had been in the river that morning.
🕊thatcrowwoman

[debm55]

49. And you thatcrowwoman are a very lucky lady to have him on your journey in life.

[electric_blue68]

40. 😄 Omg, my poor parents! ....

While not the worst; what I did like is easier!
1958 - 1966 ish

Meats/Fish: beef, chicken. Bologna, liverwurst. Only white Albacore tuna (still true)

Eggs: soft boiled, scrambled eggs sandwiches, maybe French toast?

Fruits/Veggies: Apples, corn, carrots, mashed potatoes, tomato soup (no actual whole, cut tomatoes)

Grains: pasta (wheat), white bread, rolls, ?rice

Dairy+: only skin milk (real digestive issue till teenhood), American cheese, feta cheese (half Greek American)

Desserts: Chocolate rice cream, chocolate cake, white cake chocolate frosting, jello


Little me would be horrified with Adult me! 😄

[debm55]

50. Oh electric-blue68. I had to eat what was simple for me to make. The only meal I didn't make was

dinner. At 14, I made a lot of that. You have a lot on your list. Sometimes our tastes in food expands as we grow older-as I'm sure happend to you.

[mockmonkey]

41. Liver and Chung King Boxed Chinese food

We were kind of working poor. But we never went without food.

I hated, hated, hated Liver. That was something we used at the park
to catch Crayfish why would anyone eat that?

Chung King Boxed Chinese Food. I did like whatever those little crunchy noodles that you put on top were called. Otherwise YUCK!
I like Chinese Food now as long as it isn't spicy. I usually get Pork with Mushrooms.

I hated that they mixed the vegetables in the TV Dinners. Why can't it just be Corn or Peas why do you have to put Peas and Onions and Corn with Carrots. This TV Dinner is like a 5 star meal now that you added that crap to the vegetables!

My Mom liked to make Rice-a-Roni with Chicken Hearts and Gizzards I could tolerate the chewy Gizzards but wouldn't touch the Hearts.

I hated my Mom's Chili. I didn't appreciate it until later. One time my older brother and I were home alone and were picking through her Chili and we both decided that we found Caterpillars in it and threw it out, boy was she pissed! I'm sure there wasn't really any Caterpillars in it.

Whenever we went to a restaurant I always ordered a Plain Hamburger because they always put Pickles and Mustard mixed with the Ketchup. I hated Mustard and Pickles. Even when ordered plain it still came with those three things. Now it doesn't bother me because it was easier to learn to like it.

About ten years ago, before my Mom's Dementia got noticeable I was having dinner at her apartment and she was watching me eat and then notified me that I was a Plate Spinner. Not like on The Ed Sullivan Show but I would eat what was directly in front of me and then turn the plate to the next thing and then finish that and then turn the plate again. I didn't realize it and it made me self-conscious and I never did it again.

[debm55]

51. I was a plate spinner too. Eat what I liked first, second favorite next. disliked last, if at all.

Learned to do that because If I got sent to my room, I at least had some food in me. I can tell you everything we ate during the week[hot dogs, TV dinners(salisbury steak) Fish on Fridays. meatloaf, Chili made with Campbells tomato soup. Stuffed Cabbage or Peppers. And those God awfull chung king dinners in the box and Chief Borardee meals in a box. We never went out to eat as why should we give money to someone when we could eat at home. First time, I went out to eat was my first date at 18. They were not poor by a long shot. Mother didn't work but she was always on the phone with grandmother or walked to my grandmothers house, Dad was a draftsman at Westinghouse. Pizza was never a meal. always a snack. Desert was never served after dinner. Just on holidays. Eating as a child was a silent thing as no one was allowed to talk. Dinners were shitty all around.

[yellowdogintexas]

43. Sweet potatoes, okra, malted milk nt

[debm55]

52. Did you have to eat/drink it? Have you grown out of the dislikes?

[yellowdogintexas]

68. definitely sweet potatoes. Once I had them fried

I discovered a whole new attitude. I have some recipes which use them instead of white potatoes; our favorite is a Caribbean Beef stew which is seasoned with Jamaican Jerk spices. It has onions, garlic, tomatoes, beef and green beans. It is very good and is a Weight Watchers recipe.

WW also has some great vegan recipes with sweet potatoes, chick peas (or black beans), spinach etc. Some are curry seasoned.
Low in points.

I also have come to love okra either fried or stir fried, or in gumbo.

I never ate/or drank any malted product after I got sick on a malted milk that had far too much malt powder which put me off forever.

[CozyMystery]

53. I would not eat raw tomatoes or kale/collard/etc greens

I first tasted tomatoes in a tomato sandwich when I was 53 years old. A friend had made the sandwiches for our lunch, and I ate it because I was polite.

They are my favorite vegetable now!

The cooked greens tasted awful. I still don't like them, in general. But I put kale and spinach in soups now, and the soups are still delicious.

I have always loved liver. And, except for the above, I loved everything my mom served.

[Different Drummer]

54. I refused to eat fruit.

It didn't matter what it was--if it was fruit, I was against it. Now as an adult, I love fruit.

[debm55]

56. Good . Fruit is very good for you

[Kaleva]

57. It was either eat everything or get whipped with a belt

I chose the former

[debm55]

61. I am so sorry, Kaleva. I had abusive parents too.

[Kaleva]

67. That was pretty much the norm where I lived growing up

You ate what was out on the table or suffered the consequences.

[ProfessorGAC]

58. No

My parents were thrilled. I'd try anything once, and seldom found something I wouldn't eat again.
Now, I didn't care for lima beans, but at around 10 I had them in a lemon & butter sauce at a local restaurant. I realized right away that everything is better with a good sauce. (By the way, the entree was liver, which I ordered of my own volition. )
My mom started making it with that sauce after that, because I'd eat all of them!

[debm55]

62. You ordered liver?????? Yes, at home liver was not cooked right. It tasted like leather. People have

told me that the liver they had was delicious and they made it differently then my mother. No sauces were used just butter. I have to agree it is the way foods are made that makes them good or bad.

[ProfessorGAC]

65. Yep!

One time, the waitress asked me what I wanted. I said liver with onions & a slice of lemon.
Waitress said "You sure?" looking at my parents, kind of side-eye.
My mom said "Honest, it was his idea! I'd never even order it for myself."
Told you I wasn't a picky eater!

[debm55]

66. You are right about that.

[Raine]

59. Wouldn't eat any meat and I still don't

I guess I was born to be a vegetarian.

[debm55]

63. I tried it and got very sick. I am 5feet 4in and my weight dropped to 92 lbs. I have to say I didn't

know what I was doing--just eating salads and fruit. I eat fish now and some chicken . I avoid red meat.

[area51]

60. Was a picky eater as a child,

and still am. I hate liver, but I do love lima beans. I guess I'm in the minority.

[debm55]

64. 50/50 _____