How do you help an autistic family member eat a bit more healthily?

[Bottlesofrumonthewall]

I have an autistic family member .Almost everything they like is processed - and although I know a few of their safe foods (like macaroni cheese), it’s really hard to get any fruit or veg into their diet.

apart from pasta with a sauce they generally don’t like foods touching, so it can be difficult to introduce anything new. They wouldn’t have something with visible vegetables in like a curry but they’ll have a processed sausage bake.

I’m just trying to make mealtimes easier and need some healthier ideas without causing stress. They won’t tell me what they want, they say they don’t know

if you search on "Arfid" you can find ideas and support options. e.g. https://www.arfidawarenessuk.org/

A bit of nutritional yeast in his mac and cheese will give him a few extra nutrients and he wont taste it. Maybe some whizzed up tomato sauces with hidden veg?

With DS it alwasy started with the most processed version of anything - he would be far more 'adventurous' with ready made food than from scratch. I used that as a stepping stone. E.g. he would see Macdonald's advertised, or a toy that came free with happy Meals and ask for Macdonalds. After he;d been a few times, I'd buy shop bought burgers at home. After he had eaten them a few times,I'd make really plain burgers. Once they were okay I'd add a bit of onion, herbs and garlic but so you could barely taste them. By the end, I was chucking spinach and fennel and all sorts of veg into the burgers and he;d eat them happily. But it was a slow process.

Same with pizzas or sausage rolls etc - add tiny amounts of pureed veg then increase the amount, then graduate to very finely chopped.