What fruit and veg would you suggest for someone who has never had either?

[SurlyCue]

Its me. I'm not trying to trick DC into eating it.

I have quite big (for me) food issues. As far as I can remember i have never eaten a piece of fruit. I have eaten carots and onions in things like stew and vegetable soup. Apparently i ate "everything" until i was around 3 years old and then suddey stopped. Probably perfectly normal toddler behaviour but for some reason i never reverted to normal. Diet as a child was cereal, toast and chips. (Then no chips for a long time) i have had hypnotherapy as an adult to address this but it was unsuccesful.

Currently my diet is much better than when i was a child but clearly still awful from a nutrition point of view. I want to fix it but i know from experience it will be a slow, baby step process. I have real issues with texture, anything 'gritty' or seedy is a no. I cant eat rice. My palate is also not used to spicy or strong tastes. I eat bland stuff. (I dont add salt to anything though)

So what vegetable and fruit (i'm going to try one at a time) should i start with to try and improve my diet? And also, what should i cook it with and how? I have next to no cooking skills or knowledge but can read (very clear) instructions.

I cant express how much i am afraid of gagging on food so anything with bits or lumps will be a no initially. I also cannot stand the smell of bananas so wont be trying those either.

I know this probably sounds ridiculous to you all but please be gentle as food is a massive source of emotional distress for me. "Just eating it" doesnt work. I was force fed as a child (because i wouldnt eat) and it really is going to take tiny steps for me to get anywhere with this.

Thank you if youve got this far.

Apple crumble and ice cream.

Sweet potato wedges for the veg, just roast for around 20 minutes. How about grapes for the fruit?

How about adding it to smoothies or milkshake? You could blend in blueberries?

Can you try smoothies if you don't like textures? Or vegetable soups? Do you drink fruit juice? You could try the small bottles / cartons of innocent ones first, then if you like them you could get a blender and make fresh ones for yourself.

Do you eat potatoes? If so you could cook sweet potatoes or butternut squash however you have potatoes. Or even mix them in.

Red pepper cut into strips and dipped into something maybe? Sour cream dip is nice. Or hummus but sometimes that can have a gritty texture.

What about potatoes cooked in different ways? I live potatoes, I really do.
New potatoes, boiled, with butter. Easy to do, takes no cooking really, and no prep time. Then.... jacket potato. Food of the gods. In the oven if you have not on, or in the microwave if you haven't.
Also -mash.

And then, or if you're already ok with potatoes ... sweet potato! The one with the orange skin. Delicious, and full of vitamins.

Sorry let me know if you need more instructions for the sweet potato wedges. I usually toss them in a bit of olive oil before roasting at 200 degrees

Or make a really smooth sauce with strawberries and raspberries (you can use a sieve to get rid of the seeds) and have that over ice cream?

Ooh look, there is already a potato/sweet potato theme!

If you can eat chips can you do other potato things?
Maybe stick with the blandness but, as it can be cooked in lots of ways, could help with texture, maybe?
So try roasting ( par boil for a few minutes then on a tray in the oven with a little oil for 20 mins)
Mash.
Grate it, squeeze really hard to get rid of excess liquid and then fry in a little butter to make a rosti.

Do you like pasta? You can buy this spiralized courgette at tesco and use it instead if spaghetti. Exactly the same as making spaghetti, just bung the courgette in instead.

Yoghurt or jelly with fruit in? Subway? Big Mac?

I was going to say sweet potato, you could also try butternut squash. In the fresh prepared veg section they usually have it already peeled and cubed in a bag. Put that on a baking tray, drizzle with a bit of oil and roast in the oven according to the guidelines on the pack.

It will go soft and smooth, like the inside of a chip but not so dry feeling. The edges might go a little crispy. It's nice and sweet.

How about melon? Very clean fresh taste, the texture may suit as it's not gritty and you could eat pieces off a fork so you feel in control.

Cross post
Then you could try similar cooking methods with sweet potato, swede/turnip/butternut squash.

I would approach it as you would weaning a baby. Start with soft or even mashed fruit and veg like banana, stewed apple, pureed carrot, potato, etc then broaden it out and vary the texture a bit

Wean yourself in effect

I do eat chips but very rarely, only if getting from a chip shop tbh and recently started having mashed potato with dinner (i cheat and buy it ready made in asda).

I dont drink any fruit juices. I have tried some in the past and found them quite sharp tasting. Is there one that would be 'milder' than others? I dont have a blender but can get one.

Peel, chop and boil carrots in salted water until very very soft. Drain and puree them with a stick blender. Add butter. They have a pleasant sweet taste but have most of the 'carrotyness' cooked out.
Do you eat baked potatoes? Try baking sweet potatoes instead.
I know you said that you don't like bananas: DH isn't keen either. Chop us a couple of ripe bananas and freeze the pieces. Once hard, whizz them in a blender until they have the consistency of soft scoop icecream. Eat with a spoon immediately. DH thought it was vanilla initially and it really helped him get over the instinctive negative reaction to them.
try Nigella Lawson's green cakes: broccoli cooked soft, mixed with mashed potato and made into little fritters, coat and deep fry.
Once you have worked up to trying several different flavours, you can start on textures but take it slowly.

Some foods are hard to get into. Loads of people are funny about tomatoes eaten raw but are fine with tomato sauce on a pizza or in pasta sauce so don't worry about that. Others like olives, avocadoes, gherkins etc are a bit of am acquired taste. Leave that sort of thing to last

So sweet potato sounds like a good start? And just do it like normal potatoes?

What are your favourite things to eat currently OP? Comfort foods / things you buy for a treat?

Orange and mango juice or orange and carrot juice don't taste as sharp. Stay away from the grapefruit! Maybe try cranberry, its sort of dry tasting. You can get it with other berry juices mixed in too.

Apple sauce? Nice and smooth and not very strong tasting. You just take an apple - ideally a cooking apple, like a Bramley, but ordinary eating apples will do - and cut into quarters. Cut out the core and peel off the skin. Cut each quarter into four or six pieces (just to make it cook a bit quicker, doesn't need to be a precision exercise). Put the apple in a saucepan with a little sugar or honey (not too much, start with maybe one teaspoonful per apple and add more later if you think it needs it). Add a little cold water- one tablespoonful? again, add more if you think it needs it, but it will release juice as it cooks so don't be in too much of a rush. Cook gently until the apple is very soft. Mash up or liquidise until smooth. If you use a Bramley apple it will all go to mush very easily indeed.

Probably best to start with not to add any spice if you're not used to it, but I think apple sauce is even nicer with a little cinnamon or cloves or ginger or mixed spice.

Once you get used to the taste of this, if you like it, you could try not mashing it up and have it a bit lumpier. It's still very soft once cooked so not very likely to cause a gagging problem. That would be stewed apple rather than apple sauce.

Good luck.

In the summer I would say try a nectarine.

For winter, I'd try raw apples (a nice crisp variety like 'jazz' apples), peeled (for the moment) and sliced into nice small wedges.

For vegetables, butternut squash (buy a bag of ready chopped squash) might be one to try. Just put in a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil and roast in the oven on 200 for around half an hour. It will taste quite sweet and would go nicely with any meat.

Current meals are:
pasta with chicken or bacon with jar sauce
Stuffed sausages wrapped in bacon with mash and bisto gravy
Turkey and ham with stuffing and mash
Chicken and mayo sandwiches
Toasties -chicken/ham/bacon/cheese
Irish stew - my mum's homemade
Tomato soup -tinned

And thats all i can think of.