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.

Try diluting fruit juice with water. Even sparkling water if you like fizz.

Also I'm interested in what you like to eat. Might help with ideas.

Well done for trying this. I know someone with a similar history who won't even try.

You can put lots of veg in stew like the carrots e.g. squash, turnip, parsnip.

You can also mash all of those mixed with potato.

Clear apple juice is a lot less sour than many other types - I was lactose intolerant a long time ago when soy milk was awful, and had it on my cereal!

Thanks you all BTW for being so patient. The instructions are really great.

Cauliflower cheese?

I'd also try and increase the lumpiness e.g. of the tomato soup, just a little at first.

This might sound odd but following on from the 'wean yourself' idea above, I'd take a stroll down the baby food aisle at the supermarket and choose some Ella's pouches to try - the first stage fruit or veg ones are completely smooth and really tasty (especially the fruit ones) and you can treat them like a thick smoothie and suck them from the pouch.
I think it might give you a gentle introduction to new tastes and once you get a sense of which flavours you like, you could then try the actual whole fruit / veg. You'll know you like the flavour so it will be then a case of getting used to the texture.
You could also have a look at the annabel karmel weaning books which have millions of ideas for early weaning foods right up to normal family meals.

I'd also encourage you to focus on tiny steps and keep returning to a new food to try, I read that it takes dozens of exposures to a food before we like it.

gasp what does the apple sauce go with? Do you just have it on its own?

How about those pots of fruit purée they sell in the baby aisle? Totally smooth and really yummy combinations (I used to do one spoon for baby, one spoon for me!).

Apple sauce would be nice with little pancakes and some ice cream or Greek yogurt. What about mango? I find them a bit hit & miss fresh, but you can buy ready chopped or frozen which tends to be softer and sweeter.

I'd take a stroll down the baby food aisle at the supermarket and choose some Ella's pouches to try - the first stage fruit or veg ones are completely smooth and really tasty (especially the fruit ones) and you can treat them like a thick smoothie and suck them from the pouch.

Thank you- thats a very good idea!

Ha, cross post. They are delicious though and not sour like fruit juice.

Get some finely chopped frozen spinach. Its in the bag as cubes or balls and when its mixed into a sauce you cant taste it. Add it to your jar of pasta sauce - defrost a cube and stir it in. It looks like herbs when its mixed in. You can add extra as you get used to it. Get finely chopped, not the leaf spinach as you want it as tiny as possible. You could pop some in Irish stew or anything similar.

In addition to what's been said so far and as a possible no-cook option, I would try sweet corn with some of the things you have already. Do you buy chicken&mayo sandwiches? If so you can probably find chicken and sweet corn sandwiches as a possible alternative.

Sweetcorn you've cooked yourself (get a tin or a pack of frozen corn, instructions will be on there, it's dead dead simple) would go with your pasta, sausages, or ham/turkey. And they're not strong tasting.

The literal blandest veg I can think of is cucumber. The seeds in the middle are very soft so can be easily scraped out. You can peel it if you want. Chop the ends off but basically the whole thing is edible. It might put you off by being completely boring though!

Good luck

Thanks frizzy i'll try that.

I wonder if you might find wandering around a market a good thing - not to buy anything, just to look. See if anything looks good to you, or just get familiar with the way different fruit and veg look. They are likely to be riper than supermarket fruit and veg so will smell a little bit more.

I would also have a think about trying some seedless jams or jellies. Most will be at least 50% sugar if not more so shouldn't be too sharp for you. That way you could try some fruit tastes in a controllable way, on a bread that you like. Don't put on a thick layer, just smooth a little bit on so it's a taste, and have a bite or two? Seedless raspberry jam, or apple jelly would be nice.

I also think that melon is a good one to try - I'd recommend galia as I think it's one of the sweeter ones. Watermelon can be a bit stringy.

Sounds like you are fine with mashed potato, so I second the suggestion of adding other veg. Sweet potato and butternut squash are lovely, celeriac makes nice mash, swede is good though has to be boiled much longer to go soft. My DCs like 'monster mash' - potato, celeriac and broccoli steamed soft and mashed. None of these will be grainy.

Soups are also great for getting lots of veg. Almost anything can be boiled with stock and blended soft.

For the fruit, could you maybe try fruit purées? Just steam and blend, like for babies. Every time I have weaned a DC I remember how totally delicious they are. You can buy puréed fruit in France, not as baby food but for pudding! I still make it sometimes and mix with Greek yoghurt as it's a lower sugar option than flavoured yoghurt. For fresh fruit, mango might be good - soft texture and not sharp tasting. Or a ripe pear? Or even try tinned fruit like peaches?

Try making your own pasta sauce. Chopped onions, carrot, garlic, herbs and chopped tomatoes. Can all be bought pre-chopped so you're not handling veg.
Cook onion and garlic together smells amazing then add carrot & tomatoes with some oregano & basil. Cook til all veg soft (use a knife to check)
Blitz it to a fine pulp to make the sauce

I hate broccoli and cauliflower. but I'm making and huge effort to eat it. One trick I use is to smother it with gravy. But that is for when you're ready for lumps of course.

Is there any fruit or veg that you think looks good? That you would consider eating?

This could be a texture thing but most people who don't like fruit like grapes.

How about the ready made mash with other root vegetables. I had a tesco swede and carrot one last week. It was really nice.

The frozen chopped spinach is a great idea. Iceland's is chopped really small and yes, just like herbs when it's added. Could go in pasta sauce, soups, stews etc.

I dont really look at fruit because i'm never buying it for me. So not really sure what looks good. The DC just pick what they fancy and stick it in the trolley.

People have mostly made the suggestions I would have made (potatoes/sweet potatoes/apple juice/baby food).

The other things I would consider are, if you can eat jar pasta sauce, you might want to try making your own using passata, which is sieved puréed tomatoes (so no texture issues). You could start by frying some bacon as a base, then add the passata and some herbs (try dried oregano) and cook until it lo Is like sauce. It might taste a little bit too acid at first. If it does, add a little bit of sugar, which you can gradually decrease.

You might also like to try ready made mash from a supermarket. Lots of places do a mashed potato with carrot or swede, which gives you the flavour in a more gentle form.

For texture, you might want to try pre-chopped melon or mango in a little pot. If they taste ok, try some cucumber. Cut a long slice, cut that in half vertically, so that you have two half cylinders. Cut each half in half again, to give chunky sticks. Cut out the seeds.

If fruit juice is too strong, you can water it down.

It's incredibly impressive that you want to try. My dm is similar and won't try / is disdainful of what others eat.

If your eating jar sauces, then believe it or not garlic and onion your already used to.

I might try making tomato soup- something you eat already, but homemade. Chop an onion, and a clove of garlic. Fry the onion on a very low heat with a bit of oil and butter, for ten minutes. Add the garlic for two minutes. Add a tin of chopped tomatoes, a tin ( the samr tin) of water, a teaspoon of boullion, half a teaspoon of sugar, boil for ten minutes ish until halved. Blend ( hand blender £7 on asda) it tastes like Heinz tinned. I know because my autistic dd eats it ( she wouldn't otherwise )

My thinking is that perhaps if you learn to make what you already eat yourself, some of the fear is removed.

Thanks all for these suggestions, loads to be getting me started. im going to go to the shops tomorrow so will have a look and see what ones i want to try. Think i'll try a ready made mash with potato and something else in it.

Hi! Well done for being so brave. I hardly ate any veg or fruit until I was 20 or so, like you I had real texture issues.

The top thing I learned is that every veg tastes better with a bit of salted butter. :)

For a long time I would only eat stuff that was quite mushy, aubergine (peeled) and courgette can be cooked into a mush, and if you add tomato sauce you're most of the way to ratatouille.

It's ok just to taste things at first, it's ok to make them more palatable with salt or butter or sugar, those can be reduced as you get more accustomed.