Less picky

One of the hardest things for me is that I am a picky eater. I have been as long as I can remember. My mother and I used to battle over what I would and would not eat. Eventually, as I got old enough to boil water, she basically cooked whatever she wanted to feed the rest of the family and told me to cook for myself. She did not run a restaurant, as she would say.

OK, that was fine as long as I had an incredibly fast metabolism. Meals consisting of pasta with a bit of parmesan cheese didn't bloat me. Peanut butter sandwiches were fine. I was unusually skinny growing up and part of that was our lifestyle. We frequently took long family bike rides. We all played baseball in the backyard. I don't remember walking a lot, just running.

Fast-forward to today: I do not have a fast metabolism anymore. Part of that is probably getting older, most of it is being inactive and eating too much. On the plus side, I eat probably two or three times as many veggies as I used to. I'm willing to try new foods. I don't like any kind of beans, so that's out. I don't like cooked sweet peppers but also aren't fond of them straight. I eat cooked broccoli but not raw. I ODed on raw carrots and never ate cooked ones.

There's hope, though. I want to try things like cauliflower, fennel bulb, cucumber and mushrooms. I've worked out that if I dice the onions really fine, I can include them in sauces. Also, stir-fries are a great way to cram a lot of veggies into a meal. I love spinach and put it in damn near everything I make. I guess to every parent of a picky eater, I have to say there's hope. My parents' jaws nearly fell off the first time I ordered lamb in a restaurant. I suddenly started eating salad in my early twenties. Hopefully I can work my way to new, healthier meals with my willingness to try different foods.