i mean this in the gentlest way possible: you need to eat vegetables. you need to become comfortable with doing so. i do not care if you are a picky eater because of autism (hi, i used to be this person!), you need to find at least some vegetables you can eat. find a different way to prepare them. chances are you would like a vegetable you hate if you prepared it in a stew or roasted it with seasoning or included it as an ingredient in a recipe. just. please start eating better. potatoes and corn are not sufficient vegetables for a healthy diet.
Need it to be easier?
- baby carrots (good dipped in ranch)
- Celery sticks (add some peanut butter or cream cheese for extra flavor and protein)
- Broccoli (good with ranch, cheese, or salt/pepper/butter)
- Canned peas (you can microwave in a microwave-safe bowl. Good with salt/pepper/butter)
- Bell peppers (cut into strips, good with cream cheese)
- Canned green beans (can be microwaved in microwave-safe bowl. Good with salt/pepper/butter)
- Hummus (good with crackers or tortilla chips)
- Salsa (good with tortilla chips)
- Guacamole (good with tortilla chips)
Need it in something?
Can't see it:
- Hummus
- salsa
- Guacamole
Can see but disguised flavor (can usually be found store bought or done at home and use different veggies):
- Dressed up ramen - just toss in some random veggies in ramen of your choice. Pretty much everything I've tried goes fine with it.
- Chicken pot pie
- Vegetable soup (with so many together it's hard to taste any specific one!)
- Chicken noodle soup
- Sweet and sour pork (haven't tried it but chicken should be fine in place of pork)
Texture problems:
Need it soft:
- Hummus
- Salsa
- Guacamole
- Cooked carrots
- Avocados
- Beans (personally I prefer black beans and canned baked beans)
- Peas (make sure to cook well, great value brand has the softest peas I've tried)
- Cooked broccoli (note: it does smell bad while cooking)
- Cooked asparagus (note: also smells bad while cooking)
- Cooked zucchini and squash (good together but can be eaten separate)
- You can also puree most vegetables and eat with a spoon or use them as a dip
Needs to be crunchy:
- Raw carrots
- Raw celery
- Raw bell peppers
- Salad (remember you can put whatever you want in it! Even if that means no lettuce)
- Most veggies are okay raw, and are usually very crunchy
Veggies google says stay crunchy after lightly cooking:
- Snap peas
- Brussel sprouts
- Cabbage
- Water chestnut
- Bamboo shoots
Broad texture tips:
- You can change textures by eating raw, cooking, chopping, pureeing, etc
- You can separate different textures to use in different ways (ie using broccoli tops in a soup and eating the bottoms raw)
It also really helps to think about why you dislike a vegetable. I found that I am scared of green foods so I like to use those veggies for ingredients in things they are well hidden for. I've also learned that watching something while eating helps because then I'm not looking at the gross green things. When possible, I also like to get help hiding it (ie using cream of celery soup in my chicken and dumplings).
