As far as New Year's resolutions go, I haven't made any in several years.
This year I decided a resolution just might be in order. Of course, every year I vow to exercise more and eat healthier (and less) but this year something just popped into my head.
I guess it was the words my husband said to me over lunch one day -
..."you oughta make 2011 the year you conquer your fear of fruit."
History....I don't like fruit. I have never liked fruit. As long as I have been alive I have struggled with my dislike of fruit. Actually, I love all fruit flavors and even fruit juice, but it's the texture that prevents me from eating it. It's really rather stupid because I love almost any kind of vegetable out there and they all have similar textures and such, so why do I have such a tough time with fruit - so much that it literally gags me!?? My mother says it goes back to my early childhood when my dad didn't like fruit and didn't want to eat it, so naturally he didn't force me and he even told my mom not to feed it to me cuz it was 'yukky'. I don't know if that is the real reason, but that's what I hear. It's gotta be something mental, and I really wish I could get hypnotized or something to help me overcome this. I was browsing the web looking for tips and I ran across this page....I thought point #7 was absolutely hilarious!!!
"Take a piece of fruit with you to your doctor. Explain to him that you would like to eat it in his presence so that if you become ill, he's available instantly. Eat a small piece there. This breakthrough can not only help you cope with the fear but conquer it."
So, this year I decided to try eating more fruit on a weekly basis. I like a few fruits in certain form...bananas, apple pie, strawberry jam, raisins....that's about it. Oh yes ~ add tomatoes and avocados to that list, because they are fruits, ya know! I can't stand strawberries because of the seeds and the gushy-ness combined. The pulp in oranges gags me and grapes are hard to chew, too. I don't even like watermelon!!! BUT, I am determined to do my best to try many whole fruits over and over again until I can stomach them. I decided I would start by performing at least one fruit-eating-feat per weekday! Yes, they will be feats!!
So far, I am starting with yogurt. I love yogurt but have only been able to eat the custard style ones or just vanilla. I love Activia, so I have been eating strawberry and this week I have mixed berry.
Anyway, I would love to have your help in this. I'm in need of suggestions as to how I can work fruit into my diet easily....no tackling the fruit basket directly for me quite yet!
Any ideas, recipes, suggestions, etc...will all be welcome! Those of you who leave me a comment will have your name entered into a drawing for a giveaway of this lovely Fruit Basket apron handcrafted by yours truly!!
You can drop by my Etsy shop to see more pictures and I even have a few more of these cute little half aprons available.
Giveaway ends Saturday afternoon at 12:00 PM EST, so you've got plenty of time to help me out!!! Oh, and it's open to all my international friends, too!!! :)
7 comments:
My sister has an unreasonable dislike of oranges though she will drink OJ. I would pick one fruit a week and smother it with cool whip or whip cream. Also try putting the in various flavored jellos with whipped cream.
It sounds like you dont like the texture of mushy fruits.
All of the fruits you mentioned specifically have a high water content. Try firmer fruits such as pears, apples and harder fruits cut into slices. Dip them into chocolate sauce.
Cut them up and keep putting them in yoghurt, make fruit smoothies, try making an apricot pie instead of apple but dont mush the fruit down to nothing, and as weird as this sounds have a play with some pieces of cut up fruit. Add sultanas to your cereal. Put a banana in with icecream. You need to mix the fruit up with things you like at first to start getting used to certain foods. You also need to go with blander tasting fruit to start with .
Good luck !
Hi Jenn. :o)
Bananas are a good start (jam and pie are not fruits ... you know that right? wink!). You can do a lot with bananas and other fruits mixed in. Strawberries are tricky, if you already don't like them, because you may buy a basket of them and bite into an unripe one and think they all taste that way. I keep mine on the counter until they are soft and then put them in the fridge where they are not as juicy to cut.
Personally, I would go for the real thing. There is not enough of the fruit in the yogurts to make it worth your wild. And by the time they mix in the yogurt ... they are always mushy. Start with a fruit you like, chop up a banana and put it on your cherrios in the morning. Then graduate to a small can of pears in light juices (pears are out of season right now). Then buy one apple, core and cut up. I say, don't dip it in anything, because it is the fruit you are wanting to love and the other stuff is really what you are trying to get a way from and gives you a false flavor anyhow. Major on the fruits and vegetables you love and then take baby steps in the other areas.
I hope that helps some. :o)
By the way, you can always juice your fruits (no fiber, but it is the real juice) or dehydrate them. I love apple chips!! :o) Sprinkle with some cinnamon ... hello?! love it!! :o)
Less sugar in your diet will make that fruit irresistible. I know, hardly seems like a fair trade off, but you'll be really surprised.
Try smoothies, yogurt, fresh fruit, juice mix it in a blender. Soon as get home from shopping, I clean up cut all my melons, they way I can just reach in the frig and grab some, no mess.
I really don't know of a way for you to eat it but wash it good... maybe peel it and eat it...its really good fresh. Trish
Oh, I have the opposite problem. I'm a fruit fanatic. I like nearly anything better with fruit, from meat to salad.
But since it's just the texture, not the flavor, that bothers you, here's some suggestions.
You can cook fruit like plums or cherries to make sauses for meat. You can get fruit flavored salad dressings that use real fruit. You can bake fruit into muffins or toss it into pancakes (I love tossing fresh blueberries into pancakes...so easy, the the pancake texture will mask the fruit texture, though I suggest chopping them up for good measure.
I just discovered chocolate covered pomegranate seeds. They are amazing, though I don't know how much fruit goodness lasts through the processing. And if you look in the gormet isle of your chocolate store there's all sorts of chocolate with fruit in it. Not a whole lot of fruit, but if you're going to be eating chocolate anyways...
You might try dried fruit, which is more chewy. Or freeze dried fruit, which is crunchy. Or get real fruit popsicals, or just frozen fruit (frozen strawberries...also crunchy! Same with any frozen fruit if you eat it still frozen.
Do you like cheesecake? If you do you might like Liberty yogurt or Yoplait La'Creme. Very thick and creamy.
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