Happy Friday! Well the end of the week is here and I was debating on what to talk about today. I tossed around a couple of dessert ideas with some strawberries and realized that I haven’t written a fun post in a long time. Now my idea of fun may not be the same as yours but lets give it a try.
Name one food you hated as a child but LOVE now! Leave a comment and tell me the food. If I get 100 comments on this post – I win a bet with a friend and I hate losing so make sure you tell your answer!
For me it has to be “BEETS”. I was totally against them as a child and never wanted to touch them. I would see my mom making beet preserves and eating them all summer with everything from meat and potatoes to summer hams and roasted beet salad. I wanted to stay as far away from them as humanly possible. Then maybe 5 years ago, I tried mom’s beets and guess what… I loved them! The texture and flavor was sensational and now I cannot get enough of them. I pretty much clean her preserves out when I go over there for dinner. Oh dear – sometimes I wonder about myself.
Enough about the beets for now. I have to tell you some more news! I was poking around today and noticed that I made a list of the top 25 recipe blogs of 2009. I thought that was pretty neat.
Around the Blogsphere
- Gena delivers – A Very cool salad by Choosing Raw
- Heather reveals a very cool recipe for SourOat Bread
- Nate still keeps his readers laughing, check out his latest work.
- Jaden at the Steamy Kitchen shares a very cool drink
I am on the road next week but I have rounded up some guest posts for the week. I will be in (what better be) “Sunny” Florida for the week on business but I shall return. I will be fully active with the blog next week so feel free to keep your comments coming.
Now do not forget – I want to know the answer to the question: Name one food you hated as a child but LOVE now!
Take care
zesty
{ 142 comments… read them below or add one }
This is easy for me because I pretty much hated everything and now I love so much. A few examples – strawberries, sweet potatoes and zucchini.
Good luck with the bet.
Sweet Potatoes!! I’m obsessed with them now, but never liked them when I was little.
wheat Bread! all I wanted was the white bread with the brown crust like all my friends had, and my mom gave me this weird stuff with seeds and nuts and stuff in it. Now, I can’t get ENOUGH of good wheat bread!!!
I used to hate all greens! Now I totally love them and consume the daily!
I’m going to have to go with tomatoes. I could eat them all day long now!
I’ve also just recently developed a taste for cilantro. Until the last year or so I would stay as far away from the stuff as I could!
Brussels sprouts and lima beans.
What a great post! There are so many things…beets, onions and mushrooms to name a few! Good luck with the bet!
Haha… fun question! It was a chore for me to eat most green foods as a kid, and now I can’t get enough of ‘em. Good luck with the bet
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Onions and garlic (I know what a freak child right?). Fish of any kind, steak, pork chops! It really didn’t help that my mother was horrendous cook =)
Does an herb count? I always thought that I didn’t like rosemary because my mother doesn’t like it. When I finally started cooking with it myself, I realized I loved it.
I also thought I didn’t like oysters or sushi because my parents aren’t fans, but I’ve discovered I love those too.
Other than that I was not a picky child and ate just about everything… have always hated scallops, escarole, bok choy, and broccoli rabe, and that has not changed.
Super easy — I hated most foods as a child LOL
I’d say the biggest one is all kinds of seafood — I hated everything from the sea as a child. Now I specifically love shrimp, white fish, tuna, and a few others. Still no slimey clams or scallops for me,though! Bleck!
Salmon!
congrats Zesty!
mmm….shrimp!
I hated asparagus as a kid, but love it prepared every way (but overdone) now. I can’t image having thought that it was so horrible!
I don’t think I can pick just one. I didn’t have the most adventuresome diet as a kid and within the past 10 years or so, most of what I didn’t consume then I eat regularly now.
Beets for sure are one of those foods. Mushrooms would be another although I can only eat them IN something, and never raw. I love tomatoes too. And fish.
I fully believe that a lot of people have strong dislikes of food because they haven’t eaten it properly prepared. Overcooked meats and fish are simply unpalatable. Same with overcooked vegetables. JMHO……
Cabbage Rolls. Grandma made these and I always thought they were yucky, but my parents made me eat them. Now I really like them. On the other side of the coin, as a child I ate liverwurst sandwiches and deviled ham sandwiches. Not sure I’d want to do that now.
Congrats on making the top food blog list!
I’d have to say mushrooms. I wouldn’t even touch them as a child, but now I LOVE them. Raw, cooked, just about anything.
I never thought I’d say I like fungus, but I do!
this is a hard one for me because as a kid i’d eat anything. maybe salads?? i have one every day now and would never choose to eat one as a kid
Brussels sprouts all the way!!!! I DESPISED them as a kid but now they are my favorite veggie!
Asparagus, broccoli, squash, and eggplant all come to mind. *grin*
So many! But I’ll go with olives, since I hated those well into my 20s, and now I can’t get enough of them!
I read this interesting thing once about … you know how they say all the cells in your body are basically replaced every seven years or so? Since that also includes your tastebuds, sometimes they ‘reconfigure’ a little differently, so you may actually find that your tastes change. No idea if that’s scientifically accurate, but it’s a cool idea, and a good reason to keep trying things, even if you think you don’t like them.
oatmeal!!
Visions of green beans, lettuce and spinach flood my mind.
Morning Zesty!
I hated basically all vegetables. Peans, corn, carrots…now I will eat anything as long as it isn’t moving or looking at me.
Cantaloupe
Artichokes, tomatoes, and onions…Beets too, lol.
Spinach! I can remember gagging as a kid when my parents asked me to try/eat it. Now I love it and eat it daily!
There are so many! Onions and peppers seem to come to mind first.
Mushrooms. Now I can’t get enough.
Sweet potatoes (especially casserole with pecans), squash, zuccini, onions, peppers, carrots. I guess I was picky
definitely eggs! hated them as a kid, but now i LOVE them
It’s hard to narrow it down, but I’d say spinach and avocados stand out the most!
Brussels Sprouts! I love them roasted
I hated mushrooms but now adore them! Same with bell peppers.
I hope Florida is sunny for you next week too! Where in FL are you going to be? There are a lot of us bloggers here in FL if you have time for a meetup!
Honestly, I can’t think of a one, but want to help you get up to your 100! I loved all fruits and veggies as I had the chance to try them. I did hate sweet potatoes, but that was because they were always prepared with sweet syrup and marshmallows at gatherings. Once I had the chance to try them unadorned, I loved them! Hmm, I hated cilantro, but I still hate it, so no change there.
I would not touch a cucumber! Now I love them every which way! Congrats on the top 25 list btw!
I’m with you on beets! Now I’m like, “where were you all my life?” and as a child they were right out of the ground and I didn’t want anything to do with them!
I hated shrimp or any other kind of fish…and now I love them all!!
It’s more the other way around for me, in that I liked a lot of different foods when I was younger that I can’t stand now!
But keeping in the spirit of things, I would have to say plain eggs. My mom used to have to put cheese on them just to get me to eat them, but now I love them just the way they are.
Have a great trip!
Congratulations!
My pick would be Spinach! I love it for green smoothies, etc.!
Fun question!
Pam
http://www.alovefornewrecipes.blogspot.com
Funny you should ask this because I posted about this topic today – haha! Mine is mushrooms!!
Sweet potatoes. As a kid, I hated them, but I love them now…. so delicious and nutritious.
Spinach, beets, and brussels sprouts were anathema in childhood and now I love them in so many different ways. But I still can’t eat oatmeal, not that I don’t like it but the texture does me in. Cream of wheat or Malt-o-Meal have always gone down just fine.
Avocados and shrimp now I love both.
Spinach and asparagus. Now I drink a Green Monster every day with as much spinach as I can fit in it.
I didn’t even have to think about this one – mushrooms!! I used to hate their texture and the idea of fungus in general. But as I got out of my teenage years, I realized they add a great meaty taste and texture to a lot of my veggie dishes. I could probably eat them by the box now!
I was a very picky eater ….. I HATED green beans …. and mushrooms and asparagus and fresh tomatoes. I realize now that it was not a taste issue but a texture issue. Green beans were mushy (the way my mother overcooked them! Mushrooms, asparagus and tomatoes were slimy-mushy.
Love them all now. And I steam my veggies!
LOL
Brussels sprouts-I can’t get enough of those tasty little suckers!
I actually was a very adventurous eater as a child and I’d have to say I’m pickier as an adult. I can’t think of much I didn’t like back then, but I can def think of a few veggies I don’t care for nowadays (beets, turnip, eggplant…ick!).
Congrats on making the top 25. I tweeted and linked back to your post to see if it helps you reach 100
For me…Strawberries (it was a texture thing – I didn’t like the seeds) and just recently beets, but, fresh ones. I am not a big fan of canned ones.
Ha – I think I’m strange. I loved canned beets when I was little. What I didn’t like was fresh onions and tomatoes. Now I can eat a whole tomato plain – I love them!
I hated mushrooms. I didn’t like them until my now-husband forced me to get them on a pizza while we were on a date… turned out, they are awesome! Now, I can’t get enough…
I also hated any and all salad as a kid! I do like salad a lot now, but I still am weird about some raw veggies (like carrots!)
raisins – the only type I knew were stale from the SunMaid box. once I tasted “fresh” dried fruit, I was hooked. I still don’t like most of the foods I didn’t like as a kid.
Oatmeal!
I used to hate EVERYTHING as a child so this list could be extensive. I would say the biggest two are spinach and onions. I wouldn’t go near either and now I love both!
Prawn for me. Now one of my favourite!
I hated tomatoes–I would pick them out of salads, off of burgers, and still complain that they were “tainted” with tomato flavor. Now I pick them fresh from my garden and eat them plain!
Oatmeal, beets, sweet potatoes, cabbage, brussel sprouts, cranberries, cereal with milk, fish….wow so basically everything I eat now. Haha! (I still hate celery and raisins though, so some things stay constant)
One food I hated as a child is onions, oh, but I still hate those, so that doesn’t count.
Hmmm. I really didn’t like celery or cabbage, but I do like both of those now! I also didn’t care for seafood of any sort and still don’t like most, but have decided that I love salmon and halibut! Go me.
Go Zesty! Hope you win the bet.
fresh mozzarella!
Three things come to mind: 1)mashed potatoes (I would hide them under the table in this little nook-we always told my mom that they had nuts in them. ha. now i LOVE mashed potatoes 2) sweet potatoes (my mother-in-law would make “Yams” and I tried them and now LOVE them, esp with cinnamon and butter 3) onions in any fashion (now cook with them all the time as an adult!)
Just in case you don’t reach one hundred, let my previous comments count as 3! Ha.
Mushrooms and Onions. I’ve been on a bit of a portabella kick lately.
I still can’t eat bananas… something about the smell and the texture make their consumption impossible!
http://neonfrut.wordpress.com
Grapefruit — unless they had about a cup of sugar on top of them. Now I will eat them like oranges!
Corn Beef Brisket. Could not stand it and now I make it ALL the time. Great…now I am craving it.
Brussel Sprouts & Artichokes.
Broccoli, green beans, and onions. Hated, hated, hated them. Now I can’t get enough!
Oh, I hated honeydew melon! That’s my favorite melon now!! I also didn’t like onions and mushrooms and wouldn’t eat anything if they were in it. I’m still not THAT fond of them, but I do cook with both and don’t mind eating them!
I wasn’t a fan of mushrooms when I was young…now I love them!
As a child I would not eat yellow squash however it was cooked. Now I love it and will eat it in any way shape or form. I have eaten it raw, sliced and dipped into ranch dressing . Fried with onions and bacon is heavenly!
Spaghetti – which, I still don’t care for, but I can tolerate it. Any cheese that wasn’t cheddar or American I hated as well – goat, blue, gorgonzola, feta – now I LOVE them.
Asparagus, avocado and seafood. Love all three now!
Avocado, mustard, spinach, couscous, brown rice…
I think I survived only on macaroni and cheese!
Also, I think my list of things that I ate when I was younger, but no longer eat anymore is HUGE!
mangoes! And of course I lived in Miami at the time where people were shoving bags of free mangoes from their tree at you at every turn..and now that I have to buy them I can’t get enough!
Asparagus! I had only tried the ones that came in a jar, and hated those. Once I tried the fresh ones, though, I had a big change of heart.
Pretty much all of my favorite foods I hated until about 3 or 4 years ago: oatmeal, yogurt, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, broccoli…pretty much every healthy foods. Now I eat all of those almost every day!
rice pudding!
For some reason I just can’t get enough of it now!
I hope my kids grow up to love all sorts of foods.
BEANS!!!! My mom would force me to eat them in chili, for example, and I would eat all the chili and then leave the beans til the end. Then I would swallow each bean whole with a sip of milk so I didn’t have to taste them.
I wasn’t a picky eater and had a healthy appetite so this isn’t easy! I’d have to say… dark chocolate.
<3 jess
Not guna lie, I was a pretty adventurous eater as a child and liked basically any and everything that hit my lips. While I ate a mix of processed and natural foods, I really cannot say I ever “hated” any foods as a child that I now love. On the other hand, there are plenty of foods that as a child I loved that I hate now (i.e. oreos, candy bars, and soda).
The list is long. Encouraging to know that one can change. I’d have to say….tomatoes. It was a texture thing, with the mushy gel around little seeds, uck.
Everything! I’ve tried so many food as an adult that I now LOVE – onions are the only thing I can’t stand!
Mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, bean sprouts, black beans, wild rice, prunes, hard boiled eggs, peppers, and asparagus, just to name a few!!
Fish, for sure. Also, I used to hate just about every vegetable and now there isn’t a single one I don’t like.
Has to be mushrooms!!! I despised them as a child, it wasn’t until I was all grown up and had something called Steak Diane that changed my mind. My boyfriend took me to a fancy restaurant(to impress me) that had tableside cooking and said I would love this dish(sniff-sniff, he didn’t really know me, how could he think I would like the dreaded mushrooms?) Well, damn it, I loved them and him(sigh) It was one of the best and memorable meals of my life.(I discovered Cherries Jubilee too!) And even tho he is no longer in my life, his gift of mushrooms will always be with me.(corny, but true)
Tobasco, vegetables of any shape and form, oatmeal, plain peanut butter…
Cilantro! I thought it was disgusting. Now I freakin’ love it.
Steak. My mother cooks steak well done and that taste like shoe leather to me (and always has apparently!). I remember dreading steak night.
I like my steak somewhere between rare and medium rare, but I didn’t discover this until my early 20′s. Now a good steak is one of the best meals in the world to me!
This is a tough one because there is a lot to choose from (I was a very picky kid!). But the biggest one that comes to mind – tomatoes! I didn’t even eat Uno’s pizza b/c it had tomato bits in it (and I was a HUGE pizza girl). I never ate them – period. Now I eat them plain, on/in everything, and sometimes I choose a meal simply because it has tomatoes in it! Funny how that works, huh?
oh man there were sooo many foods I hated as a child but i cant get enough of them now – brussel sprouts, goat cheese, any type of fish, cottage cheese, jelly/jam, etc. etc.
I ate pretty much everything as a kid, but sweetpotatoes really stick out in my mind, since I love them now…everyone always made them sweeter by adding sugar and marshmallows and stuff. I started liking them after I made them savory-with sea salt and pepper. Or as baked fries with tons of ketchup. Yum!
Also, didn’t like cabbage, but if cooked correctly I really enjoy it now.
I HATED bananas when I was young, I thought they were mushy and horrible. Now I eat one almost every day!
LOBSTER!! I have a feeling my mom told me i wouldn’t like it so she could have more-but her luck eventually ran out and i adore lobster
I thought I hated brussel sprouts, b/c that’s what TV told me. I didn’t actually have one until I was in my 20′s. They rock! Wonder if I would’ve like them as a kid….
SO CLOSE TO 100!!!
Cheerios! My mom always put sugar on them and I HATED the grainy texture. Also pork chops. My mom burned everything growing up, so I didn’t realize that pork chops could actually be tender. lol
I hated asparagus as a child. Especially the way my Mother over-cooked it. It was really slimy! Now that I am an adult and have eaten asparagus steamed – I love it! It’s even terrific straight out of the garden!
green peas!!
Olives! I did not begin to like olives until pregnant with my first child.
fish! i don’t CRAVE it now, but I don’t mind eating it every once in a while
peppers
As a kid I hated all fruits & veggies except bananas and carrots. I now eat and enjoy most fruits and veggies-and still eat lots of nanners and carrots!
omg I am 100! hahah I win! I Win! JK JK but ser one food I hated and love now is actually peanut butter !!!
xoxo
lo
My diet has probably tripled since I was a kid. Things I didn’t like then but do now …
Seafood – now Salmon sashimi is probably just about my favorite thing in the world!
Peanut butter. Broccoli. Sweet potatoes. the list is pretty endless.
Brussels sprouts! Always hated them. Then I went to my birthmother’s for Christmas and she made sprouts. I took just a few to be polite, but ended up having seconds. They are now my favorite vegetable: The difference is in how they are prepared!
Well you already broke 100 but I’ll contribute anyway!
Nuts. I hated nuts of any kind! I’m slowly warming up to all of them but still not up to some that taste too earthy, like walnuts. But I love pecans, especially. I can’t believe I ever passed up Pecan Pie!
Believe it or not, I hated pizza! I can’t imagine in what universe a child could hate pizza, but I did. Now, oh my gosh . . . one of my favorite foods ever.
I just wrote an entire post about this!! Here are mine:
Tofu, crunchy peanut butter, artichokes, coffee, beer, and coconut
Onions. Shocking, I know.
For me it is definitely asparagus! I hated them so much as a child, I think probably because my mom bought frozen ones that got soggy and overcooked. Then a couple years ago I ordered something at a restaurant that came with a side of asparagus and I tried it just because it was there and I LOVED IT!
plain yogurt. now I love Fage!
Cantaloupe melons.
Green beans – I’d hide them underneath the table and then clean them up after my parents had gone to bed. Now, they’re one of my favorite veggies!
beets!!! and nuts (other than peanuts), fish, onions… the list goes on
I’ve never been a very picky eater. I liked trying new things, and I ate most of my veggies without complaint. Except for mushrooms, zucchini and eggplant. I could not stand them, and thinking back I can’t imagine why I hated them so. Now I’d count them in my top five favourite vegetables! Last night I ate a giant plate of only mushrooms and zucchini, and it was delicious!
It would be scallops for me!
* oatmeal
* asparagus
* goat cheese
* tomatoes
* coffee
* spinach
Hey Zesty~
I always hated anything green as a kid. It’s no wonder I was about 40lbs overweight…Now I eat salad daily and get angry without my greens!
I absolutely hated salad as a kid. I would have to sit at the dinner table (sometimes until 9 p.m.) until I ate some!
Now, I love salad!
Avocados! My mom has always loved these omega packed gems. But, I always thought that they smelled like lawn clippings. On my 21st birthday, I went to a Mexican restaurant with my mom and dad to have my “first drink”. After just a few margaritas I started flirting with the guacamole an I fell in love! I have been a fan of avocados since!
Tomatoes, Mustard, Pickles, Onions – sounds like burger toppings but I mean in all dishes!
Cabbage. I can still remember the nauseating smell of boiled cabbage wafting through my house. That is the only way my mother ever served it. I realized as an adult that cabbage (if not boiled to mush) is quite tasty.
avocados… my Dominican family ate them with every meal and I couldn’t get past the color (I was a strange child) and refused to eat them… now I want them everyday!
Eggplant! I thought it was so gross and mushy when I was a kid and now I can’t get enough!
Cheese! Now I love it and the stinkyer the better!!!
I actually wrote a post about my love for beets this week, but the food that I could not get past my lips as a child and I love now is oatmeal! Unfortunately gluten intolerance means I don’t eat it very often, but it’s divine!
Fish! I wouldn’t even eat fish sticks as a kid. Now I could eat sushi every day even the really weird stuff like eel and uni. I love it all!
I used to had avocados and would pick them out of my california rolls… what was I thinking?! I love them now.
I hated pizza as a child. Would not go near it! I don’t think I even tried it until I was in college. I was a very VERY picky child growing up. Now I love trying new things and exploring flavors. Pizza happens to be my favorite now with all sorts of veggie toppings. Oh and by the way, hated beets back then and still don’t like them today!
Pretty specific here, Ranch Dressing. I absolutely hated it. Sometime in my mid-teens I became absolutely addicted to it.
Broccoli! I would literally gag. Now I love it.
Brussel Sprouts….. Yuck!!! Love them now though
Carrots – hated them, but now love them especially raw. (Beverley)
Meatloaf – hated the texture. (Michael)
Garlic – smell/taste Now I love it (Marsha)
You’re a great help at moving Zesty – must be because you are so experienced.
Have you considered a blog on interior design?
rhubarb! I hated it and would pull out it out of baked goods, as I thought it ruined them. Now I think it’s tasty!
Great job on making the top 25 recipe blogs!! And it looks like you have well over 100 comments but I’ll add another one. I used to hate onions – but now I love them!
I pretty much hated ALL veggies when I was growing up…now, I’m a vegetarian! LOL go figure!
Asparagus is the first food that comes to mind for sure. I used to say it tasted like dirt – I have no clue why. But I think it’s pretty awesome now, even with the whole “asparagus pee” issue!
bittergourd…
haha, you already more than 100 comments
I know this comment is way after the fact but I used to hate beets as well, plain yogurt, sushi, caviar, olives, beans and broccoli. The only one I can’t bring myself to try now that I’m older is caviar – I had such a bad experience with it when I was little…
Mayo, I couldn’t stand it as a kid but can’t eat a sandwich without it now.
Turnips!
Hated them then…….love them now! MAybe I am a better cook then my mother??Her generation boiled the bejesus out of everything !
Yogurt.
Cheese ..well, any cheese except mozzarella I wouldn’t touch at all. Now, thanks to my college dorm-mates I love a variety of cheeses.
And brussels sprouts. (Everything else I didn’t like I still don’t like. But I loved beets as a kid, wtf?)
Asparagus and Eggplants. It’s amazing how our taste buds change as we get older
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