Fruit loupe

[bluesilverkdg]

It may amaze and astonish some of you who know me well, to know that I have been eating fruit lately. I have never cared for fruit. I tried to eat it, but I think it was partly a texture thing and...I don't know what other problems I had with it, but I just never, ever ate it. I mean, if someone HAD a grape and offered me one (because that happens all the time), I wouldn't refuse it. But I can't say that I ever liked fruit, and I certainly never kept any in my home. Even when I was a kid, I thought bananas were gross. I found them slimy and nasty. My mom would be all devious and try to slip strawberries into my cereal, but I was having none of that. I've always liked fruit-FLAVORED things. Candy, jello, gum, Kool-Aid...that was acceptable. I enjoy smelling like fruit. And I like fruit juice. I could drink orange juice 'til the cows come home, whenever that is. But I just couldn't bring myself to eat the real thing.

However, I recently decided that I just needed a little more fruit in my world. So, I started off with some basics: apples, bananas and grapes. I've actually still not branched out much beyond this. I dare not try anything too exotic like papaya or starfruit. Oh, I did eat a peach the other day, and I found it stringy and not sweet enough. Oranges are still a no-go. That white crap around them is just disgusting! I cannot find berries of any type that are sweet enough for my liking. (I firmly believe blueberries to be of the devil.) I would like to enjoy cherries (that are not surrounded by creamy syrup and covered in chocolate), but I just can't do it. Grapefruit scares me. Oh, and kiwi = Yuck. My mom told me I might like papaya, however I'm dubious of this notion. I can tolerate watermelon, but I honestly don't see what all the fuss is about. Canteloupe and honeydew and all those other melons can just bite me, though. Blech.
But I have deemed apples, bananas and grapes an acceptable between-meals snack, and I've gotta admit, much to my surprise, I'm actually kind of enjoying them! Maybe I'm just finally growing up.

It's funny, I will eat just about any vegetable under the sun. Seriously. Brussels sprouts? Yum. Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, endive, peppers, squash, zucchini? Bring 'em on! I could live on spinach and other greens. And of course potatoes, beans of all sorts, and tomatoes are just about the best things ever (please don't try to tell me how tomatoes are a fruit...lalalalalalala...I can't hear you.) I don't care for turnips or beets. I think those are the only veggies I just don't like at all. And I'm only OK with onions if they're cooked. But otherwise, veggies have always been my friend. Not so with fruit, but I am glad to report that I have now made peace with (some of) them.

Is an avocado a fruit or a vegetable? And do people just eat them by themselves? I mean, I like guacamole a lot. If it IS a fruit, but you eat it with tortilla chips, well, then color me intrigued.

Maybe one of these days I'll live real dangerously and pick up some dragonfruit or guava or something. What does guava taste like, anyway?

Comments

[theldara.livejournal.com]

::blerk:: Ew Mango.

See, this is why you need an iguana/uro/dragon. ;) My one foray into mango ended the zoo up with 3/4 of a Mango for dessert the rest of the week =P Beany loves mango, we find out. Jenn? Not so much, hatred of mango.

[theldara.livejournal.com]

I wish I could remember which pears I like... I'm always standing in the grocery store going "er... which one is it? Bradford? Asian? wha???" and end up not getting any because I know I really hate one, but love the other! Oy.

[bluesilverkdg.livejournal.com]

Ahh, yes. I also require a crispy, juicy texture. I can't stand grainy/mealy apples! Yuck!

I accidentally got some Rome apples (they were in the bin marked Gala), and they were pretty mushy. I have not tried Fuji yet, but my mother recommended them as "one I might like."

Ha..iceberg lettuce. I love it when PEOPLE think they're getting something all healthy by eating a "salad", that is actually iceberg lettuce with a few shreds of carrot and creamy dressing. Yeah, real healthy! :-P I can't imagine it would be any better giving iceberg lettuce to an sort of critter.

My parents grew some of the best greens last summer. I don't know if they're going to do them again this year (I think it was just this folly that my dad had, deciding he'd like to grow some.) But if they do, and you can use any (they had an abundance...much more than we could possibly eat), you are more than welcome to them. It would save you some money and you'd know they were very fresh.

As for sweets after meals, I have gotten HOOKED on Activia vanilla yogurt. Yum. And it's good for digestion, too! ;-)

[bluesilverkdg.livejournal.com]

What did you not like about it?

[bluesilverkdg.livejournal.com]

See, I'm even picky about fruit pies. :-P I don't do most berry cobblers because of the seed factor. I cannot STAND seeds in my teeth. Most apple and peach pies are too tart. Although my mother makes this caramel apple pie that is...woah. I cannot even imagine the calorie and fat content in that thing though. It's divine.

[nessachan.livejournal.com]

It took me a LONG time to learn how to like fruit. Unlike you, I didn't like fruit flavored stuff either. And like you, I love vegetables.

My parents thought I was insane as a kid because there were no fruits I would eat, but hey, put a lima bean in front of me and I'd be all up ons it like a duck on a june bug. I always did like grapes, though. I didn't like juice though, because it "burned" my throat.

Anyway, I'm finally learning, too. I can't eat bananas alone (a texture thing) but I like them in cereal or in plain yogurt. I like apples and pears, but I'm REALLY picky about the type and I don't like red ones at all.

Oranges... I can eat them, but the white stuff makes me gag, so I have to make sure I pick off the big parts which makes it too time consuming as a snack. Clementines are better.

I love strawberries, but I'll only eat them when they're in season. I can't stand off-season strawberries or tomatoes. I don't usually like melons, except watermelon.. I think it's a texture thing again. I can take or leave raspberries but I don't like blueberries unless they're in a pancake. :P

And as for avocados... I eat them plain a LOT! Well, whenever they're on sale coz they are so expensive. But I LOVE them. Plain, or with salt and pepper and olive oil.. or with garlic and mozzarella cheese and cherry tomatoes, or whatever. I love me some avocados. :D

But yeah, from one former fruit hater to another, recovery is possible! Hang in there and you will learn to love some. =)

(PS. Pomegranates are good.)

[bluesilverkdg.livejournal.com]

OK...let's get really personal here. Are you one of the ones who has asparagus-smelling pee after eating it? :-P I did a post about that not too long ago (there used to be laws in long-ago Europe forbidding anyone who'd eaten asparagus to urinate in public.)

I've actually never tried a fresh pear, I don't think! Can you eat them with the peel on, or do you have to peel them first? I don't do well peeling things. I even leave the skin on my potatoes when I cook them. I'm all about some canned pears in heavy syrup. ;-)

[bluesilverkdg.livejournal.com]

I think Bradford are the most common ones (although I'm certainly no authority.)

[theldara.livejournal.com]

Iceberg is just nasty. It gives me the world's worst stomach ache. Gross fiberwatermush.

But if they do, and you can use any (they had an abundance...much more than we could possibly eat), you are more than welcome to them. It would save you some money and you'd know they were very fresh.

Totally! Fresh greens are much more nutrient rich than grocery store ones, even "fresh" grocery ones. Fresh, young greens are amazingly nutritious, and they actually keep a long time! We love when people's gardens have an overabundant crop :)

[theldara.livejournal.com]

It was slimy. I couldn't really get past that =P Even the mango salsa Dave made me try, slimy. Ew. He says I just didn't try it right (he likes mango) and I say two tries is enough =Þ

I despise bananas too, for the slimy/smushy issue.

[nessachan.livejournal.com]

I love Paw Paws! They taste a little like bananas, but different. They're good but you haveta get to them before the deer!

There's some websites that'll ship them to you.

[bluesilverkdg.livejournal.com]

I got some of that hideously expensive pomegranite juice in the cute little bottle (POM), but I've yet to try the actual fruit.

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one with texture issues! It took me forEVAR to be able to stomach bananas, and I still can't eat them if they're overly ripe. So mushy and smooshy! I'm also very picky about apples, and must have sweet, ripe, juicy, crisp ones. I do not think that is too much to ask. :-P I'm gonna see if mom will get some clementines when I go home this weekend (she's the fruit-eater in our family and she likes it all.) I'm intrigued now, and you are the second person to recommend them.

Grape juice does kinda burn, I guess due to the dryness? Kinda like wine, which would...make sense. Duh.

I'm fortunate that my parents never pushed me to eat fruits, I guess because I was so good about eating my veggies. But now, I think it's just time I got over this issue. I am hoping for recovery for myself, too!! I am very much enjoying the ones I'm eating now, so it's looking good. ;-)

(Oh, off-season/hothouse tomatoes are soooo bad. If a tomato looks pink and has no juice to it, bleh. We grow the best tomatoes I've ever had in our garden. I absolutely live for late summer when I can just go pick a tomato, bring it in the house and eat it, warm from the sun. Ahhhh, heaven.)

[bluesilverkdg.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I am, too. It's replacing my need for things like chocolate and cake with something much better for me.

I keep my grapes in the fridge, too. There is something awfully refreshing about juicy grapes that are ice cold!

[nessachan.livejournal.com]

Yeah! I recommend Clementines. They are so easy to peel (no knives or peelers needed) and they don't make a big mess so I like to take them when I travel. I hate how you have to buy a crate, though. >:(

They don't have as much white stuff as an orange, it's generally pretty easy to remove the gag-worthy pieces.

[mynthe.livejournal.com]

I've never been a fan of fruits too! I'm like you, if someone has them in front of me, I will eat them. But I won't go out of my way to get them, even if my mom has bought some and put it in the fridge. It's not something I think of when I want to eat anything. Once in a while though, I pass by a fruit stall and I get tempted to eat some fruits. But I do love my orange+carrot juice. I need to take a pic of a fruit stall to show you the fruits available!

I like mangoes, they are lovely, like someone mentioned, but you need to make sure they are ripe or they will be hard and sour. Love kiwis, especially if you can find the "golden" ones, which are yellow inside instead of green. These taste much nicer than the green ones, which are actually quite lovely anyway. I don't think you can get tropical fruits, but if you come across rambutans, you might want to try those. They are red and "hairy" looking on the outside, and has a translucent white flesh inside. You might not want to bite too close to the seed as it has a flaky-like skin on it which doesn't sit well with me.

I like guava. Here we'll have sour plum powder sprinkled over cut guava before we eat it. Yummilicious. The best guava is crunchy but soft to chew. I also like bananas, but they can't be too soft.

I'm not a big fan of papayas. They are just too squishy. I can take them now and then but if you ask me to pick a fruit, it won't be papaya. I also do not like berries that much, they are just too plain sweet! I'm a weird person, I know!

P/S: You can have all my brussels sprouts!

[angelsmom.livejournal.com]

Yep. I have to be careful whose home I, um, relieve myself in for a couple days after eating it. But it's worth it. :-)

I've never peeled a pear, I eat the whole thing. And I'm not a big fan of peeling anything either. There's a lot of nutrition in most skins, so they're better for ya left unpeeled. That said, I do quarter and core them. Less waste that way.

[angelsmom.livejournal.com]

Standard 'ol Bartlett pears are good. Right now we've got...Danjou? I think that's what they're called. Taste a lot like a Bartlett, but they're still green when ripe, and a bit firmer. But WAY juicy!

[baseballchica03.livejournal.com]

Hehe, clementines are a type of mandarin oranges. I'm sure the syrup/juice helps out a lot, but they really are very sweet.

[tnrkitect.livejournal.com]

Well, if you can't get her to follow your devious plans, let me know. I'll be GLAD to have an excuse to get some. (Not that I really need an excuse, but anyways...) :-)

[tnrkitect.livejournal.com]

You do know someone who eats Granny Smiths just to eat them, Jessica!

[nirol.livejournal.com]

If you try pears and decide you like them...put them in a salad! There's a restaurant here that does a fresh spinach and pear salad with balsamic vinaigrette...it is super tasty! At home I also add craisins--cranberry raisins, I'm not crazy about cranberries otherwise but they're great as craisins, lol.

[mpurple.livejournal.com]

"My grandmother always grew raspberries"

so did mine!! as well as strawberries. we also had a few red current and black current bushes, and a few apple trees!!

yum.

ewww@artichokes, however.

[mpurple.livejournal.com]

ps "depeche mode"?!?!? duuuuude. ;))

[brytneybrat.livejournal.com]

I love guacamole. I am serious I can eat tubs of it in one sitting and I have, But I absolutely can not stand avocado. It is disgusting stuff! Lol I find it too slimy and slippery. Ugh!
I don't know what guava fruit tastes like but I like guava juice. Mmmmm!

[bogartbabe78.livejournal.com]

lol you are like how I am with veggies, I am picky when it comes to veggies usually....even though there are a few I could eat day in and day out. I could live on melons and berries.... Which for you, it will be a good thing I can imagine, I think avocado is a fruit:-) I have heard tomato is a fruit ....too, but it depends who you ask lol Dad eats avocado ...not sure how, but he does...they are trying to grow a plant out of the seed. lol Try pomegranate :-) You eat the seeds , by the way. Alyssa loves them...