I was a picky eater when I was little, and I mean picky. I refused to eat any meat besides hot dogs (and only with cheese and ketchup) and hated fruits with a burning passion. My parents had to be creative when it came to Thanksgiving dinners since the only thing I would eat was a large glob of mashed potatoes and corn. Thanksgiving was always a small event in our family, so it didn’t really matter if our meal wasn’t always “traditional”. Here’s what my parents did to get me through every Thanksgiving until I was willing to eat turkey.
When I was 9, we had a large pasta dinner. We made a big lasagna, salad, and garlic bread to give thanks. My parents even made me a separate meatless lasagna so I would eat it without complaints. This continued for a year or two until I was willing to try another food: chicken.
We had Chinese takeout when I was 12. I had vegetable lo mein (my favorite to this day) and sesame chicken that I would only eat half of on a good day. Luckily, my dad never had any problems finishing it up for me.
When I was 16, I was invited to Thanksgiving at my boyfriend’s grandparent’s house. Not wanting to be rude, I steeled myself with determination to finish everything on my plate no matter what it was. His grandma was lovely, but she put three very large pieces of turkey on my plate in addition to the other tasty things. It was a daunting task, but I was able to eat two out of the three pieces with the help of the other foods mixed in.
At this point in my life, I’m able to eat the normal Thanksgiving food as I grew out of my picky eating tendencies before high school ended. Now, every year I go back to my boyfriend’s grandparents’ house for a great Thanksgiving dinner and eat a whole plate of stuff that I used to dislike. Sometimes it’s okay to not be traditional, but now a good traditional Thanksgiving dinner never fails to make my mouth water.