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Agree with the ideas above. If you start simple, you can build on it to make better things. I also highly recommend taking some actual cooking classes. Not sure where you are based but here in Boston there are a bunch of places that offer "how to boil water" type classes which are not only helpful because they are designed for beginner cooks. but better than just going to a cookbook because you can ask questions and actually see techniques (and practice them) hands on. Good luck!

Here is my recipe for a very basic tomato sauce for pasta: http://theripetomato.wordpress.com/2008/12/10/you-like-my-sauce-eh/

it is the first thing i ever learned to cook and is still my most favorite comfort food.

Cooking for yourself, combined with a little patience, will definitely help you broaden your eating horizons! At 29 I decided it was finally time to get over my childhood declaration that eggs make me gag. I started with veggie scrambles that were heavy on the veggies and made sure my eggs were *well* cooked (6yr old me declared 'runny eggs are barf') but after a year or so of egg diligence I've gotten to enjoy eggs so much I'll even do an every-so-slightly runny slow scrambled egg. You can do it, with a little perseverance! There's a whole lotta food out there waiting for you to eat it

I love all kinds of recipes, but one cookbook I have really stands out when I think of your question. I would definitely consider the Hungry Girl cookbook. It has a lot of recipes that are extremely simple, healthy, have lots of veggies, but still cater to, as you would say, 'the food palate of a child'.

It's a start...

I totally had a limited, picky palate, until one day, around when I was 21, I woke up and NEEDED things like rare red meat, bacon, pickles, mustard, and sour cream, even though I barely new what those things tasted like. This doesn't really address the whole "healthy" thing, but in terms of items that bridge the kid-adult palette gap, look at recipes for appetizers and hors d'oeuvre. Twice baked potatoes and deviled eggs are total comfort food but I don't think of kids when I think of them either. Also forget the stereotypical image of home cooked meal and just make things up. One of my favorite light dinners is some cubes of good cheddar cheese, some jullienned bell peppers (red are my fav, but all colors are tasty), a couple dishes of mustard and butter, and some good bread. Mix and match and enjoy.

aimee,
since you don't say that you can't cook, i would like to suggest cooking light magazine (cookinglight.com). they have whole sections of their website devoted to healthier versions of classic, homey dishes - mac-n-cheese, tacos, burgers, etc. i've never seen a cooking light recipe over 500 calories per serving and most that i've tried are deliciously flavorful.
good luck!

You might try taking a look at Ellie Krieger from the Food Network. She specializes in simply prepared nutritious versions of comfort foods. My boyfriend also has a kid's palate and I cringe to think how much pizza he consumes. But I've successfully sneaked many vegetables and nutrients into his diet with her cookbook.

You can check out her book on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Food-You-Crave-Luscious-Recipes/dp/1600850219/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245772911&sr=8-1

maybe try eating just vegetarian or organic for a while. you'll eat more/better veggies, and can still scratch your itch with healthier veggie burgers, for example.

Try a new veggie each week, but have a back up plan. I would buy enough of the veggie to have it twice. Just because you don't like it in one recipe doesn't mean you won't like it in another. Try it raw vs cooked, etc.

Keep a big batch of homemade pasta sauce around just in case the new veggie is a failure. Flavored chicken sausages really pump up a boring bowl of sauce pasta.

Wake up dear. You are an adult now and need to nourish your body with respect or suffer the consequences later in life. Kids' food is fine for kids, but your not a kid. The veggie world is full of wonderful, flavorful treats that make any "kid's menu" boring. Start a garden, learn to eat what you grow, visit the farmer's market, try new foods and try cooking for yourself, from scratch. You'll be surprised how wonderful homecooked,home grown, non-kid oriented foods taste. Find a friend who loves to cook and have them teach you how to work with all the fruits, veggies and grains...good luck...it's a fun endeavor and much better than kid-oriented "junk".

Once you start really trying as an adult, you'll be amazed by how much stuff is actually good.

I used to be the pickiest eater EVER as a child. I must have driven my poor mother mad. But then suddenly came my 20s and everything I used to hate suddenly started tasting good!

It's entirely possible that you're a "super taster." This is the source of some childhood picky eaters. They're simply too good at tasting! So for children, especially, anything bitter or strong is an awful or weird experience. But with enough exposure and age, you can accustom your tongue to be more accepting.

I went on a mission when I first realized all those foods I hated weren't bad - I'm willing to try anything. And not just once! That cheese you just tried might have been bad, or put with something that didn't bring out the flavor correctly, or etc. I try everything at least three times before I give up.

Another thing that helped me was cooking stuff myself. I don't know if it's a crazy mental thing or something, but I was less weirded out by complicated foods if I put all the ingredients in myself. For example, when I was a kid I would pull all the onion out of soup before eating it. But once I tried adding it by myself, in smaller quantities, it got me over the childhood aversion. Now I love it!

I'm with Kaete: Often adults think they dislike something they haven't tasted since they were a kid. They were put off by it as a child, with those more sensitive taste buds, and never tried again. I'm a strong advocate of repeatedly trying things you think you don't like because I've learned that you can surprise yourself when you least expect it. And I mean, keep trying things you think you don't like, even when you're long past childhood. I hate horseradish, for example, but maybe when I'm 80 I'll think it's great. And I disliked mustard until I was almost 30, but I'm starting to come around.

I think the best recommendations so far have been the ones that take gradual steps. Substitute turkey for ground beef when making tacos or burgers. Look for low-sodium/low-salt options of crackers or soups that you like. Chicken sausage is an awesome way to eat a bit healthier but still have hearty, full flavor. Sweet potatoes have great flavor, and tons of vitamins and minerals! Try cutting up a sweet potato into spears, brushing it with a little olive oil, sprinkling on some sea salt, and baking until the skin is crisp...you have a healthier alternative to french fries! There are so many options out there to eat a bit healthier, and I think that it's great you're taking that step. Good luck to you!

I'll second what BiasCut said. From my own experience, you have to try something, then try it again, and sometimes even again. I NEVER ate onions until I went away to college but now I love them. Same with broccoli. Used to be a huge YUCK but now I love it roasted with salt and garlic. Keep trying stuff even if you "know" you don't like it. I've hated fish my whole life and I still keep trying it occasionally. One day I might find it tastes good.

@lona, geeze, lighten up, she knows she can't eat kid food forever, why do you think she's asking here?

If you know what vegetables and fruits you already like, expand your horizons by purchasing and eating their relatives. Like broccoli? Then try cauliflower and other brassicas. Or if you like carrots, then maybe other root vegetables are worth a go? And if it's texture -- say mushrooms feel slimy -- then figure out if there's a way to get around that -- like eating those aforementioned mushrooms raw instead.

If nothing else, pick up a really good vegetable-centric cookbook. Oftentimes, the veggies my picky guy friends won't eat are unpalatable based upon how they're prepared. When my husband makes his homemade Sicilian marinara, even our buddy who hates mushrooms and onions finds it good. It's all about technique and figuring out just what exactly you don't like about whatever it is you're eating. Good luck!

First off, enough with the judgment. People's tastes differ. Expanding your tastes is a great opportunity, but it should exciting and positive and not fraught with shoulds and have tos.

I say start by making a list of things you like. Cupcakes and pizza and soda, sure, but I'm guessing there's more than that. Ethnic foods, one or two vegetables you've tried and really liked, a different type of grain, or even just basic flavors. Spicy/sweet/salty/sour/etc. Even more basic flavors like sweet and salty have more adult or healthier associations. If you like sweet, try experimenting with different fruits or preserves. If you like salty, try miso or tamari.

Then go from there. There's already a lot of good suggestions regarding that. Anytime you find something new, be it caramelized onions or pad thai or parsnips, add it to the list. Each new thing you like opens up a bunch of related things to try.

And just because you've tried something once and didn't like it doesn't mean you won't. It could have been out of season or poorly prepared. Of course, if you find something totally horrific, don't feel compelled to try it again. It's okay to hate broccoli and love pizza - but it's even better to keep experimenting with the thousands of other things out there.

easing into it is probably the best idea, but I did it in a crash course sort of way and it worked out alright for me. pick one week and only buy a ton of fruits and veggies and grains, even ones you've never tried or even heard of before. buy as little of your normal food as possible. go home and cut everything up and figure it out from there. if you're not sure what to do with something, turn to the internet. by doing this I found out I actually like cauliflower! who knew? If you're starting to cook, I bought Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything" and love it. He has a vegetarian version too, although I haven't looked at that one. Just have fun with it!

I love this question! So honest. And I have a little niece who will eat very little--we strive to find healthy stuff she will eat, but she was born that way--her older sister will try anything! CookingLight is a great idea. And trying things you used to hate every once in a while. I make it a quest to reintroduce my gf to things she declares inedible (I don't think her mom was much of aan adventurous cook)--but cooked in a yummy way.

Also, maybe watch the documentary Food, Inc. I hear it's eyeopening. Not in my town yet.

An important thing to keep in mind that while you may hate a particular food prepared a certain way (boiled Brussels sprouts) you may LOVE that same food prepared differently (roasted Brussels sprouts).

Another trick is to rehab one meal at a time. So if you're eating Captain Crunch for breakfast, you could start by switching to Kix and adding fruit. Gradually get the sugar and junk out of your breakfast (allowing for the occasional coffee cake or chocolate croissant!) and then move on to updating lunch or dinner.

I think eating more healthfully and adding variety are really two different things, though they can certainly be done at the same time. For adding variety, one important thing to remember is that you can "train" yourself to enjoy almost any food if you just try it enough times. I've done this with many foods- bleu cheese, salmon, etc. Pick a few things that you currently dislike, and eat them whenever the opportunity arises. Eat them on at least 7 different occasions before you give up on the food, and actually *eat* it each time- don't take one tiny taste and then give up. Even if you don't like the taste of something, it's really not that horrible to eat one serving of it. If you do this with enough different foods, and find more that you already like but just hadn't tried before, you'll really develop your palate and be more open to all different kinds of food. Once you enjoy eating a variety of foods, it will be easier to eat a healthful and balanced diet.

Some of my very favorite foods now are things I once hated (even as an adult) and then "trained" myself to like.

Oh yes, start small: one vegetable here, one fruit there. When you're comfortable with those, combine them with newer, "stranger" foods. Eventually, your palate will catch up.

Oh, and cut out soda as much as possible! It's not just bad for you, it also dulls your tastebuds (well, mine, anyway). I stopped drinking it when I went out of the country for two months (and sodas weren't readily available); when I came back, cokes tasted strange, and everything else tasted better, especially subtly-flavored things, like vegetables.

Try to eat "whole foods" as much as possible, avoid pre-packaged foods, and cook things yourself. Everything will taste better, even if you're not the best cook in the world!

Oh, and the "Cooking Light" suggestion is spot on. That's pretty much how I got into cooking! Simple, healthy, and a huge variety of recipes - you can't go wrong.

Best of luck!

http://www.abreadaday.com

Almost every person I know was the same at that age, myself included! Good to start trying to eat healthier and try new things! So many years i missed out on good things because I was afraid to try them again, taste buds do change/evolve!

Like many have suggested just be open to trying new things, it may take awhile to get past new textures or tastes but you will come to appreciate them the more you are exposed to them.

One other suggestion, you mentioned looking through cook books to find your fav foods in different preps, why not try looking for your fav preps with different foods? Example eggplant Parmesan instead of chicken Parmesan. Or like someone else suggested turkey burger/tacos instead of beef - or even blackbean burger (i made these the other night, they were actually really good!).

Also have to throw in another eat fresh as possible, fresh veggies, meats, etc taste so much better.

Oh, and the cucumber and salt Faith reccomended is now one of my fav snack foods since i tried it 2 years ago - toss with some lemon or lime juice, even a tablespoon of vinegar if you don't have citrus laying around. Yum

I was a pretty picky kid, although I did eat vegetables and had a fairly wide variety of things I would eat. But things that did not fall into my acceptable category were not eaten. I was stubborn too.

But one year, when I was in my 20s, I made it my New Year's Resolution to be open to trying new foods. I had read something about trying things multiple times to acclimate your taste buds. And low and behold it worked. I now will try pretty much anything. And my childhood arch nemesis, zucchini, is now one of my favorites. There are still a few things I don't like, but I keep trying them just in case.

I think it all comes down to making the decision to be open to new things, both in food and in life.

You are already doing step 1 which is realizing things need to change, good for you!

The next biggest suggestion I have is be willing to try new things anytime anyone offers you a taste. At the grocery store, friends house, etc. You never know when you will find a new favorite. Additionally I will say the same thing I tell my children and even my spouse it takes over 28 separate times of trying a food to truly know whether you like or dislike it. I doubt it is entirely true but I read it in a parenting magazine years ago and it does seem to hold true for my family.

Think italian. Pasta is a fine start, but don't stop there. Italian food is often built around simple preparations of very high quality ingredients. Here is a list of things to work with:

olive oil, zucchini, broccoli, basil, garlic, balsamic vinegar, shrimp and fish, sausages, parmesan cheese, fresh mozzarella, pasta, high quality bread, spinach, very fresh lettuce, freshly ground black pepper, tomatoes, lemons, polenta, bell pepper

And here are some non-pasta ideas:

grilled zucchini
cheesy polenta
fresh tomato salt pepper drizzle of balsamic
caprese salad
roasted broccoli and shrimp with lemon zest
corn souffle
roasted red pepper spread

Aimee, I am apparently married to one of your relatives.

Let me suggest that most vegetables can be steamed tender/crisp, and lightly seasoned with real butter, and a tiny bit of ground salt and pepper, and will taste delicious. A little bit of butter is the ideal seasoning.

Almost any fresh meat, fish, or fowl, can be cooked in a skillet on a burner, with a minimum of fuss and seasonings. Peruse the spice section in your grocery store and look for blended seasonings, which are often especially blended for beef, chicken, et cetera. These are good places to start, and if you like a particular blend, then you can see what spices are in it, and start buying the individual spices.

I bought a how-to-cook-book when I was a bride, and I use it to this day. The cook book section in a book store can be overwhelming, but if you take a well-seasoned cook in there with you, I bet you can find the right book.

My best tip? Use a timer; nothing tastes very good when it's undercooked, or overcooked.

Hi there!
My friend found a book called "Deceptively Delicious" that has some great ideas -- like putting squash into mac and cheese and applesauce into brownies. A nice way to make comfort foods a little more healthy.

Take a cooking class. Find a friend who likes to cook. Go to a restaurant that you wouldn't normally go to and be adventurous. Try using different types of cheeses on foods you like (slap some Gruyere on a turkey sandwich, throw some Gorgonzola on a burger), start using whole-wheat flour for things like pancakes, etc.

Iona - "kids food is fine for kids" why? No, most of the stuff lumped into the category of "kids food" isn't all that healthy.

It's really important to eat very fresh fruits and vegetables. When I was a small kid I couldn't stand the canned veg and bland mealy apples that we often ate; then we moved to a small town and my dad started growing a lot of our food. The first veg I remember going crazy over was asparagus. I couldn't (still can't) get enough. Then I got hooked on cucumbers in sour cream with dill. And he grew strawberries & our own apple tree. So find a few things you like and get them fresh!!!

E-e-everybody's an expert. Listen up, "childish palate," you go right ahead and eat pizza and soda for supper. Seriously. It's your home, your stomach. You should be able to eat what you like. BUT...envision your job-team's first working lunch and the ordered-in sushi...or any such circumstance where your childish palate stands to be exposed. You'll learn to eat adult foods...or not eat. I believe it's a little like potty training a child: Sooner or later they learn without angst from mom and pop. You'll get the hang of it after a while. And if you want pizza and soda for supper 3 nights out of 7, even until you're 80, so what?

Don't feel bad!!! I'm the same way--and have been for 50 years. I have to periodically wean myself off of my high-sugar/high convenience palate and back into healthy things--but the good tastes are out there. I like the suggestions about Ellie Krieger and Cooking Light...I'll be trying them along with you!!!

Oh, forgot to mention--the South Beach Diet recipes are wonderful. Don't let the "diet" throw you--it's just regular food. But it'll help you to cut down on carbs, which are a big foundation of "kid" foods...

"Palate of a child" is such brilliant way of characterizing it. In my mind that suggests two things, unadventurousness and a sweet tooth.

I agree with all the comments about how you can expand your palate by making yourself eat things repeatedly. I did this to myself with agretti last year because we kept getting loads of it in our CSA box. But finally I decided it just wasn't worth it. I'd rather enjoy all my meals than treat them as projects in self-betterment - as long as I stick with some general guidelines: eight a day of different colors, stay close to the earth, try not to eat the same thing two days in a row; I'm not going to feel unsophisticated just because I dislike wasabi or feta cheese.

A sweet tooth isn't the worst thing in the world, either. (My grandmother ate ice cream every day until she was 93.) Learning to cut back on refined sugar is probably sensible, and can be really, really hard, but people tell me that if you go cold turkey for a few weeks your sensitivity totally changes and you want less going forward. Or embrace your sweet tooth and eat a ton of fruit.

Yummy vegetables for a sweet tooth are raw cucumbers, sweet corn, sweet bell peppers, jicama, frozen peas, sweet potatoes. Oh, those sugar snap peas are awesome. Hm, maybe I have the palate of a child, too.

1) Cooking is not rocket science. You definitely can do it (and billions of people on this planet know how to do it). Find a nice recipe book and follow the instructions carefully. Good cooking may take time, though, and that's what puts a lot of people off to cooking well. Don't take shortcuts until you are comfortable with what you are doing. Jaime Oliver's cookbooks are relatively simple, creative, and are full of comfort food AND vegetables. He even has recipes designed for kids, but really can be enjoyed as an adult.

2) Your palate will take off when you embrace ethnic food. You will only embrace ethnic food when you realize that billions of people across the globe don't eat like Americans and many cultures have developed their cuisine over hundreds and hundreds of years. In other words: they've had time to perfect their dishes. On the other hand, you'll also embrace ethnic food when you realize that most ethnic dishes aren't made up of too many bizarre ingredients. Yes, the spices may be unusual, but a piece of chicken is a piece of chicken.

I can relate. Until the age of 25 I pretty much never ate any vegatables. Twelve years later I eat a healthy amount of broccoli , carrots, squash , zucchini and other vegatables, but I still don't enjoy them. No matter how they are prepared they always taste bitter to me. I've just learned to live with it. I still can't stomach tomatoes, bell peppers or celery though. I am always amused when people talk about the sweetness of vegatables. I have never noticed the tiniest bit of sweetness in carrots, onions, peas or even sweet potatoes.

Don't apologize for your palate! I grew up on super healthy food (veggies, whole wheat), and as a 32 year old I alwyas *crave* big plates of spaghetti, french fries, chicken fingers, nachos, grilled cheese, mac and cheese etc.

I don't want to loose my kids palate-- but I do strive to learn healthier ways to cook my favorites.

I second the suggestion of Cooking Light magazine. They have fantastic recipes (and a great website with recipe reviews) and a whole section on making comfort food classics healthy. I'd start by making some of your favorites healthy-- like mac and cheese. You can use different cheeses, add onions, veggies etc. French fries can be baked in the oven, and seasoned and dipped in a healthy dipping sauce.

Start with what you like and work on tweaking it. And have no shame in loving cupcakes, french fries etc.!!

My suggestion is to start with foods that you do like and try making homemade, healthier versions. If you like box macaroni and cheese, try a homemade recipe. If applesauce from a jar is your thing, try making it with fresh Gala apples and add a little sugar in the end if you need it.

I'm one of those veggie supertasters and I've decided to just enjoy the veggies I do like and ignore the rest. ;-)

First of all it's important to realize that if you are really going to dedicate time to becoming more healthy then you are going to have to be willing to try new and different foods. For example, sushi. Most of the people I know refuse to eat it. Whatever happened to taking chances?? Anyway, like Kitchn said, start with simplicity. Your tastebuds will change, you just need to give it time. And just remember that you don't have to give up and deprive yourself of eating kids food, it's ok to indulge once in a while!

Heres a possible recipe- try taking 1-2 chicken fingers and slicing it up and putting it into a salad. Choose a lighter version of a dressing because some dressings can be very high in fat and have lots of calories.

If you love fries, try making some sweet potato fries instead. They are healthier and I promise they are good!

For burgers, try switching to ground turkey or maybe even a boca burger!

Hope that helps a little, Good Luck!