Meal Suggestions!

Food is a bit of a nemesis, I’m quite happy to eat the same meal everyday.

Random surprise food is too much to cope with.

This is how I can explain it. 

Bacon. Nothing better than crispy bacon.

Hi, I struggle with this a lot too- i have gone for months eating same meal over and over even when it clearly wasn’t good for my health and I was probably desperate for some other nutrients and a change. It’s just so easy to get stuck in a routine. Here are some things that help me- a big issue for me is making decisions and I also have ibs so am always anxious that a different food might make me nauseous and ill, on top of that I am picky (sensory sensitivities) and not good at feeling hunger and fullness so it’s so easy to just go with the default meal when unsure. 
I would suggest trying to be spontaneous about trying new things- sometimes i have a mental image of a food or meal and I might be really reluctant to try or make it but it is often a good idea to go with that. Step 1 is also just having different foods in the house- make it easy to try new things. So why not go to the supermarket and grab some new foods that catch your eye- i’m sometimes surprised by what catches my eye and then of course find so many reasons why it is a bad idea but unless there is a good reason (it made me ill multiple times in past and is also not nutritious), it can be good to go for it.

I also find that the more pressure i put on myself to try different foods, the more stressed i get and the less likely i am to try anything and if i force myself to then it doesn’t go well. 

i also have this huge resistance to cooking and i would never make anything that takes more than 5-10 minutes. I’m not familiar with air fryer so can’t suggest recipes for that. I also hate soggy- i like whole grain toast or rolls with eggs (but toasted to a very crunchy state). You can also make your life easier by assembling meals from ingredients that are already prepped- like ready grilled chicken slices or prawns or falafel. I really like making wraps (and you can bake them crunchy in a pan)- it’s super quick and a good way to get variety- i now like kimchi chicken sirachia mayo wraps. Or why not put some hummus and falafel etc. Or gucamole and salsa and chicken. Or if you prefer you could fill pita bread instead

also microwave packets of rice as a side. And you can get ready stirfry sauces so it takes very little time to assemble a meal of rice and vegetables and stirfry protein

or there are these ready curry pastes (just add coconut milk) or indian curry kits that can be nice

i like ravioli too- simply cook 2 min and add some tomato sauce or other sauce you fancy- and you can try different flavours. 

Rice noodles are also really fast- and add some packet miso soup, veggies and a ready cooked protein.

not sure if any of that appeals to you but maybe it will give some ideas how to make having variety easier.

i do still struggle with it and i can get super stuck -but when you get used to mixing things up it almost becomes fun- i was doing really well a few months ago - now a bit less so as i’ve had a stressful time and am sharing a kitchen with people who do not clean up… but I’m still much better than a year ago! (I ate a total of 4 foods then … in same order and from same brand …)

Lol thank god for vinegar and other sauces. The backup plan

aye i always have that in mind when i cook, i dont like when celebs and so on cook it too pink, rather be on the safe side and overcook rather than risk undercooking. if its too bad you can still put vinegar on to soften it up and bring life to it lol

Hi 

I like crunchy textures too! What about dry cereal? It feels horrible to me when cereal becomes too soggy from milk.

What about savoury crackers either dry or with your favourite topping on? Ritz crackers are pretty good!

Another suggestion what about toasting wraps in the frying pan so they become crunchy almost like nachos?

 I hope these suggestions are helpful!

The Autism Friendly Cookbook may provide you with some more ideas that meet both your ARFID and autistic needs. It includes lots of recipes that are suited to different sensory needs and also each recipe is categorised by how much energy it takes.

The Autism-Friendly Cookbook:

The Autism-Friendly Cookbook https://amzn.eu/d/hGhgW7y

That's the best idea. I do this but just so I don't give myself food poisoning lol.

Peel carrots and crunch on those, they're very nice. Especially with houmous. I've become a big fan of houmous crisps recently, too. Kale crisps, too. And popcorn would be good - make yourself some homemade popcorn. 

If you can, try to get some veggies into your system. You will struggle with energy dips if you stick to just the one food, as tasty as pretzels are. They have almost no nutritional value!

I do wonder how some of my friends haven't got scurvy. All they do is live off cola and McDonald's. 

Exactly!

I would totally agree! 
the shape really matters too. I once bought straight stick looking pretzels, big no from me! 

Ooh prezels would be good. I love pretzels! I only like the mini ones though, the big ones taste burnt too me and are a bit too hard. Minis are the right amount of crunchy

What about something like crisp breads, just totally flavourless, but crunchy and you could experiment with toppings. Even something like cream cheese doesn’t make it go soggy. You could try it with all sorts of toppings? It’s also very low energy, as takes very little preparation. 

My go to when I feel horrible and tired and overwhelmed is cereal. I have it with milk, but you could have it dry? Eat it like popcorn? Nice and crunchy and massive variety of flavours, and you could mix different ones together so it’s not a repetitive thing.

i also see those graze boxes that people makes up all over tik tok, they basically just fill a large jar with anything they fancy (like nuts, seeds, biscuits, pretzels, dried fruit, chocolate chips etc) and mix it all together so you get a full on selection each time?

I use my air fryer for pitta pizzas. Basically stick on any topping you fancy, bit of cheese and put in the air fryer. It’s a good way of using up anything you fancy, but may be too soggy for you?  

This is sheer genius 

crunchy? 
you could literally just overcook and burn anything and it will be crunchy lol

Ooh I'll have to look into them! 

Crunchy foods?

My current food obsession is almonds. Specifically roasted smoked almonds. I’ve convinced myself that they have  a wide range of nutrients in addition to a yummy flavour and texture.