35 People Share Food They Can Never Eat Because Of Their Family

My mom ruined a couple of meals for me, but in a different way. Her meat loaf and goulash were some of my favorites. Even with her recipes, I can't recreate the flavors. So they're ruined in that hers were so good that none others can live up to it.

My dad is a decent cook, but one of his quirks is that he doesn't like to waste food. Which is fine, except for how he does it.

We had a wedding reception catered by a local Italian restaurant. The next day he made French toast...

...with the garlic bread.

My mom has 5 recipes in her whole cooking repertoire and my entire childhood was either eating these on repeat or fast food. And my parents would get hooked on a fast food joint and we would eat there once a week till they got tired and moved on to another.

I HATE lemon pepper chicken like nothing else in this world.

And the thought of going to a primo burger groses me out.

Twizzlers. My dad loved Twizzlers, and so did I. Then he died unexpectedly.

He wouldn’t listen to me about getting vaccinated or masking, he got COVID (though was “just” sick at home for a week), and then 2 months later he suddenly died.

Anyway, now I can’t eat Twizzlers without being sad.

Cliche for the time period but Pork. Dry, dry, dry Pork. They overcooked all the meats so I could have overcome this. Except for the constant Parasite stories and the stories that if you get sick once every time after if you’re even near it will make you sick again. I eat the crispiest bacon and sausages.

Oh no!

I was almost ruined for spice (still can't handle more than mild-leaning-medium salsa) similarly. My mom used to make, for instance, chicken soups/stews/etc with 6+ cups of water... and *one* bullion cube. Maybe a little salt & some pre-ground black pepper so old it could vote. Luckily that little bit was apparently enough to save me from total spice intolerance.

Also almost ruined was salmon- throughout my childhood baked 45 minutes at 350, with slices of oranges on it the entire time (so they get burned and turn bitter af, a flavor they impart to the salmon itself) Pork chops, steak, and plenty of other meats got a similar "40-45 minutes at 350" treatment but the salmon was especially bad.

Chicken breasts.

Always bought the largest ones. They almost always had a “woody” texture because the proteins grew too fast and didn’t have time to develop properly. I always mentioned that three small ones cost the same as two large ones but was always shrugged off.

They were also unseasoned and usually dry.

My grandmother ruined ribs for me. My mother says they were “country pork style” ribs though I honestly have no idea. All I know is they were almost all pure fat and then she would steam/boil-ish them in bbq sauce so none of the fat would render or get crispy or anything so when they were ‘done’ it just felt like slime in your mouth 🤮

To this day I can’t look at any kind of ribs without my stomach turning… and I LOVE bbq as a general rule. I’ve tried to eat them again but just seeing them brings back such strong memories of any time we were at my grandparents for more than a few days (like Thanksgiving or Christmas) ribs would be made as one of the meals and I’d either have to eat them or eat nothing so even with what are clearly properly cooked ribs I just still can’t get past ‘all that’

Of course, my sons favorite food is ribs 🤷🏻‍♀️🤣

Not food but ingredient, rosemary. They put way too much every chance they got, I was in my 30s before I was able to try it again

Pork chops.

Every version of pork chops was dry as the desert, heat blasted til it was gray in the middle.

Carrots. When I was about 8 or 9, I got a really bad case of conjunctivitis. On top of the medical treatment and eye drops, my mom was dead set on drowning me in carrot juice because of the popular belief that eating carrots is good for your eyes. So she took that to the next level, buying kilos of carrots weekly and juicing them every morning. I would sit in the morning at the kitchen table, tears streaming down my face, gagging, with my mom begging me to finish up the glass of juice. No other fruit mixed in could help mask that horrible taste.

I couldn't stand carrots in any food for years. Not boiled, roasted, finely grated, nothing. Once I started cooking myself, I slowly was able to incorporate them back into my diet and actually enjoy them roasted or even grated in salads. But snacking on raw carrots is just a big NO for me, and the smell of carrot juice still makes me gag to this day.

Bananas.

My father is anything except a decent cook, and one day when I was a kid he decided to try and make a "superfood smoothie" for shits and giggles. It consisted of bananas, unwashed kale, raw spinach, walnuts, chia seeds, raw oats, and ice. He just about killed the poor blender and it tasted distinctly of swamp. Still can't have bananas without becoming nauseated.

I made my parents some zucchini and used some black pepper and my Dad wanted to know what the black things were. He didn’t like it.

My parents had odd obsessions with food. Canned asparagus, cold. I’d offer to buy fresh asparagus and steam them. Unnecessary, I was told. The incident of the 100 corns they froze and we ate for 3 1/2 years. Took me *decades* to get over that. Broccoli when I was older. It’s one of my favorite vegetables - but, not just steamed and served, salt less and butter free. Cauliflower is exceedingly good - but not just boiled and served with some melted orange cheese goo. When I would make dinner for them I’d be careful to add such scandalous things as thyme, marjoram and maybe bay to sauces.

My mom ruined spaghetti, lasagna, hamburger helper and oatmeal for me. Constantly made dishes and had to eat as leftovers for like a week. Or having only oatmeal for breakfast every day I’m burnt out on it and never crave it.