Ok so next food on the list is mashed potatoes. This seems to be a side dish at a lot of places so hopefully it will be a good one to add. So this is definitely weird for me because it basically takes the part I least like about french fries and enhances it. I have always liked french fries for the crunchiness and saltiness. Mashed potatoes are exactly as they sound: mashed and mushy. It is the same potato flavor with some salt, pepper, butter and milk which are all familiar tastes it just significantly changes the texture. So this is a good one for me to get used to other textures with. I am not thrilled with what I would call a mushy texture but others might call a creamy texture but I was able to eat it. I also think I need to practice cooking these a bit as my batch was a little bit lumpy. Overall, they were doable but I prefer potatoes in some of their other forms.
Also on a side note I found this article which I thought was interesting because it talks about some of the same strategies that I have been trying to employ in trying new foods for picky eaters.
http://www.parents.com/recipes/nutrition/picky-eater-strategies/