Mumsnet Talk

We are having a family who have two kids the same age as ours, 5 and 2. I don't want to make us something and then just serve the kids fish fingers. I'm sure the kids would probably be happy, but me and the other parents probably less so.

I don't expect the kids to eat and drink exactly the same as us (no cocktails until you are 8 young lady), but it would be nice if I didn't have to make two different things for the main. Any ideas of things that are nice enough for a proper sit-down dinner, but that are also unlikely to be rejected by little kids?

You could do tapas and include some dishes kids will love (fried potatoes, croquetas, calamari, meatballs, tortilla) as well as more 'grown up' stuff. My toddler would eat his own weight in chorizo though and no one else would get any.

Or some kind of construct your own meal Mexican-style extravaganza. Meat and veg (in spicy and not spicy), maybe chilli, with tortilla wraps and loads of stuff to add (cheese, soured cream, salsa, guacamole, refried beans, etc).

Failing that rice based dishes always go down well with my two (risotto, paella, mounds of sticky oriental rice), lasagne, etc. serve with lots of bread in case anyone's really fussy.

I like the idea of tapas, but I'm not sure how I am on the serving dish side for lots of little dishes. The Mexican sounds good. I just made chimichangas for the first time recently and thought they were excellent. But make-your-own might work better. Thanks for that.

Any other ideas?

Jamie's tuna meatballs are lovely - http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fish-recipes/the-best-tuna-meatballs-le-migliori-polp
or a posh fish pie - http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cuisine/european/english/luxury-fish-pie-with-rosti-caper-topping.html
or a casserole (perhaps venison as more 'dinner party' style) with jacket pots etc - the kids can always have with cheese if they do not like the casserole
Or lasagne
Or Jamie's proper shep pie made with braised shoulder of lamb

Nice lemony roast chicken with dauphinoise potatoes and green beans

Also I keep liking the look of Lorraine Pascals posh mac and cheese.

Home made pizza - let the kids roll out and then top their own? The grown-ups could have "gourmet" toppings.

Meatballs with spaghetti
Fish pie and peas
Chilli and whatever (plus pitta bread in case kids don't like it)
Home made burgers?

These are all great everyone. Thank you!

Steak & kidney pie with mashed potato. It's perfect weather for it