GCSE Summer 2020 - Thread 11 Carry on Corona Cohort - Starting New Terms and Settings

DS has super acute taste buds, I'm torn between awe and irritation that he has such pinpoint accuracy. Loves Tescos cooked mini chicken fillets and mini sausage rolls but has to be Tescos, he will identify an imposter sausage roll within about three seconds. "Err, mum...these aren't the right sausage rolls are they?"

And on we go!

Well, I think we have an early front runner for a new thread title when the time comes don't we? How about "Carry On Corona Consort : Enjoying Y12 but less of the food fads please"

Another DC whose food fads are massively linked to autism here. Definitely a lot of kindred spirits on this thread!

I can’t remember ever feeling so relieved as when reading this frustrated chef mini thread. Yes to no ideas for the shopping list, yes to autists who won’t have different foods touching, yes to being fed up with being restricted to the middle of the Venn diagram of different family members fussiness.

And I am so fed up that the person who never gets to choose her favourites is the person doing all the cooking.

So lovely to know that one isn’t alone!

DS's is related to autism too, in fact that was one of the early signs. He ate everything and anything when he was weaned and at 18 months it all just stopped, almost overnight. At nursery the only two meals he would eat were curry and sweet and sour chicken. People told me he would grow into his tastes and its true, now he's a teen no one expects him to eat fish fingers, chicken nuggets, chips and its ok that he prefers curries, stir fries etc. Eating out in pubs can still be tricky though, there's often nothing he'll eat on the menu, same with traditional cafes, he really does only eat "foreign" food. We are grateful for the current popularity of halloumi as he'll happily eat that.

I'm a person who eats air on toast and party rings as an evening meal

All the important food groups covered there imo Piggy
I could murder a party ring or twelve right now actually

@Monkey2001 glad it's not just me!
And yes to "what do you want? "something nice", that's very familiar! And then their slightly disappointed sigh..

I honestly think this will help to get me through the trauma of them leaving home (particularly DS who is the pickiest and most likely leaving first) - the thought that DH and I can eat whatever we like! Two years to go and we can eat shepherd's pie every day. DD is easier by far and the three of us have lots of dishes that we all like.

@EasilyDeleted no judging here - whatever gets you through. DH and I have a quiet fist bump whenever DS likes something new. I've been suggesting Nando's to him for about two years because I knew he'd love it, he kept refusing because he knew he wouldn't - then went one day with his friends and loved it

I expect that when he does leave home he'll just go for it, especially if he's in a group. He won't want to be the awkward one then. He doesn't seem to mind that so much with us

I weaned dd & Ds exactly the same And she eats almost everything.

Ds’s fussiness is related to his autism.

I bet we all did all the right things when we were weaning them too! Little sods.

DS2 is pretty good. DS1 eats crap and eats around veg. I'm a person who eats air on toast and party rings as an evening meal so I can't judge really....

I don't post this very often because of all the judginess on MN, but the first time DS agreed to come to McDs and actually eat something I was over the moon (it was only about 3 years ago). It has made life when out and about SO much easier.

@singingstones - YES!!!

Yesterday:
Me - what do you want for dinner?
DS - something nice
Me - what?
DS - I don't know

He goes to rugby and I make a rather good beef casserole with tagliatelle and loads of beef (he loves meat)

DS - You said you would do something nice!

And we have the same thing with fish, mashed potato, baked beans (and sausages), curry.

Ds has sensory food issues. He can taste minute differences between different brands. Texture is a big issue, he won’t eat meat except southern fried chicken grills, birds eye chicken dippers or KFC popcorn chicken. He used to ear Quorn sausages until they changed the recipie.

Does anyone else have this conversation?

Me: I'm about to do the supermarket shop, what do you want to eat this week?
DC: anything / whatever / don't mind
Me: anything in particular you want me to get, any snacks etc?
DC: stares blankly

24hrs later -
There's no food / oh I really wanted xyz this week / have we got any [insert random foodstuff that we have never had before] / I'm starving etc etc etc

May I join the League of Frustrated Chefs?

One of mine won't eat anything which has ingredients mixed up eg lasagne, shepherd's pie, chilli, and not keen on sauces either. Loves fish, the other one hates it. One will eat mash, the other not. One likes baked beans, the other not. One loves curry, the other only if it's not too spicy. (Black pepper counts as too spicy.)
They will both eat broccoli, but one leaves the stalks. One eats peas but not sweetcorn, the other is the opposite. They both love chicken dippers and other beige food from the freezer, but we have got builders in and are without an oven for three months so they seem to be existing mainly on Asda sausage rolls at the moment
(NB not tesco sausage rolls - too crumbly)

Yes...what is it with potato? Ds2 and ds3 won't eat potato, mashed or chips. The youngest says baked beans are made from potato too. Not keen on crisps either. They will eat roast potato now if they are very small and crispy. But they only stretch to 2 each.

Dh doesn't like pasta, onion or garlic. But he'll tolerate it as long as I don't put much in.

I do love this thread!

In real life all the other teens I know are very much of the “oh they’ll eat anything, I mean they’re not that keen on pesto but they don’t mind it really so anything is fine” variety. So nice to hear that other teen parents have similar frustrations and food challenges to me!

One of mine won't touch potato in any shape or form, not even chips or crisps (will only eat wotsits or similar). DH doesn't like pasta . I agree about the "2 out of 3 ain't bad" thing

One of mine loathes onion. So I use a leek instead and call his bluff!

Yes, ‘roast day’ is very popular in our household too, it we can’t have that everyday . Pancakes and sausages and scrambled eggs, gets a whoop! every time.
Strange they seem to have similar pet hates e,g mashed potatoes is a no go area here even though I love it with bangers. Fried rice is Very popular.
Ds1 hates sphagetti whilst DS2 loves it. Both of them can’t stand jacket potatoes. One expects all this nonsense when they’re kids not at 19 and 16yrs.

Yes pulled pork that is one they eat. Though ds3 won't if I've cooked it in a recipe with tomato in. Ds3 doesn't like anything in any kind of sauce, he calls it slop. Yet he asked me to buy him tinned ravioli to try, he likes that, I do have to drain the sauce off...but that really is slop. Ds1 is at university and will cook himself quite a few things. So he's fine. Ds2 wants to go to university in 2 years...he will live on pasta with salad. But ds3 goodness knows what he'd cook, he likes chicken nuggets, plain noodles and plain pasta with nothing on either of them. He won't eat fruit or much veg. just cucumber, peppers and sweet corn but not if I didn't put it in his plate. I love food so I just don't understand them. Packed lunches are difficult too. Ds3 doesn't really like bread at all. Ds2 isn't keen.

@icanbewhatiwant and @Monkey2001 hugely relating to everything you have written in those last two posts! I always say trying to find meals to feed my three is like that Meatloaf song “Two out of three ain’t bad” because for almost all meal options two will like something and one won’t...

so youngest two eat potato, eldest won’t
Eldest and youngest eat pastry, middle one won’t
Middle and eldest eat rice, youngest won’t
and so and and so on.

I swore I’d never have fussy children either!!

We have so much in common on this thread!

Roast - everybody eats
Steak - everybody eats
Pancakes - very popular
Pizza - so popular that I have a special indoor pizza oven (my top gadget)
Burgers - DS1 has halloumi burgers, DS2 has as much meat as poss
Lasagne - DS2's favourite, DS1 hates it
Pulled pork - DS1 loves it, DS2 hates it
Gammon- DS1 loves it, DS2 hates it
Curry - DS1's favourite, DS2 reluctantly tolerates it

The joys of being a parent.....

@Oblomov20 you have a lot of variety there. Ours is mostly the same meals certain days of the week. Sunday roast (2 dc's don't eat potato, one doesn't eat veg apart from sweetcorn) Monday is chicken wraps (2 dc's won't eat the wraps but have pasta instead) Tuesday sausages (either with beans and mash but 2 dc's don't eat potato or beans so have tinned spaghetti) weds is curry (one dc only eats the rice) thurs is usually bolognese or a chilli (one picks every piece of veg out the other only has the rice) Then fri and sat I have run out of ideas, sometimes burgers in buns with salad. I find mealtimes so hard as they are fussy. The fussiness drives me insane. Ds1 is great and will eat anything. Ds2 is fussy but I can work with it. Ds3 is a complete nightmare. I swore I would have kids that were fussy with food. I got that wrong.

My understanding is that there will be 2 weeks at home for the bubble each time there is a case. DS seems to be in a bubble of the whole of Y12, so probably won't be long before he is home for a bit. As he is 50% on Teams anyway, it will only mean 5 extra days on Teams. Luckily for us both DH and I did 3/4 if his subjects, so should be able to help.

I find it odd that they are not wearing masks in common room.

All we eat is: Chilli, spag Bol, lasagne, I make cauliflower sweet potato and chick pea curry aswell, jacket potatoes, fajitas, enchiladas, roasts, salads, steak, chips and home made curry sauce grin, steak pie with steamed veg, fish and chips, sausages and mash, quiche and salad, home made chicken kebabs, burgers, beef casserole, shepherds pie, lamb shanks, gammon, pulled pork, paella, risotto

omg Ob, this has so much variety! I know what you mean though, DH keeps saying is it wrong to say to DD 'so which evenings are you not eating at home this week' so he can plan off plan dinners for the two of us.

btw, your son is looking very dapper in his suit and pink tie. Loving all the boy diet and weight gain regimes. I have a DD that consumes way above what she should, that somehow all goes to her hips and legs (5'8"), but I have to tread very carefully and she does keep very active. And she is one of the smaller girls in her school, in height at least.

Really hoping the odd case or two will not be sending too many of our DC back into the dark stay at home months. It would be unbearable now that they are all back into some kind of routine.

@Oblomov20 Thanks. I’ll definitely try that, even if ds1 doesn’t eat it, I know DH and I will .