What do you feed school friends visiting for tea?

[HorseInTheHouse]

A child with no special diet or dietary restrictions.

What in your experience is a safe bet with the majority of children? Do you always do the same thing when your child has a friend for tea or do you have a number of options? Or do you not even think about it?

Have previously done meatballs a la IKEA with boiled potatoes and peas, pizza with carrot sticks, and spaghetti bolognese. There is a much bigger range of meals that I know my own children will eat and are used to but somehow I feel the need to play it very safe with visiting children.

Pizza, fish fingers, nuggets and chips

Always ask though

Pizza or fish fingers. With fries and sweetcorn. If that is rejected, I'll offer toast, cereal and fruit.

Even normally good eaters can get spooked in a strange house where the food (bolognese, lasagne, pie) doesn't taste the same as how their parents make it.

We try not to make food an issue in our house and I don't judge how "good" children are as guests depending on whether they clear their plates. That's how I was brought up as a small child and I remember having to shovel in either too much food or food I didn't like to be "polite" at family and friends' houses.

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

Ask them. My child doesn't like chips. Other doesn't like burgers or hot dog sausages(normal sausages fine) Two of DDs friends dislike pizza. Other DDsbest friend is Hindu...

Yeah, part of it is that we are not very organised when it comes to food planning and shopping. We hardly ever have loads of different options in the house so really they have to eat what I've planned to make or nothing. There's always toast I suppose.

I would check with parents for a new friend but but generally pizza or pasta. I was very happy when we moved to Australia to find that the expectation for an after school play date was just to provide “afternoon tea”, aka a snack, and they would always be collected in time to go home for dinner with their families.

I usually do pizza, pasta or chicken wraps. We have a well known fast food burger place 5 mins from our house so any problems I just get a burger. I figure having friends over is a treat so they can have fun food and don't worry about whether it's healthy.

That said one of my children's best friend often eats with us and they are super fussy, but I often just cook what ever I am making and don't worry too much.

Whatever we're having that day, unless it's something I think they might be picky about like tacos for example, in which case I'd juggle my meal plan and do something more simple like spag bol, pizza, fish fingers etc.

I play it safe unless I know the child really really well.

Sausages, nuggets, fishfingers, pizza, pasta.

Always put a big plate of carrots, cucumber, peppers, apple, strawberries on the table too.

A picnic tea always goes down well here. Blanket on the floor, sandwiches, crisps, maybe little sausages or similar, and maybe some treats like popcorn or sweets to finish.

Safe and recognisable so the visiting child feels comfortable
Fish fingers
Chicken nuggets
Sausages
Pizza
Chips or mash
Peas or beans

Cheesy or pesto pasta maybe, spag bol if you know the child well.

I would always check first, but things that went down well were SPAG bol, home made chicken fillet burgers, roast chicken and spicy rice. For lunch time toasties always go down well. I'd never be annoyed if a child didn't like the food or left it, I'd just offer an alternative. My dd doesn't like going to other people's houses as she's always worried she won't like the food but will have to eat it.

Pizza or pasta with the choice of plain or with saice, garlic bread. Chips. Not the healthiest but gets the job done.

I usually do pizza/pasta/chicken goujons etc but put out lots of healthy veg in little bowls for them to pick at eg cucumber, cherry Tom's, carrot sticks etc which I know mine will eat and usually their mates. I also sometimes put extra veg on the pizza eg peppers, mushrooms, sweetcorn etc to up the veg content.
Fortunately mine are older now and I know their mates well enough to know what they'll eat but in the early Primary school days I'd usually text the parent to check for food allergies/dietary issues anyway as you early them to feel comfortable at the table.

Early = want

Pizza is my safe bet. The kids ask their friends ahead of time what toppings they like.

I'm really lazy and see it as a fun treat having a friend round so they get McDonald's

I do however have the same child every Monday now and he did say he loves coming to our house as we have McDonald's every day. I explained how it's only when you come but he didn't seem convinced

Cheese pizza, macaroni cheese or nuggets and chips type stuff. I might make an effort and chuck some carrot sticks or peas on the side "for show".

Basically, the type of shite you'd find on the children's section of a pub menu.

It always has to be pizza with the youngest friends as they don't like anything else! My two don't like beige food, they are not even that fond of pizza, they prefer curry or noodle dishes but I've never found other children to like these things. One impromptu time I had cooked Thai curry and that is all I had in but depressingly most of it went in the bin from the guests plates. I actually worry about the amount of pizza my DD has due to playdates as sometimes she can have two in a week- it is too much junk!

Just grateful that my eldest is nearly 15 so having friends around for food is no longer an issue.

The pizza with different toppings reminds me of one play date where I thought the children would like to make their own pizza's as an activity - kneading the pizza dough, and watching it rise before adding their toppings and me popping in the oven.

One child looked quite disgusted and said 'in our house we buy our pizza ready made'

Come to think of it this wasn't the only thing this child was unimpressed with!

Pizza or freezer food

Another one for pizza here! Although recently a school friend turned up unexpectedly (don't get me started on this saga) and stayed when we were eating. I dished him up a plate of veggie lasagne (luckily I'd made a massive one), garlic bread, soya beans, sweetcorn and peas. He cleared his plate and announced he'd never had veggie lasagne before. I was dumbstruck as my precious darlings would sooner walk over hot coals then venture into the realms of new food at someone else's house.

Pasta bake. Followed by ice cream.

We have also done build-your-own type stuff. Smiley face pitta pizzas or mini pizzas (so they can choose their own toppings), chicken wraps or fish finger wraps (chicken strips of fishfingers, tortilla wraps, cut up salad veg, grated cheese and sauces) or pasta, vegetables, sauce, grated cheese all in different bowls so they can top their own. Same with baked potatoes, with a choice of chilli (I batch cook so always some in the freezer), beans, cheese, egg mayo, tuna mayo, things like that.

I usually had some element of DIY - so pasta bake with DIY fruit kebabs (put a big plate of cut fruit out and some wooden skewers and let them make their own)
Chicken wraps - give them each a wrap and let them fill it from a selection of thinly sliced veg and shredded chicken
Pizza - the cheap little ones from the supermarket and let them top with a choice of stuff. Pizza night was Friday so they had a "picnic" on the floor with a DVD so I'd give them each a ramekin of chopped veg to pick at whilst the pizza cooked.

Mini magnums were a good pud if they had a reasonable amount of veg.

Buffet. Doesn't have to be full on party food but a table full of bits of allsorts always goes down well. Fruit, meat, cheese, crackers, veg sticks, bread sticks, hummous, pasties, sandwiches, yoghurts and a jug of juice.