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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think pasta pesto isn't a universal kid friendly meal?

258 replies

IHaveBrilloHair · 13/02/2017 18:16

I often see this stated as a meal that all kids like, up there with pizza/nuggets/fishfishfingers, but I honestly don't know many kids who like it, and know more who wouldn't know what it is.
Dd's too old for playdates now but I'd never have served it, not in a million years, is it really universal kid food?
Admittedly we live in a small Scottish town but we have a Waitrose, and a Private school, it's not some weird backwater.

OP posts:
ProudBadMum · 13/02/2017 19:27

Never heard of it til MN. Tried it and it was just not nice

ALemonyPea · 13/02/2017 19:28

My DC hate pesto, I'm not too keen either. They do love pasta though.

Liiinoo · 13/02/2017 19:29

I knew several children who would not touch pasta with pesto or any tomato based sauce (not mine thank god). I remember hosting 4 nieces and nephews (different families) whilst the parents were at a wedding and all of them opting for their pasta twirls to be served with nothing but Flora. Not even butter or cheese! I had to nip down to the corner shop for Flora.

TinselTwins · 13/02/2017 19:33

Mine wouldn't eat it, and I wouldn't count it as a full meal either, there's only a tiny bit of protein in the pesto. It's a carby snack! student food. Not a proper meal

skerrywind · 13/02/2017 19:38

It's not a great meal- a pile of flavoured carbs,
As nutritious as a tin of spaghetti hoops.

But then I don't serve chicken nuggets, fish fingers or sausages either.

Willow2016 · 13/02/2017 19:39

Nope mine wouldnt touch it with a barge pole, nor any pasta in a tomatoe based sauce for that matter.

To me its not a meal anyway, pasta and a bit of herby 'sauce' doesnt do it for us.

Mac cheese is the only time they will eat pasta Smile

Giddyaunt18 · 13/02/2017 19:39

Liinoo My DD was in France last year staying with a French family and they ate their pasta with butter on it!! Yuk!

NarkyMcDinkyChops · 13/02/2017 19:40

It's not a great meal- a pile of flavoured carbs

I think you just pissed off the whole of Italy there.

wtffgs · 13/02/2017 19:40

Admittedly we live in a small Scottish town but we have a Waitrose, and a Private school, it's not some weird backwater

What on earth does any of that have to do with pasta and pesto (the perfect fuck-it-what-can-we-eat meal). I add ham and extra cheese to ours.

skerrywind · 13/02/2017 19:41

narky- I love pasta, but contained within a balanced meal- which pasta and pesto is not.

wtffgs · 13/02/2017 19:42

And peas! Which add protein. It's got very superior in here of late Hmm

CantGetNoSleeeeeeep · 13/02/2017 19:43

My 2 love it, favourite meal round here!

CantGetNoSleeeeeeep · 13/02/2017 19:43

We add salmon or chicken by the way!

TinselTwins · 13/02/2017 19:43

I think you just pissed off the whole of Italy there
Not the parts I've been to where the maincourse was always meat or fish Hmm

Celticlassie · 13/02/2017 19:46

You can pretty much guarantee that any meal discussed on mumsnet will at some point be described as 'nutritionally empty'.

expatinscotland · 13/02/2017 19:49

Or 'carby'. 'Full of sugar'.

MrsTarzan1 · 13/02/2017 19:50

I'd say it was, but then my two like it. It's cheap, quick & easy isn't it.

Iloveadrianmole · 13/02/2017 19:51

My two are allergic to nuts so it's a no go for us!

Liiinoo · 13/02/2017 19:53

Giddyaunt. lol! My go-to comfort food when I cannot be arsed to cook anything complex like cheese on toast is pasta with butter and black pepper! I was introduced to it by an Italian school friend and it is heavenly.

steppemum · 13/02/2017 19:55

pasta and tomatos sauce = pretty universal kid friendly meal.

pasta plus pesto = some kids love it, others hate it, many would never have had it at home.

I'm with you OP.

bookworm14 · 13/02/2017 19:57

My DD (18m) loves it and it's an easy way of smuggling vegetables to her (broccoli added to the pesto mix). I really don't see what's wrong with it as a meal.

RiversrunWoodville · 13/02/2017 19:59

2 year old dd loves it as do I, 7 year old dd likes it

NarkyMcDinkyChops · 13/02/2017 20:00

Not the parts I've been to where the maincourse was always meat or fish

You can keep your Hmm face, do you think everybody eats several courses for every meal, even children, and has main courses every single day of meat and fish?
I can assure you that generations of Italian children have eaten pasta al burro (pasta with butter), spaghetti al pesto, pasta bianco for plenty of lunches and dinners with no meat or fish in sight!

A balanced diet is what matters, overall, not that every single meal is perfectly nutritionally balanced.

Artandco · 13/02/2017 20:02

Pesto is cleaner than tomato based sauce also for child guests of unknown messiness!

TheFairyCaravan · 13/02/2017 20:10

Pasta and pesto is the only meal I've chucked in the bin and cooked something else for all of us. Pesto is absolutely vile.