What do you feed others peoples dc?

[feedingotherspeoplesdc]

My dc eat anything, and everything. It seems I'm very lucky in this regard.

Because whenever we have other children over to play I ask if there are allergies/ preferences and all the parents say "no she'll eat anything!"

They don't. They never do. Bolognese has been rejected. Cottage pie. Omelette. Stir fry. Beef stew. Basically everyday food. I'm not serving sushi!.(Albeit rejected by different children over a period of many playdates)

It seems whenever dc go to others houses they have chicken nuggets or fish fingers and chips. Which I'm fine with but don't have a freezer so can't make at home.

Am I supposed to offer the children alternative meals? I don't , I just take away their picked at plate and give them a glass of milk, telling their parents they didn't each much when they are collected. Aibu not to offer the unspoken fixed menu of chicken nuggets and chips when I host others dc? Surely they eat bolognese etc at home?

I don't worry if my own children don't finish the odd meal so I'm certainly not going to worry about anyone else's but that said I'd try to make things as help yourself as possible because wasting food annoys me and I don't like the idea of finishing somebody else's kid's food.

Feeding opk's is a right pain in the arse. Pizza every time.

Make your own pizza
Stuff your own wraps
Baked potato and salad
Cheesy pasta
McDonald's

You don't need a freezer to do chicken nuggets and chips. Cut potatoes into chips and spray with oil and oven bake. Dice chicken, dunk in egg and breadcrumbs and oven bake (or marinade in ketchup for an extra twist).

Pizza bases and let them put their own toppings on. Tacos/tortillas, which they can fill themselves, variety of stuff to fill them with, but always includes sweetcorn, grated cheese and often chicken goujons as these seem to go down well.
In winter, sausage and mash with veg (gravy separate!) or jackets with choice of fillings.

Cheese and tomato pizza, served with salad was always my go to. Always kept a couple in the freezer for spur of the moment playdates.

Children are preteen/teen now, and their friends pretty much eat everything now, so we just serve whatever family meal we were planning. I would say Mexican dishes (fajitas/enchiladas/tacos) seem to be the favourite ones now. Definitely more adventurous than when they were in primary school.

Ds had a friend over last night and I fed them homemade burgers and chips with some salad. Seemed to go down well. As pp said kids can be weird, my ds will eat my spag bol but he might not eat yours, although he'll generally eat out of politeness if he's at a friend's house, they just seem to know if something's slightly different.

I always used to do home made chicken dippers for my children's friends when they were younger - chicken breast dipped in milk and breadcrumbs. Often with homemade chips or rice and stir fry veg. Always went down well, even with the picky eaters!

Cheese and tomato pizza and chips with chopped vegetables (cucumber, carrot, pepper) in a separate dish for the children who like it.

I recall once doing 'making a pizza' as an activity thinking the children would enjoy mixing - kneading the base and being told by one child that in their house the pizza came ready made - as if it was an affront to have to make his own tea!!

I always do a little buffet of pizza, home made chicken goujons, carrot sticks, cucumber, lettuce, apple, slices, breadsticks, hummus and plain pasta with a bowl of grated cheese and the friends ALWAYS find a few things they like.

Pasta seems to go down well
Or picnic -sandwiches, blueberries banana etc

I don't complicate things

Usually pizza and crudités. I try and make sure it’s something everyone will like.

You can buy refrigerated pizza.

I know what you mean, kids are fussier than their parents say. You don't have to serve junk though, just have options. I usually do pasta then they can have any combination of tomato sauce, pesto, cheese, ham, veggies or just dead plain if they are super fussy. Pizza is also rarely disliked and can be homemade, frozen or fresh readymade. As far as veg us concerned I just do loads of different ones and let them choose. Though I do get some kids who refuse them all, which makes me wonder if they eat the eat home (probably they do, they just know someone else's mum is less likely to insist than their own mum).

Well nowadays I know which friends will eat and which won't (love the ones that clear their plates) but I don't feed them stuff we don't normally eat. When ds was little I despaired at the fact that all he ever got fed anywhere but home was shit frozen pizza.
I make all sorts but if I think they might be picky would do a do it yourself thing with things like falafel and kebabs, or fajitas plus a salad.

Yeah, kids are picky. If you don't have a freezer for oven chips, could you have potatoes that you chop up and oven cook as wedges? But yeah, kids are awkward and so often reject a thing made in a slightly unfamiliar way and it's often completely unpredictable.

I used to regularly feed one of dds friends. Her mum asked me what she'd had for tea because it was delicious - but she didn't know what it was (girl must have been about 8 at time) . It was shepherds pie. Plain boring old shepherds pie.

I feed other people's dc what I feed mine - and that includes dd2s frI end who apparently at hone only eats pineapple pizza with bbq sauce...

You can make chicken nuggets with cut up chicken breast and seasoning and make chips out of potatoes?

My little boy would love tea at yours! Bolognese, cottage pie both favourites!

He doesn't like pizza or chips!

I stick to very safe foods. Like pizza, nuggets, sausages, pasta. My children do eat a much wider range of foods but on playdates I play it safe!

Make your own pizza. Every time. If im feeling fun, we make the base, if not I buy a base and let them top it. They always eat it.

We don't have playmates very often but I've always stuck to fish finger or chicken nuggets with potato waffles with something like cucumber, tomatoes and baby corn.

I used to put out a picky tea, ham, cheese, bread, cucumber, cherry toms etc and let them help themselves whilst playing.
Ice cream for afters.

Chicken nuggets and chips, pizza, sandwiches.
My DS and his friends are very fussy and won’t touch veg, pasta, stew or anything like that.

Why don't you have a freezer?

You want a tea with options, imo.

So I often do a pot of pasta (plain), served with a bowl of tomato sauce, a bowl of grated cheese, butter and pesto available, and maybe some cooked broccoli or peas or sweetcorn. Then serve a salad of crudites with it.

Kids pick what they like - pasta with butter and cheese, fine. Pasta with tomato sauce and cheese, fine. I am not into nagging visiting kids about vegetables!

This approach works for homemade pizza, make-your-own wraps, jacket potatoes, soup and sandwiches (2 types of soup e.g. Heinz tomato and something a bit more virtuous).

If kids have a playdate it's never the whole family eating, just the children, as they usually need to eat earlier than normal, so it suits me to do something low stress.

I think with the meals you mention, they are "mix-ups" which some DC find stressful - unidentifiable bits in the beef stew or Bolognese, stir-fry with a different sauce to home or strange veg, omelettes with too much cheese/no cheese/other ingredients.

If you give the kids the choice back a bit they'll feel less stressed and eat more. Worth a bit of faff, in my opinion.

I don't have a freezer either. It's either because I am awkward...OR its because I have a tiny kitchen with only room for a small fridge and I would rather the extra fridge space than a teeny freezer.