To offer toast instead of uneaten dinner??

[FusionChefGeoff]

I'm usually hardline - have one very fussy DC and don't want to make it worse.

Tried something new today - just a gnocchi tray bake thing, nothing too risky but still, no technically 'safe' food apart from broccoli as a side.

Both have refused after 1 bite.

Rule in our house is they have to try it, if they genuinely don’t like it then they can have toast but only with a healthier topping (ie butter, nut butter, marmite etc not chocolate spread) or plain ish cereal weetabix etc. I don’t believe in forcing them to eat things they don’t like - you wouldn’t accept someone doing that to another adult - and my ASC child would certainly go hungry (possibly for several days) rather than eat something that was offensive in taste or texture to them.

@Hoolihan
Mine get oats if they don't like their dinner.

But this happens once every 4 months or something. They're not fussy eaters lol.
Love their veg, salad and the only thing they don't particularly like is curry so I know to not make them it. 🤷🏻‍♀️
If i try something new and they're REALLY not a fan after trying then a piece of toast or a bowl of oats is their dinner.
They like their rice pasta chicken mince veg etc so all good so far lol.

@Lostmyunicorn i agree. . Mine also defo have to have attempted to eat the meal.

Refusing to take one bite = they can’t say they don’t like it - no alternatives here. Perhaps drink if milk before bed to relieve my guilt and it’s not food but nourishing tummy filler

They didn't refuse to take a bite though. They both took one bite and said they didn't like it. I would say that is fair with a new dinner. Gnocchi isn't a texture that everyone likes. Give them a slice of toast or cereal before bed.

Gnocchi is a weird texture.

Mine would just move on to yoghurt, fruit, milk if they genuinely didn’t like it. I always tried to follow the new things with a tried and tested favourite the next day though, so they didn’t get into the habit of refusing dinner.

Once they reached 10 or so, and had bigger appetites, they were allowed to get themselves something simple like a cheese sandwich if they didn’t want dinner. I have four kids so there was often one of them turning their nose up.

They both took one bite.

If you really didn’t like a meal would you eat it ?

Mine get carrot sticks, it will tide them over, but its not nice enough to be an attractive replacement.

I never make them eat something they don't like and I actively avoid any kind of battleground hence why they just said 'no thanks' and were allowed to get down without anything else being said.

Fussy DD would eat cereal and toast for breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner AND supper if allowed so I need to have an even more boring alternative!!

I'll probably try to anticipate better next time I do something new and have a fruit salad or something lined up. I wasn't prepared this time.

They've gone to bed perfectly happy so I'm not going to beat myself up about it.

But I won't be doing gnocchi again

In truth, I’d not normally indulge whims but gnocchi is the food of the devil, ghastly stuff. I might on this occasion give bread and butter.

I grew up eating everything, have eaten some odd stuff but I tried Gnocchi once and never again!

Everyone should be allowed not to like something.

(I don't like natto either )

I would give them something to eat. It's not their fault that they didn't like the food and they did try it. They had no choice over what they were served. Many adults would turn down new foods if presented to them. I offer wholemeal toast, a boiled egg, Weetabix or a banana before bedtime if mine refuse dinner.

Gnocci's me sick.

As a pp said, it is an acquired texture (shudder)

If you're going to try it for the first time, there should be an alternative available.

As adults, we are allowed to say, 'no, I don't like that, therefore, I'm not going to eat it and I will opt for something else'

For some reason, children aren't allowed to do this and are expected to keep trying mouthfuls of stuff they dislike as if we suddenly think they're going to say 'actually, on my tenth tiny mouthful, I've suddenly decided that gnocci is bloody delicious'

Sounds like you made a good choice OP

We always allowed fruit and /or yoghurt if they didn't like dinner. They had to try it first though and give it a go. Generally I would encourage a banana as it helped fill them up.

Now both teenagers and good eaters who will try most food and I mostly know what they genuinely don't like.

Don't offer toast. Fruit or tomatoes/ cucumber maybe but if you offer toast then they know they just need to refuse the meal and they get toast.

Gnocchi isnt a safe choice OP its an odd taste and texture particularly if you are expecting pasta. They tried it they didnt like it. They are allowed to do that.

Half of my family dont like it either. Let them have toast

Im a very non fussy eater but even I think gnocchi taste like wax earplugs.

at all the gnocci haters. It is delicious with a lovely (somehow deeply carby) texture. I would eat it every day if it wasn't fairly pricy compared to pasta.

Cereal or toast here if dinner is disliked ... and occasionally cereal and toast IS dinner lax parent

Not the point of the thread, I know, but homemade potato gnocchi is lovely. I agree that the packet stuff is not great!

I was a fussy kid and my mum was really good about making meals that I liked, but there were no alternatives if I didn’t want something. We didn’t have the money for that. If we were hungry between meals, we’d be offered plain bread - she’d say that if we didn’t want that, we weren’t hungry

In case this sounds a bit Dickensian, I should add that my mum was a great cook and we had very healthy food.

I hate gnocchi and I’m not especially fussy

I think kids going to bed without tea is rubbish tbh
I just do an alternative if they genuinely don’t like something or adapt what but they don’t like (remove sauce etc)

Food is a pleasure in this house and not a control mechanism

My eldest is asd and when small was notoriously picky. I also don't believe in forcing people to eat a plate of food that they don't like, but also wanted to try to open up a range of food options, which wasn't always easy.

I always served up something new on the plate with something familiar and insisted at least one bit of the new was taken along with the 'safe' food. One bite became two, then three etc over time.

It took the pressure off and meant that he would still eat because regardless of my wanting him to expand his tastes I also could see him go to bed hungry.

He is now 17. He will still not have anything touching his plate, eat anything even remotely spicy or in a sauce and will gag on pasta or rice but compared to chicken nuggets, garlic bread and a stick of raw carrot, he is as flexible as I can hope, and eats a variation on main meals I cook for my other two without too much faff for me.

It is a royal pain as the cook but gentle perseverance is the key!

Meant to say also that whilst I would offer something straight away, 'supper' was always a thing when mine were little to make sure they had full enough tummies before bed. Even if it was just hot chocolate and a banana. But it was part of my overall meal plan so not an 'emergency meal iyswim?

Don't do it now as not needed now they're teens but it worked when they were small

Wouldn't not would!