To feed my kids fruit and veg 5 days a week

[Justus3girls]

In a nutshell my kids eat really well. 2 sometimes 3 pieces of fruit in lunchbox every day. Then veg with dinner most nights (exc Friday & Saturday)
Recently they're been moaning that they eat a lot of veg and why do they have to have it every night.
Its just always been my thought that they have to have it as it's healthy.
Unless we have curry its generally veg or salad with every meal.
Sounds boring when I write it down.
I was going to cook a roast but they asked me not to as we had one Thursday.
I feel bad chucking frozen food in the oven as doesn't feel like cooking but then I'm starting to feel mean dishing them veg every night.
Am I a mean mum & need to chill out with the veg?

Even if I was doing freezer tapas (e.g fish fingers) I would still add veg (peas/carrots/sweetcorn).

Fruit is less good than veg because it's so high in sugar, so one or more of those portions of fruit in their lunch should be veg really.

Someone mentioned mash or chips counting as veg, but if they're just normal potatoes they count as a starchy carb. Sweet potatoes would count as veg.

How do you cook it? I remember my mum doing a lot of steamed or boiled carrots, peas, sweet corn, courgette and I found that boring. Much more fun to have it cooked in different ways sometimes.

Should be feeding them their 5 a day all 7 days of the week!

Eh? You eat fruit and veg 7 days a week, not 5. And usually veg with lunch and dinner.
Even if it is a ‘beige’ food meal, you can add veg that works with it, beans, peas, sweetcorn, anything really.

DS hasn't had any veg today. I'm not feeling well so chucked a frozen pizza in the oven for dinner. We do have veg most days but I don't beat myself up on the odd day we don't.

He does have fruit every day as he enjoys it for a snack. He's had apple and watermelon today.

We eat our meals containing veg, as well as on the side. Can you do that? Curries, chillies, bolganase, shepherds pie etc. I'm pescatarian so cook meat only several times a month.

Yes OP, you’re really mean. You shouldn’t be giving your kids so much fruit and veg.

You’re only giving them vegetables for dinner and then only 5 nights a week? Why on earth would you consider cutting down on that???

"veg" IS food. It should be half your 2 main meals a day. HOW can you not eat veg is what I want to know? I love meat, but still.

Huh? Only 5 days a week, or do you mean 5 a day?

Is their problem more that you're having veg with the meal, rather than as part of the meal? For example, I would rather have bolognese/curry/pie/wraps/etc with lots of veg mixed in, than eg macaroni cheese with veg on the side. I'm not a massive fan of roasts either - not enough to have them twice a week, anyway.

I wouldn't worry about it. They are eating it most days. You don't want to make it such a big deal that they rebel against it.
I try to have my kids favourite fruits in and veg they like for snacking on but if they don't choose to eat it one day then so be it.

It sounds like they're bored of repetitive meals. Maybe take them to the bookshop and let them each choose a children's recipe book, and get them involved with everything, from the grocery shopping to the cooking? Every week when you go to the supermarket you could let them each choose a vegetable that nobody had the week before, and research a recipe that uses it. Get them involved with growing their own. When we were little we always got vegetable seeds in our Easter baskets, and would grow them in the garden - I have really fond memories of that. Now and again maybe lay out their meal so as to make the veg look fun and inviting - a smiley face picture etc. Maybe for a while keep a chart to see who can eat a rainbow in a day, that sort of thing.

In short, of course they need to eat fruit and veg everyday, but their are fun ways to approach it.

Even if we have frozen oven food they still have veg with it - baked beans or corn on the cob or peas etc or maybe salad (lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber)

It’s normal to have that much veg imo. You can try spicing up your the veg with spices, cooking it in to meals etc instead of serving it as a side.

I grew up in the 70s, we ate two veg with dinner every day. A typical packed lunch had fruit in it, and a treat was something in the fruit bowl, we didn’t snack between meals. We need to get back to that type of diet, no one i went to school with was over weight. Not a singe person.

As pps have said, you should start making veg a part of the meal, rather tha macaroni cheese plus veg on the side or meat, potatoes and veg.

Pasta sauces, bolognese, macaroni cheese with peppers/mushrooms in, curries: all things you can cut veg up small into.

Yep they have 2/3 fruit in lunch then another as snack at home.
Then 3/4 veg with dinner. 6 x a week.
I don't force fruit on a Saturday as a snack.
Admittedly dinners are monotonous so need to change it up a bit.
More sauces with veg etc instead of the traditional bland meat & 2 veg.
Cheers everyone

Very stealth boasty.
Practically all parents feed their kids fruit and veg x 5 every day.
Even with frozen meals. I batch cook with hidden veg and freeze. I serve it with green veg broccoli carrots. Occasionally fish fingers / chicken gougons / potato waffles but always with veg too.
Pizza / garlic bread is with salad.

Why on earth would you be considered mean for giving your children vegetables and fruit and insisting they each them?? It is good for them.

Tell your kids that you are just being normal. My kids have fruit and veg at every meal. Always a piece of fruit with breakfast (usually a banana). Grapes (or strawberries or cherries) peppers, cucumber and tomatoes in the lunchbox. Veg with dinner. Sweetcorn, carrots, broccoli are big faves here. The only time they have a veg free meal is when we if we have the odd fast food meal.

It's not a good idea to incorporate a veg free meal into your diet as a regular thing.

It seems odd that they see it as monotonous. There is so much variety with fruit and veg that deliberately avoiding it for a meal is kind of weird. Do you tend to do it very similarly each time? Similar steamed veg on the side with meat. Salads that are generally the same?

Smoothies are a good way to get fruit into kids, we have many smoothies per week, Including spinach in them. My son is in charge of what fruit goes in them. We also have roasted veg with meals, veg kebabs, veg where my son creates a sauce /dressing to go with them. So many options. My son also makes us fruit salads to go with alpro custard, lots of choice of fruit and veg always in the house, he has grown up choosing what meals we have with me, knowing how to balance a plate. Now he's 12 he cooks 3/4times a week.

@Plumsgalore
I seriously believe it's due to pasta and pizza.
It was late in life and in reaction to my snooty family that I realised pizza is a large portion of cheese on (lots of) bread.
And ...wait for it because it's amazing...pasta is boiled pastry! Same ingredients. We're devouring large bowls of boiled pastry daily with extra cream a smattering of veg and some cured meats (pepperoni /chorizo). Even with tomato based sauces it's large bowl of pastry with tom sauce.

We have a break Friday / Saturday.

I'll still do veg as I think it's important but I'll do fun meals such as fajitas with rice and salad or chilli and nachos (( bean chilli with loads of peppers in. Brown rice on the side, a load of home made salsa / cheese, guacamole etc all laid out picnic style.

Two of a range of meals I keep for those two days, the kids get to pick, Mexican night / Chinese night / whatever.