Wtf do you feed your DC?!

[toiletpaper]

My kids, especially DS barely likes anything and I'm getting really fed up of cooking two or three different meals each evening now. And twice a day on weekends. DD is pretty good but not always. This week for example I've made pasta bake, spag bol and tonight DD fancied burgers. DS doesn't like burgers but he noticed there was bacon in the fridge and said he'd tried that before at his grandparents and liked it. So myself and DD had the burgers in rolls with chips and DS had a bacon roll with chips. However he decided he doesn't actually like this bacon so the dog had it and he ate the roll. He didn't like the pasta bake last night and neither did DD so it's pasta bake 4 times over 3 days for me atm. The only thing he likes that I make is spag bol. Otherwise, the only thing he eats is his 'usual' which is waffles, heinz spag bol and cucumber.

He's been better at trying things lately which I'm thrilled and keep giving him positivity on but he just doesn't like anything I give him and I'm so so fed up of making three different meals every single day and it means I can't make anything remotely nutritious or from scratch as I just can't be bothered once I've done everyone else's food (it's just me and the two DC).

So please give me ideas on kid friendly stuff to make. I don't want to hear 'tell them eat it or they won't get anything else' as this doesn't work as they won't eat what they don't like and I can't leave them go to bed hungry.

Thank you!

[Velvian]

It is far less intimidating for children (and everyone) if all components are out on the table and they help themselves.

Our DC eat far more this way. A family favourite is chicken (1 bowl flavoured, 1 plain) Wraps, salad, crudités, Sweetcorn, small amount of rice.

Pasta bolognese is pasta on plates, everything else in the middle of the table: bolognese, salad, crudités, grated cheese, garlic bread.

Homemade soup is popular (orange soups are the favourite)

[mathanxiety]

And chicken stew with dumplings. Made from 3 or 4 chicken breasts on the bone, carrots, celery, onions, half a stock cube, tarragon, parsley, s&p, and water.

Simmer 45 mins, then add savoury scone dough in blobs on top, cover and simmer for 15 mins until dumplings are steamed.

I'll look up the dumpling recipe I use. It's close to scones and has chopped scallions / chives in it.

[FortunesFave]

One of mine is like your son and one is someone who will eat anything. The one who won't eat goes through phases where she LOVES a certain thing and it's all she'll have and then suddenly she's off it.

She loved tuna for about two months. Now she loves noodles with eggs poached in them!

The only thing that she has consistently liked is spag bol and then I have to strain the meat out as she'll only eat the sauce.

[WellTidy]

Things that go down well here are:

Fajitas (made with peppers, carrots and onions plus chicken and a sachet of fajita mix)
Lamb tagine with date and pomegranate and cous cous
Linguine with lemon and chilli king prawns
Chicken korma, rice and naans. For a treat, we have poppadoms and chutneys and onion bhajis with it
Lasagne and salad
Pesto, bacon and pasta
Cottage pie
Paella
A roast
Sausages and mash and baby carrots
Ikea frozen meatballs and chips and their packet sauce

[Hamm87]

Sausage and mash
Pizza
Pasta and meatballs
Salad
Fish fingers and chips
Fish cakes
Fish portion
Curry
Stirfry
As you can tell my child's favourite it fish

[Covert20]

I used to believe the old “they’ll eat it if they’re hungry enough line” and deployed it liberally with my oldest 2 DC. They’re both really good eaters and I thought I was ace-ing parenting. Then I had DC3...well yes...she appear not experience hunger, genuinely. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times she has actually asked for food. So if she doesn’t like it, she doesn’t eat it. So I totally sympathise with you!

What I do, is still make one family meal. But I will tweak her plate - so not mix things together before I serve her portion if she doesn’t like it all, maybe do extra chopped raw veg on the side for her as she doesn’t like some cooked veg. And ultimately, if she doesn’t eat the meal, I will always provide bread, butter and a glass of meal to top her up, but never snacks like crisps as a meal replacement.

Follow his lead? I would keep cooking your staples, and gradually add other veg as a side, or try different but and bobs because you might be surprised by what he likes? (My daughter loves beetroot...) but ultimately if he eats bread and butter and cucumber more often than you’d like, don’t worry - your stress will not improve matters!

[BertieBotts]

Sorry a couple of things got disjointed - talking about why it is important to eat and what nutrition does for us and how to structure a meal and the different food groups (I just keep this to carbs/veg/protein) and so on - I feel this is helpful and important.

If DC is not motivated by hunger or social/routine aspect of eating, as most are, then explaining why on a biological level we need to eat, why we need to eat well and what constitutes eating well can be very useful as it gives them a sort of formula to follow.

I also do not categorise sweets as food and I explicitly explain this. Home made cake is food, crisps/ice cream can be food, sweets are not food. Crisps are not a meal, but can be part of a meal e.g. lunch/toastie dinner, but the right amount is . Currently deciding whether I agree that a mug cake can be a meal... probably not. Although TBF, an egg and some butter and flour isn't that different, fundamentally, to a fried egg on a slice of toast.

That was partly necessary because as part of trying to persuade him to eat as a toddler I followed all sorts of useless suggestions such as "let him eat as much junk food as he wants so he learns what it means to feel full". Didn't work and just gave him a totally skewed expectation of what a normal portion of crisps/sweets is, so we had to re-learn it. Sadly he is at school in Europe and they don't lock them in, so I am under no illusions he regularly goes to the supermarket, buys one of those big share bags of crisps and eats that for lunch BUT other days he will get a sort of local kebab, which he points out, does actually contain all three, meat, salad and wrap. And I can't argue with that because it's true.

[Ireolu]

Salmon tuna chicken mince ham sausages eggs.
Nuggets and fish fingers for work days.
Bread spaghetti rice pasta noodles potatoes (chips mash roast)
Carrots sweetcorn tomatoes cucumber. Very restricted veg choice as she won't eat it despite variety and repeated attempts to get her to try.

Cereals and a vitamin for breakfast. Juice (mixed with water only 1 cup in the morning) all other drinks water + milk

Fruit, crackers and yoghurt for snacking and post meals.

As a treat 1-2 X a week some ice-cream or cake for dessert.

Very boring.

[Susannahmoody]

I find it has to be high fat for them to like it.

Recent winners with my 2:

Fish fingers, chips, beans 😬
Spag bol
Home breaded fish, boiled carrots and mash.
They love pasta bake - any veg chopped up, fried, mix with chicken, add pasta sauce and cream, then baked. Add chesse if necessary.
Sausages
Carrot soup is always a winner
They also love crudités on a little plate with a sauce to dip into

[stopgap]

We rotate the following for my 6- and 9-year-old:

Pasta with chicken and pesto
Brown rice with teriyaki vegetables
Omelette with peppers and onions
Steak baguette and chips
Green curry and rice
Grilled fish, new potatoes and vegetables
Tacos
Spaghetti and meatballs
Baked salmon in tomato garlic sauce with asparagus
Soba noodles with pork chops
Vegan sausages, mashed potato and beans

[Susannahmoody]

Homemade soup is popular (orange soups are the favouritegrin)

^^

Same here. I sell it as carrot, but could be sweet potato, butternut squash etc.

[canonlydoblue]

If I serve my kids a jacket potato with toppings already on they won't eat it. If I give them a plain jacket and let them serve the toppings themselves they think its amazing. Other things we eat a lot are mildish curries, fajitas, stir fry, stews, pesto pasta. We have a kids tea like nuggets or fish fingers at least once a week and Fridays is always pizza night. I can't be bothered cooking multiple meals a night but if it's something that absolutely hate (to the point of there being tears about it) then I will open a tin of soup or make a sandwich.

[m0therofdragons]

I cook what I want and dc eat it or go hungry. They have food they like more than others but unless it makes them vomit they eat it - dd2 isn’t keen on cabbage but I put a tiny bit on her plate probably once a week for a year and finally now I’ve noticed she eats it since I suggested they eat the food they like least first and finish on their favourite food. Dc are 12 and two are 9.

I used to serve food I knew they liked and then introduce a new item with no comment unless they asked. No big deal and they were curious. I implied I didn’t care if they ate it or not.

They’ve had fussy moments and then I’ve put food out for them to serve themselves which tends to work. They love Chinese, Thai, Indian.

They also help me cook. But my main thing odd perseverance of dishing up food then not caring if they ate or not. (Obviously I care but they don’t know or they’ll get into power play.)

[justasking111]

Youngest was so fussy, we found the best way was family style service so he started with an empty plate and served himself. That way he did eat more. He did love spicy food and loved colmans english mustard on his food weird child. Now a strapping student he said he cannot believe that once upon a time he hated gravy on his roast dinner now he ladles it on.

[Babyroobs]

We have four kids, 2 of them very fussy. When they were little I would do one meal and if any one of them didn't like it they could have a simple alternative as long as it didn't take more than a couple of minutes to prepare so things like cheese toastie, egg on toast , spaghetti on toast etc.

[Covert20]

I knew I shouldn’t have read this thread 🙈 full of smug clueless types who have NO IDEA what it’s like to have a difficult eater. My older two eat anything (except mushrooms 😂), they turned their noses up to “kids food” when eating out when younger in favour of things like mussels. DC3 got the same nutritional, varied food from the start, but has genuine issues around eating. I really do wonder at the lack of imagination of some people 🤦🏻‍♀️

[FatGirlShrinking]

DD eats really well but has strange ideas about foods being put together. So she likes all the component parts of a bacon sandwich, as long as they are not put in a sandwich configuration. So a slice of bread and butter, couple of bits of bacon and a blob of tomato sauce on a plate will all be eaten. Bacon and sauce on bread and butter will not be eaten.

Spaghetti Bolognese is good as long as pasta is on one side of the plate and meat in sauce is on the other.

Took us a while and many uneaten meals to figure this out.

[Tillygetsit]

Dd1 wouldn't eat any veg until she was 7 but loved orange mash (carrots and swede)
I used to hide blended veg in everything. Her favourite has always been macaroni cheese.
That's stayed the same but she now eats most veg because her best friend does

[Porridgeoat]

Omg I’ve no idea how you manage to cook so many meals in one night. I serve one meal and if they don’t like it they can get something different themselves

[MinesAPintOfTea]

Don't make meals healthy: add cream, butter, sugar, salt as recipes demand, even if that is higher in "bad stuff" than you'd like. Once they are eating the actual meal regularly you can think about reducing quantities gradually to see if anyone noticed

[canigohomenow]

Fingers crossed he's always been a good eater. Will turn his nose up sometimes but will always give it a go.

So standard foods - we eat a lot of the 'classics' - sausage and mash, spag bol, lasagne, fajitas, tomato pasta, carbonara, chinese style meals, stuffed pasta, roast, stews, curries, casseroles etc.

But some of the 'more grown up meals' would include sushi (cucumber, avocado, chicken - no fish), crispy tofu and noodles, nut wellington, ratatouille.

I've found the foolproof answer to be always add a decent carb - he loves stodge like his Mother so always add rice, mash, dumpling, bread, wraps, pasta etc and it's suddenly the best meal ever.

From the amount he eats already I'm dreading him in ten years...

[spottygymbag]

We have a lot of the meal options mentioned but I batch cook them and freeze in small servings. This gives DD some control over what she has. We look together at the options and she can choose a bolognese/creamy chicken/Mexican etc and then a pasta or rice and chooses two vegetables. Some weeks she will only eat bolognese and carrot sticks but it takes the pressure away and makes it generally more pleasant (although a tired 3.5yo at dinner time is rarely fun).
We decided early on not to make food a battleground and we try (key word here) to only have foods that are healthy for her if she decides to only that for days/weeks on end.
Some days she decides she is actually too tired and really doesn't want anything for dinner or just is not hungry. We go with it and the next day she usually makes up for it.
But agree with pp's genuine food aversions and issues are a separate matter entirely!

[Notfeelinggreattoday]

The eat what we eat or starve doesn't work for all kids
My ds really would of starved he just had no real interest in food
Now a teenager he has a little kore interest but still not that bothered and i often have to remind him to eat if I am at work
Some children have real food issues and proper advice or help
Is needed
My ds2 is not at all fussy but there are a few foods he doesn't like , like curry so if me and dh have curry I would make him something different as he doesn't like it and there are foods i don't like so i don't eat them , why would i expect ds to eat something he really doesn't like
Op re: bacon i can't stand smoked bacon but eat unsmoked so this could be why he didn't like yours

[caringcarer]

My much older and adult children are fussy. DH is vegetarian. All eat toad in the hole so we have that every week. DH has his with Quorn sausages.

Breaded fish and mashed potatoes is other meal all eat except DH who has an omelette. Child 2 and 3 will eat peas child 1 won't.

Chicken breast wrapped in bacon with potato wedges. Child 1 and 3 will eat child 2 not. He will eat knochi with jar of sauce and peas.

Children 2 and 3 eat spag bol. Child 1 not. He will get himself chicken nuggets and chips.

Home made lasagne child 2 and 3 eat child 1 not. He will get himself a jacket potato with cheese and piece of breaded fish.

Thankfully all like pizza, albeit prefer different toppings.

Child 2 and 3 like a beef or turkey stew. DH has a separate veg stew.

DH and child 2 like penne arabatica. The rest of us not.

All eat well if I do a roast carvery on a weekend. I cook a chicken and a beef. All like roast potatoes. Child 2 and 3 and DH like peas and carrots. All like Yorkshire puddings. Leftover cold meat gets used by child 1 in work sandwich.

All like homemade veg or lentil soup with a French stick. I make homemade soup every weekend on winter for lunch.

I sometimes do an all day breakfast with sausages, bacon, eggs fried and scrambled, hash browns, potato waffles, baked beans, tinned tomatoes and toast and everyone likes some things even DH.

[MayIJustAsk]

All mine will eat is chicken, chicken nuggets, chicken burgers, turkey dinosaurs, pizza, yorkshires, waffles and spaghetti hoops. That is seriously it dinner wise.