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!

I will go completely off the track and sit with them and prepare a meal plan for the week. Like a game they have to decide what is for dinner next week, including puddings, lunch and even breakfast. Maybe they can get some ideas? Look online for ideas?
Be tempted to try new ingredients in season? Go to the supermarket with you and pick up a vegetable and a fruit and see what they can do with them?

When I put new things in the plate is always with things that I know she will eat, also in small quantities so is not overwhelming.

My child that eats basically nothing is the tallest child in his whole year he towers over his friends. Wish he would eat normal food though.

I grew up an extremely fussy eater, and only ate a handful of things repeatedly... I guess I must have some form of ARFID... It caused my parents loads of stress, and I was always pretty anxious about being invited over to dinner, but I've always been a healthy weight, no health issues that I'm aware of, and enough energy to participate in sports, etc.
So I wouldn't necessarily worry too much, although I must admit that I definitely would hope any future kids will be very different.

In any case, some things which I always ate:

• Meatballs/burgers (only beef, no sauce)
• Thin steak
• Chicken breast (absolutely no bones visible)
• Home-made chicken nuggets
• Canned tuna
• Mashed or baked potatoes
• Raw carrots, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers
• Pizza with tomato and cheese only (or toasties with tomato and cheese)
• Pasta as long as the sauce had no bits
• Smooth, flavoured yoghurt
• Peaches, melon, apples

For me, it was a lot more about texture than it was about taste, I think. For example, I'd eat mild, melted cheese, but no other form of cheese. And only raw veg, never cooked. Most things with a strong smell were unapproachable. I would accept just a few 'creative' options with the same ingredients, like tuna and mashed potatoes rolled into fishcakes (no doubt they sneaked some other stuff in there too!).

It's a huge hassle, but figuring out what bothered me about certain things eventually led me to try others, and (very slowly but surely) my range of options widened once I started living alone and could taste things at my own pace and definitely not under pressure.

I hope this helps in some way. Good luck

Mine liked spag bol too - so I'd make a giant pot of it and put it in smaller portions in the freezer, so no extra making on the day. I also would add in a frozen bag of mixed veg - the type with the smaller bits, which I'd put in the food processor, so the pieces are tiny (and not detectible) so I never had any problem making them spag bol, as I knew it was as easy as cooking pasta & adding cheese - and they were also getting their veg. And it's an adult-friendly meal too.

Also, the trick with the frozen veg is to add it to the food processor whilst still frozen - that way it just about pulverises into a powder.

I have 2 dc one with ASD so limited diet which is on rotation pizza hotdogs plain pasta with butter and ketchup, quorn nuggets chips mini waffles smiley faces and very occasionally Chinese sweet and sour chicken and plain rice. Oh and apples and bread that’s it always. My other dc will eat just about anything so always separate meals here.

I have Aspergers, and ate relatively few foods as a child and young adult. I had anorexia for some years, but it was endemic at my school. My mother wasn't fussed, as Father ate even less than I did. Serve food on divided plates so each food is segregated. Don't make food an issue. Introduce new foods gradually. Don't make them eat school meals; send them with healthy packed lunches they can eat. Encourage milk drinking, and give them multivitamins. They will grow up well, despite your anxiety.

My DD is particular. I realised that despite her proclivities she does like a variety of healthy food so I make what I want for the other 3 of us and DD has to try it, if she doesn’t like it I crack open a tin of chickpeas or sardines, butter some bread and slice some cucumber and she has that. Much happier house all round than the previous battles and “eat this or nothing” mentality

. 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.

And this is exactly why they play you up. My kids were brought up eating the same meals as the adults, as was I (none of this being fed separate ‘kid friendly’ food nonsense, and low and behold they grew into the most unfussy kids alive who háve always tried everything and anything.

My eldest is a nightmare when we're in the UK, he's used to eating a random assortment of Japanese and Lebanese food. Visiting my parents has become a food battleground, so they offer:

Fried Gnocchi with cheese, some cut up cherry tomatoes and basil leaves (he thinks its spinach)
Hummus, pita and veggie sticks (cold meals often good)
Meals he would never usually eat baked into pastry with sesame seeds on top (looks more familiar to him)
Turkish sausage instead of normal sausages
Risotto
Sweet potatoes, scoop the filling out and mix with broccoli cheese, then put back in and bake
Vegetable stock in a cup - he thinks it's really crap miso soup

He's also more likely to want to try things if it's new to everyone or cooked in an interesting way, especially if he can help - more of an adventure. My mum put baked beans in a tagine and he ate them.

Pasta pesto
Spag Bol
Spag bol with a red lentil sauce - this is quite mild and very popular.
Burgers made with minced chicken.
Mild curries made with coconut milk and rice
chicken and rice with a bit of veg
Quiche - they bloody love quiche. Let them choose the filling, you can do ham & cheese, sweetcorn & courgette, broccoli. Whatever they like.
Poached eggs on toast (it's a complete meal as far as I'm concerned)
Bizarrely, they quite like a mild tagine with chickpeas.

Place-marking. We've got into a rut with food in this house and there's some good ideas on here that I'm going to try .

It's not behavioural to dislike some foods. It is behavioural to dislike this many foods in this manner. Liking bacon before it's cooked and suddenly disliking it once it's cooked is behavioural, for example.

Nope, sorry
I will eat frozen peas, no issues
Cooked, no way, disgusting texture, same for carrot, fine raw, not cooked
Cooking changes texture and flavor

I only do one meal for us all (they have porridge for breakfast and a good lunch so if they fuss they won’t go to bed dangerously hungry lol).
This weeks meals are: chickpea & veg curry, sausages & mash & two veg, sweet potato & carrot & butter bean soup, omelette & salad, lentil Bolognese, jacket potato with tuna & salad, steamed fish & brown rice & veg. Nothing fancy but good proteins and plenty of vegetables.

Cooking changes texture and flavor

I agree.

I hate uncooked tomatoes, unmelted cheese, and uncooked peppers. Eating them makes me gag and I can just about force myself to chew them with no enjoyment whatsoever but can't swallow them, I'd be sick. Cook some tomatoes into a sauce though or fry off some peppers and stick them in a fajita or stir some grated cheese into pasta so it melts and I can eat them no problem.

Don't forget too that some foods taste differently to some people, for an example I don't eat cucumber as it tastes incredibly bitter. This is apparently a genetic trait. Cucumbers stink too and even after they've been removed from a dish I can still taste and smell them.

@repeatswan SAME

I Generally cook 4 different dinners each night!, or variations on a dinner, so I feel your pain! My DS1 has some severe allergies, possible ASD, and I’m pretty sure could be categorised as ARFID (avoidance restrictive food intake disorder). He eats a tiny list of foods, no meat, no fish, no eggs, no pasta, nothing mushy, no sauces, nothing mixed, etc, and anything slightly different will cause him to panic completely and refuse to eat anything. So I generally try to base a meal on something he’ll eat, and then tweak it for each other person (eg I’ll do sausage mash and veg - DH, DS2 &DD will have “normal” sausages, DS1 has a veggie sausage that he will actually eat - I take out DS1’s potato before it’s mashed and he has it plain, then I take out some for DD and mash with oat milk (due to different allergies), then I mash DH and DS2’s with normal milk, and then I serve it all with veg that DS1 will eat plus baked beans for DS2 and DH). If there’s no suitable tweak for DS1 then I just cook something separate for him completely. He would literally go hungry rather than eat something not on his list, or would live on cereal and carrots, so in order to get a balanced (though unvaried) diet in him, it’s worth the extra effort.

Meals I’d cook that slightly fussy DS2 will eat are:

Sausage mash and veg
Roast dinner
Pizza and carrot/cucumber sticks
Plain pasta or rice with grated cheese and veg on side (Meat in sauce done separately for DH)
Chicken and pepperoni kebabs
Fish fingers chips and veg
Burgers
Shepherd’s pie and veg
Chicken in white sauce with potato’s and veg

I have a very fussy eater. What works best is letting her decide. Each week I meal plan, we sit and do it together. We talk about what I am planning for mummy and daddy and she decides if she feels it's something wants to try, if not she chooses one of her safe foods to eat. She's actually been willing to try more than I thought! About 3 meals a week are safe family meals (like lasagne, fish pie, bangers and mash) then the others are either something new she'll try or a safe meal.

Mine are quite fussy with meals but have a few healthy snacks which they like which have a lot of vitamins in. I focus on giving them these snacks throughout the day and then if they decide to not eat much dinner then it's not a problem. Snacks they have grown to like are : ::pistachio nuts- they like deshelling them too. These have iron in and other vitamins. I make pancakes containing 2 eggs, 1 banana and 1 scoop of almond butter. Blend them in a blender and cook on a low heat in coconut oil. Add some strawberries and maple syrup on top. This is a healthy breakfast they'll both eat. Also mine will sometimes eat sliced peppers with Hommous to dip or raw carrots and Hommous. Also dried apricots (iron). After your son has been oitside exercising or is really hungry try leaving these kind of snacks out on a plate that he can tuck into when he wants to with no obligation. May be when he's watching tv you can set these snacks out. He might eventually try one and realise he likes it. If he doesn't like them no problem. You've not spent time cooking anything and someone else in the house can eat them. Working on healthy snacks I find less stressful than focusing on meals.

@KindergartenKop

Itsy bitsy tea: which is bits of everything like ham, cheese, apple, salad, sausage rolls, crackers all on a plate to help yourself.

Amen to this!

I usually do dinners like lasagne, cottage pie, hunters chicken, Katsu curry, pasta bakes, roasts, slow cooked beef, sausage casserole etc. DS is 14 months so luckily at the moment will eat what we eat. I hope he won't be a fussy eater!

Cajun chicken wraps go down well here. Tortilla wraps, chicken strips oven cooked with cajun spice sprinkled over, cheese, cucumber, spinach and tomatoes. Can put it together themselves.

Scrambled egg on toast. Jacket potatoes with beans/cheese.

Roast dinner with all the trimmings including pigs in blankets.

Chicken korma with a jar sauce and rice. Kids seem to love this.

Make your own pizza, pesto pasta, lasagna, salmon fish cakes (without the creamy middle)

Fresh tagliatelle with chilli and coriander prawns (the first time just give the pasta with one or two prawns so not too overwhelming then see if ask for more. Try this with all new foods)

My tip is cook one meal and don;t plate the kids up their food...this actually worked really well in our house...so for the kids( and its a faff I will admit but if it gets youthere it doesnt matter) thekids getthesame asadults butlaid outlike a buffet where they can choose themselves. Chances are they will have a bit of everythingas its new and novel!!! Give it a try..let them serve themselves!!

Single parent here.

I always make sure there's something on DDs plate she will eat so pasta and sauce or spag bol, then let her try a bit of something she wants to.

If she eats all the new food, great. If not I don't make a fuss. Don't mention the new food just take the plate away.

Angelina82

Then you got lucky and had unfussy kids. I have two dc. Both raised the same. Both offered the same dishes/rules/expectations at mealtimes. One will eat anything except raw cherry tomatoes. The other is particular, will not eat any wet meals/sauce meals which rules out lots of the "family favourites" listed above.

We've tried the "one meal eat it or starve" option and it resulted in lethargy, weight loss and a change in mood. It's not a viable option for everyone.

And some people get lucky and don't have picky eaters (as dc2 has taught me).

It is counterproductive to force anyone to eat something they say they don’t like but a take it or leave it approach does work. It is essential not to allow drinks other than water. As they got older we used to have special meals on Saturdays so that they could learn to handle less usual foods e.g. prawns in shells. A bit of reverse psychology worked too. I introduced liver and bacon by only serving it to adults. Wasn’t long before they were asking for what daddy was having.