to say fussy eating makes food budgeting really difficult.

[Comedycook]

At my wit's end! Financially we are doing ok, thankfully, but the price of food is getting ridiculous. I'm spending so much money on food. I could cut down and I'm a pretty good, imaginative cook, but my DC are making it so difficult.

Examples...DD always has eaten corn on the cob. Made it last night to go with dinner...wasn't touched. Asked why not.. apparently it gets stuck in her teeth. But she happily ate it last week.

This morning, gave her a bowl of cornflakes...moaned she didn't like the brand of cornflakes and it ended up getting binned.

Ds is a teen...he takes in packed lunches. Sometimes he eats them, sometimes he doesn't but there is no way to predict whether or not he will or won't so it creates so much food waste.

What I find the most frustrating is when they turn their noses up at food they've previously enjoyed.

I really hate wasting food.

Anyone else in the same situation?

They are old enough to be told that money is tight so you can't afford to buy the most expensive brands; can't afford to be throwing away food because they have decided from one week to the next that they don't like a particular food etc.

They don't have special needs either so there's no particular reason. It does sound like its fussiness.
I wouldn't be pandering to this. They can eat the main family meal or they go without. Their decision.
Don't plate it up - have bowls of veg etc in the middle of table so they can help themselves - that avoids a portion of veg on someone's plate not being eaten and having to be thrown away. Any leftovers from the whole meal can then be reused.
You could include them more in meal planning so they feel like they have a say at that point but they must then understand that they can't have everything their own way.
The packed lunch thing - I think you can't do much about that. Discuss whether he wants to eat school dinners or not. You can't force him to eat the packed lunch and if he chooses not to then that's his problem - the food waste in that case is also his responsibility... not yours. You didn't waste it.

It is really annoying but you don't have to put up with it.
My generation (sound so old now - mid 40s) in our extended family didn't have any kind of say or choice (not saying that's ideal either). We ate what was put in front of us. End of story.

If you want to carry on cooking for them then let them serve themselves at dinner so anything they don't want can be reused.
However as it seems to be getting annoying for you they're both old enough to get their own food so I'd leave them to it for breakfast and lunch then say it's this for dinner and if they don't want it they can cook something for themselves.

I don't tend to see food that isn't finished as wasted though. If it's eaten it's gone, if it goes in the compost bin it's gone.

They are both old enough to cook and food shop. Put them in charge of one dinner a week each.

Stop making them breakfast and lunch. Provide the basics (bread, cereal, fruit, cheese) and let them make (or not make) their own.

Bizarrely with the cereal, it's not about the brands. She actually prefers a supermarket own brand..but it has to be from one particular supermarket!

I also grew up eating anything that was put in front of me...which is one reason I find it so frustrating.

My Ds fussy eating is really another level...he is quite sporty and health conscious. He came shopping with me recently and asked for steak, avocados and salmon as he read they were good for you. However when we got home, he declared it all disgusting and refused to eat it. He does eat all food groups, carbs, protein, veg and fruit which is something and he does eat big portions of the things he likes.

Let them eat it or go hungry!

I have three DC aged 16, 14 and 12. At one point a year or two ago I had a serious chat with them in which I explained the difference between really not liking something (all three have one or two things on this list, that they would struggle to eat even to be polite at someone else's house, and I avoid them or provide alternatives - eg mushrooms for two out of three of them, and baked potatoes for one, he gets a wrap instead) and it being not their first choice or favourite but nonetheless perfectly edible. This seemed to switch a lightbulb on for them as I've had much less fussiness since. I also try to make sure they get their preferred meals every now and then, so they know that although they've got curry tonight which may not be their favourite, tomorrow it will be macaroni cheese. Agree with the others saying talk about it more with them in terms of the waste and the expense.

Oh I like that idea... the difference between something you really really dislike and don't want to eat and something which is not your favourite but perfectly edible. I might try saying that to them this evening... thanks!

Um, no. Tell them to stop pissing about and wasting food, and don't indulge their bullshit.

Expensive is children with multiple allergies and food issues, that you have no choice to cater for, not pandering to spoiled picky teenagers.

I was raised with a breakfast, dinner, tea.
There was no options other than what was served, i ate it or I went hungry.

Hunger is not the enemy, it is not something to be feared, it won't do instant damage and cause death. So many people seem so scared of feeling a little hungry that they stuff their faces with breakfast and snacks and lunch and snacks and tea and snacks and supper and snacks and takeaways and drive thrus and more and more and more and more shite.

Here's your tea, eat it or don't, that's your choice, it isn't poison.

@SuseB - agreed.

OP, get the kids to help with the menu planning for the week, so they know ahead what's coming their way. They'll also understand that a roast chicken on Sunday will feed into a risotto on Monday, etc. I'm with them on brands of cereal - Kellogg's is far too sweet, Aldi or Tesco bran flakes are much nicer - but they can't be allowed to waste food.

Stop letting them eat endless breadsticks,crackers, cereal, toast etc then! That's what's driving the cost up. Dinner or hungry, no option to scrounge.

I agree this is the only way to tackle the fussiness, they need to stop thinking they can act like that.

Not the point at all but couldn't you just cut corn off the cob if she complains about it being in her teeth? It's just sweetcorn then.

Afraid I'm going to be controversial🤷 I'm a 'fussy eater' and cannot eat something i don't like no matter what (makes me feel sick, gag - childhood trauma/issues), so I've never forced my kids to eat anything they don't like. I asked them what they fancied for every meal which usually meant a clean plate. Yes this often led to different meals but I batch cooked and individual portions were always in the freezer, so it isn't really much more effort or cost and frequently there would be parts of the meal that all of them would eat such as pasta (although I don't but am perfectly happy with bread and cheese so often don't even cook for me). As for the packed lunches I would let them take exactly what they wanted for themselves, if they will not eat a sandwich small packs of breadsticks, cheese, fruit would go in it, ie things that can be used again rather than wasted. We were on a tight budget and very little ever got wasted that way.

Yes and the thing is I do make things I know they will like...the bizarre thing is one week they like something, the next they don't or they like one supermarket version of a food but not another's. So my ds may eat chicken nuggets from one supermarket but hates the ones from a different supermarket. He likes my chicken curry if I cook it on the hob but if I cook it in the slow cooker, he refuses to eat it.

You seem reluctant to engage with posts suggesting that they be given more responsibility and agency in the buying, preparing and serving of their food. Why do you think that is?

Have you thought about teaching him to make said chicken curry?

Not sure if you read my pp. My ds had researched healthy food by himself and came with me to the supermarket to choose stuff. He chose salmon, steak, avocados, dark chocolate amongst other things. I was really hopeful. Once we got home, he declared it all disgusting. Both my DC can and do cook occasionally. My dd is making pizzas tonight. She does love doing that.

Yes, he has made it before and he will eat it...I was just given an example of how he can be fussy over such small details...in this case, the difference between cooking it on the hob and slow cooking it.

He likes my chicken curry if I cook it on the hob but if I cook it in the slow cooker, he refuses to eat it

Well that's just bloody ridiculous.
He eats it or he goes hungry.
Why are you putting up with this?

They're old enough for you to explain everything you've said here. Make them come up with the solutions.

If it's products they've eaten before or will very similar to another brand, I'd serve and if they refuse, that's it - tea is over with and no snacks in evening. If either give you a reaction or start pulling faces, I'd ask if they're going to eat it - if not take away and chill whatever can be eaten tomorrow by someone else.

At that age I would tell them you can't afford to pander to their eating whims. If they don't eat then fine. If there are no additional needs and it's just being picky this isn't acceptable. They should be aware and empathic that life is more expensive

How do you serve up your meals OP?
We have similar rules to the PP - I make one meal. That's it. They do have to try it. I wouldn't make them eat it though.

We serve meals in the middle of the table here and everyone helps themselves to the food they want. You touch it you take it is the rule.

It creates a lot less waste and no one complaints when they've put their own food on the plate!

A word from the 70s. Money was tight, credit cards were not ubiquitous.

You ate what you were given and if you didn’t like it there was nothing else.

We eat together at the weekend but weekdays the kids eat pretty much as soon as they get in from school and dh as I eat late when they're in bed. The only thing I can guarantee everyone will eat is roast chicken so we eat that together at the weekends. Can't even cook a different meat as ds only eats chicken. One night I was busy and bought a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket...it was a plain roast chicken. Ds refused to eat it as the chicken tasted weird.