Not letting DD pick what she wants at food shopping?

[DariaK]

DD will only eat home cooked meals, veggies, etc. if she can add that bloody Nando's garlic and herb sauce. It's the mild dipping sauce, comes in a glass bottle.

I'm happy to buy one bottle per food shop but it's not lasting her, she has shit loads with one meal. I'd need to buy about 3 bottles I reckon. If we run out or don't have it, she literally won't eat the meals at all and will have toast or cereal.

AIBU to not buy it?

@cinnamonfrenchtoast it says Amazon.com so maybe the one they do in America? The ones on Amazon.co.uk seem the same as the ones in the supermarket here

Ah maybe

Whoever said in a post about spicy food ruining your ability to taste less.flavoursome food is ridiculous. Anyone who read that and enjoys spicy food. ...enjoy your spicy food. My eldest and dh cover their food in chilli pepper and I.mean vindaloo hot and they have the best sense of taste than the rest of the household. I often get said ds to do a taste test when I'm cooking and he can tell me what's missing.... his dad's a chef so obviously gets it from him. I don't eat spicy food much and not at their level and their sense of taste is much better than mine.

Anyway! Op have a look for a cheaper alternative. It's not worth arguing Iver unless you are really struggling money wise. Went through similar with ds 2 and his was garlic sauce. He grew out of it and has it occasionally now. We are on noodles now.... both boys obsessed with them. But it will die out too. They go through these things. I did as a kid so did dh and so did most people I know. Except when it's ketchup no one bats an eyelid

I would get the 500gm bottle. She is your child and for some reason she likes it and its making her eat her food. Its not the end of the world. Let her know that she gets 1 bottle a week and to make it last. Please also add a bit more variety to your meals. She might try and like a curry eg, katsu curry with rice or a thai or indian curry. Seems to me her tastes are changing. I add Peri peri hot sauce to my cheese sandwiches and also on mac and cheese as I find it bland

That does sound like it could be very bland and quite gloopy heavy. She's adding acidity, a little sweetness, lemon, onion, garlic, thyme, chilli, rosemary, parsley, paprika, pepper and salt - all of which are much 'lighter' on the palate and can make something that could be interpreted as claggy and flavourless far more palatable.

Her tastes don't align with yours as she's growing up and finding her own palate. Even sticking to toast if she can't have it involves having something with salt (the butter) and texture before you take into account anything like peanut butter, Marmite, lemon curd or other toppings.

The fact she eats ok without it in restaurants stands out to me, it sounds like she needs more choice over what she eats, not because she's some spoilt brat 🙄but she sounds like she has issues with food, either her own issues such as ARFID, or maybe your food is just too bland for her, it's hard to say. Would definitely involve her more in cooking, let her choose where possible, spice her own food, maybe batch cook something she likes, the things she eats in restaurants, and freeze them so she can have something she likes if it's not what you like.

Aldi di a version.

Sorry if it's been said but can't you just put it into a little dipping saucer, bowl for her? Which will limit the amount?

Yes £12 a week, £52 a month. Why are people not understanding this is a lot of money?

Do you have a Costco near you OP? You can get the really massive bottles from there for a lot cheaper than buying several small ones

i would buy shop's own

can you add a lemon so she can squeeze it over her food herself?

Does she get pocket money ? Make her buy it herself ?

TBH, assuming you can afford it, I wouldn't make £12 of sauce the hill I'd die on with a 12yo. She'll either grow out of it, or her friends will beat it out of her. Presumably she doesn't have it at school?

Reason I say all this, I was obsessed with tuna, pate and quavers from about age 12-16. I had pate on toast for most breakfasts, a packet of quavers with my packed lunch, and half a can of tuna for an evening snack. My mum would just quietly buy it, and never said a word, but I later learned, as an adult, she and dad thought it was very odd, but decided it wasn't worth the hassle of addressing.

I'm pushing 40 now, and only have pate when I visit mum about 3 times a year. Tuna I only have as an ingredient in a meal, and I maybe have 10 bags of Quavers a year.

@megacat
I agree, works out at £600+ per year on sauce for one person.
One bottle and it's up to her to portion it, I wouldn't be absorbing this into my weekly shop.

That's not just 'going with it' - making little comments about 'do you want some main meal with your sauce'... or taking shares out in the company could easily be very unpleasant - when people did that to me about various foodstuffs I absolutely wouldn't take any more, for fear of more commentary and criticism!

Maybe its come across differently in the way you've written it, maybe your DD found the little comments hilarious, but for some they could be quite a snide and underhand way of having a dig at someone.

I assume you use spicing,flavours etc in your foods so maybe she likes the taste lol

@Insommmmnia - mayo - chilli olive oil - lime juice : 2tbsp, juice of 1 lime, couple of glugs of oil - that makes enough for two/three people over a fairly finely chopped salad that covers 60% of the dinner plate (salad is apple, walnut, cress, lettuce, cucumber, pepper, spinach).

Finally a voice of reason!

£12 per week on sauce for one person is absolutely ridiculously

If a sauce would make my dd eat home made meals I would be buying 5 bottles a week 🤣. My dd has huge sensory issues with food, I know she can’t help it but it drives me crazy. I would seriously do anything to see her eat vegetables.