your go to dinners for playdates?

[kjnewk]

Ds is increasingly having friends over after school and I need to make them dinner. Last couple of times, I went for pizza but that didnt seem to go down all that well. Now am feeling nervous as I dont want the kids to go home hungry and complain to their parents. So please hit me with your fail safe dinners. Ds is 7 years old if that makes any difference.

How often are the friends coming round and how many?
I don't think it's a case of being unreasonable at all fwiw, if they are around any more than once in a week and dinner is expected then I think you need to make a stand, you are not the provider for these children.
Generally playdates are considered reciprocal.

My favourite mum when I went on playmates would make cheese toasties. She put different toppings in bowls and let us pick. (Ham, cheese, beans, salami, onion etc).

Then we had carrot sticks and cucumber in the middle of the table with hummus.

We all loved it because it felt like a fun activity. She didn't use expensive ingredients, but it was delicious and I remember them 20 years later hahaha

So for us playdates after school work best so am happy to provide dinner. That's not the problem. I just want them to enjoy the food.... so any ideas welcomed

Pizza, Sausages, plain pasta with simple tomato sauce and grated cheese, chicken nuggets and beans, Spaghetti Bol. Gosh fingers. Mac cheese . Simple, boring, maybe ‘junk’ in others opinions but in my experience more likely to be eaten than when you serve up your signature pasta dish or a lovely stir fry!!!

but always worth asking in advance ‘does your child like x’. As so often I had the parent say ‘they’ll eat anything’ then the child once at the table will list off a great list of ‘don’t like this this this’ often your version isn’t the same as their home version so even ‘spag Bol’ that they eat at home will be defected at yours if includes different veg etc.

always go for something simple - serve all separately on plate so kid can pick and choose (e.g. sauce next to not on top of pasta as some kids will only want the pasta ). Make minimal fuss for you - and have done ice cream or yogurt or fruit about for pudding so they can fill up on that if dinner not yo their taste.

After having had so much delicious home cooked nutritious food wasted by the friends of my kids, I abandoned all hope. I bought a selection of beige freezer food, and that's what I served on play date evenings, with a big dish of roast veg which my own kids loved.

I always used to get them involved in the cooking.......
top their own pizzas,
design a burger,
Fajitas
Pasta with sauce
Jacket spuds with options for toppings
Toasties
Crimpit wraps....endless choices

Pizza or wraps… wraps is fun, we do
sliced quorn nuggets, peppers, lettuce, cucumber, sauces on the side and kids help themselves… nicked the idea from a supermum

If it's often, just do pizza, or chicken nuggets/fish fingers and chips and peas etc.

Allergies/foods not allowed for religious reasons aside, no parent is going to complain about what you have fed them, but be very grateful you fed them at all.

I usually just go with pasta. Or sometimes eggy bread.

I did have a kid round recently who refused everything I offered except crisps. He went home hungry! I just explained to the mum that I had offered food but he didn’t want it. She was fine with it and said he was fussy and not to worry.

Given your child is seven, you have to be liaising with the parents of the child who is having a play date so just ask them what their child likes.

Delicious is subjective though isn't it?

Definitely check in with parents. DD's bestie is, broadly, a good eater. But she absolutely will not eat sausages or chicken nuggets in any form - two of our old standbys.

Our go tos have tended to be

• chicken nugget type things, with chips and veg. I always insist all children at least try the veg and am always pleasantly surprised by how much get eaten! Usually just carrot, corn, peas, broccoli or some combination thereof
• For DS and his buddies - spaghetti bolognaise. Bizarrely, DD's friends are all "must eat everyting separately so won't touch pasta with bolognaise"
• Burgers - beef or chicken. I usually add token salad and fruit items on the side for them and again, insist they try at least one. Cucumber, avocado, tomato etc. This is current favourite as both the teenage and tweens all like it so if DS and DD have friends over at the same time, we don't have to do different things.
• In the old days - fish fingers. But again, weirdly, DD's friends are all anti fish fingers. DS' friends ate the damm things like they were candy in primary and he tells me they all regualrly have fish finger sandwiches or wraps when after school at friend's houses.
• Pasta pesto and bacon. this usually involves various combinations. Danny will eat the pasta pesto, no bacon. Mary likes pasta and bacon with regular cheese. Jenny has the pasta and feta cheese with pesto. etc etc.

Oh, and hilarious recent one that DD's friends are all into (DS' friends too but as they're all less fussy I stick with cheap options for them! ) .... steak!!!

Guessing you/your kids are the fussy ones @NerrSnerr

I remember one kid on a playdate claiming they "only ate McDonald's". Another time I dashed out to Tesco specifically to get a margherita pizza, as requested by my child's friend...they ended up not eating it, as it was apparently the wrong Tesco margherita pizza.

I gave up after that.

Honestly I tend to do a bit of a "beige oven buffet" of pizza, chips, garlic bread, nuggets, and then peas and salad bits all to serve yourself. It's not more prep than making a "proper meal" as it's all pop in the oven stuff and means kids can just help themself to a bit of what they like the look of. Or fajitas/ wraps as a similar setup so spicy chicken in one bowl, plain chicken in another, cheese, salad bits etc.

Pasta with choice of pesto or tomato sauce
nuggets-make your own wraps with choice of lettuce, tomato, cucumber etc
sometimes I do their names with alphabites which they love (I remember my mum doing this too!)
sausage and mash
picnic stuff -sandwiches, mini sausages etc

The usual/ pasta, falafel, tortillas, hummus, enchiladas etc

I used to do pasta, fairly basic pizza with oven chips/wedges, or an 'indoor picnic'. The latter worked well for the fussiest of our regular playdate visitors, as she could pick and choose what she wanted and DS would hoover up whatever was left.

Part of my worry is that we live in quite a posh part of London and honestly, am not sure that kids here are all that used to beige food. Yesterday I just reverted to pasta, tomato sauce and cheese. All the parents usually say their kids eat anything - though I beg to differ ;-)

I get some of those cheap pizzas and give them some toppings to put on and some extra cheese, then veggie sticks (most kids will eat at least one type I've found)

When its warmer picky bits go down well.

DD seems to get pizza, nuggets and chips or pasta at her friends houses.

I would just ask the children what they fancy. 7yr olds rarely all have the same taste no matter the geographical location!

Varies on the child

But I tend to go for basic junk food as most won't seem to eat a spag bol or lasagne or sausage casserole etx

So

Pizza (you were unlikely to get a child that doesn't )

Chicken nuggets

Fish gingers

Sausages

Then with chips , waffles , hash brown , mash

Veg or beans

Or sandwich - crisps - raw catguts , cucumber - chopped apple - etx

I always ask if they have school dinners or packed lunches.

I use the school dinner menu as a guide.

My go tos are;

Spag bol
Chilli con carne cheese fries
Chilli Nachos
Burritos
Tacos
Quesadilla
Make your own pizzas or subs
Mac and cheese with grilled chicken breast and veg
Chicken curry, rice and Naan
Air fryer food and chips and baked beans
Breakfast for dinner
Pulled brisket and flatbreads

Anything that gets them involved usually works and sorts out killing some time, and getting a mini educational experience in.

The meals usually have some sort of veg stick or steamed veg included.

If I'm feeling generous a take out pizza, fish and chips or a deliveroo of some sort.

Noooooooooo

Raw carrots

Not raw catguts 🙀🙀🙀

Can't edit as on app

Plain pasta /with cheese or pesto pasta and garlic bread also go down well

Pizza is usually my go to! Maybe veg sticks and garlic bread or french bread on the side? Or I do chicken goujons with french fries and peas.

Or maybe chicken wraps. I'd probably do a plain roast chicken or cook chicken breast fairly plain and let them fill wraps themselves with the chicken, salsa, cheese, lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, sour cream, sweet chilli sauce etc.

One child told me he only liked sweetcorn and cucumber as veg so I excitedly said "oh, I have some sweetcorn" and he said "oh, but I don't want any today" 😂. I think it does get easier as they get older and their tastes widen a bit thankfully!

DD has a friend who only eats a specific type of potato, purchased from waitrose! . I always tell him it absolutely IS that potato!!!

OP - I hear you re the posh food thing (see above). I seem to have convinced a whole bunch of DD's friends that I'm a super posh, fabulous cook by making "chicken tenders" which are basically just chicken breasts sliced into easy pieces (or mini chicken breasts are even easier), dipped in flour, egg, breadcrumbs and fried. Parents keep telling me their children want them to get the recipe and I keep having to admit it's not exactly flash. I do "elevate" them by adding lemon zest and salt to the breadcrumbs. I"m convinced it's the salt that sells it!

I remembered something else I do often, but only for weekend playdates as it's a bit slow to make but I've yet to have a child reject it: baked chicken thighs. I usually do them with mashed potato, or sometimes with chips. Some children don't like skin so I just cut that off for them. And serve with a range of veggies. If I'm feeling generous, I make yorkshire puddings too!