to think it's not child abuse to make the DC's....

[BigMomma3]

eat spanish style chickpea stew with wilted spinach . DD has made herself choke to get out of eating it and DS1 has been in tears at the table. I cannot believe the fuss they made! DS2 ate it all after a slap bit of gentle encouragement!!

DD screamed 'why can't we eat normal food like normal families?' When asked to elaborate she said we should eat mashed potatoes, chips, fishfingers and sausages etc (which we do eat as well as my veggie concoctions ).

I have also refused to buy their usual Cocopops and Cheerios and am making organic porridge with dessicated coconut and golden syrup for their breakfast and we were late for school this morning due to the amount of time it took for DS1 to take one spoonful . I am sick of them always wanting to eat crap (although even if I give them pizza or chips they usually don't eat much because they are constantly raiding the fridge). AIBU to take a stand or am I wasting my time??? They are aged between 7 & 12 BTW

OMG!

The porridge sounds horrible!

My children & I have porridge most morning.

Oats and milk!

Coconut & syrup-how revoltingly sweet/sickly!!

YABU!

equally i don't get what's child-unfriendly about coconut

I think there is a middle ground - don't like Cocopops and Cheerios (though would occasionally buy them), but what's wrong with Cornflakes and Weetabix? Certainly wouldn't have the battle before school. This evening I made boeuf bourginon (which they tried, but hardly touched), but served it with mashed potatoes, carrots and broccoli (all favourites). I try to limit snacks between meals to fruit though they do have a biscuit or bun when they get in from school.

My kids would think i'd gone mad if I offered them that, and porridge is awful stuff, I can't stand it. Homemade Scotch pancakes for breakfast, with cocopops and cheerios, dinner was pasta with homemade pizza, all eaten, plates clean.

see i was brought up on chickpeas etc. - with a few "kids meals" thrown in for good measure - and guess what - i like the stuff, don't find it daunting or unappetising or unfriendly or anything

We have porridge with grated apple

dcs love coconut (but only in bounty bars)

The porridge sounds delicious. I think the more rubbish they eat the more they want it. I find the same - if I have a chocolatey day, the last thing I want at supper is healthy vegetables, but I am OK with them on a normal day.

Porridge is v.healthy!

My DDs love it, DS hates it, but then he wears a cardigan crafted from reconstituted pulses so can always suck on that if hungery...arf!

Are Cheerios bad for you then? Seriously?

porridge is ok - DS1 hates the stuff, dessicated coconut is the work of the devil - god awful stuff, can't I'd have been too over joyed at the stew either

I hated coconut when I was a kid but DS likes it, we're all different. I think you should just find what your kids like and roll with it. Our society is obssessed with food and we should try to break the habit, not pass it onto our kids.

I hate this idea that we have to force the right amount down them at the right times. A healthy attitude to food is to eat when you are hungry, and stop when you are full.

I eat what I fancy, when I'm hungry and stop when I'm full and I'm a healthy size for my hieght. I'd like my son to have the same outlook.

I think the chickpeas and spinach sound lovely. My SD wouldn't eat that, though, she'd look daggers at me for a month if I served it up.

Re: the porridge, have you tried making it with ripe mashed up banana in it (1 per person)? It is sweet and delicious without being sticky or cloying. The coconut sounds a bit grim.

I agree, what wrong with just plain old porrige??
The stew sounds lovely though, like others have said, just put it in front of them and tell them there's nothing else. If you really want them to eat it ban snacking, I don't have snacks in the house, I have no self control so can't. I made some cakes for a childminded childs birthday, thought I'd make them the day before to be organised and ended up eating nearly all of them (I'm worse than the kids lol).

I like coconut, but hate the dessicated stuff.

I agree homemade pizza-at least you know what´s in it.

Ask what they want & make a version that´s as healthy as possible.

Have one "cräp" food night a week/fortnight/month.

My DD wants to come to your houuse for tea, she loves chickpeas.

As for Porrige - it's got to be served with hhoney surely.

dessicated coconut takes ages to be edible.. its like eating sand.

well I love chickpeas, I love spinach, but the combination doesn't fill me with any lovely thoughts

i'm thinking it would also involve olive oil and tomatoes and paprika (and chorizo if it were me) and crusty bread. yum.

There are ways and means of getting them to eat well v's putting them off for life.
Seriously I cannot eat chicken or fish at the age of 34 because of having it served most nights and not wanting eat it but being told it's that or nothing.
Don't give them issues with food.

i think there's a balance to be struck between refusing to accept that they have their own tastes (which may not be the same as yours) and refusing to allow them to dictate what you eat (or rather don't eat) as a family.

the technique of providing a range of foods, at least some of which each child will eat, and allowing them to help themselves to as much or as little of each as they like seems to be working for us, without arguments or resentment or scarring anyone for life as far as i am aware.

OK, I'll admit the wilted spinach was a step too far and I would not do that to them again (it was ever so slightly slimy).

The stew involved 2 red onions, a green pepper, punnet of cherry toms (chopped in half), tom puree, smigeon of ground ginger, nutmeg, cayenne pepper and coriander all lightly fried together in olive oil, add cooked chickpeas and salt & pepper to taste with a handful of spinach lobbed in at the very end!! I also made a tomato, cucumber and feta cheese salad on the side so they could be assured to get their 5 a day.

My homemade summer fruit crumble with Birdscustardpowder homemade custard went down slightly better although DD would not eat the fruit in hers as it was too sour!

I have always made 'wierd' stuff as I am a veggie (DH & DCs are not) that involved kidney beans, lentils etc so it is not a major shock to them but I have upped the ante since they went back to school because of wanting to build up our immunities before swinefluparanoia winter sets in.

I will look into the porridge for tomorrow methinks (go to Tesco later and get some condensed milk to try). Thanks!

it soudns pretty vile to me

my dd ate her sour chickpea and couscous tonight [preen]

but even i gag at teh thought of organic porridge with dessicated coconut and golden syrup.

i make mine iwth maple syrup

mine woudl nto eat any of that feta
chickpeas wpinach etc

Telling them 'Eat this or go hungry' is ok I think. 'Sit here with me screaming at you until you eat it, however vile' (as I remember from childhood) isn't. Years later my mum admitted she wouldn't have dreamed of eating the awful stuff herself...

Have never forced my children to eat anything. If it disgusts them and going hungry is preferable, they can leave it and I don't serve it again in a hurry. I've got some food issues, hopefully they won't have. They love many kinds of fruit and quite a few vegetables.