Family meal ideas - fussy eaters and tired mum

[fruitfly3]

Not sure this is right for children’s health, but….

Please tell me what you are feeding your families? I absolutely despise the whole routine - the shopping, the thinking, the cooking / putting it together. All of it. We started so well as a family with mostly home cooked or prepped food, but the brief has got narrower and narrower as the children have got older and I’ve begun to hate it more and more. I work long hours, we’re ridiculously busy with clubs outside of school, I don’t eat meat (rest do but will only all eat sausage or mince), children are 9 & 6. Our healthy batch meals are reduced to Bolognase, sausage casserole (loads of pulses and veg), lentil Dahl and a cheesy bean and lentil bake. What else do you make? We also do jacket potato, pitta pizza and fridge buffet. I do try not to do freezer food more than once a week.

Would they eat home made burger patties? You could get some pre made veggie patties for your burger.

Eggplant curry is really nice if they will eat eggplant.

Grilled capsicum, courgette, tomato and cous cous salad?

Sausages or koftas with corn cobs and steamed broccoli/beans is really quick to make on a busy evening.

It's tough isn't it

This week we've had:

Chicken skewers in pita with salad

Lamb and tomato curry and rice

Pasta bake

Spaghetti with the rest of the sauce I made for the pasta bake

Tacos

Salmon in air fryer, sesame noodles and broccoli

I also do a lot of homemade pizzas (naan bread). Good cos you can use up leftover sausages, bacon, ham , veggies etc.

I find cooking once eating twice helps I.e. Spaghetti sauce, pasta bake.

It's hard work

I think it helps a lot to write it down - ask the kids to be involved. Everyone makes lists of foods they love/like/will tolerate/won’t eat, and you can come up with a list of meals so everyone gets their favourites some of the time. Every week pick from the list but try and throw in one or two new foods to try.

I used to do a lot of pasta when mine went through fussy stages, and I’d make a sauce with loads of veg In and blend it.