I'm a single parent on a low income with 3 children aged between 6 and 13 and am really bedding to cut the food books down a little. My boys generally eat well, so eat most things without complaint but they are constantly hungry. They are so active and could just eat all day long and still have two portions at dinner followed by fruit and yoghurt after and then something before bed too.
My daughter doesn't eat as much but would graze all day given the chance. She is quite restrictive with food though which is making things really tricky as I'm struggling to find cheap meals to cook that are nutritious and everyone will eat.
She won't eat anything with a sauce so no pasta, pies, curries, chilli, casserole etc which area great cheaper meals. given the chance she would only eat pizza, roast dinner, pancakes, hot dogs or plain fish & oven chips. She also eats fruit, carrots, peas, sweetcorn, potatoes, peppers if raw, hummous and cucumber. I think most of her issues are sensory when it comes to food, rather than just dismissing things.
I'm really struggling now to keep the food shopping within budget and to keep everyone fed and healthy. How do others with fussy or trickier eaters manage? I can't afford to cook separate meals for her and I don't want to serve the same few things over and over as it isn't fair on the rest of us. I would love to hear any ideas any one has on how I can find cheap meals everyone can eat!
Use our Cost of Living forum to discuss budgeting and energy saving with other users.
Cost of living
How to cheaply feed fussy eaters?
NeedSleepNow · 05/08/2023 15:53
Caspianberg · 05/08/2023 16:43
Homemade pizzas. Basic homemade dough is a good skill and cheap. Then whatever toppings each person prefers.
You can also make tomato sauce for pizza topping loaded with hidden veg. Just tin tomatoes/ onions/ garlic/ herbs/ various roast veg and blitz. Freeze in portions. Add or reduce what they don’t like
lljkk · 05/08/2023 17:19
That's a good range of items she eats already.
If the oven is on, put frozen chips in for her.
If the hob is on, boil up some spaghetti.
Always have some carrots & peas in the meal prep mix.
These foods are cheap to buy and cook.
What meat(s) or fish or poultry or eggs does she eat, how does she get enough iron?
caringcarer · 05/08/2023 18:18
Make a Bolognese for the rest of the family and if DD won't eat it give her a jacket potato with baked beans. It won't hurt her once a week and why should the rest of your family have such a restricted diet because of her?
Badbudgeter · 05/08/2023 18:41
I plate everything up separately and the children help themselves. Pasta/sauce/meat rainbow salad so stripes of salad on a plate rather than mixed. If you take it then you eat it but nothing is mandatory. Less waste though as I will take leftover stuff to work for lunch whereas I probably wouldn’t Tupperware plate scraps.
NeedSleepNow · 05/08/2023 18:25
That's my worry, that my sons end up eating a really restricted diet too because of it.
My youngest does copy at times unfortunately , if I serve my daughter an alternative meal then he refuses his food and wants what his sister has regardless of what it is.
caringcarer · 05/08/2023 18:18
Make a Bolognese for the rest of the family and if DD won't eat it give her a jacket potato with baked beans. It won't hurt her once a week and why should the rest of your family have such a restricted diet because of her?
caringcarer · 05/08/2023 21:08
Then you need to cook a nice Bolognese for those who want it and only offer a jacket potato to the ones who don't. He will soon realise he's missing out by having just a potato with baked beans. It's not fair to deprive you other child or DH and you of a nice Bolognese because you have a couple of fusspots. Also have you tried offering your younger child when fussy DD not around and he might eat it.
NeedSleepNow · 05/08/2023 18:25
That's my worry, that my sons end up eating a really restricted diet too because of it.
My youngest does copy at times unfortunately , if I serve my daughter an alternative meal then he refuses his food and wants what his sister has regardless of what it is.
caringcarer · 05/08/2023 18:18
Make a Bolognese for the rest of the family and if DD won't eat it give her a jacket potato with baked beans. It won't hurt her once a week and why should the rest of your family have such a restricted diet because of her?
Hall84 · 05/08/2023 21:38
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/chipchip_cassoulet_67875
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/one_pan_sausage_pasta_55251/amp
Sorry, I'm rubbish at click links but you might be able to keep the sausages separate from the sauce in the cassoulet and keep some pasta/sausage meat/broccoli separate pretty easily if sausage is a safe food?
FusionChefGeoff · 05/08/2023 21:36
Would DD eat plain chicken / plain pasta / rice etc?
Can you batch cook a load of stuff she would eat eg chicken breast and freeze and then pull out whatever goes with the side for everyone else?
Don’t want to miss threads like this?
Weekly
Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!
Log in to update your newsletter preferences.
You've subscribed!
moderationincludingmoderation · 05/08/2023 22:38
Just wanted to say my DD10 is similar in terms of food aversions being very sensory. A sauce dodger too, and likes most thing's separate etc.
She likes couscous - does yours? Very quick, cheap and easy.
I'll ofren make her little beef mince koftes/meat balls (plain for her, spiced for the rest of us) with plain cous cous and some steamed plain veg like green beans.
Thankfully she loves her veg, meat & fish but just as long they're plain and simple.. but it is more work and more expensive! I feel you..!
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.