Fed up with cooking diff meals, ideas for family meals please

[Dancergirl]

Yes I know I've made a rod for my own back...but I'm still cooking different meals for the dc than for me and dh. I'm a bit of a foodie and both me and dh love good food and sometimes quite spicy food. I would love my dc to develop a love of food too and I know they will eventually (I was still living on fish fingers aged 8 lol), but in the meantime I would like some ideas of family meals I can cook that everyone will enjoy.

I do a roast chicken once a week, sometimes homemade spag bol or meatballs. Thing is, if it's just me and dh I would often do a pan-fried fish thing, eg I sometimes do pan-fried sea bass with lemon/pine-nut/garlic/oregano sauce with is absolutely delicious.....but I know the dc wouldn't touch it and secondly pan-frying fish for loads of people is a pain.

Hulababy - I do cook a bit with them when time permits....but they generally want to make the same old things that they like - fairy cakes, biscuits etc!

Some good ideas here, thanks. Shepherds pie is actually one of my specialities - dh and I love it. But if I'm going down the 'eat it or nothing else' road and I serve shepherds pie, I can guarantee 2 out of my 3 won't touch it. And as it's a whole meal in inself (other than some green veggies on the side) they just won't eat that night...?

try it and leave it on table if they don't eat it. they might surprise you once they get hungry. don't make a fuss though as all the experts say this backfires and gives them too much 'power/atttention'.

shepherds pie is a fairly straightforward sort of meal - it doesn't have any really strong flavours, so i don't see how anyone can actively dislike it

Dancergirl - we rarely bake, only for special desserts. I only really cook with DD, and when she cooks independently she cooks real food, rather than cakes, as the latter are not an option.

I would introduce new meals gradually with veggies that they definitely like, and have bread and butter available too, and fruit afterwards.

Dancergirl yes they won't eat that night! If mine refuse to eat anything (usually dc3), they don't get anything else, except maybe some fruit before bed. Also, I don't give any snacks a couple of hours before dinner to make sure they're hungry.

The thing is, dd2 in particular has real issues with food and textures and would rather go to bed hungry than try something that doesn't appeal to her. I know the whole 'they'll eat when they get hungry' and 'no child will starve themselves' etc...but I imagine dd2 will just wait till breakfast, eat breakfast and lunch and then refuse dinner again if she doesn't like it. It could be night after night after night and that's surely not good.....

Also...another question: if you're just making one meal, what time do you eat it? Dd3 is only just 4 so eats at 5pm ish and dds 1 and 2 tend to eat with her. I couldn't eat a big meal at that time and dh doesn't get home till 8pm....

our standard time has always been around 6.30 - agree 8pm is too late for young children to eat. if people in our house have to eat at different times i try and cook something that can be reheated, or part cooked and then finished quickly at different times...though it does make it harder

could you and the children not eat later together? at least that way they see you eating the same food as them?

We eat together around 6:45pm with 8y DD. Have always eaten with DD once DH is home from work. She has a small snack after school.

However if she has an activity she eats before it and that means she eats on her on, but I sit with her and we chat. Generally this is the same meal as me and DH are having later.

If we're all at home then we eat about 5.30-6.00 - dc3 is nearly 4.

Dc3 is a nightmare with dinners and often doesn't eat them. I think there's a couple she'll eat - roast (just the veggies usually) and a stir fry. She rarely eats meat. She often will just have breakfast and lunch and, if she doesn't have dinner, an apple before bed - this happens about 5 nights out of 7. However, I feel that she eats enough during the rest of the day to not worry about dinner - is your dd like this? Mine is as skinny as anything but has plenty of energy! There is no way I would cook her something else.

How about making chicken or plaice goujons with them. Nice and messy but I always found that mine would eat them (even the 'I hate fish' two oldest ones).

I make my breadcrumbs by whizzing slices up with parmesan or pecorino, whatever herbs I've got knocking around and a bit of seasoning. Get them to flour, egg and crumb themselves and if they're big enough get them to peel potatoes and chop to make wedges.

As earlier said, homemade Pizzas with whatever they want, but they must each include two veg like peas and sweetcorn or whatever they like.

Chicken noodle soup but with chicken meat balls in as well, again mine were helping make the meat balls from about the age of 2.5.

Puff pastry tartlets - they can cut and roll the pastry and put what they want on them.

My older two were particularly fussy but I was not prepared to pander to them and they soon learnt to either join in or shut up and eat!!!

Hmmm, I suppose the problem is I've never eaten as early as 5.30 or even 6.30.....even as an (older) child mum and I used to eat around 8pm. I think as the dc get a bit older we can gravitate towards eating together around 7pm and then I can heat dh's up later.

moogalicious - re your dd.....loads of people say that if you just do the one meal thing and no alternatives, they will eventually come round. But it sounds like your dd is still not eating the meal most nights. I think it would bother me if my dd didn't eat 5 nights out of 7 - doesn't it you?

Would also like to ask, how do you manage to keep DCs waiting until so late for their meal? I have to feed mine theirs before 5pm or else they eat their own arms!

Would like to move it til later so they don't get hungry before bed, but they are always ravanous after school.

My youngest can also go all day without eating anything, scary and he is skinny.

I used to give mine a sandwich each straight from school and then supper around 6.30/7pm. Or a piece of fruit and a yoghurt. Usually did the trick.

dancergirl no it doesn't worry me as she generally eats enough during the day and she is fit and healthy. She is also very good with her fruit and veg - it's protein that's the issue, but she's only 3 and will come round in the end. Sometimes, if she's been very hungry she has wolfed her dinner down, meat and all.

DD1 used to be extremely fussy and I was so worried - I used to dread mealtimes and this rubbed off onto her. With ds and dd I backed off completely when they started to get fussy (which they all do at around 18 months!). Ds is 6 and will eat anything. dd2 will get there.

Now dd1 is older (8) she enjoys cooking and loves 'grown up' meals like the ones I linked to earlier. Will not good with fruit, but hey you can't have everything.

How old is your dd?

Professor they have a snack after school, but nothing a couple of hours before.

dancergirl if dd2 is good with breakfast and lunch, perhaps you should make sure she gets everything she needs at these meals. She could have a small dinner, so it isn't so daunting. Sometimes my dd2 only has a tablespoon of food at dinner time - if she doesn't eat it I'm not so bothered about the waste.

Bookmarking for a later read. My DS is an okay but I'm bored of my own cooking. So I might try some above, if some are very quick to make then all the better. that 30min Jamie thingy was a complete scam i think.

moogalicious - youngest dd is just turned 4. She used to eat quite well but real problem is dd2 (8) who has always had probs with food and eating from weaning onwards. So dd3 copies her - she sees dd2 having plain pasta with olive oil and she wants the same....even though I think she 'should' have something else on it, cheese or tomato sauce.

I did pancakes for Shrove Tuesday - they went down well with my older dds but dd3 turned her nose up and went to bed with nothing other than a few pieces of apple. I stayed calm though and told her there was nothing else. Don't get me wrong - I don't make alternative dinners but I suppose I do tend to make what I know they like...

Nothing wrong with making what they like, but you want to move onto making meals for the whole family.

There must be something that they all like eg home made chips or jacket potatoes. You could do these with something new, like chilli or chicken goujons and that way you know they've eaten something.

Or ask dd2 to choose 1 new meal for the week and get her involved with making it.

Sometimes it takes a few goes at a meal before they like it. Re the pancakes, if you make them a few more times I bet dd3 will eat them, perhaps do them with chocolate sauce next time and then move onto healthier fillings.

Today I'm doing carbonara for dinner, and I know that dd2 won't eat it. I'm going to try encouraging her to eat a few bits of pasta. Wish me luck!

starbear stir fry takes 5 minutes!

Moo yes that's one of my regular meals that I'm now bored of

oh dear! It's a staple here at the moment, so sure I'll be bored of it soon.

What is Hunter Chicken sounds lovely?
I heard a great tip. Cook a meal you like. If the kids don't like it, just let them have more veg or something bread. If they don't want extra veg then they are not hungry. Next meal make it one they like and go on like that. My DS doesn't like mushrooms we love them so I just put them in food whole or just in half. He picks them out and give it to us!
My friend thought my Ds was a great eater because he eats lentils, ratatouille, Sea bass, trout, pumpkin and chickpea stew, chorizo, paella, shell fish, roast anything....BUT
won't eat any form of dips
cheese sauce
butter or marg in sandwiches!
Maynonaise
Tinned Tuna
any form of spicy food no matter how mild.
My family are Asian so the last one is a bit of a problem Our Chilli is called Chilli Gone Barmy because it has no chilli

chicken wrapped in bacon topped with melted cheese in bbq sauce. You can get a colmans mix for it

Thank you fifi