5 a day - I need some help please

[Teaandcakeplease]

Someone please come and talk to me about how to manage to get 5 a day into my children's and my diet everyday without fail. I've looked on the government website but I'd actually like some mumsnetters tips on how you do it.

I've been a lone parent for almost 2 years now, my children are 2 and 4. My DD is just starting to come out the other side of fussy eating. I'm incredibly tired a lot of the time, but my children seem to live on a steady diet of rice/ pasta with various accompaniments. They do have about 2 pieces of fruit everyday. But I think I rarely get above 3 or 4 fruit or veg a day and for me it's even less. I need some ideas and clever ways to do it, that do not require much effort to become habit iyswim?

I seem to lack creativity at meal times nowadays

well first of all a portion is the size of your fist, so a portion for a 2 yr old will be smaller than a portion for you, a 2 year old's fist is quite small, so if they eat a banana tha't s 2 portions.

Have vegetables available all the time, give them a bowl of cherry tomatoes as a starter before the main meal, always put some veg in sandwiches
, cut up some carrots and put on a plate with humous to dip as a snack, make veg-based meals like roasted vegetables, cauliflower cheese, veggie bolognese and lasagne, in fact, all pasta sauces can have veg in them.

Cook fruit for puddings, like apple crumble and apple pie, make smoothies for breakfast using a banana, soft fruit and yoghurt (DS's favourite is mango smoothie and I just buy tinned manog for this purpose).

Grate carrots into rice before cooking it, it doesn't change the flavour. Grate carrots into bolognese sauce too and pasta sauce.

If in doubt, just cook up a broccoli and serve that on the side with whatever meal you're having. Or serve it as a starter.

Teach by example, let your kids see you eating lots of fruit and veg.

And also, remember it's the cumulated effect, one day you might only manage three portions but if the next day you go strawberry picking and eat 7 portions it all balances out.

Thought of some more: cut up a banana into breakfast cereal, or grate an apple into it. Delicious.

Apple and cheese sandwiches are yummy, and so are grape and cheese, and banana and peenut butter.

IME offering a pretty plate of fruit for a starter when you're all hungry (or taking it with you when you go out) is the healthy way to get them enjoying and eating it rather than after or with a meal because fruit is already semi digested so it rots on top of a normal meal and can cause indigestion,reflux, tiredness etc.

Grate courgette into pasta sauce, get frozen spinach cubes put a couple into curry sauce. Don't forget Onion counts as one also orange juice or smoothie can count as one. Tomato ketchup can count as one once a week due to the high lycoprotein content. Chopped up cucumber with small amount of cream cheese to dip them in.
I find I often forget so for example spag bol with courgette grated in is 3 (onion and tomato). Then box of raisins one and smoothie another there we go five.

hi tea

mine dont eat any veg but hv lots of fruit

both hv a banana a day, dd1 loves fruit pouches they r really gd

There's some really great ideas here

Keep them coming

Hey Tea! I bought this book I've tried almost all the recipes and its great... all easy too. The chocolate cake is awesome and the brownies with spinach and carrots are surprisingly tasty. Loads of savoury stuff too.

Don't forget that beans and pulses count. So a meal with beans on the side counts.

In my bolognese I have onion, tomato, pepper, carrot, mushroom and lentil. I don't grate, just chop finely - it all cooks down. There might not be a portion of each in a serving but every little helps and it's really variety that's important.

Roast veg is a meal! We tend to have sweet potato, pepper, red onion and carrot. Serve with sausages and ketchup

Anything you can cut into pieces will disappear faster than if it was presented whole, it's one of the rules of the child

Never underestimate them either - if presented with raw broccoli DS goes into raptures and devours it! I wouldn't thank you for it, yuck!Don't forget that beans and pulses count. So a meal with beans on the side counts.

In my bolognese I have onion, tomato, pepper, carrot, mushroom and lentil. I don't grate, just chop finely - it all cooks down. There might not be a portion of each in a serving but every little helps and it's really variety that's important.

Roast veg is a meal! We tend to have sweet potato, pepper, red onion and carrot. Serve with sausages and ketchup

Anything you can cut into pieces will disappear faster than if it was presented whole, it's one of the rules of the child

Never underestimate them either - if presented with raw broccoli DS goes into raptures and devours it! I wouldn't thank you for it, yuck!

Sorry

Thank you GA for the book recommendation and Heifer

I have a couple of meals that I trot out when I think DD hasn't had enough veg recently:

• buttered vegetables. Steam whatever you have and melt lots of butter over it. Delicious. If you want to make it more of a 'meal' you can add a small cheese sandwich on the side, but I'd wait til most of it has been eaten.
• stir-fry, typically broccoli and carrots (microwaved beforehand so they are properly cooked) plus red pepper and mushrooms. Fry in sesame oil and add a little soy sauce at the table. I often put tofu in too. Less often I serve with rice.
• egg-fried rice with sweetcorn, peas, red pepper, mushrooms. Again done with sesame oil and soy sauce.
• humous (and falafel), with carrot, pepper and cucumber sticks for dipping.
• 'picnic' which is much as above, maybe with a small bowl of sweetcorn and/or peas, a handful of green beans, and cubes of cheese / bits of ham or chicken instead of the humous.

I also second the suggestion of putting the veg on the table before anything else. Given the choice my DD will always fill up on protein, so I try to get some veg in her first.

First of all if you are struggling then be content with your kids eating broccoli and spinach as these, in my opinion are far better nutritionally speaking, than cramming a variety of veg down your kids which leads to stress and resentment!

so serve broccoli as a side dish with pasta etc and also make some pesto and add a handful of spinach to it. as long as they are having these and some fruit then i wouldn't worry. thats pretty much what my kids eat as a staple and i 'try' them with other things

that said its a bit repetitive and adding veg to things is always a winner (as suggested by others in the thread). a good one to make is stir fry with the 4 year old as in my experience (a cooking teacher) kids will eat almost anything they have cooked themselves.

hope it works!

for family meal ideas if your stuck see swanseafoodie.blogspot.com/