Very demoralised veggie mum - tether end close

[AnnieSG]

Just wondered if any of the veggies out there (AND fish eaters) can help.
Have just had yet another meal where I've chopped and grated and thought really hard about making something that won't be rejected on the first mouthful...only to end up with whingeing.
It was really yummy too - DH adored it: rice and chickpeas and tuna all garlicky and with soy sauce, fried up with onions and a few carrots and peas. We eat quorn too, which I'm sick to the bloody back teeth of, and I work so hard at trying to make food that my two boys (six and two) won't reject. They love some really healthy things (couple of pasta dishes) but I'm starting to feel the options are so very limited when they're reluctant vegetable eaters. They'll eat lentils and chickpeas, tuna, carrots, eggs, cheese, peas and sweetcorn, which sounds like a fair amount, but when you end up with the same basic veggie format in pasta, topped with potato, with noodles etc etc etc etc...blah blah.
They'll eat things like olives, but never ever courgettes, mushrooms, aubergines. Recently I baked sweet potatoes and they just went: 'Uggh, yuk, that's horrible.'
Sorry for the big rant, but I'm so demoralised about cooking at the moment. I really understand why some people just give up and feed them crap but I'm trying so hard not to give in.
Can anyone help? I've got Annabel Karmel, Rose Elliott and Delia's veggie book.
Please help, someone!!!

Rickshaw, that would be brilliant. Thank you so much - would love to hear about the burgers and croquettes you mentioned.
I accept all the meaties' points about choice, but I do let them eat meat when we're out or I don;t have to cook it. I'm not so strict about it, I just don't eat it and have very big worries about cooking the stuff.
I think deep down a lot of meat-eaters (I really don't mean all) think veggies are a bit daft and should just get on with it! Come on, admit it!

Oh, lots more suggestions came in as I was posting that last reply. Thanks for those. Yes, have the Carole Timperley book, but haven't found it that helpful.
Puddle, do you mash the cannelini beans? I do get a bit quorned out.
We do eat fish but they're very conservative about it. Would love to get them to like salmon, but haven't succeeded.

also agree with maZebraltov. don't make meals complicated.
do potatoes and veg... and then whatever goes with it.
that way you haven't spent ages preparing gourmet meals for them all the time that get rejected.

i think it can also help to involve them in the cooking... kids are far more likely to try something they have made themselves, or helped prepare. get one of them washing the veg and one of them helping you to chop it up etc etc

oh and also, to get them trying new things... serve up a meal you know they will eat... but put a small amount of new veg on the side.
make them have one mouthful. if they like it great, if they don't then don't force it.
that way they're getting a meal they will eat but also getting to try new things

I'm a veggie, DS is 4

I get ds to help with the cooking, peeling mushrooms, taking stalks out-getting him to recognise veggies in their raw state-talking about flavours whilst chopping that sort of thing.
At meal times im very low key, give him his tea if he doesnt eat it then its no biggy-but he doesnt get anything else, just his yog. I dont kick up a fuss but I do casually ask why he isnt eating iss it a bad flavour or is it too peppery.
He was scared off by my home made curry which is a bit spicy but we talked about it and I explained that it was just another flavour nothing that would hurt him. anyway he is fine with it now and as a rule very good with eating.
I do think tho that the best place to start is to get them helping you in the kitchen, seeing raw veg, cooking etc.

My ds is not keen on plain salmon but he loves the smoked salmon steak or smoked salmon sandwiches! Fish pie is also a staple meal in our house.

I don't mash the canellini beans I just tell them they are like baked beans! There's a great recipe on here for a lentil hotpot that I will try and find in a minute - has never been rejected by any child I have offered it to.

I am like you - I have been veggie since learning to cook for myself and would have no idea how to cook it. My kids can eat meat when out if they choose to but I don't cook it at home. I've not met many children who are keen on 'proper' meat tbh (as opposed to nuggets, burgers, susages and plastic ham).

no idea how to cook MEAT

Thought I'd post them up here, since there seems to be lots of interest in this thread!

Tofu Burgers
120g of Tofu
1.5 tbsp light soy sauce
1 sml carrot, grated
1 sml garlic clove, crushed,
1 slice bread, breadcrumbed
1 spring onion chopped
1 egg beaten

Mash tofu, mix in soy sauce & marinade for 10 mis. Squeeze out excess liquid, combine with other ingedients. Shape into 8 burgers & put in fridge for 20 mins, brush with oil then grill for 8-10 mins, turning often.

Lentil Croquettes
175g lentils, cooked
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp butter
1 garlic clove
2tbsp chopped parsley or 1tsp cumin
1 egg beaten
2 slices bread, breadcrumbed
2tbsp oil, preferably groundnut for frying

mix lentils,egg,butter, garlic and parsley/cumin. season if desired. shape into sml sausages and chill for 30 mins if poo. dip in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. fry in batches.

I have abbreviated a bit but hope you get the idea. She also has a great looking recipe for fishcakes using fish or smoked tofu in which you can sneak in veggies like spinach or peas. Shall I post it or have I enticed you to buy the book? (it's got yummy things like mini muffins and healthy banana cake too...)

..er, "if poo" should read "if poss". That will have raised some eyebrows. Really must preview

Here it is, courtesy of Wickedwaterwitch. I don't mask it all at the end.

It's from a baby veggie cookbook hence can be a bit bland so I usually add smoked paprika and sometimes a chilli. You could pretty much chuck in any veg you wanted I suppose, I always leave out the celery and sometimes the potatoes and bay leaf oo. So my version is adapted quite a bit from the original! Here's the original, I mostly use red lentils but I guess you could use any.

Lentil hot pot, makes 10 portions.(can be frozen too) prep time about 10 mins chopping but then you leave it to simmer for about 40 minutes so it's not that much effort imo.

15 ml /1 tablespoon vegetable oil
225 g/8 oz red lentils, washed and picked over
1 onion, peeled and chopped
400g/14 oz can chopped tomatoes
1 clove garlic, crushed
10 ml/2 teaspoons tomato puree
1 large potato, peeled and cubed
1 bay leaf
2 carrots, peeled and diced
½ teaspoon dried oregano
2 celery sticks, washed and chopped
600 ml/1 pint vegetable stock

Heat the oil and fry the onion and garlic until softened but not browned. Add the potatoes, carrots, celery and lentils, and stir to coat the vegetables with the oil. Now add the tomatoes, tomato puree, herbs and the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 40-45 minutes, or until the lentils and vegetables are very tender. Remove the bay leaf. Mash the lentils and vegetables using a fork before serving.

I also find my kids with eat almost anything with couscous. they love the stuff. So it's a good way to get them to eat spicier foods.

You sound very like us (veggie fish eaters for 20 odd years, don't mind if they have meat but i'm not cooking it). DS1 4 was and still is to some extent extremely fussy, but his favorite foods are mackeral and asparagus (god that sounds pretentious). His range of veg improved massively when we got a veg box, he is really excited to see what is in it each week, he now loves all things green but is more conservative about the mediterranean type veg. For fish he goes to the fish man in the market and chooses (within reason) what he wants and has a good old chat whilst watching the head being cut off and the poor thing being gutted, its one of his favorite outings!

oooooh yes, mackeral. The ultimate fast food with a bit of vegetable rice.

Puddle and Rickshaw,THANKYOU THANKYOU....I will be trying those recipes ASAP.
Geogteach, d'you know, I was just thinking about mackerel and wondering how to serve it. So you'd have some rice and sweetcorn and peas maybe? What herbs etc? any?
Puddle, I must ask: what is a smoked salmon steak? Ds1 discovered smoked salmon Xmas and loved it, but I wouldn't know how to make a meal of it. can you flash-fry it, or would that be weird?
Thanks so much everyone who has posted these helpful suggestions. Mumsnet's the biz, sometimes!

Rickshaw, would it be too cheeky for words to ask for the fishcake recipe too?
many many many thanks.

I have a recipe..................for smoked salmon pasta, but I am a mere meat eater..........

I make veggie blends with corguettes, peppers onions spinach ...you can add anything then turn into a bolognaise style sauce and blend.....my magic ingredient if i think its a bit too healthy is the old heinz!! Tommy sauce - a dash makes all sorts go down a treat - as used by many top chefs ( seriously) in a tomato sauce...also anti carcinogen. I now only use brown rice and pasta and they did not even notice transition!

This is nice:

Chestnut Sofrito

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1" piece fresh root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 sweet potato (or use 1 large baking spud, if they don't like sweet potatoes), halved lengthways and thickly sliced
2 carrots, diced
400g tin chopped tomatoes
3/4 pint veg stock
240g can whole chestnuts, drained
400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 cinnamon stick, halved
6oz cous cous
juice of 1 orange
4 tablespoons chopped mint and parsley

Heat oil in saucepan, add onion and fry for 5 minutes until softened. Stir in garlic and ginger and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the sweet potato, carrots, tomatoes, chestnuts, chickpeas and stock. Bring to the boil, stirring. If the children don't like spices, remove 2 ladlefuls per child into a small casserole dish. Add the turmeric, cinnamon and season the remainder then transfer into another casserole dish. Cover dish(es) and cook for an hour 180C, GM 4.

Shortly before serving put the couscous into a bowl, pour on 3/4 pint boiling water and soak for 5 minutes. Drain and stir in the orange juice, separating the grains with a fork.

Serve the cous cous with the sofrito on top.

If allergies are a problem, replace the chestnuts with an extra potato/sweet potato.

Hi Annie,
DH and I are veggies (most of the time!) and really busy, so no time to prepare complicated things...
DD (who just turned 3) gets a lot of meals like:
rice beans and a veggie burger
boiled egg, mash potato and a begetable (she loves broccoli, peas and spinach)
chick peas (just boiled, sheloves it!), rice and veggie sausage.
She adores pasta with pesto and parmesan
mexican fare is also a favourite!
Burritos with beans and cheese, some spinach in sometimes.
There is also a soup where you make broth, or heat ready-made broth, cook little pasta in (soup pasta like letters or pastina), add froze spinach, corn and some smoked cheese shvings on top. Sound weird but is really good, and she loves it!
We have also been trying some of the recipes from the Carol Timperley vegetarian book for kids.
Unfortunately I have to say that while DH and I like them all, she always seem to turn her face to the mopre complex dishes....sigh!
Not to complicate things.... I am always very worried about giving too much corn or soy. This is all she gets at school in a vegetarian, so I actually broke down recently and start giving her organic free-range chicken or fish everynow and then....
I know your message wasn't about your vegetarian choice but I just thought I point out that from the a healthy perspective Korn and soy everyday is also not considered very good gor little ones...
I don't like eating animals, but is very hard to make a balanced diet for kids that eat little amounts and are picky and have a full time job....
Good job, and try not too worry too much!

lgj and cod: i'm not veggie and never have been but isn't giving them meat an imposition just as much as not giving them it is? if they get to adolescence and want to eat meat (and no doubt they'll go through a phase of it just to p*ss their parents off ) fair does just as in the same way lots of meat eaters kids go veggie.

i also think that eating meat is in the vast majority of cases (i.e. if you buy it from a supermarket) morally indefensible (i do it though )

good luck with it anniesg....some of these recipies sound yum

Annie I just get the packed smocked mackeral, flake it and add to rice with sweetcorn, peas, carrot sometimes, bit of broccoli.

Smoked salmon steaks are just like the salmon steaks you buy at the fishcounter but have been smoked. They also do them in Sainsburys in the packeted fresh fish.

One other recipe for you and that's my lot for today.....this is one of my standards. Usually do a variation on this once a week.

Meatless meat sauce

175g puy and green lentils mixed
medium onion chopped
Olive oil
2 tsps basil
1 tspn oregano
1 carrot chopped
1 red or orange pepper chopped
175g mushrooms
1 mug veg stock (or glass red wine)
1 tablespoon shoyu
tin of chopped tomatoes
3 cloves garlic

Cook the lentils in boiling wtaer until soft.
Drain and set aside.
Heat oil. ADd onion, herbs and black pepper and saute until soft.
Add carrots and red pepper and cook for 5 minutes.
Sir in mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes
then add the veg stock and soya sauce. Reduce liquid by about half. Then add the tomatoes, garlic and lentils.

Simmer with lid on for at leats half an hour, an hour is better. If it seems too dry, add some more veg stock.

You can blend the whole lot to a puree - but I've gradually blended less and less and mine will now eat unblended. It's great with pasta. Top with mashed potato and cheese and bake in oven for a shepherds pie. Also good with baked potatoes. You can add some chilli (at spices stage) and kidney beans to make more of a chilli with rice or tortillas - it's v versatile.

My dd's favourite recipe:

Big Fat Flat Stuffed Mushrooms

For each person you will need
1 big flat mushroom
Half a small carrot, chopped up very small
A small amount of leek chopped up very small
2 tablespoons of tinned chopped tomatoes
Some cheese, finely grated
Some olive oil

Take the stalk out of the big flat mushroom and chop it finely. Rub a little bit of olive oil all over the mushroom and put it into a roasting tin.

Put a little bit of oil into a saucepan and cook the carrot, add the tomatoes, stir and cook for five minutes. Take the saucepan away from the heat, and add some cheese. Stir it in to melt it.

Stuff the mixture into the mushroom with a spoon. Push it down to cover all of the brown part of the mushroom. Bake into the oven at 200˚C for 15 minutes.

Thanks so much, gals - I can honestly say these suggestions have given me a huge lift tonight.
LadySherlockofLGJ...please tell me your pasta recipe. Go on, please...be a love ??

Pesto and anything for my two year old - cous cous always a good fast food!

Oh go on then, seeing as you asked so nicely...

Chop an onion really really finely, fry in olive oil until really soft.

Boil some tagliatelle in another pot.

Drain.

Add chopped smoked salmon to soft onion, stir until cooked.

Add tagliatelle to mixture and then add low fat creme fraiche until it is all covered, add more than you think you need as the pasta absorbs a lot.

Add black pepper to taste and some salt.

QED.

Maximum of about 20 minutes.