Recipe book to encourage kids to eat please!

[neolara]

I'm veggie and have been for 20+ years. My children (8, 5 and 2) are carnivores and turn their noses up at most things I make. I really, really don't want to handle / cook meat or fish but I have recently began to make sausages and fish fingers for them, slightly in desperation. This is pretty much now the only thing they are prepared to eat. Does anyone have any ideas for veggie food that might tempt them? Or a decent veggie cook book that might appeal to kids? I have lots of veggie cook books and am quite adventurous in my cooking, but they don't go down well with the kids. (E.g. I gave my dd the River Cottage Veg book and told her I'd make her anything she wanted from it. She looked through it and declared "everything was disgusting".) I suspect that if I cooked meat they would all be perfectly happy, unfortunately, I can't quite bring myself to do that.

Hi, I do eat meat, but didn't for 9 years (in the days pre DCs). I really wanted that feeling of chewing meat again in the end, maybe that's what they're missing?. I'm wondering if you can meet them half way, e.g. make meals that you can have as a main in itself, but you can add pre-cooked meat to. things that spring to mind would be roasted butternut squash risotto, which you could put cooked chicken strips into for them, (or of course any veggie risotto - mushroom would be lovely with chicken too, I prefer leek in place of onion when I'm making veggie risottos). Creamy pasta with stir-fried leeks & courgette, then add cooked salmon in for them? stir-fry with noodles (again, chicken/salmon for them, and if you have cashew nuts or similar include them for them so eventually they might get used to no chicken?) - forgive me if this would be the same principle as not wanting to cook meat for you though. (- And the ready cooked chicken strips don't tend to be free-range.)

If it's the handling of raw meat, preparing, prodding etc. M&S do smaller, ready prepared to roast joints, which you literally have to take out of the box and put in the oven in the foil try it comes in. I can vouch for the free-range turkey. And you literally roast it for the exact time they say. So you wouldn't actually have to touch the meat until cutting up time (job for the 8 year old?? ) - again forgive me, this might be a really insulting suggestion for you, no offence intended if you really don't want to deal with the raw meat. A friend of mine has been veggie for many years too - from being brought up on a farm! - but I know she has a mega carnivore hubby, and now 2 DDs who like meat too. I think she mainly gets round it by ready meal meat dishes unless her DH cooks a joint on the weekend. Just thinking you could serve them meat slices with "side dishes" that would be ok as a main, e.g gratin type dishes, butternut squash/sweet potato etc, or veg crumble, and then they may become more accepting of the veg dish as a main more?

How do they do on meat substitues? :
bolognese / lasagne / chili with quorn mince
quorn sausage casserole or toad in the hole
nut roast
glamorgan sausages
veggie burgers made with blitzed chick peas

Just wondering if they might be more accepting of meatless dishes if the texture is more interesting with chick peas, nuts etc. or veggie dishes with stronger flavours, chilli, curry, moroccan type dishes? but sure again you'll have tried all this!

DS, 5 and DD, 3 are fairly fussy eaters at the moment, so I'm just in the process of ordering a couple of cookery books to try and inspire them (and me! - feel like I've turned into a crap cook after having so many meals rejected!) this veggie one is one I've ordered:
www.amazon.co.uk/Vegetarian-Food-Kids-Laura-Washburn/dp/1849751420/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342615036&sr=8-1

good luck. I feel your pain, when cooking becomes a chore and less about enjoying making a dish you're really going to enjoy yourself!

Mine love this red onion pie I make.
Roll out pre made puff pastry, and line a pie dish with it. Caramelise red onions with sugar and balsamic vinegar. Pour into pastry. Add Feta Cheese. In the oven for about 20 mins. It goes down well with any visitors we have too. You can add olives too, but not very child friendly then!!

How about some veggie burgers. I made some Annabel Karmel ones, which they liked.

Thank you both for your ideas. Sauvb - I think your idea of cooking primarily veggie and then adding a bit of meat is a very good one and I'll give it a go. I also had a look at that cook book and might get it. Chinwag - pie sounds fabulous. Pretty sure my kids wouldn't eat it, but I think I'm going to give it a go anyway!