how do you get 3 fruit and 4 veg down your kids a day?

[Kitttty]

?

fruit isn't an issue, my lot eat it like it's going out of fashion :-/

veg-wise they either have some in their school dinner or if they're taking a packed lunch I would normally put in a variety of cucumber/tomatoes/carrot sticks/sweetcorn. sometimes they take veg soup/stew in a flask

dinner time we usually have 2 or 3 veg

Breakfast - fruit (berries?)before cereal
Snack - veg (cherry toms?)
Lunch - with veg (cucumber & peppers?) then a fruit 'pudding' (apple?)
Snack - veg (carrot sticks)
Dinner - with veg (broccoli?) and fruit pudding (banana?)

Really, just the same as you eat.

Is that how much it's supposed to be? I thought it was 5 of either.
My 7 year-old is easy enough: fruit with breakfast, fruit and veg (raw peppers or raw sugarsnap peas) for lunch on a packed lunch day. Veg with dinner, fruit for snack after school. Sometimes fruit after dinner.
It's impossible with my toddler.

Numbers 1&2 easy as they live on the stuff-number 3 thinks t'is all the devil's food & won't touch it!

Can't even do the old pasta sauce trick as he has now decided that he will only have cheese sauce-he is cunning as a fox and realises I can't add anything to a white sauce without it being evident!

Erm, nope, I don't (although I don't think it would be too difficult if you wanted to count) Fruit is too expensive. He gets one or maybe 2 bits a day.

Vegetables, he likes to eat salad type veg so peppers, cucumber, carrot sticks, sweetcorn etc for lunch and then there will be some kind of veg incorporated in dinner, usually 2-3 kinds. He will probably pick this out though.

I've never really counted I just try to make sure that meals are balanced with a protein, carb and veg proportion.

Although carbs are another issue altogether

One of the best bits of advice I ever got on here was serve cruelties (raw veg) before dinner when they are starving e.g.; carrots, cucumber , cherry Tom's.Works like a dreamwithh my 2.

And YY I had heard 5 a day rather than 3 of this and 5 of that.

Thats helpful - good to get something down them at breakfast - blueberry pancakes - porridge with chopped up apple etc -- it is the snacks that we don't do very well (teenagers at school) - might look at doing more dips for after school late evening snacks - as they like carrot sticks, cucumber, peppers, toms etc...

Cruelties? Do you mean crudites??

Where my milk, you can add cauliflower and onion to a cheese sauce add long as you puree it!

I heard that it should not all be fruit -as too much sugar rush/calories?

Anyone manage to get veg in for breakfast?

Yes bloody auto correct

We usually have at least 2 things of either fruit/ veg with each meal.

So maybe porridge with banana and blueberries

Lunch mushroom omelette and peas/ or cheese and tomato toastie with raw cucumber and tangerine or similar

Dinner fish, x2 veg and carb.

Any snacks if they have are fruit or fruit before something else

cruelties are how my dcs would view them

Omelettes for breakfast with whatever veg in house are pretty quick

We sometimes have poached eggs with spinach and mushrooms

Or any combo of an English grilled/ fried breakfast

Tomatoes and mushrooms with toast for breakfast?

I found it easy until DS started learning about 'heathy eating' at school. He used to hoover up fruit and veg but now says 'but snack a jacks are healthy, I could have those instead'. 'Is this a healthy cake or an unhealthy cake mum? oh look, it's a low fat one, so it's healthy'
I need to have another talk with him about it this weekend as his head has been so filled with misinformation based on adult weight loss diets rather than a healthy diet for children. Due to a medical condition he needs extra calories - he is underweight and short for his age. And they've taught him all about how to start dieting for weight loss… And because his teacher has said it, it's all gospel. Sighs.

i don't think mushrooms count as part of the 5 a day thing.

What's wrong with mushrooms? Not that the dcs will eat them anyway.

mushrooms do count

www.nhs.uk/Livewell/5ADAY/Pages/Portionsizes.aspx there is a link on this page with a guide to portion sizes e.g it says 14 button mushrooms for 1 portion

I leave plates of cut up apples, peeled satsuma, grapes or raw carrot/cucumber lying around.

If I know we've been light during the day, I make a smoothie for a drink with dinner.

If I ask if they want a snack and fruit/veg is all that's on offer they say no, but if I just put it out, someone's eating it!

Has to be ready prepared though-they're far too lazy to actually prepare it themselves despite being perfectly capable.

Fruit juice for breakfast
Fruit/carrot/cucumber sticks in lunch box
Banana or fruit bread after school snack
Two veg with dinner
Couple of times a week we have strawberries and raspberries which they both Hoover up.

We also have some 'cruelties' in the fridge as well, cherry toms, sliced cucumber, carrots etc.

oh brill! someone told me mushrooms didn't count because they aren't actually a veg! that's good, i love mushrooms :-D