So what do you really feed your kids?

[theoldmiff]

It's a source of frustration to me that I have so many cookbooks from which I cook maybe 2-3 dishes from each. My family meals are healthy and varied, but I do feel like I'm on a treadmill. I'd love a cookbook which contained all the 'realistic' meals for families so I'd have fewer books and also ideas for things my kids will really eat and I will really cook. So any realistic recipe ideas please? Would love to know what you lovely folk really feed your kids... x

Depends how I'm feeling.

It can be anything from fish fingers and chips to a casserole to some fancy dish that took all day to prepare. On days when I REALLY can't be bothered, I announce that it is FREE TEA (cos dinner doesn't rhyme with free ) and they are very excited about it and think I am marvellous, when the truth is I simply can't be arsed and am sending them into the kitchen to forage.

Why don't you photocopy the recipes you use and put them all together in one binder then get rid of the books?

Try Fay Ripley (yes the actress) her books are the best I find for pleasing the entire family

I think of what I fancy and tweak it a bit so everyone would like it. Unless it's seriously spicy things, in which case the kids get cheese and pasta + some veg. They love that.

Would also recommend Fay Ripley's books - healthy, interesting enough for adults and not too scary for kids - she gets the balance right.

I have an obsession with cookbooks, what do I make? I have a low tolerance for repetition when it comes to food and my kids are similar. We discover a great recipe but the get bored easily - so do I, tbh. Spag Bol always goes down well with dd, she is generally quite conservative but ds is more demanding and a bit of an annoying foodie, I've probably made a rod for my own back, his expectations are high or maybe he's my genetic double.
Recently we've been making and having success with - white fish with cherry tomato sauce and a few capers for the adults with greens and new potatoes, salmon fried skin down in butter and served with peas/ buttered spring greens and mash. Salmon teriyaki is very popular. Mutter paneer, chicken korma, prawn yellow curry. Steak and homemade chips. Ox cheeks slow cooked in a red wine sauce. Beef shin in a Korean BBQ sauce. Sausages, mash and onion gravy. Paprika chicken with sour cream gravy. Lamb chops with pea purée and balsamic vinegar. Roast chicken with chipotle coleslaw for adults, homemade chips and peas for kids. Chorizo, chickpea and tomato stew. Jamie's lamb shanks, Jamie's chicken and leek pie. Pork shoulder roasted in chilli, white wine and stock.

I'm the same as "ISeeYouShiverWithAntici" a mixture of proper family meals and quick teas.

I also don't 'cook' on a Friday so the DC get to choose what they would like.

Here are a few simple ideas we like:
Sausage stew - sausages, an onion, 2 carrots, tin of puy lentils, tin of toms - casserole it up and serve with bread/mash/rice or anything really!
Fritatta with whatever you have to use up in the fridge.
Potato skins - bake the potatoes and then scoop out the middles. Mash up with butter, cheese and anything else you have to hand and then refill the skins.
Dd is only 2.5 so doesn't have 'proper' food every day. Often just cheese on toast with some cucumber sticks, or beans on toast, eggs on toast etc.

Lisa Faulkner cookbooks are good. We have cooked lots out of it and DD who is 3 has loved them so far. There is a recipe for rice crispie chicken, which is basicly homemade chicken nuggets, they are amazing! The recipes in the book are her family favourites and she cooks them for her own DD.
We made the 'fantasy cake' in the summer which is perfect for picnics. Its a strawberry and almond cake, delicious.
The book is split into seasons, so you have lovely summery recipes in the summer and winter comfort food in the winter. Its the only cookbook I use most of the recipes from.
The bbc food website also has some lovely ideas for childrens meals and getting them involved in cooking also. :)

Yep, I'd say I only use a few recipes per recipe book as well! Maybe about 5 Nigella Kitchen (but is is a big book!) and maybe 4 or 5 from river cottage baby and toddler but I've never found a book that if filled with things we eat. I started using blogs though as at least they are free. I like 'a girl called jack' and 'crumbs feed your family'.

I have about 100 cookery books and some of them get used loads, whilst some get looked at once and then shoved on the shelf.

I use Nigel Slater's appetite quite a bit and Nigella's offerings are well thumbed.
I try to add something new to each weeks meal plan, sometimes a hit and sometimes a miss but it stops the repetitiveness. I also occasionally scan the books looking for a recipe for sausages for example when I've had enough of toad in the hole or sausage casserole.