Please help me feed my four and six year old better

[Pearl2015]

I have a four year old and six year old, the four year old is dairy intolerant and the six year old hates all dairy products so in a way that is easier as they can both eat the same. The trouble is they won't eat hardly any fruit or veg, hardly any meat, their daily diet is getting worse and I am worried about their fruit and veg intake and their calcium intake. I am going food shopping tomorrow and need to start from scratch basically. At the moment they eat toast for breakfast, ham sandwich for lunch (I also put in cherry toms and raisons etc but these get left) after school is a biscuit, dinner is something like home made chicken nuggets, oven chips and the peas etc are refused. Fruit for desert is also refused, help!

[LikeASoulWithoutAMind]

Offer cucumber and pepper with houmous as a snack. I'd nonchalantly offer a stick or two of carrot too - don't worry if it doesn't get eaten, just keep offering.

[MoustacheofRonSwanson]

Nutella's got milk in it.

[AppleAndBlackberry]

If they eat cucumber, raw peppers and grapes I would buy loads of these and offer them as snacks or include them with lunch. Variety is not the be all and end all, sometimes you just need to work with what you've got. My youngest is OK with fruit but only eats carrots, peppers and sweet corn for veg, so she just gets served 2 out of 3 of these with every evening meal plus a little bit to try of whatever we are having. She won't eat pasta sauce or bolognese or baked beans either, all those count towards your kids' 5 a day.

[lizzywig]

In an attempt to broaden my 3yo pallet I came across the website 'super healthy kids'. It's great and has lots of visually exciting healthy food. I tried their ice lollies for the first time yesterday. 2 cups of watermelon, 1 cup of strawberries, 1 kiwi and juice of a lime (I also added a bit of honey and fresh mint). I blitzed the lot and it froze very quickly and made about 6 lollies. I sat there silently amazed as dd ate an entire lolly! It's a great website and has given me lots of enthusiasm!

[Pointlessfan]

Worth a try and if she doesn't like it you can eat it

[Pearl2015]

I think my oldest dd would love the Nutella added to the icecream. She hates bananas but this may disguise them?

[Pointlessfan]

You can also add nutella to the banana ice cream but it becomes slightly less healthy!

[Pearl2015]

I think I might try the icecream for myself!

[Pearl2015]

Strawberry lollies sound good

[brusselsproutwarning]

Brilliant ideas here, am taking note!

[Pointlessfan]

Could you make ice lollies out of blended fruit? Strawberries work well, you need to blend them with a little water then just pour into moulds and freeze.
You can also make "ice cream" by freezing chopped mangoes or bananas and then blitzing in the food processor.

[Superworm]

DS is allergic to dairy & soy. We have the same issue with limited meals, he will try most things too but won't eat them if he does t like it. His favourite meals are:

Gnocchi with bacon, peas (won't always eat them) and oatly cream. Fry the bacon, remove from heat and pan, add oatly and a squeeze of BBQ sauce. Then add gnocchi, peas and stir. Sprinkle bacon bits on top.

Tuna mayo and sweetcorn jacket potatoes (Hellmans full fat mayo is DF)

Fish parcels with sugar snap peas & mash potato. He loves opening the pods and eating the peas.

Granola for breakfast with blueberries or Banana.

[RoganJosh]

Have they tried carrot sticks recently? They might eat them with hummous? If so then could this replace the after school biscuit.

[500Decibels]

If they like soup, give it them as often as you can. That's what I do with my veg hating toddler.

Make a big batch of hidden veg sauce and keep portions in the freezer so you'll always have that to fall back on.

Have a look at annabel karmels website. I used a good chicken meatball recipe with grated apple in it. She had some other good ones too.

[HorribleHenry]

Snacks and main meal fussiness (leaving out the veg and most/all of the protein) is the problem here too. 3.5 yo DD only asks for sugary or salty carbs or processed meat. Addicted to crisps or salty crackers and refuses most other snacks - and definitely won't touch fruit or veg except a few strawberries will get eaten or tiny pieces of cucumber stick. I might as well be honest and say I often feel I need to use food bribes (eg pkt favourite crisps) when I have to get her to do something she doesn't want to do like get dressed in a reasonable time or get into pushchair quickly so I can get to work. I am trying to stop that though.
There are lots of good ideas here I will try. Does anyone know where I should look for some nutritional guidelines for young kids?- I would like to know what I should be aiming for/how worried I should be about this.

[ClaireFontaine]

Have you tried pates? Smoked mackerel pate is v easy and goes down well with mine. They are fish mad though.

[ClaireFontaine]

Veg pasta sauce

Roast squash, sweet potato and carrots a bit of garlic and basically any other veg.
Whizz in blender with a bit of stock.

I have relied on this through really fussy periods.

[addictedtosugar]

Our quick dinners are:
Boiled eggs and soldiers (don't think yours eat boiled eggs)
Beans on toast
Pink n mix (expecially popular if eaten on plastic plates outside) a sandwich, handful of crisps, yoghurt, fruit, and anything else snacky we have available.
Microwave jackets with cheese (out), tuna or prawns on.

Or make up a load of mince, and divide in the freezer. Can be onb the table in the time it takes to cook a pan of pasta.

[Pearl2015]

Dinners are going really well thanks to you guys, does anyone have any ideas for nights when there isn't much time to cook?

[Pearl2015]

Fruit dipped in chocolate spread might work! I will give it a try. I need to get a new weekly shopping list together to make sure we have the stuff in for breakfast lunches and snacks. Does anyone have a template I could pinch if what they buy each week (not main meals just bits in for breakfasts, lunches, snacks)

[addictedtosugar]

What happens if you start on banana bread, or fruity muffins as a step towards fruit as a snack?
Malt loaf is popular in this house.
Fruit to dip into yoghurt, or something else that is liked?
Great progress!

[Pearl2015]

The main meals are going well but the dc just want to eat toast and crackers and biscuits between meals ???? I don't mind them having a small snack but they won't touch the fruit bowl. Does anyone have any ideas of hiding fruit/veg into snacks?

[Pearl2015]

Thanks I am trying the fishcakes tonight, the pasta went down really well yesterday, it was funny to watch them eating vegetables without them realising! hehe

[Purpleflamingos]

Fish cakes are good fun to make and eat. You can tailor them to preferences and freeze too. We make ours with grated sweet potato (hard work) and smoked haddock with finely chopped spinach. Des has cheese added to his, dd is a diary refuser too.
Our dietitician did replacing potatoes with bread at the table isn't necessarily bad (ds refuses normal potatoes, even chips).
I chop broccoli into millimetre sized portions rather than larger florets and the dc seem to eat it better.
I also top cottage pie with a carrot, swede and parsnip mash (loads of carrot so it's orange) and they don't moan, and serve with sweet potato wedges.

[Pearl2015]

I'm going to try the hidden vegetable pasta tonight