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!

[whatsagoodusername]

I think there's a "Threads I Started" button on the website, up with Active, Threads I'm On and Threads I'm watching on app at the moment, so can't check. It should always show up there.

[Pearl2015]

whatsagoodusername thank you so much!

[Pearl2015]

dancingqueen17 thank you for that recipe. I'm thinking maybe I could give dc cold pasta in a tub for packed lunch instead of a ham sandwich. It's worth a try as I hate them eating so much bread

[Petallic]

I make butternut & carrot "cookies" - recipe is on the CBeebies website. Roast butternut squash, add grated carrots and flour, mush into a wettish dough. Cut into pieces, flatten and cook. They aren't biscuit crisp but even when my DC were refusing all veg these were still eaten reliable. I also shove them in lunch boxes as they keep for a couple of days (although I think they taste rank cold!)

[Sigma33]

Use the usual pasta sauce (presumably tomato based?), but add in some pureed/ grated veg. I would start with puree as it is more hidden.

So, cook some carrots as normal, then puree them in the blender and stir them into the sauce until they are invisible, then use as normal.

Other veg that would hide easily are pale or orange/red (onions, aubergine, pale cabbage, celery, pumpkin or butternut, peeled courgette). Better start the stronger flavoured ones in smaller amounts, and increase gradually.

The green veg are easier to spot in a red sauce. Things like broccoli, spinach and parsley are good with pies and fishcakes. Potato and spinach bites? Chicken and apple bites?

Do they like avocado?

[987flowers]

Like others I whiz veg in my processor and add to spag bol and tomato sauce.

We were dairy free as my youngest as intolerant (now grown out thank goodness). And when we had pizza my daughter just didn't have cheese on hers and was happy with this.

If you get the I can cook book from the library get them to cook with you, mine were doing this from 3 and were happier to eat also they'd 'nick' bits of veg whilst preparing so eating more!

Baked beans contain calcium and are also one of their 5 a day (not sure if that's been mentioned as I've only scanned replied).

Good luck!

[addictedtosugar]

Will they eat rice? You could do chilli and rice (basically spag bol sauce initially), or a risotto with those ingredients.

They eat cereal bars, but not cereal? What about home made rice krispie cakes? We added raisins to ours (I know you said no dried fruit).

I know youir worried, but they do eat a reasonable variety, and if you can expand that with some of the ideas from previous posters, things would be reasonably balanced.

[Pearl2015]

Thanks I will have a look for the I can cook cbeebies book, I will also have a look on the cbeebies website

I have tried Krispy cakes with raisins but they don't like the dairy free chocolate :(

[AuditAngel]

My kids like "rice and bits" or "pasta and bits" which is boiled rice/pasta, with whatever is knocking about, peas, sweet corn, raisins, peanuts, chopped ham or chicken, cucumber, peppers. If one of mine has gone off something (e.g. DS currently gone off peppers) they can still eat the rest. They ask for this in packed lunches too.

You say one is dairy intolerant (I have 2 who are lactose intolerant), have you tried goats milk/cheese, it is more digestible. I'm not trying to be funny, but DH's cousin can't have cows milk but can have goat.

Do you have any milk substitute? I make pancakes with shredded leftover chicken and sweet corn (thick batter so the pancakes are Palm sized)

[AuditAngel]

You can make crispy cakes with syrup rather than chocolate (like rice crispy squares). Will they eat marshmallows? That gives an interesting texture.

I have issues with the texture of food, so I can understand why Dom foods are refused.

They do say to give children a good 10 times or more before accepting that they don't like something. DD1 is not keen on potato, we give it to her, but she never "has" to eat it. She has now decided that she likes mash, roast, and jacket; but it has taken 7 years to get there!

[Newquay]

Great post.

Banana pancakes? : 2 eggs and 1 banana - pulverised and fry into little pancakes. I have started to add a few oats to this. Top with honey. Dc1 of 3 likes as he can make them (well cracks the egg and peels the banana). Great quick breakfast

[addictedtosugar]

sorry for the netmums link krispie cakes with no choc. Obviously need to substitute butter for dairy free Marge!

[987flowers]

You can make pancakes with just water, well I'm presuming you can as I made my batter puddings with just water, they weren't quite as nice but they were ok!

[Pearl2015]

I'm going to try the hidden vegetable pasta tonight

[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]

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

[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?

[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]

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)

[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?

[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.

[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.

[ClaireFontaine]

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

[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.