At my wits end with fussy 7 yr old

[rosybell]

So another dinner time meltdown and I don't know what to do..
Tonight was macaroni cheese (which he used to tolerate but now not apparently)

He eats:
Sausages
Burgers
Bacon
Cucumber
Rocket
Raw spinach
Broccoli
Meatballs
Tuna mayo
Pancakes
Any bread/plain pasta

Sometimes he will eat:
Chicken
Eggy bread

I try and make homemade burgers/meatballs. He gets ridiculously hangry which mean meal time meltdowns are common. We never force him to eat & try to keep mealtimes chatty and unfocused on the actual food. But it is so frustrating!

Any tips? Food inspiration? DS2 is a much better eater but inevitably has a restricted diet due to DS 1's fussy ness.

I gave up trying to please each of my dc every single mealtime. They get what they're given and they can take it or leave it. They won't starve. I have the attitude that my house is not a restaurant, I don't serve poison and that they are lucky to get three meals a day when plenty of children don't. Therefore I expect them to have a good try of everything on their plate.
Having said that, I gradually got them into eating fish by making fish cakes with proportionally more fish to potato each time. I also put fish in a nice cheesy, creamy fish pie with plenty of mash and they ate it fine!
They also didn't really like eggs, so I started with egg fried rice that only had minimal amounts of egg, and gradually increased the egg amount each time! Now they don't mind scrambled eggs.
I've also found I can stick almost anything (chicken, tuna, beans, mince etc... but not all together!) in an enchilada under a tortilla wrap with tomato sauce and cheese and it gets eaten.

I have stopped fighting with my 7yr old who has been fussy since the age of 16months!! I’ve realised it’s all power and control and my 10yr old pretty much eats everything so a few nights a week I do simple obvious food 7yo and everyone else will eat (pasta pesto/pizza/build your own burrito or salad bar) and the rest of the time cook for the rest of us, 7yo tries it and if she doesn’t like it she gets a tin of sardines, bread and butter and frozen peas or sliced cucumber. Sometimes I’ll make a meal that is mixed components of things she’ll eat (like a carrot and chickpea curry but she has rice, plain chickpeas and raw carrots) if it’s easy.

Mealtimes are so much better now and much like your DS her foods are limited but can be healthy if combined in the right way so you know what, I’d rather us have calm and happy mealtimes which is what we have now - especially as she knows that if she doesn’t like something she can have her usual plate of pretty healthy but ready in under a minute food...