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Original poster

I'm sick of pasta and sausages, help me find new food for ds1 to enjoy please!!

32 replies

redclover79 · 02/12/2007 19:04

We don't have it every night but ds1 (3.7) is soooo picky that sausages and pasta in a tomatoey sauce has become a staple and has become our fallback meal.
I don't quite know what's happened as ds1 was quite a reasonable eater not so long ago. I'm hopeful that it's Just A Phase (albeit an extended one!).
Our main problem is that he won't eat meat which wouldn't be a problem except he won't really eat vegetables either, with the exception of parsnips and occasionally brocolli and carrots! At the moment he seems to be existing on toast, pasta and yorkshire pudding with the occasional apple and banana!
Can anyone suggest something to make our mealtimes interesting again?! TIA!

OP posts:
policywonk · 02/12/2007 19:13

Have you tried houmous? DS1 very picky but will happily eat houmous with carrots and wholemeal pitta, which I fondly imagine to be reasonable well-balanced as a meal.

Fishfingers? Baked beans? Sauteed potatoes?

scoggins · 02/12/2007 19:19

Have you tried making your own pasta sauce with pureed vegetables? My DS1 loved it and still does (so does DH who is very picky about vegetables)
DId you know you have to introduce a new food to a child 20 times before they like it - heard that somewhere!
Try making pizza with them - they put on theior own toppings - that was a great favourite too.
Veggie lasagne - aubergines on the bottom to bulk it out a bit then add the homemade pasta sauce - put in parsnips if you like!

Original poster
redclover79 · 02/12/2007 19:21

Houmous - hmmm... Funnily enough I have a jar of tahini in the cupboard as I was going to try ds2 on it! Haven't had much success with it in the past with ds1 but worth another try! Fishfingers he doesn't like, baked beans was another staple until teh last few weeks (he doesn't like them anymore either!), sauteed potatoes he likes so I will try them too!

OP posts:
HairyIrene · 02/12/2007 19:24

fishcakes .. are a hit here, doused in ketchup though (his nOt mine yeurk..)
and i add sorts of veg he doesnt know about into soups and sauces
stick some roast peppers in tomato sauce

i dont eat meat so dont know bu t did hate chewing it as a kid
shepards pie too is good winter one

make your own wedgies (pototoes i mean)

Original poster
redclover79 · 02/12/2007 19:39

scoggins - we do make our own pasta sauces with various veggies, but we've only had limited success! Because I try to involve him in the cooking he knows what has gone in and won't eat it!
Used to make a lot of home made pizzas but have had the same problem, plus he doesn't like melted cheese
Was thinking about veggie lasagne, do you have a recipe?

OP posts:
FairyOnTopOfTheChristmasTree · 02/12/2007 19:55

You could try:

chicken/egg and veg fried rice
scotch pancakes
eggy bread
omelettes
baked potatos
potato wedges and dip

BitTiredNow · 02/12/2007 19:58

comiserations - I have 2 picky eaters despite having every annabel karmel book out and weaned all of mine according to her. recently, I have tired savoury pancakes - they make the pancakes, and I put the fillings in them - this way they will eat chicken and mango pancakes and cottage pie filling pancakes. good luck - it's flipping hard, I know.

Original poster
redclover79 · 02/12/2007 20:21

hairyirene - have sent dp to peel the spuds to make a batch of fishcakes! I think ds1 really dislikes the texture of meat, definitely the case with red meat!
FOTOTCT - he won't touch an omlette and we only have sporadic success with eggy bread! He won't eat chicken ATM (he did a few months ago so I still offer it at least once a week in a hopeful fashion!), baked potatoes are a bit hit and miss...
BitTiredNow - I hold out a faint glimmer of hope with pancakes, I've yet to try savoury ones! He will not eat fruit apart from bananas and apples (I leave bowls out and everyone except ds1 will snack on them!) but we've got an allotment this year and I've planted loads of fruit bushes so I'm planning on lots of fruity ice lollies next summer! What savoury fillings would you recommend?

OP posts:
moondog · 02/12/2007 20:23

Have you tried just cooking what you fancy and leaving him to like it or lump it???

Don't be pandering to them-gives 'em ideas above their station.

If they whinge,bellow 'I'm the boss around here and this is what we're having.'

Works a treat for me.

VictorianSqualor · 02/12/2007 20:30

I'd agree with moondog tbh, at his age he is probably loving the control he has!!

I can understand you not wanting to do it every day, but I'd just dish something up and leave him to it, maybe choose one meal and do it every few days, apparently it takes ten or more times of a child to have something dished up on their plate before they'll try it, so offering it once or twice is pointless.

moondog · 02/12/2007 20:32

My dd has refused dinner six nights running.
I just ignore it.

annoyingdevil · 02/12/2007 21:19

I ditto what others have said. My dd refused her roast chicken this evening and one hour later was rummaging through the fridge & demanding a banana. I told her it was chicken and mash or nothing! She soon tucked in

Heated · 02/12/2007 21:29

Pasta, like tortellini, with fillings in it?

Also steam butternut squash and bung in food processor with cooked chicken/beef & cheese. Store in ice-cube trays and use as alternate pasta sauce.

Lasagna (home made)and garlic bread.

sparklyjen · 02/12/2007 21:31

Thanks guys, I have been reassured by this thread.

My ds (23 months) will only eat spaghetti bolognese.

I don't think it really matters... And fussy children grow out of it. Right?

Original poster
redclover79 · 02/12/2007 21:48

Moondog, victrian squalor and annoying devil - ignoring and having what we want has been our tactic fr the last 2 months!! The boy is difficult to outfox!!
I think he is enjoying the power but I'm beginning to wonder if it's now just become a habit, especially as old favourites sit untouched. We don't give him any reaction apart from telling him that there is nothing else on offer and on the rare occasions when he eats something we give him praise but I'm wondering if even that is backfiring and is turning this into more and more of an issue...
Heated- thanks for your pasta sauce suggestion! Will try it this week!

OP posts:
moondog · 02/12/2007 21:50

Well, if you give in now,you will have entrenched the habit of refusing even more firmly.
You must ride it out.

(i could give you all the behavioural jargon and reasons why giving in now is wrong-am doing an MSc in this topic-but to keep it simple i will say, trust me nad ignore him.)

FrayedKnot · 02/12/2007 22:00

I tend to do the same thing of dishing up and DS can take it or leave it. I do this within reason, I don;t make things I know he consistently says he doesn;t like.

DS isn;t keen on meat and I don;t like eating it too often either, so we only eat it about twice a week.

The thing I find is he will announce one day he hates carrots, having previously eaten them to the exclusion of all other veg for the best part of two years. So I do tend to ignore it, in the sense that while he doesn;t eat them that day, I will serve them again a couple of days later. Generally, he then eats them fine.

There are slightly surprising things that he has taken to really enthusiastically - he loves salmon, and also chickpeas, lentils and kidney beans. So I now make a lot of veggie dishes like very mild chilli or lentil shepherds pie.

I would continue to offer him a wide variety of things because then perhaps you will discover some other things he takes to.

coldtits · 02/12/2007 22:04

You mustn't give in now, not unless he is making himself ill or something - all it will teach him is that if he just holds out long enough, he will always get things his own way.

And I read that book Moondog told me to, so OBVIOUSLY I am an expert now

coldtits · 02/12/2007 22:05

Let him have a side plate with new foods on, and let him lick them or not, if he doesn't want to - praise him for putting them in his mouth.

moondog · 02/12/2007 22:11

Loll, did you Coldtits? (Colditz??)

What did you think?!

Original poster
redclover79 · 02/12/2007 22:14

moondog - I know, it's just been such a long Phase, and he shows no signs of cracking!!
Frayed knot - I'm planning on trying salmon fishcakes tomorrow night! How do you make a lentil shepherds pie?

OP posts:
moondog · 02/12/2007 22:19

He will crack.
Agree with serving up random selection though,not just stuff he doesn't like.
We will be having pasta and pesto tomorrow after 6 nights of tuna provenca,curry and moussaka.
DD will wet herself with joy!

coldtits · 02/12/2007 22:20

I thought it was really interesting! I am trying to apply it now, but someone at the school gates comment that I sounded like a dog trainer. Hell, I don't care, she sounds like an ineffective twat but I don't feel the need to point it out.

It's certainly interesting to watch the difference in his behavior when I do forget to apply the positive with a shovel - it deteriorates. It's quite exhausting. I still don't really know how to 'fade' constant encouragement, especially as he doesn't listen or loses interest in things fairly fast (because he is four, I think)

moondog · 02/12/2007 22:21

Pandering to kids relatively new phenomenen where food concerned.I remmeber regulalry having stuff I didn't fancy. Would never occur to me to ask for (or get) something different thoguh.
I just faffed about with it sadly.

moondog · 02/12/2007 22:22

Oh good
(lol at other woman.)
It is training and principles apply to animals or humans.Yes,fading can be tricky (how are you doing it now and what reinforcement are you using? Just verbal? Very true about him being only 4 though.)