You know the advice - 'eat with your kids, that way they'll eat more'? I need suggestions for 'tea' type meals...

[caspercat]

As DH doesn't get home till 7ish, is difficult to do the dinner thing as a family, but we manage it most weekends, and on the days i don't work, DD (21mths) & i manage to eat a decent dinner together (Cottage pie, lasagne, pasta, fish & potatoes etc).
However, lunchtimes i find really tricky. I used to have a sandwich while DD slept (she would have barely eaten maybe some toast before her nap). Now her sleep is getting later & shorter, it's prob a good idea that we eat together. But i don't know what to have!!! She can't master sandwiches yet (the fillings fall out, unless is just cream cheese), & if i did a salad she'd only eat the tomatoes! No point us having different things, cos she just grabs things off my plate even though she then doesn't like them! And i'm trying to eat healthily, so something like beans on toast, or cheese omelette not appealing.
Sorry this has ended up so long, but has anyone got any suggestions? What do you have? Also, generally only have 1/2 hour or so to make anything as take her to various groups in the morning.
HEEEEEEEEELP {smile]
(please)

carrot/cucumber/red pepper/breadsticks/pitta with humous?
DD doesn't like humous, but has some on her plate and then she thinks that she is eating the same.
Boiled egg and soldiers?
sardines on toast?

tricky because something like a cheese ommelette would be good for her. Maybe do one omelette and salad. And you have a bit of the omelette and lots of salad and DD has lots of omelette and some tomatoes? What about strips of pitta and hummus and various salad bits? Jacket potatoes and tuna?

I always count beans on toast as reasonably healthy!
We often have soup and bread
Falafel are good
Sandwiches but with the bread and filling seperately, i.e. bits of cheese and bread

For sandwiches mix cream cheese with other things like avocado, chopped chicken, chopped spinach.

Salad - you have your salad, she has chunks of cheese, tomato, cucumber.

Aitch mastered the toasted cheese pitta - her grated cheese, grated carrot and cumin pitta is very nice and sticks together beautifully.

Fish cakes freeze really well, and are nutritious, esp if you have (say) green beans with them.

Beans on toast is pretty healthy, tbh, esp if you buy good beans.

Try Aitch's blog for more ideas...

Oh, yes, soup - she can dip chunks of bread in and eat that.

Beans on toast and omelettes are actually healthy!! Or is it that you don't like them?

My 19 mth old won't eat sandwiches but enjoys little buffets, like breadsticks, hummus/cream cheese for dipping, cherry tomatoes, grapes, strawberries, cheese chunks, cocktail sausages etc. She also loves scrambled egg and toast soldiers, toasted sandwiches (melted cheese doesn't fall out!) and reloaded potatoes (I zap a small spud in the microwave for 5-7 minutes, scoop out the middle, mix with tuna/beans/cheese/cream cheese/leftover spag bol sauce etc and then put it back in the shell of the spud. She loves scooping it out!

I'm not a fan of sandwiches every day, I tend to cook a proper lunch (meat/fish, veg, carbs) for me and my 21mo. I defrost one fish fillet or chicken breast or whatever during the morning - it only takes max 20 mins to poach either.

Don't know if i like sardines, but would give them a go! Should i get them in oil or tomato sauce? How do i cook them (thick emoticon needed!)
And the omelette idea sounds good (although i have tried her with omelette before & she wasn't that keen - think it was the texture - but i guess i just keep trying ). I have done jacket potatoes before, she did like them, but with so little time, i can only do them in the microwave - are they still as healthy done that way?
Thanks, helpful suggestions so far......

Tomato sauce. Just mash them on to toast (or microwave a potato and mash them in to that. My nieces love it, but dd not so keen). Omelette - keep it moving until it's set - much lighter texture that way.

They are just as good done in the microwave caspercat - the only downside is they don't get a crispy skin.

You can put them on very low in the oven for hours, as long as you don't mind your oven being on whilst you're out.

We have soup too - Lidl do a really chunky chicken soup with pasta and veg in it, it's more like a proper meal than soup!

I get the ones in oil, and just mash them onto toast. DD loves to help mash them in a bowl first.

Give her a deconstructed sandwich. Bit of bread, bit of ham, bit of carrot etc etc. A picnic lunch.

bleugh bleugh bleugh tinned sardines in tomato sauce. HAd a colleague who ate that nearly every day. The stench

has any toddler EVER eaten a sandwich intact..surely pulling the filling out and eating it first is the only way to go?

Tee hee - we haven't helped with the sardine condrum at all, have we?

For lunches we tend to have sandwich (ham, or cheese, or cheese spread) with various things in bitesize pieces - grapes, cucumber sticks, strawberries, banana, crisps, cheese, etc. List is endless really.

For me, I then add a cup of soup (DD doesnt like), or I have a toasted sandwich instead, or I might do a pasta salad.

Dare I suggest Walkers Baked Crisps...chucked in with the really healthy stuff.

My dc are 4 and 7 and still like picnic tea once a week/fortnight.

They have a conbination of the following

strips of ham or smoked salmon
pitta bread/mini rolls/toast
houmous
olives
carrot/cucumber/red pepper sticks
grated cheese/Boursin and crackers
rice cakes ((Organix apple ones are a fave)

followed by fruit or yoghurt (or even ice-cream!)

scrambled eggs, poached eggs, fried eggs, boiled eggs

fried rice with peas and sweetcorn

fresh pasta with grated cheese and a bit of ham

chunks of cheese with chopped fruit and/or raisins

Or is no one admitting to giving their children crisps???

My DD age 2 loves mushrooms on toast. So do I.
She helps chop the mushrooms with a blunt knife, then I fry them in butter, and tip them onto hot buttered toast.

I have made leek and potato soup in large quantities, frozen it in smaller portions, then had it with warm bread.

Boiled egg and soldiers also goes down well.

Or is no one admitting to giving their children crisps???

I did nelliesmum - just before you

nelliesmum - yes mine eat crisps! Hulahoops are their favourite.

Ds is someitmes allowed a few with his lunch (bribe) but preferably after (haha)

I like this thread, this is my kind of meal preparation. DD2 doesn't sleep in the day for longer than 30 mins, and if on the loose does mental things like throwing herself off the side of the sofa etc etc, so needs constant supervision (16 months).