Can you lovely people help me vary my kids' diet now we are in summer hols?

[Slouchy]

My 2dds eat pretty healthily but we seem to have got into a rut of always giving them the same stuff recently. As a consequence (or part of a circle really) they can be frustratingly limited in their choices and will turn their noses up at new stuff. I am a TA so now have 6 weeks at home when I have more time/energy and patience to deal with complaints about what they have for tea.
Ideally I'd like us to develop 20-odd new evening meals to be able to give them once term starts up again.

They love
pasta - most common types inc lasagne, tuna ones, BUT not ham/bacon based (too salty for them)
most veg and most types of potato dish
trad english food - roasts, shep pie, etc
chips!
white fish dishes
One likes eggs, the other doesn't; one likes bread, the other doesn't

Oh and we are on a budget so nothing too pricey please! Can't afford to chuck exp meals in the bed, even as part of an experiment.
They are 5 and 3.

TIA

could you try a plate with various things on that they can try/pick at? Like mini bread sticks, hummous, cherry tomatoes / sticks of cucumber, oat cakes with soft cheese etc. That way it's like a little buffet plate, and new things look less intimidaing. Plus, less cooking and dishes, and if one doesn't like something on the plate, the other probably will. If the weather's nice you could even eat in the garden / park, so it's more exciting for them

maybe the DD who doesn't like bread might try a mini pitta or a piece of tortilla wrap, with her favourite cheese etc in it?

Homemade Meatballs and Pasta in tomato sauce

Beef Stroganoff (with creme fraiche (sp?) and not cream

Fish pie with salmon and white fish

Sweet n Sour chicken or pork

Homemade Turkey burgers

Mild Curries like Korma

My DS who has just turned 3 loves all these dishes. Hope this helps

If they like pasta, they'd probably like noodles, so a stir fry with noodles might be worth trying. You could put fish or chicken or just veggies in it and it would be a way of introducing them to slightly spicier food.

If they like potatoes, perhaps they'd also like sweet potato: it's lovely baked like ordinary potatoes or roasted with peppers, butternut squash, onions, garlic etc.

Yes, they love salad plates and hummous etc.

Like the idea of stir fry with noodles - that would work. Sweet and sour might go down well too. They hate the idea of curry - even coronation chicken - so might leave that for now (love poppodoms though!).

Mmm roasted veg, they'd go for that I think, esp if I introduced it as a side dish to begin with and then on its own later.

They sound very good eaters anyway, I'd be pleased if my lot ate all that.

Some other ideas - have you tried prawns? My kids love them. Maybe not that healthy, but very useful when dining out. Noodles and prawns make a great standby. Or how about fried rice with peas and egg and chopped chicken or plain rice with peas and sweetcorn?

Moving on, couscous is another carbohydrate that's very useful to get them used to (not my two unfortunately).

If they like fish, try salmon - in a pie first perhaps, then grilled with a baked potato. Home-made salmon fish fingers are nice! You can flake it through pasta as well, my kids have it with cheese sauce which is probably a gastronomic no-no.

Rice - uh-uh (family fortunes No noise), won't touch it. Not keen on couscous either.Prawns would be good though. Always felt as if frresh salmon would be wasted on them but prob not now, will try that.

Loads of good ideas here, keep em coming.

Do you want to expand their repetoire or are you looking for ideas based on what they will eat?

how about get them to help you make french bread pizzas to eat? the one who doesn't like bread might be more inclined to eat something she's helped make plus you can put whatever you want on them with some cheese etc and grill rather than oven cook which is quick.

or they could help make some fishcakes to go with a salady type dish.
or, n this sounds very daft but when i was young my mum used to let me put my own salad together in the shape of a rainbow n use all sorts of things on it for the different colours like red = tomatoes, yellow=peppers, pink = i dont know, green= grapes maybe??? just an idea. could maybe put some meat or pasta or somethng in there too.

hth xx