angry with wasted food

[bagpussmice]

okay, so I don't spend hours cooking gourmet meals for my kids, but after preparing and cooking their favourite meal to have them only eat just about half the plate makes me really cross over the wasted food. This happens fairly frequently and they don't snack much between meals and always complain they are hungry - hence an early dinner at 5.00 (sometimes earlier!)... I'm just ranting cos I'm cross

my kids seem to think the best place for food is the kitchen floor or the bin. anywhere but there tummy...
i have given up.

i am just the same. i get very cross when food is wasted. dd has never been a great eater. she usually asks for something and then i make it/get it from the fridge and then she pulls up her nose after a few bites.

Can you give them a half size portion, then give them more if they want it or freeze it if they don't?

Mine were like this as well... I now feed them later. they are starving and eat much better these days.

my eldest will rather go hungry, than eat something he doesnt want to.
i stopped buying junk stuff so he couldnt fill himself up with biscuits and crisps and stuff.. still wouldnt eat the meal if it wasnt to his liking. he wanted biscuits so i made chocolate chip cookies from scratch, after the first couople of times, he gets annoyed if i make them, coz he says he doesnt like them
have yo ever heard of someone not liking homemade cookies?

my DS1 would spend hours baking with me but never eats any of it!

maybe dinner is too early? but breakfast is at 7.45 (ish) to get out in time or school... lunch is at 12.15 as dd1 is starving when she gets home from a morning at school, and so, dinner at 4.50 - 5.00 ish - they can never seem to wait much longer, and they both go to bed at 6.30-6.45.... what time are your mealtimes?
dd1 is 3.5 yrs and dd2 is 1.5 yrs btw.

sorry, forgot to answer q's. Tortoiseshell, they only have small portions anyway...
Rummum - what time do you feed yours?

ours are 8am, 12, 5pm.
fruit & milk at about 3 in nursery

When to feed my kids is a constant nightmare as they have such different needs. DS1 is nearly 12 so he usually has something hot at school at lunchtime (canteen style secondary school food). He goes to bed between 8.30-9 so ideally he would like his dinner around 7-7.30 BUT DS2 is 6, has packed lunch so is starving by 5 (and goes to bed at 7.30 anyway). DD is 2 and is an awful eater at any time, but there is more chance of her having something if she eats with her brothers (and bedtime is 7). In case you're wondering DH commutes to London so very rarely gets home before 8.15 - often later - so we eat at 9-9.30. Ahhhhhhh! I try and sort of compromise by feeding them around 6 but tonight DS2 was moaning because he was starving so they ate at 5 when DS1 left half his dinner because he wasn't really hungry (yet!) so it might be re-heated spag bol for him later!!!!!

mine are older... Daughter is nearly 9 and Son is 7...
I ask them each week before I go shopping what they would like for tea one night, so they choose one meal each per week...
Daughter hated meatballs awhile ago and now she helps me cook them and they are one of her chosen meals
I must admit there have been times when daughter was young that I could have thrown her and the food I had 'lovingly prepared' through the window...
It does get easier as they get older, so hang in there

Rummum

Our two dds are pretty poor eaters too, despite our best efforts. We have always brought them up that "there's your tea/dinner/etc, there is no alternative", so they have to eat what is given to them or go hungry! Not so bad with dd1, but dd2 will pull a face at most things and if we let her would have a VERY restricted diet. There are one or two things that they genuinely don't like, but literally one or two - the rest may not be their favourites but they can - and do - eat them, even if we have to nag a bit...

In terms of quantity, tbh we have discovered that "I'm full" actually means "I am no longer ravenously hungry and would rather be doing something else" IYSWIM. So we insist that they eat some more (eg ten more forkfuls, eat that potato and bit of carrot etc - give them a target to aim for). We've never had a refusal and have found that they'll quite happily eat half as much again.

We also introduced a snack mid afternoon and pushed tea from 5pm to 6pm recently which has helped a great deal, but I suppose that would depend on the age of your kids.

I think it is more "natural" for children/humans to be "grazers" ie little and often, than wolfers (piggin' out), it's just not convenient to us! They can be trained though!

I just give my kids (5 and 1) what my dh are having. Eat about 6 and keep his in the oven till he gets home because he is always starving the minute he walks in. That way if one of the kids does not eat their food, the efforts have not been wasted. Seems to work for us because I like to eat earlier than DH anyway. We all eat together at the same time at weekends

bagpussmice... haven't read entire thread so sorry if i repeat.

I used to look after 6 kids, and i would get cross if they didn't eat everything too. After this going on for months and months I finally figured well... if they ALWAYS leave something then perhaps they just aren't as hungry as I think they should be.

So, I started giving them smaller portions. They were welcome to more if they wanted it. I was happy because they were finishing their food (and in many cases asking for more), and they were happier too because i wasn't moaning at them to eat up!

Compost bin? I save all non-meat scraps to feed the gulls and ducks around here.

My scrpas get left on the garden wall. They disappear,but God only knows who or what takes them.

An entire sheep carcass vanished into thin air last week.

a sheep carcass???

perhaps it was taken by one of these

Tee hee!!
That's the first time I've been caught by that bloody thing!