What did you feed your children today?

[Whoamireally]

Would LOVE some inspiration for feeding my almost 4 year old dd.

In a parallel universe, I would be there in a nice Cath Kidston pinny, with my Rachel Allen or Fay's Family Food book, planning nutritious yet healthy meals which despite their credentials are still cheap and quick.

However, the reality of it is, with a pukey and pooey 9 month old to contend with, that this week seems to have been alternating Ikea meatballs and chips and peas, with fish fingers chips and, er, peas, and I think there was one night where I did spag bol but only because I must have had an organised week where I'd made bol sauce, portioned it up and frozen it

So, what did your children have for tea today?

reheated leftover chicken and noodles, ice cream with fruit puree

my children had macaroni cheese that ds made in cookery at school... the joys of having a 15 year old

DS 3.5 years and 1.3 years - chicken and apple casserole with pots/carrots and peas. banana custard...lunch - tea houmous sarnies with cucumber cheesey bits and other picky bits with yog

chicken, new potatoes, carrots and brocolli. washed down with milky way magic stars and quavers.

My 2 had hotdogs ( but real sausages) with cucumber, carrot sticks grapes and cherry toms.
Pudding was banana and custard

chicken curry with naan bread

They all had Thai green prawn curry with rice.

lucozade for ill twin
pizza for well twin
apple puree rice cakes yogurt and breast milk for baby

None of us are perfect and children can survive on remarkably little variety!

Breakfast- Toast fingers and marmite or raisin wheats soaked in milk or shreddies or weetabix or omlette

Snack- marmite breadsticks or cheese or biscuits or apple slices or orange segments or sliced grapes or a yogurt

Lunch- Cheese sandwich/toast or spaghetti/beans on toast or rice cakes and hummus/cottage cheese/cheese spread or tuna pasta bake or soup and roll

Dinner- Spag bol or macaroni cheese or fish pie or shepherds/cottage pie or home made pizza and chips or chicken and veg stir fry with noodles or jacket potato and cheese or sausage and mash

I usually give DS (17mths) fruit and yogurt for dessert as he isn't too keen on sweet puddings. I started doing Baby-Led weaning with DS at 6 mths old so he is quite competent at eating whatever we're having. I just try and limit the overly sweet or salty things and make sure he eats plenty of fruit as he won't touch veg unless it's disguised or raw.

Im not likely to give you much inspiration! Ds had macaroni cheese. He is a fussy eater but if he wasnt my ideas for easy meals would be...

baked potatoes
pasta with pesto / tomato and veg sauce / mushroom and chicken
pizza - homemade
shepherds pie
roast potatoes, sausages, yorkshire puds etc
noodles with veg
stir fry
lasagne with new potatoes and salad
broccolli and cauliflower bake
chicken and potatoes etc
stovies

I can dream...

dd had:

packed lunch
cream cheese sandwich
tomato and veg soup
dry cheerios

dinner:
potatoe gratin
green beans
peppers offered but refused

croissant at bed

ds however had:

lunch:
half egg muffin

dinner:
turned down dinner same as dd
small portion white rice and mutton curry

Really was a weird food day on reflection

Things you need:

Frozen bags of veg that go in the microwave for 2mins
Frozen fish - also microwave for 2mins
Pesto pasta with cherry toms (and sometimes chicken),
My DD LOVES Chilli, cook a big one once a month, jam it full of beans, lentils and veg serve with - you guessed it - frozen bags of rice!

These are my lazy easy options when at home!

Breakfast - several yoghurts each, hot cross bun (about quarter), manuka honey in hot water

Lunch - (freshly cooked from scratch) lemon chicken and grape tagine with mushroom rice, pineapple, grapes, pomegreat juice

Tea - more pineapple, punnet of blackberries, avocado, several portions of homemade cheesecake each

Dinner - covent garden tomato soup (small cup), quarter-half a croissant with marmite, loads of olives, grape juice, even more cheesecake

This is exceptional in that they have just got over a bug which meant a week of starvation. However, I have realised that there is too much potential for them to snack on junk at tea-time so dh and I have agreed that dinner should be at 3pm with snack at 5. My dcs live on fruit/veg, protein and dairy and don't really touch proper carbs (only rice atm by which I mean about three spoons). They are both terribly thin esp given how tall they are, but there is nothing that can be done (as I never stop explaining to my mum)

www.goodtoknow.co.uk has loads of ideas (but there again, so has my vast collection of books which don't get properly used for much other than food porn)

dont click on electro's link, a huge pic of delicous cheesecake comes up, has me drooling

mine had pizza. Which I feel less guilty about because it was home made

And ds1 has just had a cucumber and tomato sandwich cos he was "DYING OF STARVING MUU-U-U-UUUUM"

littleduck - that is THE cheesecake I made today (comes highly recommended by my dcs judging by how much is left!)

Friday is always low effort fare. Veggie sausages, chips, green beans & sweetcorn tonight.

Unlikely to inspire you - burger & chips (home not take away)

For tea tonight mine had mince and tatties with broccoli, cauliflower and yorkshire puddings. Yesterday they had lasagne and the day before they had fish and chips with peas.

Packed lunches during the week, but at the weekend they usually have something like beans on toast with grated cheese or vegetable soup for dinner.

Ten month old had pilau rice and lambmince in a curry style for lunch.Porridge and omlette.She had snacks of cheese and roasted chicken.Three year old at nursey for lunch but had rice skewered chicken and lamb mince with yoghurts.

egg sandwiches for breakfast

ds1 had Pizza and beans at school, ds2 had ham and cheese spread sangers.

Egg and chips.

And apple and some melon (guilt)

Hmm def think I need to go down the frozen veg/ rice route..

What lovely food ideas, thank you! Definitely think I can do better.

(Disclaimer: I am poorly)

Cheerios with milk. Apple juice to drink.

DD lunch: cream crackers with philadelphia cheese, 3 cherry tomatoes, red grapes, carton of orange juice, frube.

DS lunch: school dinners (don't know what he had, forgot to ask)

After school snack = small packet of mini cheddars.

Dinner: Pasta with pesto, parmesan. Greek yogurt and honey with tinned apricots.

Pesto seems very popular - do people make their own? Or use jar stuff? (Is it a bit salty?)