Adding roughage to diet ... can I have some suggestions please

[Millie1]

My eldest two children are terrible vegetable eaters (ie. if they see it, they won't eat it). I put hidden veg into as much food as possible and they both have fruit at breaktime at school. Eldest will munch on bananas at home if he's hungry. Anyway, younger fella's poos (sorry ) are way too soft - not quite diarrhoea (sorry, can never spell that word despite being a medical secretary once upon a time!) but not far from it. Reckon we really need to increase the roughage in this diet. Please give me all possible suggestions. He has Weetabix or Mini-Choc Weetabix for breakfast which helps a little. Have tried Branflakes a couple of times this week but we need a regular source. Thought about lentils in bolognese/shepherd's pie etc. I know it's a real thicko question but my brain is just not in gear at the moment!

Thanks

what about making an 'all bran' loaf? comes out abit like malt loaf - It's also got dried fruit in as well.

with bolognese - you could put in grated carrot, finely chopped celery, peppers Like you say, lentils (if you use red lentils they are hidden even more) as well as the usual tomatoes, onion and garlic.

Would they drink smoothies? you could put allsorts in without them knowing?

Would they eat muesli? If not you can mix it into yogurt in the evening and store in the fridge overnight, it's delicious by morning. Or what about fruit salad? Cut fruit always more appetising somehow. Brown rice is fab, takes an age to cook but infinitely tastier than white and you can do all sorts with rice.

Try kiwifruit as their breaktime snack. They can 'cut and scoop' it with a teaspoon like a boiled egg and it has stacks of fibre in it.

If you can swap out any white flour products for wholemeal flour... bread, pizza bases, pasta twists etc. that works. New potatoes with their skins on, jacket potatoes ditto, brown rice, baked beans. You can make very tasty muffins with things in them like oats, bran and dates. And plain old tomatoes are very rich in fibre... so if you make pasta sauces with them as a base, that's good too.

Pureed fruit mixed with plain yoghurt makes a nice pudding. Pears are nice, and can use tinned as well. Also those frozen packets of red fruits, although they need sweetening.

I'm not sure that the diet is really that bad if he eats weekabix.

People's stool quality varies enormously - there is a lovely sheet a Paed once gave me to assess consistency. Being a medical secretary, you might find someone at work to lend you one?

A bit like this

Thanks for all the suggestions ... somewhat stupidly I hadn't thought of brown rice, however, having said that he has T1 diabetes and rice, for some reason, doesn't keep his blood sugars up overnight so we tend to avoid it. Had our own homegrown, new potatoes for dinner tonight (in skins, caused an almighty meltdown . We put carrots & celery into everything so I shall add lentils and shall also let him try muesli, kiwi and also the All Bran loaf - thank you!

Meltedmars ... wow, what a link! I think he's a number 6 at the moment but does always veer towards that end of the scale anyway ... way tmi!!!! His diet is okay, it has to be because of the diabetes, but it could be much better. Now I have them on summer holidays I'm going to toughen up and get us all onto a healthier lifestyle ... easy to say on day 1 of an 8 week break, wait til day 10, I'll have had a change of heart !

Thanks all!

Brown rice has a much lower GI than white, don't rule it out. As for new potatoes - try mashing them with skins on, with butter and milk. Totally delish, and worth a try in case they'll eat it!

Thanks SBT (love your name BTW ... it's how I always feel too ) ... shall try that next time and yes, good point about the brown rice - will give it a shot.

does he eat stews/casseroles?
pearl barley is a great addition and is cheap to buy too
same with split peas
would he eat falafel?
could be served with wholewheat pitta breads
homemade potato/sweet potato wedges?
best of both or 50/50 loaves if not keen on brown bread

Thanks ASBM ... more good ideas which I'll add to the list!

quinoa
buckwheat
Millet
bulgur wheat for variation

Lentils, chikpeas and split peas also good!

wholemeal bread, beans of any sort and fruitjuice!