Little Dish feedback thread - £300 John Lewis voucher to be won for feedback! NOW CLOSED

[MichelleMumsnet]

This thread is for the Mumsnetters who have been trying Little Dish chilled toddler meals and their new range of My First Pizzas.

Here’s what Little Dish say, “When Hillary was expecting her first baby, she realised that you couldn’t buy healthy, home-cooked style meals for toddlers and young children in the shops. She set out to create a range of delicious, nutritious food made from 100% natural ingredients…and so Little Dish was born. Nearly 10 years on, we’re proud to feed around 100k little ones every week. Every Little Dish toddler meal is perfectly nutritionally balanced for a 1 to 3 year old –providing a source of protein and at least 1 portion of veg, low in salt, with no added sugar, additives or preservatives. Our new My First Pizzas are not only delicious (as approved by our Tiny Tasters) – they also provide 1 portion of veg each, contain 35% less salt than the average children’s chilled pizza and of course have no added sugar, additives or preservatives.”

Below are a few questions for you to answer about trying Little Dish meals and pizzas with your DCs – feel free to add any other thoughts you may have though, we’d love to hear them.

Little Dish meals

• What was your overall impression of Little Dish meals?
• Which was your child’s favourite meal?
• Would you recommend Little Dish meals to friends or relatives? If so, why? If not, why not?

Little Dish My First Pizzas

• What was your overall impression of Little Dish My First Pizzas?
• Which was your child’s favourite pizza?
• Would you recommend Little Dish pizzas to friends or relatives? If so, why? If not, why not?

• What other healthy, natural food would you like Little Dish to make?

If you have any photos of your DCs trying Little Dish meals or pizzas, please add them to this thread.

Everyone who adds their feedback, as well as completing the short feedback survey we will be emailing to you, will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will receive a £300 John Lewis voucher.

Please note: your anonymous comments or photos may be used by Little Dish on their website and other marketing materials.

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

Forgot to add that I'll review properly in a few days (and once I'm over the shock of DS actually eating something!)

So these arrived & ds was incredibly excited about his "present". It was just about lunchtime so pointed to the cheese & tomato pizza straight away and devoured it in one sitting (pics to follow). The pizza was good- enough cheese; right measures of everything.

Then had the fish pie for dinner and it was soo disappointing. It was tasteless and watery. Plus, all the meals we have have a sell by date of early september which is a bit odd. We generally get M&S ready meals for him when we don't do it ourselves, and I have to say, up to now, they are far superior- they are flavoured / seasoned well and have a perfect consistency which this fish pie doesn't have.

tried the meat pizza tonight and again, it was a disappointment. There was no cheese; the "meatballs" lacked flavour and it was essentially just dough.

Trying some more tomorrow so will feed back then!

See attached!

The DTs have tried the chicken and pesto pizza tonight. DT2 wasn't interested at all. DT1 was a bit excited but didn't really eat much - she found it quite hard to bite. I cooked it for 14 minutes - will try less for the next one as it was a bit more well done than I'd like.

What was your overall impression of Little Dish meals?
Lovely selection, good packaging, interesting colours.

Which was your child’s favourite meal?
Pizza went down quite well, even the little spicy bits which I couldn't believe. Maybe it's the small size and shape that makes them more interesting! Pizzas usually go down quite well but only plain cheese and tomato. Hope this continues.

Will try one of little packet meals tomorrow.

So far... alphabet pasta bolognese has been wolfed down, but DS has had that before.

First impressions of the pizzas were that they were a bit on the small side, but DS (3.9) is as big as some 5 year olds so he may not be a good indicator of portion size.

It would be helpful to know the planned retail price of the pizzas.

So far we've tried the classic margherita pizza. It was not a success! DS is anything but a fussy eater, but he took one bite, told me it was disgusting and refused to eat any more.

In the interests of research, I tried the rest and I wasn't that impressed. It was a bit tasteless, and some time after finishing it my mouth still felt 'furry' for want of a better description.

At this point, I think the Co-operative small chilled cheese and tomato pizzas (2 for £1) would win out over the Little Dish margherita one... Pizza is an occasional thing when we're short on time / a treat, so I don't worry too much about the nutritional value of it.

Hopefully the other pizza flavours will be more successful!

I'll report back when we've tried some more.

Really thoughtfully packed, shame the delivery guy chucked it about.

DD is a bit funny about prepacked meals, but she loved the Alphabet Spaghetti last night and had the cottage pie tonight. Both 95% gone, no fuss (which is brilliant for a picky 18mo who doesn't finish any meal!)
She had the cheese and tomato pizza for lunch (first try at pizza) and ate all of it, no fussing. Only complaint, the pizza didn't seem to have enough cheese on.
I like the packaging, different to what I usually see in the supermarket and would definitely consider keeping a few in the freezer or fridge for quick meals, depending on price. Will be recommending them to my sister and a few friends.

Still haven't received anything.

I never received mine and apparently I'm now just getting a few vouchers to buy the meals in store. Not happy at all! I wasted a days annual leave waiting in and ive not had an apology or explanation.

As others said our box came extremely bashed but luckily everything was intact although not particularly cold so lucky it wasn't a hot day.

Little Dish meals

• What was your overall impression of Little Dish meals? Nicely packaged
• Which was your child’s favourite meal?

Cottage pie

• Would you recommend Little Dish meals to friends or relatives? If so, why? If not, why not? Yes as an emergency but choose which one carefully, the mince ones tend to be best

Little Dish My First Pizzas

• What was your overall impression of Little Dish My First Pizzas? They looked nice and the packaging sample looked appealing
• Which was your child’s favourite pizza? None
• Would you recommend Little Dish pizzas to friends or relatives? If so, why? If not, why not? No. My 3 year old son is known as being completely unfussy about food and eats everything from snails to steak tartare and nursery can't believe what he eats however he tucked in seeing it was pizza then refused to eat it. It mainly tasted of butternut squash so I guess it tasted very different to how he expected from looks. Unless it was priced at a max of £1.50 I can't see people buying it.

• What other healthy, natural food would you like Little Dish to make?

Yogurts

If you have any photos of your DCs trying Little Dish meals or pizzas, please add them to this thread.

DD had the fish pie tonight and she loved it but there was a bit too much for her, at 16 months I expect she's at the younger end of the target market. DH enjoyed the bit she left despite not liking fish very much so it must have been nice!

Marking my place.

Like others, our box was really bashed up when it arrived and all of the meals were wet but fortunately otherwise seem fine.

Will report back when everything has been tried though we did have the turkey meatballs and pasta earlier - only some of it was eaten but I think this was mainly due to tiredness rather than a dislike of the food (his legs were kicking when he had some which is usually a good sign!) I also tried a bit and thought it was quite nice, if a little bland.

My normally very unfussy son's reaction to the pizza-it didn't go down well.

• What was your overall impression of Little Dish meals?

Well presented, cute kid activity on the inside sleeve

• Which was your child’s favourite meal?

She liked the cottage pie!

• Would you recommend Little Dish meals to friends or relatives? If so, why? If not, why not?

As an occasional emergency meal it's ok. So far, DS has had the cottage pie which she loved, the spag and meatballs which was so so. She ate up the spag but left the meatballs. I tried them and they were quite mushy and tasteless. The cottage pie mince was more flavorful and better textured.

My 18 month old DS had the meatball pizza tonight. Cleared his plate very quickly and seemed slightly upset there wasn't more! Hopefully he'll like the other 2 just as much

Did I miss the prices of the meals?

Not having much luck with DS so far, but will persevere. He liked the spoon though.

Also, the Gel ice pack, is that one reusable?

We have tried the Chicken Pesto Pizza and the Ravioli. She loved the pizza, hubby even tried a bit and said it was lovely. She wasnt interested in the ravioli. She hasnt been keen on any ravioli lately so that could be the reason. Will try another over the weekend and get a pic :)

Little Dish meals

• What was your overall impression of Little Dish meals?

Always a favourite. Characters are good. 3yo asked to have the elephant one

• Which was your child’s favourite meal?

Fish pie... She loves salmon and cheese, so it is perfect...

• Would you recommend Little Dish meals to friends or relatives? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes, if it is something the child likes. The chicken curry ended up being rice and curry sauce as my 3yo didn't want the chicken so I picked the bits to the side.

The sweet potato was a bit overpowering though.

Little Dish My First Pizzas

• What was your overall impression of Little Dish My First Pizzas?

Will be great for a 1yo but looked a bit small for the 3.5yo

• Which was your child’s favourite pizza?

Meatball one was gobbled up. She didn't like the "top" of the margheritta

• Would you recommend Little Dish pizzas to friends or relatives? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes, convenient to have at home. Especially if they will be suitable to be cooked from frozen

• What other healthy, natural food would you like Little Dish to make?

A range of more snacky things like hummous and carrots/breadsticks which van be used for a light meal or a snack

Little Dish meals

• What was your overall impression of Little Dish meals?

The packaging is very attractive and the way they are presented encourages you to feel good about buying a ready meal for your toddler
my dcs didn't like the cottage pie, the chicken and butternut squash pie, they did like the fish pie and the lasagne but they said the lasagne wasn't as nice as the one Mummy usually makes which I confess is a Tesco ready meal!

• Which was your child’s favourite meal?

all the pizzas

• Would you recommend Little Dish meals to friends or relatives? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes I would for ease of use, especially if you have just come home from a long day at work, although I'm not sure how much they cost, I think if you are on a budget it woud be more worthwhile to make home cooked food and better for the children, these are like the Waitrose of ready meals

Little Dish My First Pizzas

• What was your overall impression of Little Dish My First Pizzas?

attractive packaging, a bit on the small side

• Which was your child’s favourite pizza?

cheese and tomato

• Would you recommend Little Dish pizzas to friends or relatives? If so, why? If not, why not?

Personally I think they aren't as nice as other supermarket brands and would be expensive for the size: I think the idea that they are healthier might guilt trip some parents into buying something they could recreate at home for a fraction of the price which is the case for most products designed at this market

• What other healthy, natural food would you like Little Dish to make?

Maybe smoothies in cartons, I'm unsure if they already do this?

Thanks for including my in the trial :-)

ittle Dish meals

• What was your overall impression of Little Dish meals?

The packaging is colourful, they cook quickly and easily and have healthy ingredients. Brilliant

• Which was your child’s favourite meal?

My child loved the alphabet bolognaise. She didn't like the risotto but I thought it was really nice.

• Would you recommend Little Dish meals to friends or relatives? If so, why? If not, why not?

I would recommend, they are convenient for time when you need a ready meal but a lot healthier. Little Dish My First Pizzas

• What was your overall impression of Little Dish My First Pizzas?

They look and smell delicious. I like the packaging as well

• Which was your child’s favourite pizza?

The meatball pizza was her favourite. She wasn't too keen on the cheese and tomato one, it was too tomato-y and she would have liked more cheese on it

• Would you recommend Little Dish pizzas to friends or relatives? If so, why? If not, why not?

I would recommend depending on the price. They are quite small

• What other healthy, natural food would you like Little Dish to make?

A mini roast dinner with Yorkshire pudding

Little one had the Chicken and butternut squash pie last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Lovely pieces of chicken in it and smelt and looked very wholesome.

The chicken pesto and vegetable pizza smelt and looked lovely. However DS was not a fan :( took a few bites but didn't finish it. Had the alphabet pasta bolognese instead and wolfed it down. I thought the pizza was nice though!

• What was your overall impression of Little Dish meals?

A really great menu that definitely ticks all the boxes for little ones eating.

• Which was your child’s favourite meal?

My one year old ate all the fish pie unattended which was amazing. my 3 year old daughter ate the meat balls with spaghetti and said this meal was 'yummy'. So I would say my favourite dish was the fish pie and meat balls with spaghetti.

• Would you recommend Little Dish meals to friends or relatives? If so, why? If not, why not? Yes, I would recommend as these are tasty , healthy meals that are aimed at little ones. I don't have to worry about extra salts or any nasty ingredients when I give my children these meals.

Little Dish My First Pizzas

• What was your overall impression of Little Dish My First Pizzas?

They are a great idea that the children loved.

• Which was your child’s favourite pizza?

They loved the margarita.

• Would you recommend Little Dish pizzas to friends or relatives? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes I would, its fuss free cooking and the recipe is fantastic.

Little Dish meals
What was your overall impression of Little Dish meals?
I found the portions were smaller than some of the other ready meals we've bought in the past (mainly from M&S) but the quality seemed high.

Which was your child’s favourite meal?
Risotto with chicken - he started off telling me he didn't like rice but after he tried it he really liked it!

Would you recommend Little Dish meals to friends or relatives? If so, why? If not, why not?
Yes, they're convenient to have on hand and my eldest son really liked the 3 we sampled (two meals came smashed, unfortunately)

Little Dish My First Pizzas
What was your overall impression of Little Dish My First Pizzas?
Good size, a bit too bland for my taste but probably about right for little ones.

Which was your child’s favourite pizza?
I was very surprised he liked the meatball one the best, he even asked for more meatballs, so well done!

Would you recommend Little Dish pizzas to friends or relatives? If so, why? If not, why not?
Yes, again they're handy to have on hand and make a quick tatsy meal or snack.

What other healthy, natural food would you like Little Dish to make?
No ideas to add!

My son loves the packaging and likes saying I'll have the 'eg. Kangaroo' for tea! He is nearly 4 and the meals are too big for him but he's not a big eater. He liked the meatballs and pasta but not the chicken curry. I think he would prefer the meals if they were a bit more compartmentalised and not so mixed up looking. It may help to have bigger bits but I know the whole point is small bits! For a new option he would like macaroni cheese with veg. Or even macaroni with meatballs. He is not a huge tomato or pasta fan, he might a beef and bean casserole or a roast dinner style meal. The pizzas are a good idea but would have to be a good price to compete with other small cheap pizzas. I do like the idea or veg and lower salt. He didn't eat much of it. He wasn't that hungry and is more of a meat eater than carbs. He loves the fish pie. I like the cooking time. My objection to the chicken curry is that it gets everywhere if a 3yo eats it and it stains yellow. Thank you for the trial!