Help- food ideas- my children won't eat fruit/veg

[toothfairy73]

When my children were babies I made their food and they would eat everything. As they got older they learnt to say no. Now they both have a really restrictive (and not as healthy as I would like) diet.

DD13 will eat - carrots, broccoli, cucumber, strawberries and raspberries. Sounds ok except now she is 13 she just leaves most of it on the side of the plate.

DD7 will eat - broccoli, cucumber, banana. Again she will often leave it. She will also only eat chicken in breadcrumbs, won't eat meatballs, sausages or meat unless it's minced or fish unless they are fishfingers.

I'm tired of cooking the same old things and I worry about their health. I buy vitamins but they only like certain flavours and they now don't do them in their age ranges. I am really worried about there health.

Please don't give me a hard time or tell me I'm the parent and I have to 'make them' eat it.

I need advise, help and failsafe recipes I can use to broaden their (and my) horizons.

Jamie Oliver’s hidden veg pasta source

Sauce!

Fruit smoothies and lollies. You can also hide veg in them, just don’t put too much veg at first - you can slowly increase over time. But most of all get them cooking if you can, and interested in how their food is made, what processes the breaded chicken goes through as opposed to home cooked chicken maybe animal welfare issues if you are able to buy some higher welfare meat - I know not everyone can afford this. It really does make a difference when they are involved in the cooking and thinking about food.

Cornflake coated chicken nuggets easy and quite fun to do with kids.
Spag Bol with loads of veg in it - I chop all the veg in a processor so it’s really small.
Ramen is good - you can start with the things you know they will accept and over time add one new thing into it eg some bok Choi
Mexican - fajitas or tacos or quesadillas are great for putting lots of stuff which just gets mixed up in the dish and isn’t quite so in your face as a pile of carrot or broccoli

I keep telling the kids how certain veg have this particular amazing vitamin and what it’s used for in the body and how sometimes food is like fuel and necessary rather than a delicious treat. This works when the food is not too disgusting to them, just a bit dull.

I do try to add veg to most meals even if it’s grated and hidden.

Chop up fruit and present it in a bowl as a snack.

How about hummus, guacamole and salsa? What about shredded lettuce in wraps? Any pickles or chutneys, anything stir fried?
Burgers with all the toppings. Spring rolls.

All meat pasta starts with soffritto (finely diced carrot, celery, onion) add tomatoes and garlic and some lentils, cook until it’s impossible to see its component parts.

Quiche?

Hopefully they’ll turn the corner, I know how hard it can be. My son used to pick every tiny bit of onion out of everything...

Mine are the same OP. They are 12 and 6. I can get them to eat fruit every now and then, or broccoli with their dinner, but that's about it. I have no advice really because no matter how small I chop things, they just pick around it. The youngest refuses to eat most meats, claiming he is vegetarian, which would be fine if he would eat vegetables, or anything really. I've tried getting them involved in making their food. The oldest isn't interested. They youngest is, but he still doesn't eat what he has made.

@Iminaglasscaseofemotion my youngest said about being vegetarian too but she doesn't eat vegetables, and she loves chicken nuggets.... she would eat chocolate all day if I let her 😢

Get them involved in the cooking or preparation of the food.
Maybe you could go through some recipe books together and they could pick out things they’d be up for trying.
Most of the meals in our house are where the veg can’t really be taken out of the meal!

Hidden veg spag Bol www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/spaghetti_bolognese_with_2340
Macaroni cheese mykidslickthebowl.com/healthy-macaroni-cheese-with-vegetables/
Enchiladas www.tamingtwins.com/beef-enchiladas-recipe/
Burgers www.mummycooks.com/blogs/recipes/hidden-veggie-burgers
Shepherds pie www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/hidden_vegetables_05418
Sweetcorn fritters www.annabelkarmel.com/recipes/sweetcorn-fritters/

@toothfairy73 sounds hard, I was a good eater as a baby and a super picky kid/teenager/adult. I have survived most of my lifer on a very simple diet that many would call crazy and so far I am healthy.

My mum tried anything and everything to make us eat veggies and we never did and we still don't. I don't know why, I know it is healthy, even when pregnant I just couldn't. I feed my son all the veggies I do not eat, but I am aware if he decides to say "no" at some point I will let him. I hated being forced, I hated the smell/taste/structure and I refuse to force him.

What I am trying to say is an apple, a banana and a carrot, maybe lettuce and cucumber will get them a long way. No need to complicate things.

Watching with interest and stealing all these recipes.....(I have a very picky-eating 3yo, and while obviously I do my best to broaden her tastes, I can imagine this will be a fairly long term problem).

Do they eat at friends’ houses? (Not right now, but generally). My DSis was a terribly fussy eater as a child, but she ate what she was given when visiting friends. I also think it’s important to keep offering a variety even if it rarely gets eaten - it’s a pain I know, but my mum didn’t know that my DSis really liked salad as a teenager as she’d given up offering years before.