Please help me with my family's diet, its terrible

[xxxJess123xxx]

Hi all, I have a 2 year old and a 5 year old. Both typically fussy. No allergies.
Our diets are absolutely terrible as I seriously can't cook. I'm the type of person who can't make an omelette or burn pasta for christ sake.
We eat shit basically. Ready meals, nuggets and chips, pizza. Lunches are sarnies crisps and some grapes etc.
I'm feeling like an absolute rubbish mum and I want to change but I seriously can't cook.
Does anyone have any stupidly easy, cheap to make, fool proof recipes for dinners for my family.
I am slightly overweight. Kids are good weights and take a multi vitamin each day. Eat far too much chocolate etc
I feel so ashamed 😞
Thanks x

@BlueLobelia we have wraps too, but seems my eldest prefers cooked veg and won’t eat peppers!! So I chop root veg quite small, hence a lot of sauces/soups etc for the hidden veg!

My youngest has a dairy allergy so generally cook more often than not, but they have to be quick meals - hence batch cooking at weekends or making enough that we get a few days out of something. Think we will be moving from Morrison’s to sainsburys as the dairy free range is much better!

OP, I couldn’t cook a single dish either! It wasn’t so obvious until DD was over 1, and we were moving into more regular dinner territory.

Pick one thing and try to learn it. Then another. It has taken me ages but I can now cook a few things - I literally has no idea how to do stuff, I wasn’t sure how to make scrambled eggs even. I can now cook these, for me the trick is to cook the stuff the kids WILL eat, as it’s soul destroying when they won’t, after the effort!

1. Macaroni and cauliflower cheese (the Mac sausage is really easy, don’t bother with jars, and steam some cauliflower and then mix it in at the end).

1. Shepherds Pie (mixed beef. The basics is the same as a spag Bol and is always the same - onions, celery and carrot chopped fine. I cheat and buy frozen chopped onion. Saves time). Kids love this.

1. Roast chicken dinner

1. Carrot snd coriander soup. This is SO simple and kids love it.

1. Salmon in soy sauce (marinade it and fry it. Very simple ). Make whatever veg you like

Get a veg steamer saucepan. You can’t go wrong. Not everything needs sauces. And cheat freely when you don’t feel like it.

Waitrose have a butter chicken and pilau rice precooked meal. I keep a couple in the freezer. My kids LOVE it. I’ve made curries myself (following a recipe) and it always ends up too dry. And they compare it to this so - they can have it!

If I can learn honestly, you can! I was really clueless and also sick of just not having a clue.

Macaroni *sauce, (not sausage)

Backed potatoes- tuna Mayo, egg Mayo, beans. All very easy to make

Home made pizza you can buy uncooked dough sheets from Aldi- add healthy toppings

Toast, spread some avocado on top and add scrambled eggs.

Lots of simple easy healthy things you can make.

@Whereismymojo

OP, I couldn’t cook a single dish either! It wasn’t so obvious until DD was over 1, and we were moving into more regular dinner territory.

Pick one thing and try to learn it. Then another. It has taken me ages but I can now cook a few things - I literally has no idea how to do stuff, I wasn’t sure how to make scrambled eggs even. I can now cook these, for me the trick is to cook the stuff the kids WILL eat, as it’s soul destroying when they won’t, after the effort!

1. Macaroni and cauliflower cheese (the Mac sausage is really easy, don’t bother with jars, and steam some cauliflower and then mix it in at the end).

1. Shepherds Pie (mixed beef. The basics is the same as a spag Bol and is always the same - onions, celery and carrot chopped fine. I cheat and buy frozen chopped onion. Saves time). Kids love this.

1. Roast chicken dinner

1. Carrot snd coriander soup. This is SO simple and kids love it.

1. Salmon in soy sauce (marinade it and fry it. Very simple ). Make whatever veg you like

Get a veg steamer saucepan. You can’t go wrong. Not everything needs sauces. And cheat freely when you don’t feel like it.

Waitrose have a butter chicken and pilau rice precooked meal. I keep a couple in the freezer. My kids LOVE it. I’ve made curries myself (following a recipe) and it always ends up too dry. And they compare it to this so - they can have it!

If I can learn honestly, you can! I was really clueless and also sick of just not having a clue.

Sorry OP- beef is cottage pie. Lamb is shepherd’s pie. I needed to clear that up 🤣🤣

Asda/ Aldi/Lidl do excellent precooked meals and their fresh spatchcock chickens are 👌🏻 Throw it in the oven and job done

Do you like mildly spiced food?

This tandoori chicken recipe is fab and so easy. I use one of the pataks curry paste pots instead of buying a whole jar of tandoori paste.

You just chop the onions up small (or buy a packet of ready chopped!) put them in a big bowl with the yoghurt and curry paste. Mix it all up with a spoon.

Bung in a load of chicken thighs- I use skinless and boneless ones as my kids prefer no bones.

Cover the bowl with cling film (to stop it stinking out the fridge!) and pop in fridge for a few hours or overnight.

Then bung in oven.

To save having to cook anything else you can serve it with something like ready cooked rice like the Uncle Ben's packets), shop bought naan bread/ wraps/ pittas and raw veg sticks.

And another vote for roast chicken you cook in a bag and the Aldi spatchcock chicken!

You can get ready to roast potatoes or wedges from the chilled food section of most supermarkets to go with it and some salad,

Well done OP not only did you cook a lovely meal you had a child enjoy it.

How about a cheat's cottage pie?

2 tins of mince and onion in gravy
Frozen mash
pyrex dish

Open the tins and pour into a pyrex or ovenproof dish
Make the mash and spread on top
dot some butter on top

Put in the oven on high for 20 - 30 mins - to check it is cooked put a knife straight down into the mince, pull the knife out and feel it, if it's hot (not warm) then it is done.

Serve with mixed veg.

The ready cooked chicken at the delhi counter, how do I reheat it for dinner later if I buy it at lunchtime? Thought maybe some veg again and frozen roast potatoes?

This has turned into an amazing thread. OP you were brave to post but you got some wonderful replies, and got a great dinner for your family yesterday.
I'm similar to some posters in that my mum was a very good cook, but she never taught me. I left home at 17 and lived on pot noodle, sandwiches, breakfast cereal and yogurt for quite some time. Plus fruit and sweets. I survived but put on weight!
My home was quite 1950s in the roles my parents played, so when I married at 22 I thought I had to cook all the meals. I tried so hard to recreate my mum's meals but the only ones I managed with any success were jacket potato with cheese and bolognaise/chilli con carne with the jar sauces. I did manage the pasta and rice ok - that was just trial and error.
Then a friend taught me another pasta dish. Chop an onion and some smoked bacon, fry gently in a bit of olive oil without letting it burn (I heat the oil till it's sizzling then turn the heat down before adding the ingredients) Add some minced garlic (I use fresh garlic glove and a garlic press but a tube of garlic paste is more cost effective and you don't need to use much)

Sizzle gently and keep stirring with a wooden spoon for about 10 minutes (important to get the flavour) Can add quartered or sliced mushroom and a handful of frozen peas and/or sweetcorn.
Add a tin of chopped tomatoes (when my children were small I'd smash them through a metal sieve to remove 'bits')

Stir for another few minutes, then serve mixed with cooked pasta.

Even if children pick out the bits they don't want, they usually enjoy the pasta. It became a family staple over the years, to the point where we'd all make it and throw in whatever bits (ie tinned chickpeas or cold chopped meat or leftover cooked veg)

You can do it with rice too. If it gets a little bit dry, can add a bit of stock (made from a cube according to packet instructions)

I'm quite a good home cook now but I picked it up as I went along. It is very frustrating when you put a lot of effort in and the children don't like it, but over time you do develop a working repertoire of things they'll eat.
Default was chopped veg /salad/fruit/sliced ham/cheese/few crisps on a plate known as bits on a plate. Easy, healthy and very popular.

Best of luck!

Everyone has to start somewhere - don't worry. And at the end of the day, your kids are being fed 🙂

I'd start of super simple.
Jacket potato with various toppings
Pizza (buy those premade basis in supermarkets, there's a tomato pizza sauce on BBC GF which i always make and can be frozen, add cheese and toppings)
Pasta with a simple tomato and basil sauce
Eggs - master from scrambled, boiled, poached, fried.
Quesadillas
Fish baked in the oven with lemon and herbs, wrapped in foil, serve with chips and peas/salad

Have a look on BBC Good Food, Delia Smith and YouTube (Jamie Oliver videos are great) to build up the basics and then you can extend from there to stuff like Bolognese, curry, chilli, etc.

Good luck

Also traybakes are a good shout! Simple, tasty and can add lots of vegetables.
And get a student cookbook.

@xxxJess123xxx

The ready cooked chicken at the delhi counter, how do I reheat it for dinner later if I buy it at lunchtime? Thought maybe some veg again and frozen roast potatoes?

I do this alot. I put the overn on to about 180 and then cook for 30 minutes or so- really just reheating as it is already cooked. You might want to add a little bit of water to the tray you cook it in so it keeps moist.

FWIW, re getting ideas from youtube. I am a bit fan of Rick Stein and recently watched one of his 'weekend escapes' episodes. He was preparing a meal and said 'I looked up the technique for this from youtube'.

I liked that!

Marcus Rashford and Tom Kerridge are going to be publishing some great basic meal ideas and non fancy recipes soon - keep an eye out

Any meal is healthy if you add a side of broccoli, boil in water for 6 minutes.
Learn to cook ( and like) broccoli!

@GoWalkabout

Marcus Rashford and Tom Kerridge are going to be publishing some great basic meal ideas and non fancy recipes soon - keep an eye out

I am looking forward to these also.

Just make your own versions of the stuff you know they eat. Chicken nuggets are easy to make, your own pasta sauces. Sausage and mash and veg is a good thing to get them used to eating, then swap the sausages for a chicken thigh. Roast a chicken then use it for a couple of meals. So a roast dinner, then maybe a pasta dish or wraps and let them make their own.

Pitta bread pizzas are good for that age. My fussy ds loves quesadillas (sorry spelling probably wrong). I just do cheese then cucumber and pepper chopped up at the side.

The Ministry of Food is amazing for non cooks to learn to cook good family food, honestly buy it. It assumes you know nothing, don't have loads of kit and equipment and are skint, it's a really good introduction to family cooking. Have a scout around charity shops for a copy (I always buy one if I see one and give it to whoever I think will benefit, it saves lending my copy out).

Have you tried getting a slow cooker? It's impossible to burn anything in a slow cooker and you just chuck the ingredients in and get on with your day.

In terms of the picky eating, my step children only ever ate beige freezer food. This does not make you a bad mum, its a trap that every parent I know has fell into. So we are in a good place to support you with what worked for us. I used the tact of 'this is your dinner, you don't have to eat it but this is all there is'. There is also a rule in our house that unless you have done really well with your dinner, no pudding. I know loads of mums are divided on this as it can be interpreted as 'you have to have something bag before you can have something nice' but we explain its because we don't waste food and if you don't eat your dinner we aren't going to chuck it in the bin and give you something else.

The best bit of advice I can give is whatever strategy you use, be patient and give it time. I believe there is no quick fix for this. It took my step children 2 years to get to the stage where you put a plate down in front of them with something new on it and they are curious rather than horrified. The kids eat all sorts now that they wouldn't have touched before and have actually thanked me for not giving up because they love their food now.

Good luck and let us know how you get on x

Well done on last nights dinner and on your determination to improve your family’s diet! You should be proud .

I’d say before you start trying to make your own sauces, breadcrumbs, pizza dough etc you need to work on your basic prep and timing skills. No offence to pps who’ve given useful recipes but it will really knock your motivation if you spend ages faffing with making your own sauce only to find you’ve cooked the pasta to mush or your own breadcrumbs but then undercook the chicken.

Your lack of confidence is holding you back imo. There’s no ‘type of person’ who can cook, it’s not a personality trait! It really is about practice and starting small so look at YouTube tutorials on how to eg chop an onion, google which vegetables you put in cold water and bring to a boil and which you add to boiling water etc.

Also, be aware that cooking instructions are generally, well.... general ! Eg in my oven salmon fillets will be perfectly cooked to our taste at 170 for 17 mins. I learned that from cooking them a few times. In somebody else’s oven they might get that result at 180 for 15 minutes. The same applies for most things - it depends on your oven. Notice how instructions sometimes say 15 to 18 minutes? In some ovens 18 minutes would be perfect, in others it means over cooked.

Similarly cooking something on the hob on medium. Now you might say ‘medium’ would be the half way point on the dial, right? Makes sense. But on my gas hob the half way point would still be cooking at a boil so I’d over cook food if I did that. You only learn these things through trial and error so don’t be so quick to blame yourself. Oh and loads of people don’t get on with a slow cooker. I know people on here rave about them but I also know plenty who found they just produced bland mush so again, it’s not you!

While you’re improving your skills you can try out other healthier convenience foods like you did last night. It’ll help you broaden the dcs diet and work out what they genuinely do or don’t like before you start trying to scratch cook. For example you can buy fresh or frozen carrot and swede mash, sweet potato mash. Who wants the faff of peeling, chopping, boiling or steaming these things only to find the dc don’t like them? In fact even if they do like them I personally still cba with the effort of making it myself just so I can say I cooked from scratch! There’s nothing in the fresh/frozen ones I wouldn’t add if I was making these things myself.

In the meantime can I suggest that tray bakes are your friend? They’re really just about prep (so your chopping skills will improve ) and are ideal when you don’t have lots of time to be sweating over dinner. Easy to serve with eg microwaved rice, frozen veg, pasta and so on.

Finally, the Food/Recipes topic here is good for some inspiration. There are plenty of threads with quick easy family friendly meals, advice on fussy eaters and so on.

As this is so useful should it be in Classics? I know it's not going to make anyone laugh but would be useful for anyone else not confident in cooking.

I think it is a confidence thing as anything really basic I have tried has been crap so I gave up instead of working on it. I'm going to Google tray bakes as they sound ideal too xx

Sounds stupid but what sort of tray do I need for a tray bake!

Try gousto or similar. No measuring and it tells you exactly what to do.
I hate cooking and have no desire to learn.

You can get aluminum foil ones like this

www.onbuy.com/gb/large-disposable-foil-roasting-baking-tray-dish-pan-aluminium~c7927~p7191035/?exta=bingsh&lid=9940789&stat=eyJpcCI6IjAuOTkiLCJkcCI6IjQuODAwMCIsImxpZCI6Ijk5NDA3ODkiLCJzIjoiMzAiLCJ0IjoxNjE5MTUzNTE2LCJibWMiOiI2LjAifQ==&exta=bingsh&msclkid=b12afe0423761b03011e9e87fc0b38d9&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=(GB:%20SAD)%20Home,%20Garden%20&%20Pets&utm_term=4574861730068515&utm_content=(GB:%20SAD)%20Home,%20Garden%20&%20Pets%20-%2012

Or you can get a pyrex one like this

pyrex.co.uk/collections/baking-trays

Both will need oil to coat the bottom before you cook so nothing sticks.

I usually shop at Aldi and they have these on and off, but I think proper supermarkets should have them in the kitche section (say like Sainsburys) or in the kitchen foil and kitchen cling film section.

Also- if you go to a supermarket fruit and veg section you might find pre-preapred mediterranean veg tray bakes in foil some herbs and butter. You can re-use those trays - pop them in the dishwasher after cooking. They will last a few times. We do that all the time. :)