I am running out of food ideas

[giraffes2021]

I feel like my children are sticking to the same foods (I'm in the habit of giving them the same stuff)

4 and almost 2 year olds

What have you fed yours this week? Need some ideas I work 3 days so nothing too crazy haha

I swear nursery lie they will tell me my child has eaten a 3 bean chilli and quesadillas if I gave that to mine they would throw it at me haha

Macaroni cheese went down well with mine this week.

I used this recipe: www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/best-ever-macaroni-cheese-recipe

I rotate about 6 meals but guess they eat different food at school/nursery

Roast chicken , roast spuds, peas and gravy
Scrambled egg on toast and baked beans
Fish, potato waffles, broccoli
Jacket p cheese and beans
Pizza and chopped veg
Then like a picky tea of cold things

So far this week mine has had:
Cheesy pasta, chicken, veg and home made tomato sauce

Cheesy baked beans and mash potato

Home made beef stew and mash

Salmon with sweet potato and broccoli

Probably have cauliflower cheese tmrw night, bulked out with chicken, potato and peas.

Lunches tend to be toasties, cheese sandwiches, tuna melts etc.

Our DCs just ate what we ate when they were little. We all sat down and ate together. Wouldn't have given them an Indian takeaway, but generally, we all ate the same things right from the start. It was just mashed up more when they were really tiny!

Sesame chicken noodles
Tuna burgers
Cheese and tomato risotto
Cauliflower macaroni cheese
Egg fried rice

Ohh hoping for inspiration as me and ds don't eat meat but do eat fish.
He usually has:
Salmon, potato and brocolli
Cheesy Pesto pasta with brocolli and asparagus (it's wierd but he loves it)
Fishfingers chips and peas
Veg Dall or chickpea and spinach curry and rice with big crisps (poppadoms - which he loves but the curry takes pursuasion)
Beans egg and chips
Homemade pizza with hidden veg sauce and veg sticks
5 veg tagine and couscous (he actually likes couscous which surprised me)

He hates mash and won't eat much rice so fish pie, cottage pie and stir fried rice as all out for teas. We tried and they were heavily rejected!

Mine likes gnocchi. Usually make some kind of roast veg, lentil and tomato sauce, blitz down smooth. Then freeze in family and toddler sized portions so I can just grab when in a hurry

We alway eat together so just have same-
Chicken curry
Spag bol
Tuna pasta
Chill
Pasta bake
Risotto
Roast dinner
Stew
Soup
Homemade pizza
Salmon stir fry
Chicken chow mein
Fajitas

Also I cook a load of veg and blend it in to sauces /gravy for extra veg portions.

I only cook one meal. I take everyone’s genuine preferences into account but we all eat the same thing.
This week we’ve had
Roast chicken, potatoes, veg
Couscous salad with the leftover chicken
Tuna and courgette pasta
Chicken curry and rice
Veg noodles

Recently mine have had (with the main option that they ignore in brackets):

• pasta with cheese, chicken, carrots and broccoli (pasta bake)
• wraps with chicken, sour cream, grated cheese and cucumber (fajitas)
• Breaded chicken, sea bass, rice, carrots and peas (teriyaki Sea bass and stir fry)
• Meatballs, dough balls, carrots and broccoli (ratatouille)
• Sausages, wedges, peas (stuffed mushrooms)
• Salmon, rice, prawn toast, cucumber (miso pak choi and aubergine)
• Naan, prawns, yoghurt, carrots (spinach dhal)

This is what one or both of them ate, the more interesting foods are always on offer on the table but they choose the plain stuff every time. I try to avoid cooking something separate, I just make sure there is a plain carb, protein and veg that they may eat on the table.

We've also always eaten the same meals as DCs, rather than cooking 'child-friendly' stuff just for them. We toned down the spice for the first few years (added hot sauce at the table for those who wanted it) and salt, but otherwise it is what we ate pre-DCs: a wide mix of meat, fish, veggie with a variety of styles. This week is homemade pizzas, sausage and avo salad, honey & mustard salmon salad, veg and cheese soup, mushroom stoup, succotash, and tofu Nasi Goreng.
I agree that gnocchi is always a popular choice and worth a try with a tomato or pesto sauce. Would they eat macaroni cheese that's got spinach blended into the sauce? (Call it Monster Macaroni) My DCs have always loved soup. I do different ones, but their favourite are the veg & cheese mentioned above and creamy spinach. They particularly love tacos and fajitas, where all the ingredients are put on the table and they can help build their own. For tacos, I use a small pack of mince bulked out with a tin of lentils for the main part of the filling. Fajitas are usually strips of smoked tofu, a tin of mixed beans and peppers, but obviously chicken or beef strips would be perfect too. I've found getting them involved in the meal planning really helped. Everyone picks at least one of the week's meals, then you can pass a less-favoured meal off with "well, tonight is Daddy's choice. Tomorrow is your choice/we all ate your choice yesterday, so it's fair". DD2 will always pick Spag Bol or carbonara unless asked to choose again, but even having carbonara every week is OK if you get variety for the other 6 nights.

Some absolutely great suggestions on here !! Thank you

@Pleaseaddcaffine don't suppose you have a recipe for the 5 veg tagine?

Driving me nuts
Made tomato soup and cheese sandwich (at her request)
She said the soup is disgusting and won't eat the sandwich now and is demanding pudding hahaha
Not a chance child!
Now she's telling me she's still hungry

Haha I always used to think that about nursery too.

18month old generally eats a mixture of:

Breakfast: porridge, weetabix, cheerios - with a bit of fruit in there somewhere or peanut butter

Lunch: sandwiches, omlette, beans on toast, toastie, picky plate made of ham, cut up veg, rice cakes etc, leftovers from night before

Dinner: spaghetti Bol, lasagne, sausage and veg, salmon and veg, chicken goujons, chilli con, pasta pesto, fish fingers, waffles

I freeze/fridge our leftovers for him and bulk cook things and freeze most of this to save time. I also make up spinach and sweetcorn muffins, veg fritters, carrot parsnip and cheese muffins so if I can't be arsed or have no veg in I know he'll eat that, they also make good snacks.

Snacks are rice cakes, fruit, raisins, crisp things.

My 3 year olds favourite dinners are:
Spag bol
Chicken nuggets and chips/smiley faces
Fish fingers. chips and mushy peas
Roast chicken and mash with gravy
Cauliflower cheese
Admirals pie

Though for lunch I have a habit of doing her the same things: a sandwich (ham, dairylea, or mild cheddar), half a bag quavers/skips/pombears, a fromagefraise type yoghurt and some fruit like bananas or melon slices