What can I cook for my ds?

[macwoozy]

I was going to post this on the food topic, but then I thought that as a lot of you are parents wilth autistic children you might be better to help.
My ds over time has got worse with his fussiness over food. He refuses to eat breakfast and the past week or so, he's not even touching his packed lunch, how he goes right through the day without a morsel of food is of great concern for me, and dinnertime is also a battlefield. Any ideas on any types of food that i can offer him? He won't eat foods with any "bits" in it, so pizza etc is out of the question. Any discolouration of foods is also a no go area, so basically that counts out a lot of foods that are cooked like fish fingers, burgers etc. He finds so called spots all the time. He'll eat pasta as long as it hasn't any sauces. I am a useless cook so I have no ideas, and would appreciate to hear what you cook for your kiddies.

My dd isn't autistic but I do have an idea for you.

When shes not well or having a funny eating phase I always make her soup. I cook a roast dinner for me and dh and everything just gets liquidised.

That way I know shes getting the goodness she needs, theres no bits in for her to spit out and she can drink it from a cup if she wants.

Thanks for the idea, I only wish he would attempt to eat this, but he turns his nose up to soup. Thanks anyway

My dh works in a respite centre for children with autism and he's always telling me what meals they've had. He's just flippin gone out or I would have asked him for some ideas. If he comes back soon I'll ask. Sorry I can't be of any help.

my ds isnt autistic, but are going through "no dont like" even when hes eaten it the day before. what i now do is either let him choses what he wants, or i give him things like, bread, cheese in cubes, ham, cue, apple and cold cooked carrotts on a plate and let him sit in front of fav dvd and eat, we call it picnic tea. not the best habit in the world to start but age the age of 2 it gets him to eat fruit and veg and his tea without a fuss. hth

Thanks NBG
Nnosam, I've never considered doing that before, as I'm so preoccupied with giving him foods with are typical dinnertime type foods. Buts thats given me a good idea, I will certainly give that a go.

How about fish pie? Made with potatoes and fish and maybe cauliflower instead of peas so it's all quite pale in colour and no bits.

My DS loves it and always asks for seconds - which is very rare. It's also nice enough for grown-ups to eat.

Good luck and let me know if you'd like a recipe - it's very simple.

i was too, but a friend of mine started it with her boy and it worked for her, and is still working for my (touch wood) it cant do any harm to try.

macwoozy-my DS is just like yours (we are currently waiting for confirmation that he is AS) and will not eat anything with bits, marks etc. He will not eat vegetables or fruit and things that kids normally like such as chips and beans are also rejected. To be honest he very rarely eats a cooked meal at the moment. It is cheese spread roll for lunch and cheese spread roll for dinner! He has just started eating cereal for breakfast again (weetos) after rejecting that for weeks. No real suggestions for you I am afraid-just sympathy!

Now hears a subject close to my heart! My DS is so fussy I despair...what I do these days is doctor what I am making so that he will eat it.

If I am cooking a chicken curry or something with meat and a sauce then I will set aside a portion of cooked meat for him before I add the sauce and he will have that with steamed veg and rice/pasta. My DS won't eat mince so if I am doing spag bol/chili then he will have the plain pasta with cheese, ham and veggies (all seperate, not mixed up together). Everything looks very plain and can be clearly identified.

DS likes things like pitta bread with hummus and crudites, falafel and stuff like that.

I must confess though, I have now stopped making seperate meals for my DS as I got so fed up with cooking extra meals for him to turn up his nose anyway.

Just wondered what foods he likes?

Also, for brekkie, I would give him things he likes even if they are not breakfasty if he will eat them. My DS sometimes have peanut butter sandwiches, slices of cheese etc etc.

One thing I've learnt from these comments is that its not important to offer him types of the right foods at a particular time of day, like for breakfast and so on. I don't know why I was so concerned that this be the case, must go back to my strict upbringing.
Bexibooboo, it would be great if you could give me that fish recipe, as he will eat those cod sguare thingies without any breadcrumbs, or batter, see I told you I wasn't a cook.
Tiggiewinkle, isn't it a pain, baked beans are def off the menu, and he will reject chips from McDonalds that have a slight blemish, and god help if a banana has a brown spot on it. He won't even touch the ice cream with all the sweets on it in Pizza Hut.
Westcountrylass, I know exactly what you mean about cooking a meal and then having them turn their nose up, I waste so much food, but at least my dog is benefitting. He likes pasta, eggs, rice, mashed potato, cheese, plain chicken, bread with choc spread,pepperami{!} chicken roll, ham and crisps, as long as they are not broken, thats my ds not the dog

Macwoozy, here's the original fish pie recipe - but obviously you may want to either substitute the peas and leeks for cauliflower or something - or just cut them out altogether. I never bother with the prawns either, perhaps using a bit more cod instead.

Good luck. I really hope your DS likes it.

Fish Pie
serves 4
Prep time: 20 min
Cooking time: 1hr

700g potatoes peeled
2 large leeks chopped
300ml + 2 tbsp skimmed milk
1 tbsp fresh parsley/chives
25g margarine
50g plain white flour
450g skinless, boneless cod cut into chunks
100g frozen peeled prawns (defrosted)
50g frozen peas (defrosted)

• Cook spuds in boiling water til just tender
• Meanwhile cook leeks in small amount of boiling water for about 5 mins
• Drain spuds and leeks, reserving some of the water
• Mash spuds adding 2tbsp milk
• Add 150ml of the saved water to the 300ml milk and add chopped parsley or chives
• Put margarine, flour & diluted milk into a saucepan and heat, stirring constantly until thickened and smooth
• Add S&P if required
• Preheat oven to Gas 5 / 190c/375f
• Put cod in base of 1.2 kuter (2-pint) baking dish and scatter leaks, prawns and peas on top, pour over sauce, spoon mashed spuds on the top
• Bake in the oven for 30-35 mins (until cooked and browned)

PS This is actually a Weightwatchers recipe if you're interested in is 5.5 points per serving.

Thank you so much Bexibooboo, I will certainly give that a go. I think I can just about manage that, might even give me the incentive to start cooking properly

It's a pleasure.

DS had been going through a fussy phase and I couldn't believe it when he gobbled up his plate of fish pie and asked for more.
But of course there are still times when he won't eat what I've offered him and I'm not the sort of mum who'll make him lots of different dishes for one mealtime until he eats one of them.

Best of luck and please let me know if the fish pie works. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

I am debating buying Jamie Olivers book Family Dinners I think it is called. Not sure what sort of recipes there are in there but it might inspire me!

Yesterday I made fishcakes and toda I did a chicken casserole from Annabel Karmel and both were given the thumbs down

Would have a look in the book shop at it first. I have it and like it but also have an extremely fussy son who would not eat anything from it Im sure (except perhaps the white meat from the roast chicken but then you probably dont need a recipe for that!)
Otherwise def more "complicated" food than annabel Karmel.
I just try to give mine the healthiest options I can out of what he will eat eg organic chicken and ham, good quality sausages, granary bread, fruit and accept thats it for now. Mine wont eat any veg,pasta,rice,cheese or any thing with sauce etc. Hes 11 now and the right weight and pretty healthy so dont stress!

I recieved some great ideas for different foods that I could offer my ds when I first posted this thread, and I gave most of them ago. But alas nothing has changed. (Bexiboboo I will get back to you on the fish pie)
But today, I feel pretty wound up after reading a note that was placed inside my ds's lunchbox from school. It was a regular typed letter, stating "we noticed that your child didn't eat much of his food today because" and in writing it said "he said it was yuk". This upsets me quite abit because obviously I have noticed that he's not eaten any of his packed lunch for the past week or so, but I've tried my damn hardest to include so many different types of foods but yet I feel that this is their way of criticizing the foods that I offer him. For the regular child, it might seem abit strange, like plain bread roll, pepperami,and most of the time he won't even touch this, but if I attempt to give him any other type of foods in his lunch box it is never touched, for instance if I give him a bag of crisps, he won't eat them as he reckons they're all broken, they're not by the way. All the healthy options are out of the question, he won't eat fruit as he'll always find a spot. Nevertheless obviously I'll still perservere but am I being oversensitive reagrding this note, it's a relatively new school and I believe that they've only ever had one other autistic child, so maybe they're clueless about the difficulties faced with ASD children at mealtimes. What would you do? Would you be upset over such a note? How on earth can I encourage him to eat at school?

Sounds like the dinnerladies are clueless, I wouldn't get upset if you can help it.