Share how you make your children’s food win-win with Soreen - £200 voucher to be won

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As a parent it can be tricky to make sure our children are enjoying a healthy, balanced diet, especially if we are now busy juggling work with home-schooling and the biscuit tin is within reach. Ensuring that their meals are nutritious enough to give us peace of mind but won’t go untouched, or that we’re stocked up with the right snacks to keep our children fuelled and able to concentrate throughout the day is a constant balance to strike, whether your DC are staying at home or still going into school this lockdown. With this in mind, Soreen would like to hear your stories and tips about making your kids’ foods ‘win-win.’

Here’s what Soreen has to say: "It’s only natural for parents to want to give their children what they ask for however, as we all know this can’t be done, especially when it comes to snacks.

And now with many families spending more time indoors and trying to balance work and home-schooling it can be even more tempting to say ‘yes’ to visiting the treat cupboard, especially if it means you might get some peace and quiet for your next virtual meeting.

With Soreen Lunchbox Loaves there is finally a treat you and your kids can both agree on. Containing 50% less sugar than the average cake bar, a source of fibre and low in saturated fat they’re a healthier alternative (don’t tell the kids!) that takes the guilt out of saying ‘yes’. They’re available in four squidgy and delicious fruity flavours; banana, apple, malt and strawberry, and come individually wrapped in a pack of 5 mini loaves - perfect for each day of the school week."

So have you resorted to hiding vegetables in your pasta sauces to ensure your DC get their 5 a day? Do you opt for low in sugar alternatives to your children’s favourite snacks, or have you set a lockdown snack-time routine that works for your family? Perhaps you teach your children about the importance of a balanced diet by saving dessert for the weekend?

Whatever your tips for making your children’s food win-win, all who post on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one lucky MNer will win a £200 voucher for a store of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

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I have discovered some veg my dc prefer raw like peppers, tomatoes, so if they are in the dinner cooked I'll give them some raw while I'm preparing, they eat it absent mindedly in front of the tv!

I make one meal for the family to eat together. It might sound like strict parenting but I do not allow over fussiness at the table. My daughter needs to give new foods a good go and over time develop her palate for different foods. There are some things she doesn't like,for example peppers, so I will present them cooked in different ways in different meals. I think there is a real danger in beginning to cook separate meals for each individual family member. I personally think it's about presenting foods in different ways and developing a varied taste palate over time.

We try and always eat together, chatting about our days rather than what is on our plate. Sometimes works, sometimes doesn’t!

In order to end the constant and unhealthy cupboard raiding and snacking by my kids during home schooling, I have set up a dedicated 'snack station' that they can take snacks from at break and between lessons. It includes cold water & squash to drink, fruit, soreen bars, nuts, yogurts, crackers etc... Its a win win in our household as I can make sure they have healthy snacks and the kids know it's there and can choose when to eat it.

I was a very fussy eater and luckily my kids are not too bad at all. They'll eat more adventurously if they cook with me so we try recipes together. They love spaghetti bolognese and for years didn't realise there were onions and mushrooms in it as I blended them to a paste!

We don't force anything, we accept preferences and genuine dislikes, we all have something we don't like, mine us sprouts and offal. As a parent of a kid with severe dyspraxic meal times can ge a long strung out situation, if he turns down a meal it's often because he's fed up so if he later complains he's hungry, he gets offered toast and butter/spread, nothing else. I don't believe in making kids go hungry and as a child I spent hours at the table being made to eat food to the extent that I couldn't swallow it, but I'm not making special meals, so the alternative is the same regardless of any moaning. It works, he will generally choose to eat whats on his plate, and if he chooses toast, I'm fairly confident he hasn't liked his dinner or is having a bad day and doesn't have the focus to use cutlery.

During lockdown one I set up the Snazzy Snack Shack for my children's morning breaktime snack. There was a price list and they had a limit for spending each day. They quickly learnt that the sugary things left them hungry pretty quickly afterwards and they were actually more expensive in my shop too! Now in lockdown three they almost always ask for the more slow release options for their snack.
The money we raised in the snack shack went towards a family meal once that lockdown had ended.

Both my sons love 70% dark chocolate, I'm quite happy to give them a square after dinner. My youngest loves Soreen bars for his packed lunch too.

Meals that they can assemble themselves are great. So something like chicken fajita wraps, where they can choose from a range of (healthy!) fillings to put into them, are always fantastic.
I’ve also introduced a “healthy plate” at lunchtime that goes in the middle of the table to supplement whatever we are having - cut up fruit and veg on it and everyone can choose what they have, but they have to have something from it!

We always eat together (I know this isn’t always possible for some families) around the table and daughter is expected to eat what she’s given. Over the years she hasn’t been given loads of food choices so isn’t too fussy. Of course she loves junk food like pizzas and burgers but she knows she can only have these occasionally.

We all eat the same foods

Everyone eats the same meal and if they dont eat it then their is no other option

We struggle as we are so busy and in and out all the time but we always have a roast at the weekend with lots of veggies! I also smuggle lots of veg into dishes like spag bol etc

I find it easier to make it more like a game as I've always had fuss eaters so over the years Ive developed some tricks and now when we do the weekly shop I pick something new for them to try and they can pick something new for me to try and we also combined what they learn or are interested in e.g my grandson loves Scotland at the moment so Ive been getting him food they eat in Scotland such as scotch eggs and haggis it also works for colours as a challenge to find food of a particular colour I also have a dice game for when they don't want to eat there vegetables they get to roll a dice and whatever number it lands on they have to have that many mouthfuls before they finish they can't argue with the dice

I put out a sharing plate of raw carrot, peppers, tomato etc with dinner. I find that my children will eat more if there is a bot of competition!
They will also eat pretty much anything that is in a smoothie.

Sticking our pasta sauce through the food processor means I can hide loads of different veggies in it.

Being a good role model really helps, let’s face it kids love an easy option, so I make a plate up with veg and dips, they love the mix and match of it and getting to choose.
Same with fruit, cut up and with skewers they can dip in fruit, they love it!

Meant to say dip in yoghurt

I had a pretty awful diet as a teenager so I was determined that wasn't going to happen to them, so I taught myself how to cook!

My kids have always eaten what we have, right from being weaned, they've never had separate meals or eaten differently from us. We've never had many puddings although they do love chocolate and sweets. For many years they only drank water and still do now given a choice.

We could all do to eat more fruit but generally they eat most vegetables.

My trick with ds was to be ready when I knew he'd be ravenous do I'd always go to nursery or school pick up with grapes and olives and cherry tomatoes etc. He'd gobble anything at that point.

Another was to leave out bowls of the above plus chunks of cheese or quartered boiled eggs etc when he was playing as he was a big grazer.

That took the pressure off of meal times being the time to try and cram goodness in and it didn't matter if he just ate pizza or fishfingers and chips for his tea some days.

Nowadays my trick is protein shakes in the hopes they'll fill him up for a while so he's not on the scrounge for junky food so often. Also popcorn because it's low calorie and high fibre so if I can direct him to a bowl of popcorn over demolishing crisps and dormitories I do.

He still loves a plate of olives, tomatoes, gherkins and cheese or egg to snack on but only if it's put beside him rather than thinking of that over a more grab-able snack.

Doritoes not dormitories

For our 8 & 4 yr old, they know all about a balanced diet, but naturally would always opt for a sugary treat! So if they ask for a biscuit we don’t say no, but if they’ve not had their portion of fruit and veg, they can have a biscuit with either said fruit or veg.
Funny or different shapes also appeal to our children too.
Getting them involved in the kitchen helps too, they can cut fruit and veg for example.

With my two picky eaters who avoid veg, rice towers always work - put vegetables in the bottom and sides of a cup, fill it up with rice and upend on a plate. call it a castle and they love it

Make a fruit smoothie and top it with a tiny squirt of spray cream and some sprinkles if it’s hard to get fruit down them!

Make them think it was their idea.