Meal ideas for fussy kids

[pitcherscat]

Hi, I'm looking for vegan family meal ideas that might suit my slightly fussy, primary school-aged child. We're currently pescatarian, and half of us don't eat dairy, but we're looking to make the switch to vegan. If she could eat fish fingers, chips and beans every day for every meal I'm pretty sure my little fussy eater would do so. She eats quite a lot of raw veg in salad wraps and pasta salad, and will eat some cooked veg as a side such as peas and sweetcorn. However she tends to prefer it if different foods are separated on her plate, rather than all in together like in a curry. She also has a long list of foods that she doesn't like (raw tomatoes, avocado, peppers that aren't red, pickles, anything spicy, to name but a few), and tends to 'go off' foods if she's eaten them a lot (recently bananas even though she's always loved them!) What vegan meals do your kids eat?

Maybe a vegan chilli? You could put the rice and chilli separate for her. If you make it at home it doesn’t need to be too spicy.

Tacos with various fillings for her to make up her own.

If she likes fishfingers chips and beans maybe something like vegan sausages, chips and beans.

My DD loves getting involved in the cooking and preparing of food she will try anything if she has had a part in it

She loves picky meals so I put out potatoes,broccoli, tofu, olives, salad, carrots n hummus etc and we all just put what we want on our plates

She also likes Richmond meat free sausages but I don't give her them all the time maybe once a week

She will eat a curry or chilli sometimes but only very mild ones

Lentil Bolognese is a winner
Likes Bulgar wheat
Sausage mash and beans
Pasta in tomato sauce with nooch
Beans on toast
Salad or hot veg with tofu & potatoes
Soups
Cheesy pasta

I find keeping it simple with her works best
She will also often just ask for pasta with peas for dinner
I make sure its wholemeal pasta and cover it in nooch and a little liquid seasoning it's delicious easy and nutritious

Spaghetti hoops on toast.
Beans on toast.
The end.

My DD could not be a successful vegan yet. Please consider seriously if you need to make this choice for your DD. Some children will be unable to get the nutrition they need on a vegan diet. They can't help not liking certain foods and need time to grow into new tastes. I think forcing kids through fussy stages teaches them their preferences are unimportant and is bad for their overall development.

It doesn't sound like her diet is varied enough to healthily be vegan currently. Can you allow some fish etc just for her for the moment while trying to expand what she will eat longer term?

Thanks all, some great suggestions. I should have said at the beginning, we're not planning on asking school/after school club to do anything differently, she will still be pescatarian there as she is now. Both would struggle to cater for vegans (though nursery manages pescatarian and dairy free with my youngest really well, but it's a very small setting which I think helps). However currently at school she just chooses cheese sandwiches every day except fish and chips Friday, so I think she does much better nutritionally at home! We'll probably do vegan family meals at home 90% of the time, as we usually eat all together, but once or twice a week we feed the kids their tea earlier for date night, so I could keep doing fish of some sort for them on those nights. Tuna pasta salad is one of her other faves at the moment actually, and she's almost guaranteed to eat it. Thanks for the advice

We’re actually having fishless fingers tonight! I’m doing a katsu curry with them, but sometimes we have them in tacos realfood.tesco.com/recipes/fish-finger-tacos.html
and cheese
sausage rolls with lots of ketchup and green salad]]
Burgers made with Violife instead of Parmesan.
Pizza (we like Dr Oetker vegan marguerita Pomodori)

Fritters - can do just one veg, grated with flour and fried. Great with cheese if you have vegan cheese. Freeze well too. Anything in pastry. Make a spread by blending chestnuts and e.g. roasted squash. Dried soya mince is a great basefor shepherd's pie, bolognaise, et cetera.

Jamie 7 veg pasta
Sweetcorn and courgette fritters
Cow girl chilli and baked potato (fried onions, tinned tomatoes, tin of mixed beans, tin of sweet corn, garlic, cinnamon and smoked paprika)
Vegan sausage, mash, gravy and veg
Lentil spag Bol

We're not vegan but end up eating vegan food sometimes because I'm DF as well.

I can sympathise as my DD hated things touching at that age as well, although she has got better as she's got older.

How about these veg nuggets with some veg in the side and homemade chips?

Will she eat a curry? DD is particularly fond of Gobi Aloo although I do serve hers first and then add chick peas for us.

Still can't get her to eat chick peas although she will eat kidney beans and black beans.