Help getting my kids to eat HM/OS way please

Savvy_Sue

Sunday lunch is my day for offering new veg, and everyone has a small portion of anything new. The deal is you try it.

My eldest is the fussiest, but now he's older he'll eat stuff he would not have done before: I was getting bored so once he was in 6th form and NOT having school dinners, I just cooked what I fancied and he could eat it or go without. He'd ask "What is it?" and I'd tell him and say "I'm not expecting you to like it, but please try it." I don't think I converted him to any new flavours, but he would at least try stuff.

But yours are still quite young. It may be worth finding out WHAT they don't like about other things: texture is SO important at their age. Or they may like some veg if they can have grated cheese on top. Or tomato sauce!

I've also had success if Grandad grew the veg! These are not just carrots, these are GRANDAD'S carrots!

carol_a_3

Try not to get too hung up about it, when my son was young he lived on Wotsits, sausages and spaghetti hoops. He's 15 now and eats anything and everything and at least 3 apples a day. Children pick up and play on your concerns. Just give them a little bit of a new food to try and if they don't like it don't worry, try again another time. The best thing to do is set a good example, let them see you eating and enjoying a wide range of foods and they will get curious and want to try them themselves eventually. I agree with the letting them join in shopping/cooking ideas.

Trow

Your kids are very young yet - I don't think you will have any problems in the longer term if you start them now.

For things like fruit, try chopping up fresh fruit so that it is easily accesible for them - a whole apple or banana can be a bit daunting at that age. Also, you could try doing a fruit chocolate fondue, with chunks of fruit dipped into melted chocolate mixed with cream.

Veg and disguising it has been mentioned, but just because you have disguised it, don't stop serving it separately, because you want them to eat it for it's own sake if they will. Small amounts has been mentioned, which is a great idea, as has the already mentioned 'I don't expect you to like it, but please try it' - my kids now love pesto due to this method, and they wouldn't touch it before.

Sarahsaver

Persistence, and quiet persistence at that. If one of my kids moans about something I just calmly say 'ok so you dont like it, let's see what **** thinks now' I'm not really much in favour of veg disguising because then children don't learn to appreciate things for what they are. Mind you, mashed potato carrot and cauliflower mixed with cheese and garam masala then baked is YUMMY! Its not natural for kids who are old enough to chew to eat loads of blended or mashed food unless there is a medical reason. Involve the children in the cooking process then they 'own' the end product.
The comments you make are important too, don't be afraid to say something is too fatty/salty/unhealthy. my children now ask if they have something from a packet (rarely - mainly cereals) has it got sugar added - they are all primary school age.
Tomight they had hm big chips, eggs from our hens and 'proper' sausages, and fresh fruit. Tomorrow we have a bean and vegetable crumble with banana jelly for afters.

Sweet_Pea_2

Sarahsaver,
Is it banana flavoured jelly? and if so where did you get it from?
I had some banana flavoured jelly at a friends years ago and it was lovely. I always look out for it in the supermarket but havent seen any yet.

Anne_Marie_2

ahmilligan wrote:

Hi All,

I am having a bit of trouble with my kids, its entirely my fault as they have grown used to shop bought rubbish instead of HM. All they eat is chicken, broccoli and gravy. No other veg or fruit at all, no other meat. I am worried they arent getting the nutrition they need.

I do puree fruit and hide it in custard or rice pudding and always offer other veg at a meal but it never gets touched.


Any ideas on how I can get them to eat HM dinners like spag bol or shepards pie etc?

They are 3, 2 and 1. My 1 year old eats it all as she is the only one to have been raised without so called conveniance food.

Don't worry too much about it at the moment, your children are all really young and just developing their own tastes, give them time.
Why not try using minced chicken or turkey, possibly first of all in a gravy that they are used to. If that goes down well, maybe try adapting to bolognaise sauce, but really mild - not too strongly flavoured on the tomatoes, and either no herbs or garlic, or just slightest wee bit. Get them to choose pasta shapes to go with it - think that you can get little different coloured shapes, or what about those little pasta stars/moons.
Or try as a shepherds pie. Get them to help out if you can - mashing the potatoes (ok they will have to be cold for the wee ones), or bung mashed potatoes into piping bag and let them make patterns on the shepherds pie - maybe do individual ones? If that finally works, you could maybe progress onto minced beef. As previously mentioned, you can always puree veg into bolognaise and other stews - but recommend you just add a tiny little drop to start with.
Also chicken is easily chewable, but other meat isn't for young ones, so don't be too hard on yourself or them. What about joints done in slow cooker so really tender, either chopped up or in slices, and then served with gravy?
Possibly you would get away with braised pork steaks - what do I know, am a vegetarian!

Have you tried them with raw vegetables and dips? Did this with mine, just tried raw carrot sticks at first with cheese dip.

As for fruit -
Fresh fruit juice or smoothies, fresh fruit milk shakes.
Ice lollies made from pure fruit juice, possibly not best time of year for this, but fruit sorbets are good.
Chocolate fondue - served with grapes, segments of orange, apple, banana - other fruits in season.
Puree fruit into Angel delight.
Make up a jelly with pureed or small chopped pieces of fruit.
Whisk can of evaporated milk into jelly if liked before it sets - they can't see what they are eating and it goes further!
Make layered jelly (different colours), and put fruit in - serve in individual clear plastic glasses. Makes the wee ones think they are all "adult".

Bearing in mind Halloween is coming up soon, there are loads of recipes that could be adapted to fun eating all the time. Check out this board and also free supermarket magazines for ideas.

Best of luck, and give it time.

Spendless

I found changing the names of food helped with my 5 year old who used to be fussy but is loads better nowadays.

According to him he hated tomatoes but enjoyed 'special red soup'

anything with mince in had no end of veg put in it and then i used the hand blender to blend his portion, so you could only see the mince- he always ate it.

hm fishcakes (tuna,potatoes, sweetcorn) became snowcakes. It was snowing at time and i told hm it's what we eat to celebrate the snow (in reality had nothing else in and wasn't going to shops)- that was wolfed down too.

Anne_Marie_2

Lol Spendless.
Agree totally, make up good recipe names.........amazing what you can come up with, and if the wee ones like the sound of it, you are away with it!
Sounds just like my "Creama Soup". Wee one wanted cream of some kind of soup but said creama..............so all my soups were amazingly transformed into that, by just adding milk, white sauce, cream, whatever I had handy! She is now 18 and still asks for creama soup - what an embarrassment! I hasten to add that she does now know.

Lillibet_2

Pureed sweetcorn with cheese makes a great healthy cheese sauce, pureed courgettes/marrow makes a fab white sauce, the green bits of skin are obviously ..ahem...."herbs".

What do your children eat for breakfast & lunch? Could you incorporate some of these elments into their main meal? If, for example, they'll eat poached eggs for breakfast then there's nothing wrong with them for supper, likewise chicken and salad sandwiches with LOTS of salad and less chicken etc etc.

HTH

Sarahsaver

Sweet_Pea wrote:

Sarahsaver,
Is it banana flavoured jelly? and if so where did you get it from?
I had some banana flavoured jelly at a friends years ago and it was lovely. I always look out for it in the supermarket but havent seen any yet.

it is banana flavoured jelly from the newly opened turkish (i think) grocers around the corner. Its halal so its ok for veggies too - made with seaweed instead of gelatine. Its very strong smelling.
I can see i wont save much now cos that shop sells lovely coffee, pine nuts, walnuts, feta cheese, honey soaked cakes... mmm!anyway, get kids to eat something by giving them it! And then they have a choice. LIke mine if we have spag bol, daughter has the spaghetti and some cheese, tiny bit of sauce. Ds1 has everything mixed together and ds2 has the sauce on the side. They all have the same, but they do have a choice in how it os served up. I never get cross if they dont eat something, and heap on the praise if they try something new.
Sometimes i get a load of dishes and put new things on them as a starter, like salami, olives, different cheese, carrot sticks and something to dip in. Keeps them busy whilst im cooking. I do sneak things into hm bread, like bananas, linseeds, dried fruit and so on.