My children are fed up with OS :(

Lillibet_2

I got taught how to mix "Smash" in home economics (cookery by another name) & how to design my own pillowcase

Black saturn, how are things going, have you had any success with your little darlings?

black-saturn

Kind of. I'm doing a beef stew tonight and it's got all kinds of veges in it. So hopefully they will eat it. I've decided to let them have what they want (within reason) a couple of nights a week and do wholesome food the rest of the time.

purplegirluk1

In my opinion its all about teaching them the cost of feeding the family. I was a very fussy eater and turned vegetarian at the age of ten. My mum refused to cook two seperate meals so she did a budget that calculated how much she would usually spend on my food in a week including packed lunches for school and I had to plan my own meals adding up the cost on a calculator as I went around. It soon taught me just how much things cost and made me really appreciate how much my mum did for me.

You just need to show them how much you spend per week on food now doing it the OS way compared to the more expensive way before OS, then explain to them what they would be missing out on if you went back to expensive shopping. I would encourage them to come shopping after planning meals with them at home and making a shopping list so they can help out. This way they can have an in put into meals and say what they might like for dinner and then they can see how much things really cost when you go shopping.

Also perhaps you could try different recipies, maybe they just need a change? You could try fajitas with salad and soured cream, meat and potatoe pie, SC bean chilli? Just a few ideas, perhaps they might be able to think of things they like that can be done OS style .

mum26

I make homemade burgers for my lot now (mostly because I don't trust the manufacturers, lol) and if i add breadcrumbs,onion, an egg and a few dried herbs to a pack of mince it makes plenty (usually feeds 1 hungry 6'2 man and 6 children, i'm not a burger fan as I don't like the texture), i think even if i buy organic mince which is usually under £2 a pack in tesco (beef or lamb) it works out at a pretty cheap meal as one pack stretches to feed all seven of them and they all love them even my picky two which is a big relief!

I also make meatballs in a pretty similar way and they go down well too.

Mind you my eldest is 10 so I'm not contending with teenagers yet!

Sofa_Sogood

Lillibet wrote:

I got taught how to mix "Smash" in home economics (cookery by another name) & how to design my own pillowcase

You've just reminded me of something Lillibet. We had to make and cross stitch an apron before we could wash socks

Really ... what was that all about? Seeing as I didn't sew or cross stich after all of it?

As for "Smash". That, in those days, was just like a microwave meal in these days ... except it needed 'meat' .... or salad cream ... Like those Chinese meals in boxes - Vesta's?

It was all bloody awful all the same

saverwhizz

Sofa_Sogood wrote: »

Cruel was probably the wrong word to use - maybe 'archaic' might have been better.

What is cruel, and it's only my opinion matt44, is when kids refuse to eat a meal (and by kids I mean those that aren't old enough to cook themselves), yet some parents insist on putting it back on the table until they do.

Math and others have posted replies too, so I'll try to elaborate what I mean in a later post.

Hi Sofa_Sogood, I agree. I understand the idea of OS cooking and eating healthily but how many of us would like to be forced to eat food that we don't like? That seems 'cruel' to me. It's not OS cooking that is the issue, but finding the OS (or rather homemade, not so sure what OS represents), foods that particular children do like. Of course there are going to be some things they'll try to get out of eating such as veg and some foods that they don't like as much, or which some of them like more than others, but that isn't the same thing.

It's true as well, that trying to make shop food at home, such as fish fingers, will not be the same, so it's probably best to avoid making that sort of thing at home. (I'm not entirely sure that there's anything wrong with shop bought grilled fish fingers either, depending on the ingredients. Burgers are not so good or fried chips. In the old days people had butter and other fatty foods. Lard was used more etc... it was not always entirely healthy).

Making homemade foods of different types and finding out which ones are liked more is a good idea. Once you've done that and have taken into account what they do actually like (within reason), then other refusals are more likely to be power struggles. It also helps as mentioned elsewhere to ask them what they'd like to eat by giving them a (healthy) choice before you buy/cook. At least then if you let them eat it or have nothing else, you know you're not forcing them to eat things they really do hate (or have had enough of that week) and will perhaps resent you for, for life.

redlady_1

I was made to sit at the table until I cleared my plate. As a result I refuse to touch certain foods even now 40 years later!! I can even remember sitting at the table after sunday lunch and I sat there all day until I went to bed. I was hungry but I hated the food so much it made me retch! How is that "healthy"?

A compromise with your food in the week and weekends their food seems good to me.

lauren_1

Sofa_Sogood wrote: »

It beats my first home economics/cookery class. We were taught how to wash socks

Adding mince to them came later

I took Home Economics at GCSE, All in all I got to use a cooker 3 times in that 2 years.

My textiles class on the other hand, we had to make a entire outfit for our coursework and we used the machines every week,

CupOfChai

I think it largely depends on what the teacher is like.

I know someone who teaches cooking (or whatever they call it now) and she is a very good cook, and I've seen some of the things she does with the pupils and it is proper cooking from scratch. She's also told me that cookery teachers don't actually have to be qualified in or know anything about cooking, and because for a long while cooking tailed off from being taught properly in schools, a lot of them aren't.

However, when I did cookery at school half of us already knew how to cook better than the teacher! But we still had to do what she said. I look back now at what we did and think "That isn't what you do! That would never work!"

cooking-mama

My oldest left school this year and is studying Food science and technology at college now...an interest in food brought about by home cooking and enjoying home economics/hospitality at school..every week she made a variety of dishes(cost 50p to £1 per class,depending on ingredients)I dont remember anything she made in sewing!!
Youngest is at the same high school now and on Monday she made a stir fry with noodles,and a pineapple upside down cake.The only thing i remember her bringing home from sewing was a felt embroidered bookmark for her dad..I think our school's home economics department focuses more on the food/nutrition/cooking element than sewing.
The original post reminded me of the 70's(I was going to post a reply to OP regarding her childrens food choices,but it may not be relevant now as these children could almost be adults as the post is over 4 yrs old)
Anyhow in the 70's i was brought up on mince/tatties..stews with link sausage in to stretch it out,roast chicken,(that became chicken soup..as it still does now)macaroni cheese,fish from the fishmonger on a Friday, etc..the usual homemade stuff of the day,I remember our neighbour bought a chest freezer(stored in the garage in those days)and her family started eating things like frozen chicken kievs,frozen pizza,frozen burgers,etc etc..(i wont say fish fingers,cos i dont think theres anything wrong with good quality frozen fish fingers/fish portion etc),and at the time i thought i was deprived cos we didnt have any of these "luxury" fancy" foods..i thought they were posh:rotfl:
Im fortunate in that my girls have been brought up on homecooking,dont get me wrong,like most of us they enjoy an occassional takeaway..McDonalds,etc..but hate processed food for dinner,(OH.cannot cook,and they occassionaly have "freezer food" when im at work)
personaly i find it more expensive to cook from scratch...i could buy 4 frozen pies for around £1,in farmfoods. ..the mince alone would cost 3 times that to make from scratch.same with breaded chicken portions...8 for £3.but i prefer quality,and im fortunate to be able to afford to buy decent butchermeat...the thought of what may be in cheap pies/chicken nuggets etc would be enough to turn me veggie,but theres no disputing it is cheaper(and probably tastes it)
However i do regularly buy frozen fish portions..100% fish fillet,decent size ,4 for £2(special offer),ive just had a look at the packaging...nothing too sinister in there..Alaska pollock.+.batter=water,wheat flour,wheat starch,
salt,mustard,tumeric,baking powder...im not good at cooking fish,it is also very expensive,i find meat cheaper and easier to "stretch".plus none of us like fish "that looks like fish",IYKWIM...so breaded/battered is ideal..other than that we eat tinned tuna sardines etc...and the very occassional fish supper from the chippy:eek: