meals for kids

shaz1000

Has anyone got any ideas for meals that kids of 9 & 12 might eat. I have tried everything I can think of. They don't like pastry,mince,vegetables,sausages,chops,potatoes,rice,cold meats,curries,fish,eggs,chips. All they will eat is spaghetti, pizza,chicken, chicken burgers,some fruit, pancakes,hot dogs. I am trying to stop them eating processed foods, but then it is really difficult to get them to eat anything. I have tried starving them - but that didn't work. HELP !!!!

Yoga_Girl

I really like the Annabel Karmel book "Family Meal Planner" for ideas for feeding kids.

Some of her ideas include burgers (ones you make yourself eg chicken or vegetable), for example one recipe is for mini beef or lamb burgers, served on a bap with some grated apple and a cheese slice cut into a star shape.

She has a web-site
https://www.cookingforchildren.co.uk

The web-site is mainly aimed at babies & toddlers however there are some family recipes on there such as;
https://www.cookingforchildren.co.uk/chickburgers.htm

You could get your kids to make their own pizzas, buy a pizza base then get them to pick their own toppings and design their own.

You might get some ideas from the money-saving old stlye thread, I saw some lovely recipes on there recently for making crisps out of root vegetables.

Good luck, I'm sure others out there will have lots more ideas for you!

Nickynoo1

I don't have kids so no experience. However I saw on telly a woman whose son wouldn't eat onion. But they made burgers together, with onion in it, and when they were cooked he ate them.

The point I'm trying to make is that if they get involved in the preparation and cooking of foods they might just realise that they like something, or be willing to at least try something they thought they didn't like.

When I was a kid I didn't like a lot of things, particulary veg. But some of those things I hadn't even tried. Still don't like sprouts or tinned carrots though.

Hope this is worth a try

Nickynoo

rushnowt

great sites Yoga, thanks, my little un is just going through the picky stange at the mo, everything she once liked she now hates, its driving me bonkers, hopefully these will give my some great ideas to get started on ;D :-*

jellyhead

will your kids eat any veg at all? most kids like sweetcorn. will they eat cherry tomatoes? what about smoothies made with fruit?

shaz1000

Thanks for your replies. There are some good ideas here. They won't eat cherry tomatoes or sweetcorn. I will certainly be trying some of the recipes from the website .

Spendless

Shaz
- have your kids tried things and said they don't like it - or do they (like my eldest) look at stuff and say theydon't like without trying?

i fib to mine coleslaw becomes creamy stuff - no mention of ingrediants - and so on but perhaps yours are too old.

a friend of mine with faddy kids introduced a 5p reward for any new tastes tried with some success.They only got 5p for the first try tho. ::)

jellyhead

when my boy was small (he's never really wanted any food lol!) a dietician told me not to worry about how many different foods he was eating and to look at the nutrional value of those that he will eat happily. she said his diet was okay apart from the lack of dairy/red meat. he has calcium supplements and a daily multivit for added iron and vit D.

he eats chicken nuggets mostly, rice, sweetcorn, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, jam on brown bread/pitta/crackers, bananas, dry breakfast cereal, peeled apple slices, raisins, grapes, kiwi, fish nuggets and cakes but only the cheap kind, not real fish. he also takes fruit bars (school bars) and winders to school because he's too clumsy to manage 'real' fruit. they might contain too much sugar and not enough fibre but the dietician said they're better than crisps! he won't eat white bread or any 'wet' foods, he doesn't like potato or chips. about once a month he asks for ice cream or a yoghurt. pasta must be plain boiled - no sauce.

the dietician suggested that ketchup could actually be considered a food as it's made of tomatoes, full of lycopene and vitamins and as he has hardly any salt or sugar in his diet it's not too bad for him. you can get calcium fortified danone water and even calcium sunny D! he also drinks ribena. it's all relatively good for him lol! once he calmed down and realised i wasn't going to try to make him eat foods he hated he was relaxed enough to try different foods, he hates most of them but at least he tries with an open mind and we've found that he likes melon. the dietician reckons that kids who are forced to eat their greens etc. end up leaving home vowing to eat at mcdonalds for the rest of their lives lol!

all kids are different but if yours are very picky you could at least insist on their eating 5 portions of fruit or veg a day (only one of can be juice) no matter what else they eat.

good luck :-)
shaz

Sarahsaver

here are some things my kids have for easy and healthy, also cheap meals.
baked potatoes with a choice of grated carrot, tuna, sweetcorn, cheese, tuna... just put all the toppings on the table and let them choose

tesco value noodles cooked with broccoli or carrot slices or sweetcorn, and peeled prawns or leftover chicken mixed in

pasta bake made with 1 tin tom soup, pasta quills, 1 tin tuna, 1 tin sweetcorn

pancakes. I regularly make a lOAD of batter and let the kids choose toppings, cheese, chocolate spread, syrup, then just keep going til either the batter is used up or they are stuffed! Then somehow they still manage to eat fruit for afters.

pizza. we make our own, and again its the kids choice of toppings, cheese, sweetcorn, salami if we're feeling swish, olives, capers...

I have noticed a theme in all this i think its the choice factor, and also an involvement in the preparation. I find their curiosity has grown since i have made a determined effort to make everything myself - down to the bread. They are curious how to make things and more willing to help.

My 2 youngest love big omelettes made with onion and whatever leftover veg there may be, or a bit of bacon or leftover meat if theres any.

Hope this helps you a bit.

Savvy_Sue

Pitta pizza - or you can do this with pizza bases but one of mind doesn't like them!

Put tom. puree, grated cheese, any veg either of them might deign to eat (even baked beans!), chopped ham or chunks of chicken or other cold meat, drained tin of tuna, pineapple chunks etc etc etc in bowls on the table.

Let them build their own pizza. Pop in hot oven for 10 minutes.

We end up with one pizza that has no cheese but everything else, one with cheese, meat and sweetcorn, and one which varies. But it's eaten, and you know what's gone into it.

Also it can be worth asking what it is they don't like about the stuff they don't like. Texture? taste? appearance? That can give clues ...

My eldest used to be horrific, but now it's usually just him and me I'm cooking for he is remarkably well mannered about eating food that tastes of something! I give him the choice: cook while I wash up or wash up while I cook, and he prefers to wash up!