Feeding a family of just 2 on very limited budgets

quintwins

i'm a mean mummy i would just keep setting proper food infront of her she'll soon eat it if she's hungry she's at that age where she wants to be in control so will refuse new things, none of my boys are fussy, and my 18month old will eat anything

don't give her too many bananas you might make her conspiated

i'd recommend mince, you can make loads of healthy cheap meals from mince, if she'll eat stew make stew from beef shin instead of frying steak ect

squeakysue

Eggs are great for little ones, scrambled served with beans &toast is a favourite here and a quick easy tea when we have been to swimming/rainbows.

A block of cheese goes a long way, cheese on toast, pizza, sandwiches, melted over pasta bake etc. Will she eat raw carrots? My daughter always nicks the biggest carrot on the pile when I am peeling them and scoffs the lot- skin, stalk and all, u could call it a special lollipop and put a stick in it lol, watch lazy town with her, they love to eat sports candy ie fruit and veg this helped get my 2 interested in healthy eating when younger.

You could make your own chicken nuggets with the chicken breast using breadcrumbs to coat and bake them in the oven so healthy. Sweetcorn is a fave for my dd and tuna on wraps sandwiches spuds and pasta..HTH x

Quenastoise

marking to read later - it's bedtime for LO !

Fruball

If you sign up to www.milkandmore.co.uk (the milkman online!) then they give you £10 off your first order so you can stock up on a few things for free

Also, if you don't order regularly then they keep sending you freebie offers with a minimum £2.50 spend So far I have had my £10 free stuff, free Rice Crispie cereal bars and free choc digestives but have only spent around £10 in total since I joined up, and that was on things on offer that I would buy anyway

djbum_syd

RAS - I've been sitting with her at the table and just letting her pick as she wants, etc. If she wants it from my plate, I let her take it, etc. Hoping that if I give her a bit of "control" she might be a bit less fussy about eating. But, I was so unhappy with how my family handled the situation, it did nothing positive just made her stop eating pretty much all together.

I'm making a concious effort to put veg in front of DD everyday with meal times (where possible), and encouraging her with lots of praise when she tries something. It's new for me also, as I've been a funny eater too and would rather eat a chicken nugget than a carrot. Lol. So it's good for us both!

And cheaper!

Lip_Stick

With children the parent should be in control of what their children eat, and you should let the child be in control of how much they eat. Personally I would just put food on a plate and not fuss. Sooner or later they'll be hungry enough to have nibbles of the things they wouldn't normally try.

My 3 year old eats everything, except olives. He once tucked into raw onion from a salad bowl until his eyes streamed lol. My mam moans at times that he doesn't eat enough but she puts far too much on his plate, enough to feed an adult. I serve small meals and if he's still hungry it's fruit or yogurt for afters.

Toonie

Don't worry about the whole veg thing. There is plenty of time for them to get to like things. Over the last 10 years I've looked after a lot of children, some very fussy eaters included in them and I've used the same tactic the whole time. I put food down for them, if they eat it, good. If they don't and it's something they normally eat, it goes in the fridge until later and then they can have it again.

I once looked after 2 year old twins who hated vegetables. I found out why when I saw their Grandmother cook for them once. She put a bowl of mixed veg in the microwave for 10 minutes! My task with them was to try and get them to eat vegetables, so I made stir-fries, steamed their veggies and gave them a lot of raw vegetables. They loved the crunch of vegetables. In just two months they were eating cooked vegetables as well. One of their favourite meals was broccoli and cauliflower cheese. All it takes is perseverance, as previously mentioned, putting veg on your LO's plate will show that it is a part of the meal and they will accept that eventually.

I discovered that the kids I currently look after had never had Yorkshire puddings (two 8 year olds and a 5 year old) so one day I made them, filled them with gravy and then put lots of veggies on the side and told them to dunk the veg in the gravy. They loved it and I now have to make this for them once a week!

meritaten

djbum_syd wrote: »

I think my problem is I get a bit stressed out with her for not eating her dinner, and sometimes we both end up in tears. Not good at all! :-/
Part of the reason me and my family fell out was because they would hold her down and force food into her mouth, and I wouldn't do that. If she didn't eat I'd leave her with nothing until she was hungry and had no choice but to eat what I gave her.


I made a little meal plan up today to take with me tomorrow. Just simple things like spag bowl, omelette, pasta bake, etc. I'm hoping that this wont stretch my budget, and wont make DD throw a paddy! Lol.

Going to pop into my local £ shop too and see what seeds they have. Should be fun.

Now, just got to learn to sew.... Haha.

That is awful hun - but glad you have told us!
may I suggest that you give her as much control over what she eats as you can? poor kid - being force fed is probably behind her food issues!
its a faff I know, but serving portions of food in bowls and allowing her to choose what she wants? when the granddaughters stay they love making wraps - I put salads and prawns and bits of chicken along with mayo and marie rose sauce and even fresh mint sauce on a really large meat plate, and find they usually put just about everything in 'THEIR' wrap! and eat it all!
making the choices as pretty as possible? kids like brightly coloured food..........why I suggest sweetcorn, peppers, beetroot etc.
suggest she makes a 'rainbow' on her plate? and supply the foods in the colours appropriate?

that really shocked me! that people could force a child to eat! still feeling rather sick over that!

Muesli

Just a thought, might it encourage her to eat different fruit if it's cut differently? For example, I usually quarter apples, core them and slice them, but when they got bored of that I thought I'd make them look a bit different so I used a corer to take the core out and then sliced them horizontally, so there was a ring in the middle and they liked the novelty of that. Alternatively, sometimes they like having fruit I haven't prepared, like taking grapes from the bunch or holding a banana in the skin etc.

Another good one is to get another child who is a good eater over for a meal, if another little un is trying it they decide it can't be bad.

For encouraging veggie intake have you tried making patties out of leftover veg, if you mix mashed potato with other veg, shape into patties and shallow fry or bake. Also, if she'd eat pasties or quiches could you try making a batch and freezing? Home made soup goes down well with my little uns, and you can freeze that too. I blend it so there aren't lumps.

If you don't have chance to make pizza dough and you need a quick meal we sometimes have 'pizza toasts' which is basically tomato puree on half a bap or English muffin, sprinkle on some dried herbs, maybe a bit of cooked veg and top with grated cheese and you just toast it so the cheese melts.

If she likes eggs maybe you could add some veg to an omlette for her.

Whatever you do, don't make it an issue, I know it's hard but you don't want to give her food issues. Maybe be worth talking to your doc to see if they would prescribe her some vitamins so you don't worry about her missing out on nutrients, and that way you wouldn't need to pay for them.

Gettingtherequickly

It may help if you lie ever so slightly about the foods, if you give her something she doesn't like, tell her it is something she does like, just in a different form. My mum loves telling the story of us refusing to eat chicken one evening, she quickly lied and told us it was goose, and guess what, we loved it! Of course, if they are very diverse, it is not going to work that well!

Cooking foods differently could also help. I have family in the Middle East and they cook cauliflour to die for, still don't know how it is done as they won't tell me, but I think it is par boiled, then coated in seasoning and quickly deep fat fried & dried. Would happily make a meal of that on its own.