Having friends with fussy kids over for dinner

kittycat204

Take_it_like_a_man,_sonny wrote: »

Get it all the time at Yuff Club sleepover. My Johnnie is a vegan, Mine doies not like ...

6:00 am Not a cat will stir.
6:01 Grill On

Wait

6.25 Butties ready to roll.

JOHNNY, YOU CAN'T HAVE ONE BECAUSE!!!!

that's a point, just say you don't want, because your mum says you don't like..... Always makes the little darlings want to prove you wrong, esp when other seem to be enjoying it so much.

BTW how old are these little angels? If you say anything over 10 i might scream.

MidLifeCrisis_3

When they have been for tea after school they generally choose pizza, sausages or fishfingers and eat it while constantly getting up and down from the table and standing on their chairs, etc. Not quite as bad as another child who ate fishfingers, beans and chips using only his fingers:eek:!

I think sometimes parents are too frightened to give their kids different 'adult' foods in case they don't like it. I hate food waste, but other kids have come and scoffed toad in the hole, stew, enchiladas, roast gammon and so on not just the usual junk food.

I know they won't go hungry as I will make some bread to go with it and they can always fill up on dessert. He he of course mine would not usually get dessert unless they had eaten enough of their main course:rotfl:

pigpen

My daughter had a friend who would ask if she could come to dinner if she heard spag bol was on.. apparently mine was the best in the whole world!.. yeah ok love.. it has courgette, carrot, mushrooms, onion, tomato etc.. lol... apparently she ate 'none of that' at home.. I suspect sometimes the parents cook a meal for themselves later so the children get freezer crap OR the parents cooking is simply inedible lol.

My children come back from dads and I ask what they had for dinner (so I don't give them the same the next day) usually the answer is 'dunno it was too burned to tell'

Do you want to invite me for dinner and I'll give you a list of what I don't/can't eat. ?

MidLifeCrisis_3

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

OP, can I make an observation?

You asked your friend if you should make moussaka and she said (or at least implied with her expression) no.
You asked us what we thought you should make and most people suggested doing a roast.
You're going with the moussaka.

Now, I don't think there's anything wrong with dishing up a moussaka to children. If you know they are fussy then they probably won't eat it, but that's up to you.
But I do think there is something wrong with asking for advice and opinions and then completely ignoring them.

I think in the future that if there's something that you want to do then you should just do it. By asking you are suggesting that the answer you get will have an impact on your choice. It hasn't. So don't ask.

Sorry if I have offended you, I'm not ignoring opinion, plenty of other posters have said that I should cook what I like. She pulled a face because she has never given it to them. I have debated it and feel that as they will eat lasagne I'm going to chop the aubergine up rather than layer in large slices and encourage them to try it. I also explained that I would prefer not to do a roast due to time constraints, not knowing which veg they will eat and originally expressed that it may be seen as boring - she hosts lots of adult dinner parties and is a great cook. I'm glad I asked or I'd still be pondering a decision and thank those of you who have helped me choose.

MLC

Gina_of_course!

I remember when I was young, our next door neighbours had 6 children who all ate different meals at lunch and dinner, our mum warned us that she would not be pandering in that way and if anything we were gobsmacked that their mum would be cooking a roast, spag bol, chips and ham, mash and pie, sausages and jacket potato, corned beef hash.. and then a meal for her and her husband. I don't think she ever left the kitchen.

rosie383

Midlifecrisis...... can I just make one wee suggestion? Put a serving dish in the middle of the table, so that the kids and adults too can take a little bit onto their plates, and come back for more if they want it. That way, if they don't eat it, you still can keep the leftovers for another day, rather than looking at plates of lovely food only poked at!

Cook what you want to cook. But I agree with others to have some plain bread (sliced up baguette or whatever) on the table too. My kids are pretty good, but there are certain things I know they won't eat, and I am more than happy if they try just a wee bit of the food and then fill up on bread if they are still hungry. I have given up trying to cater for fussy eaters. When my kids' friends stay over for tea, they usually get cheesy champ and beans or plain pasta. Then a bowl of fruit for afters, or smoothies. Let their parents worry about getting good nutrition into them for every other meal.
Many times I have gone to friends' houses and been given curry. My 5yr old will not eat it, but is more than happy to eat a bowl of plain rice. Because she gets well fed on every other day, it doesn't bother me at all.

oldtractor

^^^^^^^
this

JimmyTheWig

MidLifeCrisis wrote: »

Sorry if I have offended you

It's not me that you're offending. I don't know you!
But if I was your friend and you asked me if what you'd thought of for dinner was suitable for my children and I pulled a face and you made it anyway then I would be offended.

For what it's worth, I think it's a good choice of something to cook. In a different environment, especially seeing your children tucking in, the children may try it and might even like it. I think there's a lot to be said for social eating.
I just don't think it's a good choice when your friend has (from my understanding of the way you described the conversation) said no.

lostinrates

snowleopard61 wrote: »

PS It's not only children who are fussy - I once had adult guests one of whom wouldn't eat the main course as she didn't eat cheese and the other the pudding as she didn't eat almonds (she wasn't allergic and this was long before nut allergies became common and well-publicised, otherwise I'd have checked).

One of my closest friends has a bf who is a vegetarian who dislikes veg. It makes catering for him very difficult. Once he came and i made the iman fainted, and, because he doesn't eat aubergines he ate the stuffing from three aubergine shells and said it was delicious. I couldn't decide whether or not to tell him he had just been eating aubergine, but i decided against.

We used to have meals together all the time, but honestly dh and i avoid it now, because he is so difficult that it makes the evening a chore, and she cooks a separate meal for him when we go there which makes everything seem awkward and a bit weird.

heretolearn_2

Cook what you want but dont try to force it on them/make a fuss about it. Make sure there's plenty of 'plain' stuff for them to fill up on like the suggested bread and butter.

As an ex-fussy eater (well, still a little bit) I used to really dread eating out anywhere. I was always really stressed about what food was going to be there, about the fuss and everyone looking at me if I couldn't eat it, then extra fuss and feeling like a nuisance if they went to get me something else. I just wanted to curl up and die and I got no pleasure at all out of it. The whole thing was one big humiliation and embarrasment.

I agree it's the parents fault (I was never encouraged to try new things etc) but it isn't the kids fault, so please don't make them feel bad. It's not a case of just being awkward. Sometimes I'd be forced into eating things to try and be polite and sit there retching and feeling sick and then even worse because I knew how rude it is to eat someones food then be sick!

I wasn't doing it on purpose. I wasn't being bratty. I just had very restricted tastes and fear of foods and I felt awful about it.