Having friends with fussy kids over for dinner

peachyprice

As a mother of a fussy child I would say cook whatever you want, just make sure there's plenty of bread and a nice pudding.

I've never expected anyone to provide special food for her, I tend to feed her up a bit before we go out and she'll quite happily sit at the table with everyone else and try a little bit of anything she thinks she might like and munch on her bread then dig into dessert. She surprises even herself with some of the stuff she actually does like and it much better at trying new things at other people's houses.

If you do fajitas and they only eat the wraps and chicken, so what, their parents can't expect you to prepare 'baby food' for everyone else. They're not going to starve if they only nibble for one meal.

janb5

jamesmorgan wrote: »

Whilst it is admirable to encourage children to try new tastes, it is also worth remembering that children's taste buds operate very differently from an adult. They are a lot more sensitive to strong tastes - eating a 'normal' curry for a child would be like an adult eating one of the strongest curries available. They are also very sensitive to bitter tastes - this is a natural response as many poisonous plants also have bitter tastes. So foods such as cabbage, broccoli, aubergine, nuts etc may be unpalatable. It doesn't mean that the food needs to be uninteresting, but I would rarely cook the same food for an all adult meal as I would for a meal that had a mix of adults and children (certainly aged 10 and under). Of course, not all children are the same and many young children enjoy strong tastes, but these tend to be the minority.

I dont agree with you at all. If children are always served bland food then they will regard anything different as something to reject. To suggest cooking different meals for adults and for children- whether under 10 or not - is crazy and time consuming. It takes about 20 attempts to get used to an unfamiliar food. I used to dislike avocado for example but not now.

I hope you have alovely evening OP - I`m sure they will apreciate your food and hospitality.

cte1111

I'd say cook what you like to the main item but have the carbs quite plain, e.g. coq au vin with plain roast potatoes and whatever veg you fancy. They can then fill up on the plain carbs if necessary.

My nieces are unfortunately very picky eaters and I used to get wound up trying to think what to cook them but now go for this kind of approach, e.g. I've done an Indian meal with a selection of veg and meat curries but plain rice and poppadoms which they both ate.

I also try my best to put a plate in front of each of them with a small selection of everything available, they might give it a go and one thing is for certain, if it's not on their plate they are never going to try it!

One of them still doesn't eat much of what I prepare and sometimes ends up with a plain roll (without butter even) and a apple. I figure it's up to her parents to worry about her diet and all I can do is try my best to feed her something so she doesn't go home hungry. The younger one does eat more when she sees my daughter tucking into everything available.

pretz_2

i think what your plaaning to do will please all and may even surprise the sproglets parents as social eating is a very powerful thing. on the subject of the fussy eaters which i think is slightly ot because all you asked for was advice on what to cook and not whether their fussiness was a topic of discussion but some of the comments i feel are slightly harsh as some children are naturally fussy, mine included i've always made seperate meals as she will quite happily not eat and struggles to gain weight because of it food is a very powerful thing in childrens eyes and especially to my daughter as she suffers with autism she has rules about food nothing can touch, no sauces, no mince, no cheese, nothing red or orange so her diet is very bland and although i have encouraged her to try new things it's not going to happen however if we go out for dinner with friends i always take along cucumber, a plain roll and an apple as a back up.

snowleopard61

lostinrates wrote: »

One of my closest friends has a bf who is a vegetarian who dislikes veg. It makes catering for him very difficult.

This really made me laugh. :rotfl:In the days when I was a genuine vegetarian (instead of the fairly indefensible combination that I am now, where I eat fish but not meat) a sweet lady once said to me that she would love to be vegetarian as she was very fond of animals, but that unfortunately she hated all vegetables! At least she had the sense to recognise her limitations ... although she did eat a truly awful diet which consisted largely of 'white' food and nothing else!

JimmyTheWig

I like your suggestion of going the "serve yourself" route, OP. Chances are there'll be something there that they'll like and gives them the chance to try something new in a different setting.

Ceirdwyn

pretz wrote: »

i think what your plaaning to do will please all and may even surprise the sproglets parents as social eating is a very powerful thing. on the subject of the fussy eaters which i think is slightly ot because all you asked for was advice on what to cook and not whether their fussiness was a topic of discussion but some of the comments i feel are slightly harsh as some children are naturally fussy, mine included i've always made seperate meals as she will quite happily not eat and struggles to gain weight because of it food is a very powerful thing in childrens eyes and especially to my daughter as she suffers with autism she has rules about food nothing can touch, no sauces, no mince, no cheese, nothing red or orange so her diet is very bland and although i have encouraged her to try new things it's not going to happen however if we go out for dinner with friends i always take along cucumber, a plain roll and an apple as a back up.

OT I agree. Sometimes what "outsiders" (for want of a better phrase) view as fussiness can in fact be real issues with food. I wasn't a very fussy child, the only things I genuinely didn't (and still don't) like are peas and beans (it's a texture thing) but I still wouldn't eat. I could be given a plate full of all my favourite things, my first question was always "How much can I leave?" My mum would deliberately give me more than I could eat so that if she said I could leave half, I'd still have a reasonable amount to eat. It would still take me over an hour to eat a tiny portion. My weight was a constant worry, and at school I had to sit at the lunch table right in front of the teachers table so they could make sure I ate something. It wasn't that I didn't like any particular food, I just didn't like eating, the whole process was horrible. I didn't really grow out of it until I was about 17, now I'm much better. /OT

In MLC's case, I would probably go with the roast idea, but maybe in the slow cooker? That way you could prepare everything before you went out and only have potatoes and veg to deal with when you get back. Chicken, Beef or pork can be done in the slow cooker and you get lovely tender meat.

Just don't do what my Aunty did one time and dish up to a rather unadventurous child (me) stewed octopus :eek:

sonastin

I think the mother's reaction says it all - if she believes that they won't eat it because they haven't tried it before then they will never be given the opportunity to try it and will never know for sure whether it is actually something that they don't like.

If she had said they hate it then I would agree that it is wrong to serve it but as you/she/they don't know whether it is their new favourite food yet, go for the moussaka.

I was brought up as a "fussy eater". Turns out I just don't share my parents' tastes. My mother hates veg and as I child I learnt that veg is something that you must eat even though it isn't pleasant. I was in my 20s when I realised the "trimmings" were the best bit of the roast dinner and I was 24 before I realised I don't hate brussel sprouts. If the parents have developed the view that their children won't try anything, the children probably won't try anything. Let the peer pressure from your children open their eyes a little and let the other stuff on the table fill their belly.

Oh, and I'm the fussy one who doesn't like spag bol! I still remember the day my dad spent all the cooking-time chunnering because he had to do me a baked potato to go with his bolognaise because I'm such a fussy child, only to serve up pasta shells to everyone else. I have no objections to pasta, its just the worm-y texture of spaghetti that I prefer not to eat! If he'd been more specific about what he was cooking, there wouldn't have been an issue ;-)

DundeeDoll

One person's 'fussy' is another person's taste. If you served me 'junk food' i guess i would politely eat it but i'd much rather the moussaka. If you served me peanut butter and jam sandwiches i would politely decline. If you tried to force feed it to me i'd scream until i was sick (which would be as soon as the smell hit my nose) i dont have an allergy, i just hate the stuff. Does that make me fussy? If you served moussaka to my DD and OH it would have to be dairy free cos they are casein intolerant. Does that make them fussy? I think it's very easy to value our own taste differences (which is why i quote junk food) but say the rest of the world is fussy. (but that 'junk' in that box really is useful bits and bobs :rotfl:)

oldtractor

Interesting post. Do let us know how the meal went.