Meals for kids, same as rest or differant?

Lyndsay_21

Me and the kids eat late as OH gets in about 7.15 so we tend to have dinner about 7.30 as i like us to all eat together. this isn't a problem for us as kids go to bed at 9 (late i know) otherwise they'd never see there dad as he leaves either before they get up or when they've just woken up. I do all sorts of meals, chilli, boglanese etc which if the kids are hungry i can serve some and/or reheat it for us if need be.

Curry_Queen

I'm sorry if you felt bad about the replies in MOS but I honestly can't see where anyone intentionally meant to upset you. Everyone on there is so friendly and helpful, in fact I think it's one of the friendliest boards on the site

I know it's difficult planning meals to please everyone, especially when your hubbie is on a restricted diet too, but as I mentioned before, if you give us some idea of what he's allowed to eat, and also what the children like to eat, we can come up with some suggestions to help you out

Magentasue

We all eat same meal unless someone has to leave very early or get home late. On days when we're not all eating at the same time, I try to do something like pizzas making them all early and putting them in the fridge for latecomers to cook when they get home.Or a stew that can be reheated.

I didn't buy packets or jars of baby food so they've always eaten the same as us, if they don't like it, they don't have to eat it but they only get bread and cheese. They all like bread and cheese!

rushnowt

It can vary from day to day in our house, sometimes the kids are happy to aet what ever hubby and I are having other days its too much effort to force them and to be honest life's too short IMO to be rowing over what on offer and whats not.

I wont allow them to eat processed crap at any time and I must admit seeing the Jamie Oliver programme has really helped the kids understand my reasons for this.

Hubby can vary at what times he's in so I tend to eat when he arrives but I make the kids meals around the same time each night. I do tend to give them an option between a or b for instance because I know that way it will get eaten and not left.

I was always made to either eat what was given me or go to bed hungry as a child and I learnt to sneak down in the early hours and eat what i could grab quickly because I was so hungry, I truely believe that this had an impact on me binging and then dieting later in life. I was a very fussy eater and my mum would always do spicy curried type meals and I couldnt stand them. It was never an option for me to have something simple like soup or beans on toast if a meal had been made.

Because of this I have chosen to allow my kids to pick what they want to eat obviously within reason, and never force them to eat something they don't want or like, they eat a heathy balanced diet and thats what matters to me. maybe I've made a rod for my own back but Its a personal choice and it works for us.

The only day we sit down to a meal together is Sunday, I'm not particularly a meat lover and my 13 yr old girl has now decided she wants to be a vegitarian, so I prepare a Sunday meal for the family with meat & veg etc and daughter and I have it with quorn or something similar. a bit of variety never hurt anyone

Sarahsaver

IMHO everyone should have the same food. You are nit running a restaurant. I get round the different tastes of my kids by having something each of them will like as part of the meal, for example soup and bread as a starter, my daughter will only eat the bread, but now she feels shes missed out long enough she tried soup and dared to admit she likes it (potato soup!)
Main course with a salad on the side, like carrot and sultana which is a family favourite. Tonight is baked potato night and my kids discovered something they like, by themselves really - mixing grated carrot with the grated cheese for the topping. Natural born moneysavers. I dont think anyone should be 'made' to eat things, but at the same time we cannot afford the money and stress of pandering to every whim of a fussy child - or adult!
When we have a roast my daughter wont eat the meat so she just has some stuffing, dont do anything extra for her. I believe that sitting down together is vitally important and is one of the ways kids learn to overcome their fussiness.

Magentasue

I suppose my approach is similar to Sarahsavers - I try to have something on the table for everyone. If they don't eat the main course, I try to have the stodge they like (potatoes/rice/pasta) or the salad/veg. Occasionally I realise I've messed up and one ends up with an empty plate ... but then there's that bread and cheese!

Debt_Free_Chick

I hope I don't upset anyone, but here goes ...

Kids will get fussy about food if you indulge them. By allowing them to suddenly say ... I don't like "whatever" when they either haven't tried it or have eaten it before, simply sends the message that they have power in the parent/child relationship. And, like it or not, they don't. If you start to give in on this one, you could find yourself on a long slippery slope.

They can also ibe nfluenced by their peer group, depending on where they sit in the hierarchy. If your child is "down the pecking order" then he/she will aspire to do whatever the Alpha Child in the group says. So if they say that burgers are !!!!!!, then your child will say they don't like them.

My partner's son apparently doesn't like cheese or tomatoes. Yeah, right ... but he loves Margherita Pizza! He also tells us he doesn't like eggs, but he's been eating them for 2 years! He's 12 and now suffers from lips that crack at the side. Guess what? Classic sign of B vitamin deficiency. I've told him it's cos he won't eat eggs and he's now eating them again!

You have to use tough love. If you don't, you could end up with a child with vitamin/mineral deficiencies or worse, eating disorders in later life. I really don't mean to scaremonger, but this is the reality.

One of the ways to get kids into food is to get them to make their own, supervised, when they're old enough. Pizza is great for this. Mum and/or dad prepare little bowls of pizza toppiing. Kids shape their pizza dough, with help from parents if required, and then add their own toppings. They can even make pictures or faces with them.

It really is amazing what they'll eat when they make it. You can start them off on this from the age of 4 or 5

And try to find a space in the garden where they can grow their own stuff. Salad onions are easy, as are lettuce (something else my partner's son didn't eat, until I got him started on growing it last year), carrots, radish, courgettes, to name a few.

Please - if you are going to allow your children to choose their food, have some boundaries e.g. MUST include at least 2 vegetables, burger/sausage/chicken nuggets, chips not more than once a week.

As I said, I really don't want to upset anyone, but this is just too important and needs our full attention as parents.

HTH

Sarahsaver

To back up debt-free-chick just watch 'honey we're killing the kids' on bbc3. It's a shocker.

Edinburghlass_2

Please do not let anyone make you feel bad for making two meals if that is what suits you and obviously it does with the timing of hubby coming home and quite frankly does it really matter it if costs you more? MSE as a whole is not about saving money frantically but using the money you have wisely as Martin will often say.

As I child I was sat at the dining room table for hours not eating the food in front of me because I didn't like it, I was 16 before my Mum realised she was fighting a loosing battle with me. I was the child who picked the chopped onion out of mince because I don't like cooked onion and being made to eat still hasnt' made me like cooked onions...I do however like raw onions now!

I vowed with my own daughter I would not force her to eat something she doesn't like and so two meals are often made as she for instance doesn't like pork, I do and she likes pizza, I don't.

I do think kids now have a much better grasp on what is good for them as they are taught this from an early age in school. I remember my daughter doing a food diary quite early in primary school. She watched Jamie Oliver schools programe with me and now goes round the supermarket decrying chicken nuggets etc but hey if thats what they like, try making your own!

My daughter too has always loved messing about in the kitchen and often tries her own throw anything in the pot dishes, sometimes they work and sometimes they don't

rushnowt

I completely understand and except the views of others, I guess we're all so different that what works for one person may not necessarily work for another.

I take the view that I chose to have all my kids with all their differences in likes and dislikes and as such I dont mind running a restaurant, its treated like a hotel most of the time anyway lol.

I always ask them to at least try something before saying they dont like it, although I'm a bit of an hypocrit because I wouldn't even attempt to eat a strawberry if it was the last thing on earth lol, dont know why they just freak me out

As I've said they eat a wide variety of stuff and dont miss out any food groups. I've not eaten a sausage since i was 17, i wont go into the reasons but suffice to say the only person that does in our house is hubby. They are allowed burgers, chicken nuggets etc occassionally, but i make them myself I dont buy anything like that from any brand. I guess we're lucky that living on a farm all our meat, poultry, eggs & veg is our own so i know exactly whats gone into it.

The kids do make their own pizza's and chose their own toppings, we eat brown rice and fresh pasta and boiled or mashed potatoes, chips are a rare occurance.

I believe that kids go through stages of what they do and dont like and this is contributed to by friends at school not just family. To be honest its far more stressful IMO to give them something they're not going to eat and have them moaning all night that their hungry. Its a far happier household when they are given something that I know they will enjoy.

There are so many things that made me heave as a child if I even thought about eating, that now I will happily eat and enjoy. our tastes change as we get older and I believe that my kids will learn to enjoy a wider variety of foods as they get older without me saying they have to try it now. If they're happy and healthy thats the most important thing to me.