meal planning/fussy child HELP :-/

boredjellybean

Hi there

I know this is asked all the time but I'm trying to meal plan & I have one super fussy child that is inhibiting all my creative ideas

One of my children won't eat onions, rice, pasta & mince & generally doesn't like sauce with her food

Now I quite often just plan something including those & she will have something else but I'm on a tight budget & my mind has gone blank

Can anyone help me with ideas & also any suggestions that I can cook for all of us (everyone seems to like chicken & pizza lol) also any ideas on what I could batch cook for a fussy child that doesn't include onions or ideally sauce as she prefers dry food

Thanks

Crochet_Teapot

I had a fussy eater and I used to cook something different for him, but frankly it was a pain and created stress for me. So basically I gave him what we were eating. For example, he didn't like fish pie. So I started giving him a very small portion of fish pie and served it with plenty of baked beans (which he loves). At first he would leave the fish pie and eat the beans. Eventually he tried a bit of the pie, and gradually he would eat more and more until now he stuffs it down.:j

I wouldn't pander to fussy eaters. Just put the food in front of them (including something that they will eat e.g. mash, beans, carrots) and if they are hungry they will eat. Don't tell them off for not eating it. Just keep things nice and relaxed and eventually they will try different foods.

flipper_72

My ds is an onion hater, I either cut the onion really big so he can pick it out or blitz it with the mini blender so it is impossible to see.
He is also very fussy so he regularly ends up with half of our meal, eg last night the noodles and pork, but without the sauce. Or I do him a piece of white fish instead of salmon so that as much as possible I am not cooking something separate. He does love beans though so I make at least one bean based dish a week and where possible freeze leftover portions so we can have a meal he hates and he has one of "his" frozen meals reheated. You may be able to do the meal freezing for your fussy child to help on some days.

jk0

As someone else said, don't pander to it.

A few years ago I had a girlfriend who I regularly cooked spag bol for. I actually cut up vine tomatoes to make the sauce. My gf used to pick out bits of tomato skin and leave them on the side of her plate.

I pointed out one day that about four tomatoes had gone into her sauce, but she had only pulled out enough skin for one, so must have ate the other three tomato skins without noticing.

She was 37!

suki1964

My grandson is becoming fussy because his mums partner is :mad:

He used to eat EVERYTHING but now cos "dad" is being pandered too, he's also deciding he doesn't like something, usually never having tried it

I refuse to pander to it. Ok so I do in a way in that I won't put something on his plate I know full stop he doesn't like, but everything else is fair game. He told me this week he doesn't like coleslaw, but he loves carrots, cabbage and mayo, so he was given it, and he ate it. Told me he didn't like tomatoes or corn, both went on his pizza he made and he ate them lol


Quite often it's texture that's not liked. Seems your little one doesn't like soft slushy food. So instead of mince and potatoes or bolognaise, turn the mince into burgers perhaps? Getting the kids involved in the mixing and shaping really helps them become more adventurous with tastes. Grandson loves making pizza and picking his toppings and will try something he's turned his nose up to before

jackyann

This was our system:
Large piece of paper on the fridge. Everyone write down one meal they would like next week. Parents add in with healthy & cheap stuff!
These meals are taken into account when meal planning.
IF anyone moans / fusses, then they are not allowed to put a choice down for the next week (and siblings will really enjoy making sure that is enforced!)
We did allow children to say politely, away from the meal table, if they had a real dislike, and would make some attempt to accommodate that (one child always had tea at his friend's on Tuesdays, so that was baked bean tea for us). This allowed the children to be heard & acknowledge, but not "pandered to". Crochet Teapot's idea can be accommodated into this.

We found that it worked very quickly. They remain, as adults, polite & thoughtful, and on a recent family holiday we had quite a laugh as we planned menus!

kathrynha

Involving kids in the food prep often helps make them willing to try it.

Also serve different elements of a meal separately. I'm a Guider and over the years have seen lots of fussiness. We always used to do tuna pasta bake, and some would refuse to eat it. Now we do pasta, tuna sauce and grated cheese all separate, and most will eat all 3, and the remaining ones will generally eat at least 2 out of the 3.

Other option, which is harsh but works is to just serve up a meal to everyone, and have the only alternative as dry bread, and pudding only for those that eat the main course. Most kids won't last more than 2 meals before they start eating normally.

rosie383

Thanks for asking the question OP. I have one exactly the same; she just does not like foods which are mixed together. So pasta, tuna, cheese separate, no problem. Pasta bake with the same ingredients is a no no.

We will be going abroad for a couple of months soon and this should cure her. She will soon realise that she will go hungry if she doesn't eat what is put in front of her. It worked for my eldest at the same age and she now eats everything.

boredjellybean

thanks for your replies - my DD is 12 & this is not a recent problem, I have tried just serving things up to her or making small adjustments for her but the fact she really doesn't like pasta or rice is hurting my money saving mind with meal planning

I have just had a chat with her & written down a list of things she likes which is helpful & I am planning on batch cooking some things so that the rest of us can have things we all like, I don't want to go down the road of making two meals but we can't all live on the same few things

CRANKY40

What does she like then? My son doesn't like boiled rice but will eat jacket potatoes. He does like pasta but isn't keen on chips. I'm like your daughter - I don't like food that's too wet so I don't like casseroles with everything in but generally if I have the potatoes separate so I have something dry on my plate I can eat it. It does sound more like a texture thing than being fussy. Some people would probably describe my son as fussy but he eats healthy meals. He had porridge for breakfast today for instance but bananas make him gag. He never leaves his dinner so he can have dessert - we don't have desserts after meals so mostly I tolerate his preferences. He likes pizza. We make our own from the Girl Called Jack recipe book but instead of penny pizzas he makes one big enough for his dinner. We get four bases from Jack's recipe but you would probably only get 2 for a 12 year old. The unused portions freeze fine until required. So does the unused bit of the mozzarella ball.

Twelve is a reasonable age to discuss budget and meal planning so get her to help you and see if she can come up with some positive changes.

boredjellybean

she will eat potato things, though not as keen on mash
tonight she had waffles & fishfingers with peas & cleared her plate
I try & cook things she likes & I'm trying to think of things I can batch cook & freeze to grab when we're having something she really doesn't like