My kids are very fussy eaters please help with new meal ideas?

Question

Ok can you please help me as i am running out of ideas.My kids are 5 and 4 and are suh fussy eaters.The only eat fruit and veg if it's hidden.But will eat raisins.
I am running out of meal ideas for them as they are so fussy.
My usual things are nuggets,pasta bolognaise,soups,noodles and things like that.
Before anyone suggests i'm a lazy parent i'm far from it as spend ages preparing food for them just to turn there noses up at it.
New meal ideas would be most welcomed.
Thnakyou in advance

Answer 1

♥ ♥ try putting hot dogs or strips of chicken in biscuits, roll the biscuits kind of flat or use crescent rolls, then roll them around the meat and bake..called chicken/ pigs in a blanket....cut celery into small pieces, add peanut butter and raisins... called ants on a log....mac n cheese.... try some dips and raw veggies, carrots are pretty good with peanut butter and also applesauce......maybe some caramel dip or chocolate dip with fruits... add an egg to their chicken noodle soup, grilled cheese sandwiches... if all else fails bribe them... if they eat all their veggies for the week then on a certain day, saturday or sunday you will do something special... rent videos, go to the movies, the zoo... where ever is special.. ♥ ♥

Answer 2

Hi there..I too have a very fussy eater who is terribly underweight and will refuse food even when she is hungry and she's only 3!!! I found that home baked (by her, with my help) cakes and cookies go down well as a treat she can have for when she's finished the food I make her, or try pasta, cooked separately, put into a baking or casserole dish, mix in several tins of tuna, a jar of pasta sauce (tomato and basil seems to work best), a jar of Hellmans mayonaise, mix in some cheese and cover the whole lot in cheese that melts to make a topping. Put a cover over the dish and bung in the oven at max temp. until the cheese is melted or starting to go brown. Hot, delicious, full of good stuff, and only takes about 20 mins to create!! Good luck.

Answer 3

I know it has got nothing to do with being a 'lazy parent': my younger son will eat anything we put in front of him, but his older brother always had a rather, shall we say - discerning taste, which meant he would only ever eat basic plain foods, heavily based round carbs (pasta, potatoes and white rice).
He's 13 now, and eats (almost) everything, including the wholefoods, but it did take years of gentle introducing and re-introducing of all sorts of different foods, until he got to like them.
Meanwhile, if you are worried that your children don't get sufficient nutrients from their food, you could always make batches of tomato-based vegetable (pulses included) sauce, put it through a food-processor and freeze.
Use this instead of mince-sauce for your lasagne, or spaghetti-bolognese, or on top of pizzas and baked-potatoes, topped with some grated cheese ( it worked for Jamie Oliver...:).
But, most importantly, try not to worry: that would probably just bring more tension to meal times, and make the matters worse.
Good luck.

Answer 4

How about chicken and vegetable pie? Or shepherds/cottage pie, then you can mix carrots into the mince and they get potato as well. Do they eat jacket potato - you can put anything in a jacket potato so they might eat that if you give them a choice of fillings? You said you cook noodles - how about stir fry? Put in broccoli, cabbage, peas, carrots, anything goes really and if you put in enough sauce (soy sauce is best) they won't be able to taste the veg as much, but they lose none of the goodness. Cheesy mashed potato? Also mashed swede/carrot/sweet potato are all good. You could make veggie burgers by mixing peas, diced carrots or crushed broccoli into mashed potato and then grilling it into burgers, then they can eat it in a bun with (possibly) tomatoes and cucumber or salad in the bun too? Or pizza with tomato, mushroom, sweetcorn, peppers etc on it. If you make the pizza base yourself or buy a ready-made base they can help you top it. Or make leek and potato/broccoli/carrot and coriander soup and then put chicken into it and give them some nice bread to dip in it? They're some of the best ideas I could think of!? Hope they're helpful!

Answer 5

I found the best way to get kids to eat things is to get them involved - make 'faces' with chicken nugget eyes, mashed potato hair, peas for a mouth - or a train from fish fingers, make a face on a pizza base with sausage slices, sweetcorn nuggets for teeth, ketchup for noses, get them growing cress and make sandwiches of it - let them cut it with scissors - make meal times 'fun' - 'after you've eaten this, we can play a game/watch a DVD/ go out and play, etc, the bigger the issue you make of food, the more they'll play on it as it's their way of controlling YOU. if you make something and they don't eat it, don't make a deal, when they're hungry they'll eat! Oh, and if one child tries something or eats something new REALLY praise them up in front of the other - they won't be far behind in the trying - good luck

Answer 6

in my own experience (having a son who doesn't like any thing unless it comes in a shinny cellophane wrapper)children are far more likely to eat known foods and try new foods if they are a part of making them.there is a web page called cooking with kids that offers some fun healthy ideas . and given the age of your children Post cards from Buster is probably a favorite show ,and cameos a variety of ethnic foods with loose recipes (what encouragement huh?)you can find more detailed recipes at tvfood.com or bhg.com
your kids are young this is an excellent time to get them started in the kitchen ,and taking part boosts moral and encourages an adventurous appetite
good luck

Answer 7

You might try curry rice with raisins and toasted cashews. It's pretty simple, but there are loads of recipes online, just google it.

When you make pasta, mince veggies up (like cooked carrots, zucchini, etc.) and hide in the pasta sauce. Your kids will never know it's there and you can add them to store bought sauces, too.

Try adding peas to noodles, it might not work, but it's worth a try. I like noodles in butter sauce with peas.

You might get them to eat the flavored applesauces, my son loves the peach mango flavored variety (so do I!).

I hope some of these ideas helped!

Answer 8

my daughter's 3 and is one of the worlds most fussy eaters too. she only eats fish, broccoli, pineapple and raisens! If you go on www.yummyfood.net there are a load of ideas on there that are really cheap to make. My daughter loved the "chicken with 40 cloves of garlic" (although it sounds like you'll keep the vampires away for life, its not that strong at all because of the cooking time). I told her it was fish! Also, garlic is really good for the heart and blood. Try them with a shepherds pie with green veg in, just puree the veg before you put it in, then mix it up. With the mince colour, they probably wont even see it. Try lasagne with spinach mixed into the meat, with the green lasagne sheets in- they're made of spinach and called Verdi. Make them a smoothie with fresh fruit and natural yoghurt, then chill it and tell them its milk shake - all kids love milk shake! What about mashed banana sandwiches? I used to love them when i was a kid. Mash up some banana with a fork, then sandwich it between 2 slices of bread. My mum found the puree-ing veg thing and mixing it with things of a similar colour really worked with my brother, he was terrible for his fruit and veg. what about puree-ing cauliflower and mixing it with mash potato, using the water that you've cooked the veg in to make a gravy - none of the nutreints are lost that way. good luck, remember to check out the website for ideas :-)

Answer 9

Pasta is goog. try making a variety of sauces, includ chopped sausages, cooked chopped bacon, grated gheese, tinned fish such as sardined or tuna.

Use different shaped pastas.

Mashed potatoes with carrot, or swede mashed in. Really hearty home made soups which make good meals. Take heart, they will grow out of this phase.

Answer 10

Try to stay away from pastas, and soups at their young age. Stay with nuggets, bagel bite pizzas, french fries. But be a parent in this problem. If they don't like what you feed them, they will get hunger sooner, or later and they will eat. I think it's time to pull out the parent skill books. It's time for hard love.

Answer 11

Hi ya,
I know what its like to have a fussy eater. My boys favourite meal is pasta, cheese and tomato ketchup. This has kept him going for years, he is 10 now and just trying new things, so just relax, things will get better.