A Week’s Worth of Meals for Fussy Eaters

So, there are literally thousands of articles to be found on the web, about fussy eaters – and here’s my version!

I used to pride myself on not having ‘fussy eaters’. My children were given a huge range of healthy food and all sorts of vegetables when they were babies. They always ate well. But now, at the ripe old age of 4 and 7, they’ve decided that what they won’t eat is endless. And menu planning each week becomes such a tedious task, I’ve taken to installing myself at the local supermarket every Monday morning for an hour, where I can get a fair coffee and use their Wi-Fi to trawl Pinterest for recipes. I did fall into the trap for a few months, of making separate meals for ‘them’ and ‘us’! Sometimes it is easier that way… but I also want my kids to have a full and balanced diet, and I don’t want them to be awkward eaters when they go to other peoples houses. Anyway, it’s a constant battle, fought by many a parent, and probably always will be. I do console myself however, that my kids are growing and developing appropriately for their ages and that their diet is far more nutritious than many children in the world. For this I’m grateful. I’m also glad that I have actually managed to put together this little list of handy go-to recipes that I know are full of goodness, and will be consumed without fuss at dinnertime. Hopefully one or two may help you too. Even better if the kids can get involved with the cooking! Another way to get them to try something different.

7 meals sure to be eaten by my (fussy-in-their-old-age) kids:

Chicken & Corn soup, the simplest recipe I could find which uses 2 cloves garlic, 4 spring onions, 500g chicken breast, 2x 240g cans corn kernels, 1L chicken stock, 4 tablespoons cornflour and 2 eggs.

Vegie loaded Shepherds Pie made the usual way but with grated carrot and courgette and finely chopped mushrooms. I also replace the minced beef with tinned lentils sometimes.

Fish Cakes & Chips (& Peas?) I find it’s best to add the peas into the fish cakes so that they don’t end up on the floor!

Lentil Bolognaise using tinned lentils instead of minced beef, with the added vegetables the same as Shepherds Pie.

Fish Pie with a tin of tuna added to the regular fish mix of cod, smoked haddock and salmon.

Roast Vegies – all the usual Sunday roast trimmings, with gravy. I love doing this one as it’s SO simple. Literally just wash and chop and pop in the oven! You can even squeeze in a little play time while it’s cooking.

Stir Fry using the vegies I know my kids like, with or without chicken, and with noodles or rice. I’ve found a good mix for the sauce is 2 tablespoons Hoisin sauce, 2 tablespoons oyster sauce, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of honey. And I use sesame oil to cook the stir fry.

Hopefully there’s something new there you might be able to try!

See our other articles on food; Brain Food, Food for Active Families.