Child won’t eat these dishes, but you’d like them to and all enjoy one family meal together? It IS possible!

Download my popular, dietitian-approved How To Get Your Child To Eat More Variety for tips on how to serve these dishes to even the fussiest of eaters.

Meat Dishes

Recipes

Meat

Chicken Schnitzel With Orange Salad

Meat

This is another lovely family meal that is a bit of a twist on chicken nuggets! Get the kids involved if you have time to

Meat

Beef Curry

Meat

This recipe is taken from River Cottage Baby & Toddler Book by Nikki Duffy

Meat

Beef Fajitas

Meat

I only post recipes that actually taste and turn out how they are ought to

Meat

Chicken Caesar Salad

Meat

The word ‘salad’ can be off putting when thinking about family meals and kids! I can bet your child

Meat

Veggie, Meat, Fish

A Night Off!

Veggie, Meat, Fish

It is important to have a night off from cooking so you don’t lose motivation during the week to cook!

Veggie, Meat, Fish

Week 4, Meat

Chicken Saltimbocca

Week 4, Meat

Chicken Saltim-what?! I don’t use sage leaves and chicken stock instead of

Week 4, Meat

Spaghetti Bolognaise

Week 4, Meat

This is one of my favourite recipes. I’ll be buying a fresh bolognaise sauce from the supermarket this

Week 4, Meat

Week 3, Meat

Chilli Con Carne

Week 3, Meat

This recipe packed to the rafters with fresh vegetables and is perfect for a mid-week meal that will fill you up and leave you satisfied

Week 3, Meat

Toad In The Hole

Week 3, Meat

A sure-fire crowd pleaser

Week 3, Meat

Week 2, Meat

Sausage Pasta

Week 2, Meat

Many kids (my son included) can be funny with sauce and it being mixed in

Week 2, Meat

Week 1, Meat

Meatballs

Week 1, Meat

This is such a simple recipe but so tasty. What I love is

Week 1, Meat

Beef tacos

Week 1, Meat

I cooked this for the first time over Christmas and it was a welcome change to have a completely different meal!

Week 1, Meat

Meat

Chicken & Chorizo Paella

Meat

Get the kids interacting with squeezing over the lemon, making it clear (if they protest!)

Meat

Chicken Skewers With Cous Cous Salad

Meat

Who doesn’t love food on a stick?!

Meat

Fish Dishes

Recipes

Fish, Veggie

Pesto Pasta With Salmon

Fish, Veggie

This might be an obvious meal but I’d completely forgotten about pesto and not served in about 5 years!

Fish, Veggie

Fish

Spaghetti Prawns

Fish

This recipe doesn’t require too many ingredients and it’s very simple but tastes so fresh and delicious!

Fish

Salmon with Mustard Fruit

Fish

This is such a great way to jazz up some fish. Mustard fruit is a preserve made of

Fish

Sea bass with mini roast potatoes

Fish

It is hard to find decent quality fish when not by the sea, but I have been going to my fish counter

Fish

Salmon With Bacon & Peas

Fish

Fish Fridays! If your child wouldn’t eat this kind of meal, please see below for how to introduce

Fish

Veggie, Meat, Fish

A Night Off!

Veggie, Meat, Fish

It is important to have a night off from cooking so you don’t lose motivation during the week to cook!

Veggie, Meat, Fish

Fish

Fish Tacos

Fish

One of the best ways to build’s variety into a child’s diet is to build on what is already

Fish

Week 3, Veggie, Fish

Pea Risotto with Herby Salmon

Week 3, Veggie, Fish

I hadn’t made risotto till my twins were born and this recipe by River Cottage Baby & Toddler Book makes it so easy.

Week 3, Veggie, Fish

Week 2, Fish

Fish cakes

Week 2, Fish

I’ve never made fishcakes before and these were seriously delicious! The Mary Berry recipe

Week 2, Fish

Fish

Fish Wrapped In Streaky Bacon

Fish

Making fish a bit more interesting

Fish

Veggie Dishes

Recipes

Veggie

Bubble and Squeak

Veggie

One of the things lockdown has taught me is to make the most of leftovers

Veggie

Carrot and Coriander Soup

Veggie

Soup has always seemed so elusive to me! Something so tasty that I thought involved a lot more technicality

Veggie

Pasta Pomodoro

Veggie

You can’t beat the taste of fresh pasta sauce! This sauce is so simple, yet so

Veggie

Fish, Veggie

Pesto Pasta With Salmon

Fish, Veggie

This might be an obvious meal but I’d completely forgotten about pesto and not served in about 5 years!

Fish, Veggie

Veggie

DIY Pizza!

Veggie

A fun way to get the kids in the kitchen making their own pizza!

Veggie

Veggie, Meat, Fish

A Night Off!

Veggie, Meat, Fish

It is important to have a night off from cooking so you don’t lose motivation during the week to cook!

Veggie, Meat, Fish

Veggie

Jacky P's!

Veggie

In case anyone else has forgotten about this beauty of a vegetable (I had), it’s my ‘go-to’ for a quick and easy

Veggie

Week 3, Veggie

Tomato Soup

Week 3, Veggie

I sound silly saying this but soup has always seemed so elusive to me. Something so tasty, but

Week 3, Veggie

Week 3, Veggie, Fish

Pea Risotto with Herby Salmon

Week 3, Veggie, Fish

I hadn’t made risotto till my twins were born and this recipe by River Cottage Baby & Toddler Book makes it so easy.

Week 3, Veggie, Fish

Week 2, Veggie

Pizza & Shaker Salad!

Week 2, Veggie

The shaker salad is a fun way to make salad more interactive for the whole family

Week 2, Veggie

Veggie

Best Cheese On Toast

Veggie

I’m not sure if your child is having hot dinners at school or nursery now, but even if not

Veggie

Managing Picky Eating with Meal Planning

Meals for the whole family
I very rarely cook meals specifically for my children, not to be smug (!), but because I don’t want to be a short-order chef! I choose meals where there are components which everyone can enjoy. This immediately takes the pressure off the little ones to try everything on their plate as this is not the goal here. The goal is about creating happy mealtimes where children feel they can try new food at their own pace, which then creates healthier associations with mealtimes.

Type of meals
Some of these meals seem so basic I am slightly embarrassed to post them (!), but I think most people want just some sort of direction when they go to the supermarket rather than coming home with lots of food but nothing specific to actually make! (or is it just me?!) Or even wanting to cook a simple dish such as pasta sauce, but not knowing which recipe actually tastes good as there is no time for trial and error!

Cooking in manageable stages
I often do my cooking in stages and prepare part of the recipe the day before/earlier in the day so it’s less work, for example, shredding the lettuce and grating the cheese for the Caesar salad or rolling and preparing the meatballs ready for frying later in the day. Hopefully there’ll be some leftover chicken on Monday to double as a sandwich in the week or some soup for another quick meal. I stick my meal plan on the fridge door and actually write in when exactly I am doing any meal prep so it can be a quick 10 minute thing in the kitchen, then the next day is much more manageable and less busy in my head!

How to serve to the kids
There is also advice at the bottom of each recipe on how to get your kids to eat the dish too no matter what stage of fussiness they are at! Advice that really works I might add. I hope you find the recipes of some use!