My 10yo son has no interest in food at all. He has a very narrow diet and is not interested in what food tastes like at all - he’d happily not eat at all if it was his choice. He eats to live and that’s about all. I’d like him to start helping out with the cooking to
hopefully get him more interested in food, and to try and expand his diet.
I’m looking for kid-suitable recipes that he might be able to help with/cook himself (with help). Would love it if you could share your kid/s favourite recipes for my DS to start learning how to cook. TIA 🙏🏻
This is a place where women from different backgrounds, cultures and beliefs come together to support one another judgement free.
8 Replies
Have a look at kids ideas on Pinterest! My kids have made a few things on there, they are 7 and 12 x
Pizza, nachos, stuffed spuds, macaroni cheese bake, burgers, tacos. All pretty easy and kids love this kind of food. Be aware though, not everyone likes cooking.
Start with the basics - here is what my ten year old can do independently. scrambled eggs , omelette, mashed potato, pasta, spag bol. Lasagne with help. Burgers. Baking like muffins and scones and scrolls for school lunch snacks or home. Pavlova. Making tea, coffee or hot chocolate and porridge. Simple desserts like making jelly packs, popping popcorn and following instructions on packets.
My daughter just started high school and they cook weekly, I love it because it’s given her new ideas and she comes home and cooks it for me. The food is delicious.
She makes Zucini and cheese muffins, fried rice, Chocolate muffins, Mediterranean Turkish bread ( like bruschetta,
Try and join him in a local cooking class somewhere or go with him and do one. I often look places up for my kids to join. I think it’s good for them.
Buy a small pizza cook they are like a hot plate with the lid. They are amazing. My kids do the bases and add their own toppings and cook them themselves on it. They come out perfect and they all eat them coz they choose what they want on and it helps them to cook in the kitchen.
Get him to help every time you cook, no matter how simple or complicated the meal is. And in particular get him helping with the foods he does eat. My boys have always helped me in the kitchen from when they were toddlers. My youngest was tube fed from birth and it wasn’t until he was about 3-4 years old that he was more willing to try different foods. I found he was more willing to try different foods if he got to choose what he was eating. So dinner would be put on the table and everyone chose what they wanted, and how much they wanted. For a long time he preferred savoury tasting food, so tomato and or bbq sauce were added to just about everything.
Have you spoken to your son’s GP about his food issues? A referral to a dietitian could be beneficial. They will be able to monitor his weight and height to ensure he’s tracking appropriately for his age. A referral to a psychologist may also be beneficial to determine if there is a reason why he has issues around food and eating. They will also be able to guide you both to expand his intake.
Zucchini slice, potato fritters, porridge, microwave poached eggs with packet hollandaise sauce, soups, homemade chicken nuggets, sausage rolls using frozen puff.
If he's into it and the budget allows consider a thermomix. It makes things a bit harder very achievable. Pizza dough in a few minutes, cheap and filling dahl, homemade lasagne bechemal, risotto especially is something I never tried to make pre thermo.
If he's not into it, instead of cooking try growing. If something he's lovingly tended goes into dinner he might be more inspired to eat it. Even if it's just his own fresh herbs.
Just a few suggestions...
My kids were pretty easy with food, but I did find making food fun seemed to help a lot with trying new things.
We renamed a lot of the basics eg Shepherds Pie = Postman Pat Pie; The sauce for spag bol = Gentleman Sauce (because I put it in little individual bowls that they could add to the pasta themselves); They still use these names and they are late '20s now ;)
I allowed them a fair bit of freedom in how they ate... As long as they were at the table with me, communicating, they could eat with fingers, etc. Didn't insist on cutlery. As adults this hasn't effected their ability to eat 'properly with cutlery and manners.
I also modified recipes to suit their texture preferences - one hated meat unless it was minced. They both didn't like 'little bits' in their food - so I grated onion and carrot rather than chopping it.
We all helped cook in whatever way worked and it helped them understand what 'made' a meal. By the time they were 13-14yo each kid cooked a nightly meal each week.