Pasta and gravy??? He can't be that fussy if he can tolerate that 
Sounds disgusting, sorry, absolutely yuk, but at least he eats pasta 
C will eat packet pasta from Iceland, less than £1, buy one get one free. He'll also eat pasta with mince or sweet n sour chicken. Won't eat it plain, and I'm definately not a lover of it.
Louise, you'll have to give the receipe for the soup. Sounds really nice, and it should be easy enough for me to cook 
Gordon Ramsay I'm not hehe
Hi all,
We have pasta with a sauce made from tinnned tomatoes, garlic, onions and grated carrot with a bit of cheese on top. Cheap and healthy (and sometimes they even eat it)!
HelenT
My kids eat pasta and gravy too! I feel better knowing that other kids eat it too. What do you eat though when kids eat pasta? I'm soooo fed up with pasta.
I much prefer rice, and C will eat this too. He loves salad. Won't touch tuna, I've tried him with the pasta, tuna and mayo, but hasn't touched it since he was about 3!
I'll happily eat cornflakes for any meal!!
Just a reminder about our fab Food Glorious Food section, I just looked at it and there are some really good recipes and ideas. Click here to have another look.
Thanks for that link. The recipes look lovely, especially as I'm starving and typing this in my lunch break.
Always a bit of a drawback...heh heh
My kids try to be fussy, but then they go hungry and eventually give in, or I say something like if you eat allllll! these mushrooms I'll give you a cake and then the next time they, well its my son in this case, the next time he goes all, but I don't like mushrooms blah de blah de blah I say well you ate them yesterday so you can eat them today, or starve.
My mum used to say, like it lump it or leave it, and I do too : )
I don't bother cooking for them really, I've given up, all they want is cake. I just cook what I want to eat now, can't be bothered with all the I don't like this I don't like that or have them prodding around on the dish going what's that, what's this, I just say it's food, this isn't a restaurant and there isn't a menu.
It got a bit out of hand during the summer and their diet was all full of cakes and sweets and biscuits, but since the new term that has changed and now Saturday is sweets and goodies day, it took about two weeks for the moaning to subside to an acceptable level that didn't have me pulling my hair out, jumping up and down on the spot, frothing at the mouth in frustration at their incessant harping on for something sugar based... now they just make the odd whimper as they look at yet another variation of pasta with something.. and pudding is always, help your self to fruit! which is actually costing me a small fortune but at least they are eating healthily and not stuffing their faces with cakes and what have you and getting all blotchy and spotty.
Tangerines they love, I'm forever finding bits of tangerine skin all over the house and apple cores and banana skins despite there being an no food out of the kitchen rule in the house.
The buggers.
:)
I like your system, Bubblegum. At least yours eat the fruit, mine used to hand over the peel in a dutiful manner and when I finally moved my piano I found loads of satsuma segments under it where they had thrown them over many months, to pretend they had eaten them and therefore get the biscuit afterwards.
C loves satsumas, bananas, apples. In the Infant school, they were given fruit at breaktime, now in the Juniors, it is down to the parents to send the fruit in for them! It does cost a lot, especially when he wants fruit in the evening too. C is really into the 5 a day at the moment!!!
Youngest loves satsumas.
They're all pretty good with the fruit I do buy. The challenge here is me trying to have a few grapes before they eat them all!
Mmmmm, I don't get much of a look in either with the grapes
My boys both love peaches and cherries (ie the most expensive stuff) but youngest eats apples, pears and bananas. Plums are quite cheap in season as well.
I certainly believe that eating healthy food IS more expensive, no matter what anyone says
Agree totally with you Louise.
I always get what every's on offer in Coop, there is generally something nearing it's sell by date, quite often melons recently, of which which my dogs eats the peel :/
I agree though, eating more healthily is more expensive if you just want to eat processed stuff it's cheaper, packet of cheep generic buiscuts 30p bag of apples one pound something, it's bizarre, I mean they do actually grow on trees!!..
I quite often get given stuff by this old chap who has an allotment, we got to know him from wandering past his house and saying hi and one day he invited us in and gave us a bag of pears and ever since he has come looking for me at school pick up from time to time with a bag of stuff, vegetables and fruit, really nice potatoes that just had to be boiled in their skins and olive oil poured over them.
But most my shopping is done by popping in to coop early in the morning and late in the evening when the staff have nothing to do and their manager makes them go round reducing stuff and I follow them about going, oh I'll have that, in the night time they reduce all the in store baked produce, pan au chocolate! lovely rolls! for 10p and they easily last till the next day.
And it makes the money go further and allows us to have stuff we can't normally afford.
:)
Bubblegum, we have probably been fighting over the reduced stuff as that's what I do lol.
Apparently potatoes and tomatoes are easy to grow so I may consider that. I have a small shared back yard but it would be easy to grow them.
I have always wanted to grow tomatoes but my litle garden faces north so not very sunny.
Tower of strength: is that party coming up soon?
Last year we grew potatoes in pots, which worked well...
After I read sparkling's comment I had a look at this on Google. It looks great!
The party is in two weeks. People I vaguely know aren't going now, so I will know nobody apart from the host. I don't want to go now.
I havn't got the courage to go alone and know nobody at all. I need an excuse now not to go. Plus I can't really afford it, I only have two paydays until Christmas and could do with saving the money for that.
I feel exactly the same about parties that I get invited too.
That's a shame towerofstrength, but I do understand how you feel. Christmas is indeed looming, and to be honest, I'm now getting in a state over it.
Loads of hugs. Understand totally.
It's not just the money, though, it is the fact of not knowing anyone, I guess?
Yes, I would have found it hard walking in alone only vaguely knowing a few people.
To walk in alone, though, only knowing the host is a step too much for me. As it's a birthday party in a private hired hall, most people will know each other.
Sad, really isn't it. I posted asking how to make friends, so when I get invited to a party, I can't go as I have no friends to go with! Even if I had a friend, I would just go. I have arranged a blind date for this week though, so hopefully, if he is OK then I could go with him. Desperate aren't I, to be thinking of that when I haven't even met him!!
The money I had for my dress has had to be spent on my son's football boots. His boots just split all the way down the side. They are not even safe for him to use. So it isn't just money, but it doesn't help.
I am starting a new course though after half term, so hopefully that will be another way to meet people. (note to self, I will have to check it's still on)
I also have a christmas staff night out too, which I don't pay for.
The exercise class, well last week there were only two of us. A 14 year old girl and me, so it's unlikley a friendship will develop there. But it was a positive step for me to start, making my next class a bit easier to join.
Hi towerofstrength. A blind date eh? It's not desperate at all. Lots of people do it, though personally its not something I could do. How did you set it up? Is it through a chatline or something? Hope it goes well, and of course I'm sure you'll follow the golden rules of staying safe. Meeting in a public place, letting someone know where you'll be etc.
At least you still have a party to look forward too, the xmas work one. Do you enjoy going to these ones?
Hope you're having a good weekend.
Hi tower of strength
Good luck with the date, don't expect too much, just enjoy the experience, and of course stay safe.
This "making friends" thing is a long process, and I like to think of it in terms of a campaign. In other words, it takes many small steps to start winning, and it is the accumulation of those steps that will bring success. The party was just a step too far, that's all. I am probably one of the most confident people you could meet but that would daunt me too, if I knew NONE of the other guests. When my marriage split up I just thought well I will try everything once, and then pick what suits me. There were a lot more bad experiences than good, but over time things have got better.
What are you up to this weekend?
I'm glad I'm not a girl, my worries about what I should wear don't extend much past what's on the floor by my bed, strangely my daughter is the same, my son on the other hand has major melt downs when it comes to deciding what to wear for some upcoming event, he plans it all days in advance and places what ever clothes by the washing machine, by the evening of the event he has worked him self into such a state that there are inevitably tears.
My teasing probably doesn't help : )
It will probably kick in at a later date with your daughter, your son is already a real style guru. My sons are both really into clothes, especially the 21 year old and yet I have about as much fashion flair as Steptoe senior 
My son could belong to you Bubblegum hehe. His clothes lay wherever he takes them off.
There's always something that needs to come first - football boots are important in this house too!
Best wishes with the date, and I hope you really enjoy the evening.
Never too many worries about what to wear here either, luckily!
Bubblegum, your kids are gorgeous.
i have been chatting to this man for a while now via a free dating site. I don't really have any expectations, I just have nothing to lose. I have no other plans for a night out so I may as well go.
The Christmas party night out will be good. I'd prefer it if the bosses weren't there though, but as they pay I can't complain.
Louise I want some of your confidence! Any top tips for me?
Oh heck, it has just come with age, tower of strength. I think I make a mental list of all the things I have coped with in my life, and say "If I can cope with those, then X does not scare me" We are all stronger than we think. Look back on your life so far and you will find that you have achieved some remarkable things
I would like to have a book to recommend to you at this point but I don't have one. I tried the Gael Lindenfield book about self-esteem but found it rather draconian and stern.
Re the date, he will be nervous too, just think of it as an experience and be prepared to have a chuckle afterwards if it is not ideal...
Thats a good way of looking at it Louise. I will have to try that.
Do you chat using a webcam towerofstrength? Just wondering if you both know what the other looks like etc. What day are you going? I really hope it works out for you, if not, at least you've tried, and you can try again can't you.
Hi
I've been reading this discussion today with great interest. I am soaking up all the suggestions myself! I wasn't quite brave enough to start a thread like this myself so am really greatful that sparklinglime did! I was married to a very abusive and agressive man for 17 years and last summer at long last got the help and courage I needed to break away. I have no family support and only one good friend. I have very little self-confidence and unsure how to make friends. We've had a big change - moving from a rural isolated detached farm to a flat in town in a new area. The boys all seem to take it in their stride and don't understand why I get stressed! They have been super, they are the one reason I cannot regret my disastrous marriage. There are reasons why I married and stayed married that I am just not brave enough to tell anyone yet. It's like I have spent my whole life acting, being what people wanted me to be, and no one knows the real me. Now I'm trying to start a new fresh life as the 'real me' and its scary!
xxx
hello homeedmum
Thanks for a great post I am wondering if you had any outside help with the massive changes you have made in your life. For example, have you heard of the Freedom programme? it is a course and accompanying book which is designed to help women recognise the factors that made/make their relationship abusive, and looks at what would create a good, non-violent relationship with another partner in the future. Click here to have a look.
If that's not your cup of tea, you might consider a few sessions with a counsellor to help you rebuild your self esteem. What do you think?
Hi homeedmum, welcome to One Space. Well done on finding the courage to leave an abusive relationship. It probably hasn't sunk in yet, but when it does you will be really proud of yourself.
Hi
Thank you for the welcome and advice. I followed the up the Freedom programme advice, spoke to a very nice woman on the phone, and I go to my first meeting next week!
xx
Hi homeedmum. Good for you making the step to call the Freedom programme. Best of luck for next week too.
Hi Tower of strength
First thing I'd like to say is that you are normal. It seems to me that most folks nowadays have problems making friends. That's why these on-line meeting sites do so well. My youngest son (14) wants me to get a girlfriend so that he can have a step-mum. When I said it's not as straightforward as that mate, he said "it's easy, you can just get one off the internet".
Just a couple of ideas. You said you are a good listener and you've obviously got lots of 'life experience'. How about volunteering for the Samaritans? You'd meet like minded people and by helping others it would improve your self-esteem.
RE the party. As it's in a hired hall. Why not ask the host if you can help out in some way. I.E. help with the bar. It could be dynamite. You know what us blokes are like hanging around the bar and chatting up the staff! If you are doing a 'job' you'll not get the feeling that a bloody great spotlight is following you around the room. Yes, we all get that feeling, even us guys.
Like I say, you're normal but in a corner at the moment. The fact you are trying to do something about it is to your credit. Keep trying and sooner or later you'll find a solution that works for you.
Good Luck
Paul
Great ideas, Lost in France
Homeedmum, well done and you will get so much out of the Freedom Programme
Thanks Paul. Yes I do think lots of working parents, even in couples struggle to find enough time for fun.
I went on that blind date last night and I enjoyed myself. it was great to meet someone in the same position as me, and lots of others like Paul said.
We hugged at the end of the night, I have no idea if anything will develop from it, but last night was positive
Hi towerofstrength. Glad your night went so well. Did you make plans to meet again? All sounds good anyway.
Glad it went well, nice to find a new friend at the very least!
I'm glad you had a good time too...
No, we won't be meeting again. We had a lovely night, but there was no spark between us so that's it. But it was a lovely night and I am glad I went.
Still have nobody to go to the party with though. Oh well, I'll keep on plugging away.
Can't believe how my life got to be like this. I think due to my rubbish family, i have never really made any friends looking back. But now trying to as a busy working Mum, it makes it even tougher.
have
"Plugging away" is a very good phrase, tower of strength. It does take a long time to build up a new circle of friends or even one or two.
What are you doing over the weekend? Don't forget to put your clocks back tonight. Do you have many trick or treaters at Hallowe'en?
I find it so strange that I have so many adults in my life now - mainly through Scouts, yet no one I can go "out" with!
It's a funny old life.
I know where you're coming from too. No idea life would turn out this way, and yet, there isn't too much I'd change really.
..so are and youngest a good fit with your casseroles? you eat the veg and he eats the meat?
Bolognese here tonight, I have dissolved a few gravy granules as per your tip, to make the sauce more meaty