With 3 boys under 5, there’s never a dull moment. Certainly never a quiet one. Buggy Blogger mum to J (4), B (2) and S (11 months) is in need of some fresh menu inspiration.

Hell hath no fury like a woman whose laboriously made fish pie has been scorned. Who could possibly reject the to-die-for combo of creamy white sauce, boiled eggs, mash and a crispy cheese topping (plus, oh alright then, a little bit of yucky fish)? My lot, that's who.

So what to feed them? I would say the rule of thumb tends to be, the longer you've taken to prepare a meal, the less they want it. However, my boys also don't do pasta. And they don't go a bundle on pizza either. Are they deliberately rebuffing two of the quickest-to-prepare crowd pleasers in the book? Or do they just have an aversion to Italian? They also dislike anything too 'spiky'. And more worryingly, J's just announced he doesn't like chocolate. Now that's just not normal.

But I'm being unfair, there’s plenty of food that does float their boat. They’re mad for cheese, cucumber and pickle sandwiches, 'bacon cake' (quiche) and houmous-dunked breadsticks. They eat green beans by the fistful and blueberries like they're going out of fashion. They're thrilled with a bowl of tomato soup with a truckload of croutons dumped on top. And the latest craze is boiled egg and soldiers made out of bagels. Not sure what the Grand Old Duke of York would make of a regiment of round-shouldered (bent?) troops but my boys think they're the bees' knees.

And while the big boys are up to their elbows in egg yolk, S enjoys getting stuck in too. He likes his grub and cheerfully eats whatever I put down in front of him. Not that I'm claiming plaudits for my cooking skills. He'll happily chew on a rubbery welly or a soapy flannel with as much gusto as the lunches I throw together for him so I wouldn't say he's a discerning diner.

However, that might be all about to change. Since the weekend, mealtimes for S will never quite be the same again. Imagine the joy and wonder at tasting your first ever mouthful of apple crumble and vanilla ice-cream. Sheer bliss on a spoon. But have I shot myself in the foot here - mince and two veg just won’t cut the mustard any longer. Will he join the brothers and start to get all fussy over what he will and won't eat? Well he can't – I’ve a freezer full of fish pie that he has to eat for starters…

So, drastic action required. Time to reach for a 'feeding your kids' cookbook in search of new ideas. Hmm, now let's see. Something with a bit of pzazz; something with enough wow-factor to live up to apple crumble-level expectations; something that … gasp … all three might eat. Got it. 'Sleeping cannelloni – classic dish with a blanket of cheese sauce, little mushroom faces, red pepper mouths, grated cheese hair, green pepper bows and black olive boots'. Brilliant. Except I forgot to add into my tick list 'Something that won’t take 3 hours to make' and of course 'something that's not Italian'.

Sigh. Back to square one and sausages again for tea then. Shelve the children's guru cookbook and resolve to do what any girl would do in the same position - call mum for some fresh inspiration. In the meantime, it's S's first birthday tomorrow so for the foreseeable future I'm simply going to let them eat cake.

• Click here for the next Buggy Blog
  
  
• Click here to read previous issues of The Buggy Blog
  
• Annabel Karmel interview
  
• Healthy after-school treats