How do you get fussy eaters to accept a shared family meal?

Giving children a small sense of control — their own section of the tray, or a separate bowl to dip from — tends to reduce resistance without requiring you to cook anything different. The food is the same; the feeling isn't.

Is there a good personal trainer or Pilates studio in South Kensington for busy parents?

Barone Fitness is a one-to-one personal training and Reformer Pilates studio based in South Kensington SW7, built specifically around the schedules and realities of Kensington & Chelsea parents.

What's a realistic post-dinner wind-down routine when you have children at home?

Eight minutes of gentle mobility — hip circles, a forward fold, cat-cow and child's pose — is slow and quiet enough that children can do it alongside you, which means it's far more likely to actually happen.

The Reset · Edition 03 · 3 May 2026

One Dinner, No Battles

How to cook one meal the whole family actually eats — without running a short-order kitchen.

Photo: Nadia Valko / Unsplash

The most reliable way to feed a family without losing your mind is one base, built into three plates. A big traybake of chicken thighs and roasted vegetables — everything on one tray, then each person assembles their own plate from it. Adults add harissa or a green sauce. Children take the plain bits. Nobody goes hungry and you haven't cooked three separate meals.

It sounds obvious. But the shift that makes it actually work is giving fussy eaters a little control — their own section of the tray, their own small bowl for dipping. The food is identical; the feeling of choice is what changes the atmosphere at the table.

If you're in and around Kensington & Chelsea and the evenings feel relentless right now, this is the one thing worth trying this week. One tray, one oven, roughly 40 minutes of mostly-unattended cooking time.

The move — 8 minutes, no kit, kids welcome

One Dinner, No Battles — the move — Photo: Vitaly Gariev / Unsplash

It's low enough effort that you'll actually do it after dinner, and slow enough that children can join in without it becoming chaos — which means it happens.

01Stand behind a dining chair, hands resting lightly on the back. Circle your hips slowly — 8 circles one way, 8 the other. Let it be lazy.
02Step away from the chair, feet hip-width apart. Roll down through your spine vertebra by vertebra until your hands hang near the floor. Hang there for 5 slow breaths. Roll back up.
03Lower to the floor (or a yoga mat if you have one nearby). Come onto hands and knees and move through 10 slow cat-cow stretches, breathing with each one.
04Sit back into child's pose. Arms long in front of you or resting alongside your body — whichever feels better. Stay for 8 breaths.
05Roll onto your back. Hug both knees into your chest and rock gently side to side for a minute. That's it. Done.

The plate

Build-Your-Own Traybake Chicken

This is less a recipe and more a method. Everything goes on one tray; everyone takes what they want. The chicken stays simple so children will eat it — the flavour for grown-ups comes from what you add at the table.

·6–8 bone-in chicken thighs, skin on
·3 medium courgettes, cut into thick half-moons
·2 red peppers, cut into strips
·1 large sweet potato, cubed
·Olive oil, salt, pepper
·1 lemon, halved
·A few sprigs of fresh thyme or rosemary if you have them
·For the table: harissa, a good yoghurt, flatbreads or rice, any green sauce you like

The shortcut: If the week is brutal, use a bag of pre-cut stir-fry vegetables for the tray — it saves all the chopping and it still works.

Where we eat

Farm Girl, Exhibition Road

Farm Girl on Exhibition Road — a short walk from the Barone Fitness studio — is the kind of place that earns its spot as a local regular. It's at 8 Exhibition Road, South Kensington SW7, and it has the feel of somewhere that takes the food seriously without making a performance of it. The room is easy, the pace is calm, and it's the sort of spot you find yourself suggesting when a friend is in the area and you want somewhere reliable rather than somewhere that needs explaining.

8 Exhibition Rd, South Kensington, London SW7 2HF, UK · View on map →

The note

Once this week, eat at the table with the screens put away — phones in another room, no television in the background. Just once. It doesn't need to be a long meal or a special occasion. Even fifteen minutes of proper, undivided eating-together time tends to feel noticeably different to everyone at the table, including the children.

Train with Barone

Sessions are 60 minutes, one-to-one, at home or in-studio — no gym membership required. The 20-session block works out at £110 a session and is where most clients land.

Book a session →

Good to know

How do you get fussy eaters to accept a shared family meal?: Giving children a small sense of control — their own section of the tray, or a separate bowl to dip from — tends to reduce resistance without requiring you to cook anything different. The food is the same; the feeling isn't.
Is there a good personal trainer or Pilates studio in South Kensington for busy parents?: Barone Fitness is a one-to-one personal training and Reformer Pilates studio based in South Kensington SW7, built specifically around the schedules and realities of Kensington & Chelsea parents.
What's a realistic post-dinner wind-down routine when you have children at home?: Eight minutes of gentle mobility — hip circles, a forward fold, cat-cow and child's pose — is slow and quiet enough that children can do it alongside you, which means it's far more likely to actually happen.

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