Question for ladies with families....

be an example...if the kids don't want what I cook they have to eat half of it and then forage for healthy alternatives themselves. Carrots, quesadillas, pretzels, cheese, eggs. My kids are older , 9 and 11yo, so a little more self sufficient..but I also don't go out of my way to make things they hate. They both have their likes and dislikes. My older son will eat carrots and homemade kale chips.. the youngers son likes salad and peas...I ask them what they would like, and they help me plan the meals for the week...so I would suggest you ask for input...and have healthy alternatives.

I ditched my husband long ago, so I can't give you input there..he's an adult and if he doesn't like it, I'm sure he knows how to forage too...but I must say that as an adult with some serious health issues, I'd think he would like to be a healthy example to his children...and take care of himself for their sake.

I have this same issue. It's hard to eat healthy all the time with all males in the house, a growing teenage son and my husband who aren't on diets. I say continue to make stuff with vegetables in it. your husband can not put vegetables on his plate and you should find a way to make the vegetables tasty for the kids or get them v8 type drinks cuz they need to have vegetables in their diets. with making the stuff that everyone likes to eat just use portion control. it's not always about having a plate full of healthy stuff as it is about making the food on the plate in smaller portions. try that

I'd say you need to MAKE SURE the kids don't become their dad.
However you have to make that happen, the kids need to eat healthy.

We are like dogs, cats, birds and any other animal that needs to eat in order to survive--if we get hungry enough we'll eat it. We have all been in a situation where we are starving to death and we find a linty mint in our purse or a piece of gum from when gum was invented in our pocket and we eat it :embarassed: . Kids and husbands operate the same exact way.

What I have done is fused all of our tastes together and created a monthly menu that can satisfy us all. Prior to making the menu, I sat down with the fam (Husband, The Girl - 10, The Boy - 12) and ran down a long list of everything from juice to pastas to veggies to sauces. From there I made my list of compromise foods. From those "compromise foods" I created my menu. My husband is also lactose intolerant and loves cereal and ice cream and cheese so at least once a week I create a dish with one of those things in it. Does he complain later? Yes, but it was good going down.:drinker: LOL

Some things on there they don't like so they don't eat, but I post it up on the fridge and I don't entertain the "I don't want that" attitude. My son tried me the other day and after about 30 min of being hungry, he sat his *kitten* right down and ate what I cooked. Your kids are young enough to where they have to eat what you give them but you kinda have to make it fit their taste buds. Most kids are not going to just jump at the chance to eat cooked carrots--even I hate them--but would they eat them another way? I also include my children in the cooking process. That helps a lot too. And then I also make sure that we have a complete and total whatever kind of meal day. That helps because they know they can suffer through Mon-Thurs and then get what they want on Friday.

Good luck! Just remember you are the boss.:glasses:

When I was little, each kid had a "list of 5." These were five things we could opt out from if they were served. Since one of mine for a long time was chicken, I ended up making myself other meals sometimes. Others, though, were silly: beets (which were never served), peas (which my mom hated too, and therefore were never served). I'd choose differently now.

As a child, it put me in a bind. I CHOSE what not to eat. Hence, I had to eat everything else cooked for me.

I don't have advice about the husband because mine eats anything! Lol, but I have a picky daughter and I sneak in veggies by making smooties for breakfast and throwing in a carrot or some spinach. If you use vanilla greek yogert, bananas and berries it will be sweet enough to hide the veggies. Also, if you make homemade burgers or a meatloaf you can chop up spinach or zucchini real fine and put them in your meat mixture. They'll never know!!! Hope this helps a little!

Well, I don't have a family, but I grew up in a "eat what mom cooks or go hungry" house. And it worked. I was a fit, healthy, active kid, and I love all kinds of foods.

Catering to everyone's likes and dislikes will create unhealthy, over weight kids who are picky eaters. No one wins at that game.

You need the sign I have in my kitchen: Today's Menu...eat it or starve!

WINNING!!!:drinker:

I cook for a family of 6 and they can be picky but have really gotten the healthy eating bug with me. I will not cook different meals. It's enough to organise for 6 as it is.

My boyfriend and my daughter are both typically very picky eaters. I do find though that we can make slight adjustments. I prefer lots of vegetables and they prefer little to none. I have been compromising by cutting vegetables up smaller and limiting them to the kinds they like (like onion and red pepper). We do also make my daughter eat whatever is prepared for dinner but might make modifications - she likes plain peppers and not mixed in so maybe she will have everything separate instead of mixed together. My daughter is six so she can also give me her input better than your older child can but sometimes if she helps in the kitchen she's more likely to eat it. Good luck!