Family Support

I'm a vegetarian, so they eat what I cook, and the husband may make a separate meat dish to go with their (husband and our daughter) portion that I made

I feed two athletes and a husband every day. My kids know that good nutrition is important to their training and competing. We eat the exact same meals every day unless they are eating something I am allergic to. I just eat less of the higher calorie choices, and more of the veggies and proteins.

Persistance pays off. Even my husband eats most veggies as long as I cook them the way they like them. Like brussels sprouts, they will only eat them roasted in a bit of oil and lots of salt. They wouldn't touch them boiled. Works for me, I love them roasted! And this is a significant victory, growing up he only ate peas, corn and carrots.

Or you could eat some of what they're having, with some veggies on the side (eating together = win). Maybe if your kids actually see you enjoying some veggies, rather than just seeing their dad reject veggies, they might even try a veggie once in a while (= second win). And it might make it easier to meet that goal you recently set of eating at least 1200 calories a day (= third win). Win-win-win. What's not to like?

My husband was like that when we first met. Now he eats whatever I give him. Consider this: healthy food doesn't have to taste like crap. And you can still give your males their daily dose of hunter/gatherer while feeding them broccoli. Broccoli is a favorite of my husbands, all I have to do is steam it FRESH (give up NOW on frozen veggies, cause there isn't anything you can do to make those steam right/taste good IMHO) and for them, smother it with a little butter and salt to taste. They will grow to like it. Or do healthy food meals, but make a really tasty gravy for them to pour over it. A favorite at our house is pork chops, broccoli/asparagus, and sometimes corn or noodles, with a light turkey gravy for them and none for me.

I'm also one foot in the "suck it up" camp though. Like @MommyL2015 said, you are not an Olive Garden mmmmmkay? You can't be expected to make different meals for different people all the time unless hubby and the boys are willing to shell out $12 per plate plus a tip. I wouldn't even say anything to them. Just make the food you'r gonna make, butter/gravy/seasoning on the side for them to use at will, and serve it up. If they can't be bothered to cook for themselves, then I guess they aren't that hungry are they?

I'm gonna disagree with @ZeroDelta a little bit here, although with a caveat: clearly what his family is doing is working for them, and everyone's family works differently. So more power ZD. I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm glad you were able to find something that worked for you, and who knows, maybe it will work for her too.

But I do wanna play devil's advocate here. Maybe people SHOULD be forced to eat food they don't like or want, or rather, CHILDREN should be. You only have so much time to teach your kids the very important lesson that sometimes, you have to do things you don't want to do, don't like, or are uncomfortable in order to attain a desired goal, or to avoid a worse consequence. In this case, that goal is good health and the consequence is poor health. If you were to try out what ZeroDelta's family does, what do you think everyone would eat? Would you approve of your sons eating macaroni and cheese 4 nights a week? Or pizza rolls? Or any number of other easy-to-make-easy-to-eat meals that are awful for them? Obviously, you can't force your husband to eat something he doesn't want to. He's a grown-*kitten* man and your control there is limited at best. But you're your sons' mother. You have a sacred natural RIGHT to wield some power and control in their lives until they come of age. I'm not advocating you make them suffer or do crazy stuff that will ensure they end up with eating disorders obviously, but I also don't think you throw in the towel and let them eat whatever the hell they want whenever they want without maintaining some standards (again, ZeroDelta, I do assume you have rules surrounding your daughter's dinners, I'm not saying you don't, I just don't have that info is all, I'm really not going about with some awful idea about you as a father or anything:) I promise). You have a right to tell a child how things are going to be while they are dependent upon you for basic life sustaining stuff is what I'm saying. And someday they'll for sure be off on their own making bad choices when you CAN'T be there to stop them.

So just some healthy food for thought. This doesn't have to be an either/or situation. Maybe consider too, phasing things in real slowly. 7 years ago when hubby and I got together, his choice of dinner was literally a bowl of meat. He called it "bowl 'o' meat". That's not a joke. I'm serious. I had to start out by grinding up canned green beans to mush and adding them to hamburger helper or sloppy joes. And now he eats broccoli, green beans, zucchini, asparagus, fish(used to hate it!), you name it. I think a lot of his problem was that the "veggies" he was exposed to in his youth were always frozen in bags, then microwaved. I don't blame him for thinking they were disgusting, those were. Fresh is not.

clgaram720 wrote: »

Would you approve of your sons eating macaroni and cheese 4 nights a week? Or pizza rolls? Or any number of other easy-to-make-easy-to-eat meals that are awful for them?

I'm very fortunate. My daughter is leaning toward pollo vegetarianism. While she may eat a fair amount of macaroni and cheese, she also usually eats a large salad and some protein with it. She's a smart kid. She learns from other people's mistakes. )

ZeroDelta wrote: »

christinev297 wrote: »

All I can say is please try not to raise your kids to be fussy adults. Think of their future wife and what they are going to have to go through.

Or teach them to cook so they don't have to rely on their future spouse.

Haha very good point