

The tedium of cooking for children


This is NOT my kitchen experience…

Can we talk about mealtimes with a family?  I don’t have one of those Romper Room-esque magic mirrors, but, if I did what would I see at your house? Would there be a blissful gathering around a laden table or would it be more a drive-by style dinner with a variety of meals, eaten in 3 different living areas?

If I confessed to eating Lucky Charms for dinner, at least one night during the week while the boys are with their Dad, would that surprise you?  I’m all about eating well and mentally tally my fruit and vegetable servings daily, but, after nearly 17 years, I am tired of feeding my children.  Sometimes a night off from cooking is what I need more than a balanced supper.

Individually my boys, each have favorite foods and, my youngest aside, their palates are reasonably sophisticated.  My oldest loves seafood and traditional dishes like mashed potatoes and meatloaf.  The middle guy,  after eating no meat other than bacon or chicken for his first five years, is a true carnivore and enjoys lamb, duck and beef as frequently as possible.  He’ll happily munch snap peas or sliced peppers as a snack.

There are maybe 3 meals which I can place on the table and receive unanimous approval from the boys.  I’m thinking breaded and sauteed chicken cutlets, a chicken roasted with rosemary and homemade pizza.  Yep, that’s about it.  Beyond, that, it becomes an exhausting array of side dishes and negotiations.

I know there are cooks who are committed to serving a single protein, starch and veg to the entire family and calling it a day, but I just haven’t been successful on that meal plan.  Instead, I prepare a main dish that at least two of the kids will eat without complaint and round things out with yogurt, fruit and veggies.  And milk, lots of Meadow Brook Farms milk for my growing boys.

How do you do it?

Silvia Meder Lilly

3 Responses

  1. Magpies says:

    I don’t see anything wrong with my “night off” items on occasion: Subway sub with lots of vegetables, make-your-own-sandwich night (right from the deli and including potato or other salad), Stouffers frozen meal (family size), scrambled eggs and toast, chef salad with or without hardboiled eggs, and two or three cans of soup with grilled cheese (toast and microwave for a few seconds).

    My kids eat everything I cook, and I keep a list of our favorite 25-30 meals–and that helps, too.

  2. VS says:

    It wasn’t until I read your post that I realized that my family is among the ones you mentioned who can put a meat, starch and veggie out and everyone will eat it. I’m surprised at this because it was most certainly not always this way.

    Our oldest son was finicky for the first 12 years or so. I will never forget the one Thanksgiving when when he wouldn’t eat ANY of the items from the heaping selection on the table. That year, we all gave thanks for microwavable mac-n-cheese.

    I guess we just kept experimenting with new dishes until we had a decent number of meals that everyone would eat. But it has also helped tremendously that our oldest has very recently expanded his list of acceptable foods to include more things. (They say your taste buds change roughly every 7 years or so – maybe that’s what happened?).

    There are still some things that not all of us love. On those nights, yep, I’ll make a few different things so everyone can enjoy his meal. For example, the youngest son hates corned beef. So on the nights we have that, he gets something else. And there is always a supply of Perdue Simply Smart Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Cutlets in the freezer to heat up for a quick sandwich, if necessary.

  3. @Magpies – Totally jealous by this “My kids eat everything I cook.” Sigh. Mine do not! One out of three eats eggs, they’re not really into coldcuts and I don’t purchase any prepared/frozen meals. Grilled cheese is in the repertoire, though. Maybe I should jot down my successes, too.