Do you make alternative dinners for your kids if they don't like what you made?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. But I learned to cook first. I don't expect them to eat anything that doesn't taste good.

This. Most people I know who make separate meals for the kids are not good cooks. I have four kids, and none would eat a frozen chicken nugget over aa piece of roasted chicken and potatoes.

My MIL is a chef and literally makes each of my kids a separate meal.

I suspect you have that kid That devours my candy jar because they are so limited on what they are allowed to have.

?? I have kids that think frozen, prepackaged foods are gross. Because they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a picky water. I grew up eating in a family where everyone had different tastes and lots of times there will be multiple separate dishes cooked (and more if grandparents visit).
It's the same now. Each eats their own dish. Most of the dishes are simple (steak and grilled vegetables for one, grilled shrimp and raw vegetables for another, salad for the third person, etc). Even desserts are different. I don't like brownies without fruit in them, everyone one else hates fruit in the brownies, but some want nuts and some hate nuts. Four separate trays are baked.

Does anyone in your family have a life aside from catering to each other's neuroses?

Who cooks all these separate meals? And handles all the clean up? This sounds exhausting and sad. A cautionary tale of how not to raise kids.

[Anonymous]

Nope, we don't cater to their preferences, though I might modify how I plate things (I.e more pasta, less ratatouille on top of it). They have a salad each night of veggies they like (lettuce-less for one kid) soi don't stress about what other veggies they are eating, though we encourage them to try everything and they're pretty adventurous in that regard. I also don't spice food while cooking it like I used to, and we definitely have some family favorites in heavy rotation. Once or twice in the past year I recall letting a kid grab a cheese stick or the like because they were really struggling with what I made, but that's generally not an option.

[Anonymous]

I think it's kinda funny parents are responding saying they don't make separate meals but will do pasta with no sauce. That's not that healthy. That's like saying eat your vegetable before dessert and the vegetable is corn. Meh. My picky kids would love plain noodles. You're no saint for offering plain noodles.

I have one vegetarian in the house so that one gets a different meal.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely not, but I do try to prevent issues by making sure there's at least something everyone likes.

But sometimes I end up cooking something my DS doesn't like. Once Iv'e gone through the effort of cooking it though I think its rude to simply reject it. So he has to eat it and I'll try to find ways of making it more appealing next time.

[Anonymous]

They can have reheated leftovers, cereal and milk, or a sandwich. I do not cook anything more than the main meal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a picky water. I grew up eating in a family where everyone had different tastes and lots of times there will be multiple separate dishes cooked (and more if grandparents visit).
It's the same now. Each eats their own dish. Most of the dishes are simple (steak and grilled vegetables for one, grilled shrimp and raw vegetables for another, salad for the third person, etc). Even desserts are different. I don't like brownies without fruit in them, everyone one else hates fruit in the brownies, but some want nuts and some hate nuts. Four separate trays are baked.

Does anyone in your family have a life aside from catering to each other's neuroses?

Who cooks all these separate meals? And handles all the clean up? This sounds exhausting and sad. A cautionary tale of how not to raise kids.

I bet I spend less time cooking and cleaning than you with one meal for all. Also zero stress with it, just a pleasant experience. It's one meal a day, rarely two.

[Anonymous]

I will make them a piece of toast if they didn't eat their dinner if they were sick. I'll give them leftovers of something they might like better, if I know they don't like what I'm serving. If they spoiled their dinner, I just leave their plate out and they eventually eat it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's kinda funny parents are responding saying they don't make separate meals but will do pasta with no sauce. That's not that healthy. That's like saying eat your vegetable before dessert and the vegetable is corn. Meh. My picky kids would love plain noodles. You're no saint for offering plain noodles.

I have one vegetarian in the house so that one gets a different meal.

You really think that 1/4 cup of spaghetti sauce is pivotal in your kids diet? I don't count that as a vegetable so if my kids had plain noodles and carrots rather than noodles, sauce and carrots, it does not make much difference to me. A glass of milk for protein all set.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely not, but I do try to prevent issues by making sure there's at least something everyone likes.

But sometimes I end up cooking something my DS doesn't like. Once Iv'e gone through the effort of cooking it though I think its rude to simply reject it. So he has to eat it and I'll try to find ways of making it more appealing next time.

This. If I'm making something new, or something that I suspect won't go over well, I pair it with a no-brainer. Luckily for us, plain steamed broccoli is a no brainer. You must try at least two bites of anything on your plate AND you must clean your plate before getting seconds of anything. So I'll go skimpy on the first helping of, let's say pasta, to ensure that the zucchini or lamb chop or whatever gets a good try.

[Anonymous]

Alternate meals, just for the kids? No. My boys generally eat what we make and eat most foods that we eat. Yes, we will lower the spice level for theirs. If we are having steak, then they are. If they are having chicken nuggets, then we are too. If they choose not to eat, then oh well. They don't get a snack after dinner (normally, they get fruit/nuts/carrots/crackers/etc) and will just be hungry. One night of not eating all their dinner here and there won't kill them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. But my son likes cold red sauce out of the jar so if I make or heat up elaborate or meaty red sauce for DH and I, I pour cold jar sauce on DS's. Same pasta, same salad, same bread.

If we have coconut curry noodles I take his out before mixing and give them plain. All the same veggies, all the same chicken. He gets bbq sauce on the side for his.

Stuff like that.

We are similar in our approaches. Dinner is dinner. BUT if she wants sauce on the side or ranch for dipping, fine by me. If recipe is on the spicy side, I will make it more milder and have hot sauce on the table for DH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a picky water. I grew up eating in a family where everyone had different tastes and lots of times there will be multiple separate dishes cooked (and more if grandparents visit).
It's the same now. Each eats their own dish. Most of the dishes are simple (steak and grilled vegetables for one, grilled shrimp and raw vegetables for another, salad for the third person, etc). Even desserts are different. I don't like brownies without fruit in them, everyone one else hates fruit in the brownies, but some want nuts and some hate nuts. Four separate trays are baked.

You make four trays of brownies every time you bake? That's a lot of work!

I think it's good to teach kids to be adaptable, willing to explore new tastes and gracious to someone preparing the meals (i.e., saying thank you, eating what is on the plate that he DOES like) rather than indulge their very specific personal tastes. Obviously you are doing to/for your kids what your parents did, but maybe you would have been less picky growing up if you had branched out more from an early age. Many studies show kids have to try new foods repeatedly to grow to like them.

My parents didn't believe in any pressure other then by example. Food was always non-issue, not worth paying attention to, nobody liked junk food. My parents just let me be and I started cooking myself, experimenting. Making extra brownies is just three extra bowls for the dishwasher as they are all based on one recipe (http://www.browneyedbaker.com/outrageous-indeed/). It gets tricker with cakes. All of it is not a complication, but an adventure.
As for eating what's on the plate: lots of people don't know how to cook and kids have to suffer. We were volunteering at a food bank that provides bags of food for the weekend. People were commenting on cans of clams and other similar stuff as being bad tasting as they didn't even want to think that you can make pretty tasty dishes out of basic stuff.

You're setting your kids up to being really high maintenance partners to whoever they choose to spend their lives with.

Looks like people really hate cooking. It is so easy and fun. No wonder there are so many bad restaurants. It's no maintenance. My girlfriend and I started doing girls football Mondays when we cook, watch the game and have fun, while husband's are watching football somewhere. Women who never like cooking now send me recipes they find interesting. The funniest part was is that husbands decided to join in a year later (cooked too), I guess we were more fun.

It's not about liking or not liking to cook, it's about having the time. I like to cook, and make more elaborate meals on weekends. Even then my kids eat what I make, and always have. I don't make them separate "kid food" which is why now at ages 5 and 8 they will eat pretty much anything. Last night we had homemade lamb burgers with tzatziki sauce and jerusalem salad and they both ate everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. But I learned to cook first. I don't expect them to eat anything that doesn't taste good.

This. Most people I know who make separate meals for the kids are not good cooks. I have four kids, and none would eat a frozen chicken nugget over aa piece of roasted chicken and potatoes.

My MIL is a chef and literally makes each of my kids a separate meal.

I suspect you have that kid That devours my candy jar because they are so limited on what they are allowed to have.

?? I have kids that think frozen, prepackaged foods are gross. Because they are.

Well can you get more boring that roasted chicken and a potato... come on make some curry or something.

[Anonymous]

Cereal is the alternative. That's all you get buddy and that's usually not a problem at all.