I was you until my kids became young teens. Then I decided to stop the insanity and cooked only what I wanted. They were old enough to eat it or cook their own food. Picky DH can make his low carb or whatever food or eat what I’m making.

You are not a running a restaurant. Make whatever you want. Your family can adjust.

1) You need to not make different meals, but you do need to give options to your family. You have to meal prep and make easy meals. For example, it is easy to eat greens by just wilting them in some olive oil and seasoning them with garlic and salt.

2) Eat at home. And eat multiple courses. A veggi heavy salad, a bone-broth based soup with lentils added, a small piece of protein (as big as your palm) with a cranberry-raisin pilaf made of quinoa or multi-grain korean rice, fruit, yogurt or a cube of cheese. Drink lots of lemon water.

3) Add more sauteed onions, garlic, tomatoes, basil, mushrooms to your pasta sauce. I have found that it is easy to add frozen veggies (I like cascadia farms) to any thing I cook, because it is already cut, washed, and lightly blanched.


4) Start lunch and dinner with - a veggi salad. Since everyone wants to eat different things, you have to make sure that everyone fills their bowl with what they want to eat. Everyone needs to eat at least 3 veggies. At least one green and one red. They need to pick at least one nut, one seed. Kids can pick cheese too. Pick at least one protein.

Greens -
- Spinach - rinsed, finely chopped
- Broccoli - rinsed, steamed, chopped
- Celery - rinsed, chopped
- Kale - rinsed, steamed, chopped
- Green pepper - rinsed, chopped, sauteed
- Snow peas - rinsed, trimmed, steamed
- Green beans - rinsed, trimmed, chopped, steamed or sauteed

Other colors -
- Mushroom - rinsed, chopped, sauteed
- Shallots - chopped, sauteed
- Tomatoes - rinsed, chopped
- Carrots - rinsed, chopped
- Beets - Boiled, peeled, chopped

Fruits -
- Apples - washed, chopped
- Blueberries - washed
- Tangerines - washed and in pieces

Seeds -
- pumpkin, hemp hearts, shelled melon seeds
- Nuts - cashew, pecans, almonds.

Beans -
- And cooked lentils or canned beans like chickpeas (rinsed) or kidney beans etc.

More protein -
- cubes of cheese, boiled eggs, cooked chicken or turkey, feta cheese,

You are contributing to your families pickiness by making them all diff meals.

Why does the meal need to be low carb?

Eat high (quality) carb. Lots of vegetables, beans, legumes, and fiber.

Aim for lean meat, lots of vegetables, and then one or two things for the people eating carbs.

Examples

Grilled chicken breast, grilled vegetables, salad, fruit and sandwich rolls (so my kid can turn the chicken into a sandwich)
Salmon, salad, and rice or fresh rolls.
Chicken fajita meat, fajita vegetables, tortillas, salsa, and coleslaw (my husband will eat the fajita meat and veg over the coleslaw)

I cook the same meal for the entire family, but I do not eat the starch. Examples - spaghetti and meatball dinner, I only eat the salad and meatballs. Any protein stew with vegetables I don't eat the egg noodles I would serve it with, grilled chicken/steak/pork chops with veggies/salad and baked potato, I don't eat the potato.

Why not just make your own dinner and let them do their thing? You must spend a ton on carryout.

My 2 kids are picky eaters, and so do DH. I sometimes have to cook multiple dishes to accomondate everyone's taste and that is exhausting. We do many carryout which is unhealthy to my diet out if convenience, no time to cook and kids preferences. DH and I need to watch out A1C. Any recommendations for easy to cook family meal that are low cholesterol and low carb for adults but tasty for kids as well?