Am I the only one who makes several....

[Mishetta]

different dishes for dinner just to please everyone?

My DS won't eat certain foods. My DM has cancer & now because of nothing tasting good, she's very particular about what she eats (this is absolutely ok with me ), my DH only likes certain meats, and I'm going crazy because it seems only me & my 17 m/o DS will eat anything!

Last night for instance, I made sloppy joes (as most of you know) for dinner. DS #1 & my Mom won't eat ground meat, so I had to make them something different. I just happened to have some extra BBQ steaks that I made on Saturday which they ate. Then for side dishes, my DS #1 won't eat Mac N Cheese (I know, he's strange for a kid) so I made him rice, my Mom has never liked Mac N Cheese, so I made her some fresh pasta with olive oil, garlic base sauce (aka: Pesto), my DH won't eat left over anything, nor will he eat the Pesto sauce on anything, so we just ate sloppy joe's with no side dish, which was fine since I didn't want to have to make yet another dish....my goodness! I feel I should open a restaurant! I'm in the kitchen all day it seems trying to please everyone! Lucky for me the baby will eat anything I give him.

I know I will get the posts that say "they eat what is served or nothing" but my DS #1 has already lost 12 lbs being on ADHD medication so I can't afford him not to eat. He skips lunch as it is!

Am I the only one who will go through this madness almost everynight or are there more poor souls out there?

**Just a side note, with my Mother's health & food issues, I will make anything under the sun to make her eat, so Mom is not the issue here.**

 

[olena]

WOW! My Mom never did that. She cooked one meal and made us eat all our veggies. She didn't care if we drowned them in ketchup or whatever.

 

[Chuck S]

We always had two choices for dinner. Take it or leave it.

The only "custom" meals were for illness and dietary restrictions.

 

[MacGyverTDS]

God bless you, your family and most especially your Mom. I remember when my Dad was going through his chemo he had little to no appetite and said whatever he ate had no taste to him. He ate because he knew he had to keep up his strength though. He was such a trooper. There was one restaurant we would go to for a treat for him (and me too) where he would get baked haddock and scallop casserole and he would eat the entire serving! I would have gotten it for him every night if I thought he would eat it<g>
I say as long as you are keeping YOUR sanity along with being a short order cook then that's all that matters. Anything to keep peace in the family was my motto!

Good luck. Prayers and PD for you all.

Judy

 

[Wendy]

Nope. I don't do that. I make one meal and if they don't like it, they don't eat. My mil made 3 different meals every single night for her family when dh was a kid. I vowed never to fall into that trap, but sure enough I did start to for a while when they were younger. It's easy to get started with that, and difficult to stop.

My kids used to be incredibly picky. I talked to my pediatrician about it though, and she confirmed my instincts and told me not to make special food for them. She assured me they no kid would starve themselves to death, and although I had my doubts, she was right! They did lose a few pounds when I started cracking down on only making one, well balanced meal a night, but it worked and they now eat much, much better than they used to and they don't expect me to make special food for them.

As for my dh, the pickiest of all, if he doesn't like what I cook, he can make his own dinner. Luckily, I have a great husband and even he has started eating healthier foods and more vegetables that he doesn't necessarily like, in order to be a good role model for the kids.

 

[disneychrista]

I will generally only make modifications to what I am making but not an entirely different meal.

DD10 does not like and will not eat "red sauce" so she gets pasta dishes with butter and parmasean cheese or pizza without sauce.

 

[dandave]

Mishetta, You are not alone. My older DS is very, very, particular about what he eats. He's tall and thin. He will go without, before he will eat something that he doesn't like. He doesn't need to lose any weight at all.
He's a very generous, giving person, and he's not spoiled or bratty. He is just particular about what he eats. He always makes sure to thank me for cooking him something different, because "you know I don't like X. You always know what I like". He is so sweet about it that I don't mind the little extra effort. I am very particular about what I eat also, so I think he gets it from me.
If I cook a meal that is something he will not eat (pot roast, chili, a casserole), then I have something else for him. He prefers meats plain or with a little teriyaki or soy sauce. It takes only a couple of minutes to saute him a little something. He likes most of the veges we like, and I always have fresh fruits.
Now younger DS and DH will eat about anything that soesn't eat them first.

 

[Dodie]

It's just DH and I, but I often make myself a different vegetable. If I didn't, I'd be eating nothing but peas, corn and green beans every single night (the only veggies he'll eat).

I tease him about his mom spoiling him by not making him eat other things, but he insists that he was forced to taste other vegetables as a kid, but doesn't like anything other than the big three mentioned above.

 

[browneyes]

My SO usually wants one thing (foods I don't like-such as fish or something similiar 'y). My dd usually wants something completely different than her daddy. I want what I want, which isn't what they want. My ds will eat whatever one of us have-he usually wants what I fix (he has good taste ). I normally cook 3 meals for each meal I cook.

 

[mhopset]

We used to do that. Our own fault becasue Seth is spoiled. BTW he hates Mac & Cheese except if I make it homemade.

What I have started doing is making one thing. If you don't want it. Fix it yourself or go hungry!!!!!

I ain't a restaurant and the kitchen doesn't say buffet!

 

[Dizzy-Disney4]

My children are very particular. They have three options, eat what's for dinner, PB & J, or wait till breakfast. Now, if one of them were sick or allergic, then that would be different. But, I'm not a restaurant, you either eat what I make or too bad. That being said, I usually try and only shop for things we all like, but veggies are a big problem...no one likes the same thing here except for corn...which I can't eat.

 

[disykat]

I only make one thing, but I do make exceptions for illness. It sounds like that's what you've got every day.

My dh grew up getting special food every day. He wouldn't eat anything when we first got married. After a couple of years eating with me he eats it all and is just happy I'm making it! (I think he ate at my family's house enough to be glad I have such mild tastes - my family tends to eat pretty exotic stuff).

 

[jamsmom]

We do this for my DS. He is extremely picky and he would prefer never to eat. He is underweught as it is AND he has a gag reflux from hell. (like me) For either one of us, put something in our mouth we don't like, we puke everything we have ever eaten (it feels this way) I don;t care for cleaning that up at the table.

We do give my son a multi-vitamin that the doctor recommended, Besides ADHD, my son is OCD. Since I have the gag thing, I know not to push the issue.

We do kid him sometime that he will never be able to take a girl out to eat because they will not want his few choices over and over.

 

[luvflorida]

When I was growing up it was, "This is dinner and you will eat it." I can remember many times having to remain at the table until I finished something or other. Milk was the worst. I HATE milk, but I had to drink it, at least half of it, and by the time I got around to gagging it down, it was warm. To this day, just the thought of drinking milk almost makes me gag.

I have found myself, over the years, trying to please everyone at dinner, and usually it wasn't too much of a hassle. My biggest frustration now is my 12 year old daughter. She has very limited likes and dislikes. She is thin so I worry about her getting enough of the right foods. She used to eat chicken until we went to Key West about a year ago. After seeing all the chickens and baby chicks roaming around the streets of Key West, and visiting the Chicken Store, (crazy place), she vowed never to eat chicken again. "They're soooooo cute, Mom!" She has stuck to that resolution and has declared herself a vegetarian, which is fine, except that she seems to live on pasta, grilled cheese sandwiches, peanut butter and jelly, and mashed potatoes with corn mixed in. So, when I fix dinner around here I usually try to make a healthy combination of things and if anyone turns their nose up at it, then they can fix themselves a PB&J.

 

[Yzma and Kronk]

Yes.........I'm the family "short order cook"

 

[tiggerlover]

{{{HUGS}}}, Rose, I was exhausted reading about all of your cooking. I usually only make one meal, however, if it is something I know DS really doesn't like and DH and I like I will make at least one additional thing for him to eat. I certainly understand why you make so many different things though.

 

[FOJMO]

The only time we all have a choice as to what we eat is when we eat out at a restaurant or if we have several leftovers in the fridge.

Other than that, DD and DH eat what I make but, I have to say, they like just about everything!

Good luck!

 

[Micca]

When twin DD's lived here I did that. I made multiple things because all twin DD's and DW ever wanted was big slabs of beef (steak) and mashed potatoes. 3 or 4 times a week, that's what they ate. I just couldn't eat the same thing all the time, so I'd prepare something else for me.