Weekly Meal Plan 169: Do You Struggle With Getting Your Kids to Eat Dinner? #howtomealplan
As I offer my local meal planning classes here in the Dallas area, I am getting a very personal picture inside other mom’s lives and what dinnertime looks like.
Many moms struggle with kid related issues and concerns at dinnertime. Do you get that sometimes too familiar this is disgusting comment? Need I add, they have not even touched their food.
And once the bigger kids say it, the littler kids will follow right behind them. This can be super frustrating. This can easily lead to that short order cook routine, which is something you want to avoid at all costs if you want meal planning to be successful at your house. One of the quickest ways to burn yourself out with meal planning, is to become a short order cook.
Here are two big things that help me avoid the disgusting comment and the short order cook avenue.
- get my kids involved in preparation process
- ensure the meals on my recipe list include things my kids will eat (this goes back to recipe criteria)
- be willing to think outside the box
So, I know my kids will eat chicken, salmon, beef and beans. Those are recurring main course staples on my meal plan.
I have also found that when I am cooking something new or a little different, if I let my pickiest eaters help with preparation, they are excited to eat. They want the reward of enjoying this delicious meal they have just made. And they are excited for their brothers to enjoy it too. All it takes is one kids saying this is disgusting for all of dinner to go down hill. So, the first time I made Lentil Tacos, I knew my picky Luke was going to turn his nose up because it was different. But, I let him stir, mix, etc., as we prepared it and he was so excited to eat dinner.
With that said, I do think outside the box. Two of my little kids are not big fans of soup, but we have soup often in the colder months on our meal plan. So, I think of ways to convert that soup for them without a lot of effort. Say we are having Taco Soup. For the two little kids who are “scared of soup” (I think it is because they think it is too hot) I will drain their scoops of soup with a slotted spoon and serve just the soup filling over chips and tops with some cheese and boom, they have nachos. If we are having Wild Rice Soup, I drain their scoops with a slotted spoon and serve it on their place as if it were a scoop of chicken and rice casserole. Win, win!
Here is what I am feeding my family this week.
Weekly Meal Plan
Baked Ranch Chicken– served with rice, fruit and a dinner salad.
Crockpot BBQ Chicken– served with mac and cheese and dinner rolls.
Lime Garlic Butter Salmon– served over couscous with frozen veggies.
Cheeseburger Macaroni Skillet– served with dinner salad and rolls.
Garlic Stovetop Chicken – served with fruit and salad.
Leftover Buffet– use ’em up!
More Recipes:
Do me a favor, when you cook dinner this week, Instagram your photo and hashtag it with #howtomealplan. I would love to encourage you to repeat dinnertime success over and over again all week long! I cannot wait to see what you’re cooking!
Want more meal planning inspiration or ideas? Check out OrgJunkie where hundreds of bloggers share their meal plans every Monday.
Also, don’t forget your printable coupons to save even more on your grocery bill.
We don’t allow picky eaters in our house. When my kids ask, “What’s for dinner?” I usually answer, “Food.” They know that what’s for dinner is what’s for dinner. They are also not allowed to say that they’re full and then ask for a snack. There is nothing to eat after dinner until their evening snack, usually around 7PM. I don’t purposly make things that I don’t think they’ll like. However, when I’m pretty sure they won’t like dinner – which is seldom – I will make hot dogs and let them have that.
The one time I got, “This is disgusting.” My husband let my daughter have it! He asked her if she would say that to one of her friend’s mothers. When she said that she wouldn’t, he wanted to know why she thought it was all right to say it to her mother, who had spent her time, energy and money to make a meal for her. He also let her know how rude and hurtful it was to me. We never heard that again.
Now that they’re older, we will allow them to make the occasional PB&J if they truly don’t like something. But again, this is seldom.
But what do you do when it’s not your kids, but your 48 year old husband who’s the uber-picky one? I have tried for 16 years to bend to his whims (which mainly consist of manwiches, steak, and potatoes), but I’m to the point now where I don’t care whether or not he eats dinner. And his dislikes are not based on anything real- he doesn’t like certain pasta because of the SHAPE, he doesn’t like chicken “on a plate…” I’ve tried to involve him in the menu-planning process, but it’s a no-go. I’m beyond frustrated!