I have 4 picky eaters (5 including my husband) that I need to feed every night.  I refuse to be a short order cook who makes 3-5 different meals a night, what I decide to feed the family is what they get.  Now I have to be honest, I have the work-arounds, my oldest child doesn’t like anything creamy so I separate all sauces from the meat and he eats grilled chicken with broccoli while we eat fettucini alfredo with chicken and broccoli.  These work-arounds keep my kids from starving or indulging in not so healthy snacks.

I have read many articles about how to get your kids to like good food.  I even tried the mashing up of vegetables and hiding them in our regular meals like Jessica Seinfeld suggested.  My kids found the ground up cauliflower that I had hid in their macaroni and cheese, guess I can’t fool them into eating good things.

I just started something new that has made some meal times a little bit more fun, my husband had suggested it and I have loved the results.  My kids are to pick one meal a month that they want to eat, and then they are in charge of preparing that meal (with my help of course).  Although I had to put restrictions on certain expensive ingredients like king crab and rib eye steak.

It has been so much fun that even I have enjoyed cooking on those days.  The kids enjoy the one-on-one time with Mom and, as an added bonus, it has helped them appreciate what I do in the kitchen.  They are so proud of the food that they have prepared and they smile ear to ear as the family thanks them for such a great meal.  Maybe because it is only once a month, the kids look forward with anticipation to “their” night.  They have been more respectful in letting me know what they do and don’t like.  It has not solved all of my problems when it comes to feeding a family of 6 picky eaters, but it has helped.