Dinner changes

Like so many families we have picky eaters here. The strange thing is they are picky in two different ways. There are somethings that they both eat, but there is a lot that one will eat and the other won't.

Blake eats meats, bread, pizza, apples, bananas, grilled cheese, hot dogs, carrots, peanut butter, tuna, french fries, bagels, cereal (dry), pancakes, waffles, bacon and more.

Colby eats yogurt, peanut butter, cottage cheese, pasta, rice, apples, grapes, oatmeal, cereal (with milk), jelly, carrots, dried strawberries, rice cakes, pancakes, waffles, bacon and some more

Do you notice how few overlaps there are?

I have always made them what they want for breakfast and lunch. I will probably always do this for I feel that there should be times when they get to pick their own foods. This way I can also eat whatever I want for these meals.

I always tried to come up with meals that I could modify for one boy or the other. There are sometimes where I was making three meals for dinner too which is too much.

I've started serving dinner family style. I will still make some modifications from the meal I make Richard and I when needed (ours is too spicy or has sauce or such). The meals are served on the kitchen table and the boys portion out what they eat. They are encouraged to take a bite of each thing on the table. This seems to be helping a lot. They are serving pretty realistic portions for themselves and are not fussing at us as much. It makes for more dishes, but hey if it gets them to eat and means I don't have to make extra meals... why not?

How do you serve dinner? Do you serve everyone the same thing or cater to tastes?

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4 comments:

  1. our boys usually get what we are going to eat...or a modidfied version. say it's a casserole, i might leave it apart for them. Soup i will give them more of the substance than the broth. they do usually get to pick breakfast and lunch. some nights they don't eat dinner...so they go to bed hungry. last night we had fish and as much as i try the boys won't eat it. so i offer a protein they do like, like yogurt or cheese.

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  2. My kids all get the same thing, mostly because I'm lazy. Though they are still picky eaters from time to time. Usually they have to eat at least a few bits. And sometimes after a few bites of the terrible food that they didn't even want to touch, they finish the whole thing and ask for more. :)

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  3. My boys are pretty picky. It would be impossible to please everyone, so for dinner, they eat what we eat. However, like you, I'll make theirs less spicy. I've heard that putting all the food on the table and letting them dish up really works. I have yet to try it, but perhaps I should!

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