There’s a reason why families enjoy going to a restaurant. Each can order what they like. In the household, there is typically only one option for dinner, and it’s bad luck if it’s not your favorite food!
Indeed, everybody has different tastes. It can be challenging to coordinate all those needs and requirements and keep everybody happy! You’ve probably experienced the unavoidable issue of taste the last time you’ve offered to make drinks for your family. You’re a coffee drinker who relies on the sharp flavors of an espresso to boost the brain. But your wife loves nothing more than a matcha latte, which she claims has just the same benefits. As for the kids, they want a glass of juice. And suddenly, what started as a kind offer ends up spending half an hour in the kitchen getting all the drinks ready. Urgh! Needless to say, you can’t afford that level of individuality in your home-cooked meals. Or perhaps, you can.
Create meals that can be cooked simultaneously
The main problem when it comes to making everybody happy around the dinner table is to get everything ready. It can be tricky to get organized in the kitchen. But have you considered other options, such as grilling your food? Indeed, you can set up your grill for two-zone cooking – learn more here about this technique – which lets you prepare different ingredients simultaneously, or the same ingredients with different cooking results. If one of you loves a bloody steak while others prefer it well-done, a grill lets everybody manage their meal.
Taco Tuesday is your best friend
The simplest meal is a meal where everybody can build their own dish. Indeed, the traditional Taco Tuesday, for instance, is the perfect compromise between all the flavors and tastes. You can find some tips here. Ultimately, you can use a buffet to let the kids pick and mix their favorite food. Not only is that super simple to set up but it also avoids a lot of drama around the table! You can also use a Spanish approach to your buffets, by creating a tapas menu with your leftovers.
Experiment together
Admittedly, you can’t always prepare a buffet meal. Not only is it going to be stressful to plan day after day, but it also throws your grocery shopping expenses through the roof. Unfortunately, sometimes, you need to get everybody to agree on one simple meal. However, you can offer an interactive and engaging approach to keep your kids happy. Indeed, you can get them to help you prepare dinner. Ultimately, they will be more likely to eat something they’ve cooked – or helped to make. Additionally, you can also create a free entry in your weekly meal plan. Leave it to the kids to decide what they want to eat one night in the week. The best approach is to suggest a fair rotation, aka each week someone else can demand their favorite meal.
Cooking for picky eaters can be a nightmare. But you can get rid of complaints at the root by offering a new approach to your family meals. Indeed, you can meet picky eaters half-way by introducing multi-zone cooking techniques, buffets and a weekly meal plan they can influence.