Do you eat the same food as your children?

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It’s just me and one teenager at home now. They like completely different food to me. They like pizza, spaghetti bolognaise, pesto pasta, noodles, beige food in the air fryer, burgers, fast food. I prefer something like salmon with baked potato and veg.

We even like different things for breakfast and lunch. They like cereal, I don’t. I like sandwiches, they dont! They will eat something like shepherds pie but just on one day so I end up eating the rest for three days! I do try to add fruit and veg to things to make it balanced but it’s hard work.

I was wondering if you cook one thing and all eat it as a family or do your dc eat separately? What about when they get older? Does everyone do their own thing or do you still eat the same together? I find we even want to eat at different times. If they want a bowl of pasta, it’s easier to let them have that (they make it or I will) than make them have a proper meal. What’s it like in your house?

Blimey OP, you've created a rod for your own back there!

We've always eaten the same thing, right from when my 2 boys were tiny.

Mine are only young (2 and 5) so I assume it’s probably easier but we all eat the same for dinner and I really hope we continue to when they’re older.

Actually, I don't think you've created a rod for your own back. Teenagers are tricky!

We used to all eat the same healthy meals at the same time but now they're 14 and 17 they keep different hours (lots of evening activities) and are much harder to please. They will sit down and eat grilled chicken and broccoli if they have to (with sad faces) big if they can get pizza/nugget/chips/junk instead, then they will. It's just another phase!

We eat the same thing, or as close to as possible.
DS1 is pescetarian and fussy.

I try and eat low carb because I'm diabetic.

Tonight the DC (19 and 17) had fishcakes and veg. I had veg and lentil Dhal.
Sometimes they have pasta and I have salad.
If I make shepherd's pie/bolognese etc then DS1 will have pizza or spinach and Ricotta pasta.

DD is 16 and we mostly eat together apart from breakfast on Saturdays as this is DD's lie in day.

We all eat different breakfast food, who cares if DD and DH eat cereals and I eat toast.

There are days DD gets junk food for dinner and DH and I have something she doesn't like but that's maybe once a month.

No way would I cook two different meals each day or let DD cook on her own and just eat crap.

My teen eats very different breakfast and lunch but mostly the same dinners; she likes an oven pizza so will have that on the day that we eat things that I know she won’t like. It’s quite hard going at times as she is fussy but I can’t be doing with cooking more than one meal.

We have pretty unique circumstances but the children do eat differently from us most nights. My son has ASD and has a restricted diet due to this. My foster daughter has trauma surrounding food from her background and so has her own requirements also. My husband and I eat the same meal. I was a fussy eater as a child and my mother would never have forced me to eat things I didn't want to and so I pretty much am continuing on with how I was raised. Yes it's more work but people are individuals.

Yep. Always have. Won't have thus nonsense of different meals. My sil dies different meals every day for her Dh, herself, and 4 different meals for her 4 kids. Silly!

2 teens in the house here. I'd say it's 50:50 family meals are spag bol, chilli, HM pizzas, stir fry, Shepardess pie ( 2 veggies), minestrone soup , lasagne Dd will eat rissoto DS only under duress, the other way round for curryo. We do these meals 3-4 nights a week.

We do for most breakfasts as I cook eggs 4 or 5 days a week, and all dinners. I've never cooked separate food, though cold food can differ.

Me and DS (14) at home. We have different breakfasts and lunches but mostly the same evening meal, albeit with some tweaks. He likes a lot of protein meat. I'll just have less meat with more veg. I'll plan his steak or sausage days for evenings I'm doing sport and will just want something like scrambled eggs much later. He's a gym rat so eats very well so mostly it's fine.

No, my teenager has ARFID. If I was restricted by her diet I would be miserable. If I tried to make her eat like me, she would lose weight.

We do but there are the odd dishes I don't make as I know they won't get eaten (e.g. mussels).

Breakfasts- everyone has something different but as it doesn't involve cooking I am not counting it.

Breakfast is everyone for themselves.
Lunch - packed lunched are slightly individualised, weekend lunches are the same.
Dinners are the same, except the kids and DH add a mountain of chili peppers or chili oil to most of their carbs. DH would ck with more chili if I wasn't there.
I cook with more dairy if dh (lactose intolerant) isn't about

I mean, none of mine live with me anymore, but from when they first ate food until when they left home as adults, we ate our main meal together.

Breakfast - we tended to have a variety of cereals in and also toast.
Lunches - well, they would have been at school, and us at work for most of the time.
Main meal - we ate the same meal, sat round the table together.

Once they started working shifts in 6th form, then at, and after University, then things changed in terms of time of eating, but they would generally have a portion of whatever dinner was - either when they came in, or taken with them for lunch the next day. So same food.

They all went through spells of not eating breakfast and they all had growth spurts when they could down a bowl of noodles or cereal or something when coming in from school and still eat dinner with us at around 5.45 / 6pm.

My teenagers do their own thing for breakfast/lunch/snacks when they’re at home. We eat the same evening meals though as we’re not cooking multiple things. They do prefer spicier food to me and I sometimes make their food spicier ( add chili flakes, etc.).

Funnily enough, DD (18) really appreciates our home cooking since she went to uni. 😂

We eat the same things, DS loves a jacket potato, salmon and veg. I really likely very spicy food and whilst DS is getting there, he'll eat medium heat, sometimes I want something really hot, but I just do two variations of the same so I'll cook two curries for example one with tikka spices, peppers, chickpeas and coconut milk and the other tomato based with green chillies and spinach and lentils. So even then we're all eating curry, and ds has started asking for tastes of mine even if he knows it's hot, he says he likes it when his lips feel tingly 😁. Additional needs/medical conditions aside I think it's the easiest way to encourage a variety of foods

Mostly, yes. It’s just teen DD and I at home now - she prefers to do the cooking, absolutely hates ‘beige stuff’ so I happily let her at it. She even does a menu plan! I’m vegetarian, she’s pescatarian so the vast majority of the time we eat the same meal. On a night that she’s having fish I’ll just have a lazy freezer dinner or ready meal

Dinners yes, I cook a meal and we all eat it together.
Breakfast I tend to put all cereals, fruits, yogurt etc on the table and everyone helps themselves.
Lunch depends what we’re doing, if they’re at school they have school lunch.
(Three children primary school age and under.)

No my daughter only eats pasta and hates pepper. So i literally have to cook separate meals 8/10 times as there's a limit to how many times i can eat pasta each week.

Mine is only a toddler. Sometimes we eat the same, sometimes not. A teenager I wouldn't worry about. I cooked most of my own meals from the age of 14 onwards. They're not eating solely junk, they'll be fine. Get them cooking some of those meals themselves. It's an essential life skill.

We didn't keep beige/junk food in the house (and live too far from shops for DD to have gone shopping for herself). We don't own an air fryer either.

By 16 DD was pescatarian and vegetarian by 17. As I like cooking I found it easy to make meals that we could all eat. The only time she had separate food was on the odd occasion when I did a Sunday roast and I made a vegetarian main for her while we had meat.

We mostly eat the same thing with minor variations if needed. Tonight was tacos. Plain slices of chicken breast for dc2 (5), fajita seasoning for everyone else. Cheese and chopped cucumber (everyone). Tomatoes (me and dc2). Salsa (me, dh). Tomato ketchup (the kids). Then mango mochi for dessert.

Tomorrow is probably veggie burgers. Me, dc1 and dh will have a spicier sauce and me and dc2 will have either beetroot slices or avocado in ours.

Going to make a prawn and sausage dish on Friday. Dc2 likes her prawns just cooked in butter and dh hates prawns. So I'll pan fry all the prawns in butter and then add 2 thirds to the sausage dish, making sure when I serve it, dh doesn't get a rogue prawn.

However my kids are bizarre in what they'll eat. Dc1 likes a hot curry. They both like seafood. Neither are huge potato fans. They could both eat their own weight in cauliflower and broccoli.

I often eat something slightly different as I don't eat gluten.
Teen usually eats the same as adults, younger two often don't if it's spicy or just something they don't like.
So tonight, teen and I had salmon, green beans and veggie fries. DH had salad instead of fries. Younger kids had fish finger, waffles and green beans!
Yesterday 4 of us had a chicken & cauliflower curry with rice, one had plain grilled chicken, cauliflower and peas.