To be sick of cooking the same old shit every week for my family of veg haters!

[cricketmum84]

I'm sick and tired of cooking the same stuff week after week. I do a meal plan every Sunday morning before the big shop and it's always the same suggestions from this lot!
We are me, DH, DS(14) and DD(9). DH will only eat meat, carbs and potatoes, he likes spicy foods, Indian, Chinese etc as well as traditional British stuff. Only veg he will eat is tomatoes and onions. DS is quite adventurous, willing to try things, will eat cooked tomatoes and onions but no other cooked veg but will eat salad. DD will not eat anything spicier than a korma and no veg AT ALL. She can spot a slice of cooked onion from a mile away so I tend to do her something different like plain chicken breast.
I will eat pretty much everything except shellfish but love my veggies!

My meal plan is a constant rotation of chilli, baked chicken, pork chops, pasta, shepherds pie and I am SO BORED! But every idea I come up with ends up with someone whinging about the veg in it or that it's different or that they don't fancy it!

I really really need some good recipes that I can adapt for me to include veg but that will also suit the tastes of my faddy bunch! Either that or I do cauliflower curry every night and let the fussy gits starve 😂

Any ideas?? Please?

Cook something and don’t provide anything else. They will soon get hungry or learn to cook. Win/win really.

How about a lasagna but blitz the veg to a purée and add to the tomato sauce and mince?

Stop catering to their fussiness op!

Yeah if they’re that fussy then they sort themselves out. Cook one meal and that’s it. I couldn’t be dealing with all that faffing about.

I’d say that once a week you’re going to cook something different and if they don’t like it after trying it they can make themselves beans on toast. If they end up eating beans on toast it won’t hurt them and you’ll probably find that after a couple of weeks they’ll eat what you’re serving

When I was little it was eat what you’re given or go hungry. I think you might be pandering to what they want too much. Your kids are not big enough to be dictating to you what they will/ will not eat for dinner.

You could make it that it’s a ‘if you do not eat this, you will not be getting X for pudding/ snack.

As for your husband.. maybe get him to cook for a while and he can see how boring it is to cook the same things over and over! 🙈

You have allowed your husband to pass on his problems to his children. Just stop treating them like two year olds and cook whatever you want. If they don't like it then they can cook themselves.

How about cooking Shaslik chicken (minus the peppers). That is chicken tikka, tomatoes & onion and very tasty.

Why not outsource the decision-making to the family? Get them to meal plan and cook! My Dd (15) cooks regularly for the family and DH will do a bit at the weekend. Your 9yr old is capable of meal prep if you dont trust them with oven and hob.
It isn't easy when everyone's appetites and demands are so different, but I think you'll find it easier if they shoulder some of the responsibility.

Well DS does like to cook and has made some gorgeous Thai curries in the past. I threw the question out to them this morning and just got blank faces so I went through my slimming world recipe books and got negative reactions to everything!
Husband would happily eat chicken and chips every night, when he offers to cook it's always really fatty unhealthy food and I end up just not eating.

It's frustrating me more at the moment Cos I'm trying really hard with the slimming world diet so wanting to try a lot of the recipes such as cottage pie topped with swede but they all look at me like I've gone mad!
Then I look like the fussy one cooking something separate when it's them that are fussy!

I really like @user1493413286 's idea. I'd go with that!

I think you should let them cook at least once a week. Kids will sometimes be more willing to eat something if they helped prepare it.

Agree, make them cook. You tell them to find a recipe each week that they want to cook for the family and everybody has to try it. Give them a night each to be in charge. Stock up on beans and sandwich fillings, if they don't like what's offered, they grab themselves something else.

At 14, DS should be fine and DD at 9 should just need company and supervision. Obviously DH will be fine.

No making something that you already make but recipes can be repeated if people enjoy them.

So what if you cook yourself something else a couple of nights each week. Make a big batch of soup or similar, try a small portion of what they make with them (same rules for everyone) and then have your soup later.

I do that a couple of nights a week already. DH loves making homemade burgers and the kids love them so on a Friday night he will make burgers for him and the kids, I can't stand burgers so I either make a big salad with cheese, ham and pickles (but like a ploughman's) or stuffed peppers or a quick chickpea curry.
I just don't want to have to do this every night. I don't mind cooking us all the same meat dish and then doing salad on the side.

I suppose the biggest thing is finding more recipes that cater to them rather than the 6 or 7 we are rotating?

Sounds like they eat quite a variety of foods compared to some people I've heard of. Try twochubbycubs and pinchofnom for fakeaway recipes on slimming world

I have 1 non-fruit and veg eater (compounded by being gluten free and allergic to milk and soya). I’ve given up! I now cook what I want one night a week (within her allergy boundaries) and she can eat or leave it. Inevitably she leaves it and will happily go to bed hungry.

In my experience it’s untrue to say the will eat when hungry, they will get fed up and eventually eat what you cook, don’t pander to them and they will improve, purée foods and they’ll won’t realize, I know from experience DC would rather not eat than eat something she dislikes.

No advice, just wanted to say you’re not alone!

@Itsear that's actually one of the recipes on my meal plan for this week!! With plain chicken for the 9yo of course...

If you have a food processor then it’s remarkable what can be disguised in a “tomato” sauce, especially in a Bol/with mince. Copius mushrooms, celery, courgette, carrots and onions are inhaled by —Egon Ronay— my dss (who hates all vegetables) in a Bol and this is his favourite meal!

He doesn’t need to know what is actually in it! He would instantly hate it

Fish pie? Pizza with different toppings to suit each person? Sweet and sour chicken?

You need to farm out the cooking.

When you do something that goes in the oven, pop yourself a nice big tray of mixed veg to roast.

What about things like oven cooked piri piri chicken with flavoured rice and salad, or do corn cobs and those who want them can have them. Do they like sweet potato? I do a tray bake with sweet and regular potatoes, peppers, onions, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes, garlic, herbs etc, put it in the middle of the table and they can have the bits they like, leaving you with more of the veg, it can be served with pork loin steaks, you could have a piece of fish instead.

I guess they are learning the behaviour from your husband. It'd probably going to be hard to change him if he's been eating like this for years! It's also hard to get your kids to eat veg if they see him not bothering. I'd start on them first though. Maybe picking one or two veggies they will eat - they can choose, and get them to help prepare it and add it in the meal and then build up from there? Otherwise you're into the whole blending veg into sauces which is a pita. Will they have more interesting veggies like cauliflower cheese with a bit of pasta in as a meal instead of carb / meat based? Will they eat fish? You could try something fried with a nice dip like vegetable bhajis or tempura to get them interested - it's a faff but feels like a treat

The mistake is to ask them what they want.