Making 3 or 4 different dinners each night - Help

[KooksKatastrophe]

I'm so fed up with dinner time. We are a family of 2 adults, 2 primary aged children and none of us eat the same things it feels like 😫.

I'm all out of ideas, I'm fed up with the mess, the timings, the overcooking things, the lack of space to prepare, the food waste.

Child 1 has food allergies, can't eat dairy, eggs, legumes. Has a good appetite and will try anything.

Child 2 is fussy would prefer all dinners to be topped with cheese. Likes pizza, nuggets, chips, bland breaded food. Cries if you give him rice.

I don't eat meat or eggs, will eat cheese if it's cooked. Love mushrooms.

Dh will eat everything apart from mushrooms but does love meat and I can tell he laments it's absence in a meal.

Most veggie things have lentils/chickpeas/peas or proteins of these things in them which means they cannot be shared by everyone.

It would be better if i was doing even 2 meals but there's always so many variations I get overwhelmed and I don't even want to eat in the end.

Dh could and does cook, but not at the same time as me because then we'd be in each other's way and he also facing the same problems, neither of us are naturals for sure!

Please, any menu suggestions, help, advice or words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

We had similar problems issues.

I deconstructed everything.

So say making pasta.

Plain pasta on people's plate. One sauce from a jar. One sauce home made. Cheese available on the side to sprinkle.

Or fajitas - tortillas on the plate. Choice of toppings - salsa, guacamole, sour cream, refried beans (all shop bought) and chicken or quorn fried with spices.

Jacket potato with choice of toppings - beans/cheese/mince

Etc etc

Ooh, this is the kind of thing I'd use chatgpt for. I asked it your question and the first thing it said was:
"Build from a Base + Add Toppings/Proteins
Focus on one meal base that can be customized easily without cooking totally separate meals.
A Weekly Plan:

• Monday: Pasta Night (Separate toppings)
• Tuesday: Tacos/Burrito Bowls (DIY style)
• Wednesday: Soup + Bread or Nuggets + Veggies
• Thursday: Stir-Fry with rice
• Friday: Pizza Night (half and half toppings)"

I agree with the robot! Just serve all the ingredients in bowls on the table and let them build their own meal. (IF you have a dishwasher...!)

Yes, we have a dishwasher 😁 I think yes, this is what I should do going forward. Big mad buffet on the table, eat what you eat and give me peace!

I feel like I should be doing bigger better meals but actually, simple food that eveyone can eat some of is more important. Thank you!

OP- are you a pescatarian and eat seafood and just not meat or you are veggie plus no eggs?

@JC03745 depends.on my mood, perhaps I'm the most fussy eater out the lot of us actually! Mostly no, but then I do fancy some smoked haddock or hot smoked salmon now and then. But I could buy it, put it in the fridge, then not be able to face eating it when it comes time to cook it.

We also do deconstructed (aka ‘choose your own adventure’) dinners and it works. I have one dd who is a bit of a beige food fanatic (ASD and strong feelings about texture, mixing food, etc.), another dd who mostly avoids meat, and a dh who doesn’t consider it a meal without heavy protein.

• poke bowls (asian) - rice, a couple of veg (cooked or uncooked) and a couple of proteins (chicken tenders for one dd, salmon for adults, other dc is fine with just veggie) with toppings
• Pasta night - one child will eat noodles with butter and veg on he side, rest of us have a normal pasta meal
• mexican night - tortillas, beans, chicken or beef, plus all the toppings (corn, avocado, cheese, sour cream)
• pizza night (everyone happy)
• Roast night - everyone eats potatoes, assortment of veg, roast chicken or steak
• soup night - one dc will just have the bread accompaniment (garlic bread or flatbreads) with some cut up veg, rest of us eat foods that are mixed up.

i have also made peace with occasionally doing two meals if 3/4 of us will eat something but ASD dd will not - we will do a curry night and dd will get fish fingers and veg, for example. I try to make it feel like we are sharing the same meal, but occasionally just accept that if I want a varied diet there will be a bit of nugget flinging on the side.

Feel your pain. My 10yo and 7yo made us a meal plan for this week, they had to compromise together, and you know what it's been alright!

I know batch cooking has a bad name but....

Could you cook big portions of something someone likes each night. Serve one portion, put 3 or 4 other in takeaway boxes in the freezer.

Once you've built up enough for everyone, you then have a cycle going of one new / 3 defrosted each night. Just label the boxes!

I feel your pain

For fussy child chuck brown food in an air fryer (buy one if you're going to say you don't have one)

For everyone else just cook dishes without the food allergies

If anyone wants cheese they add it to their own plate separately

I made a root vegetable crumble with cheese on top, can easily put cheese on at end or split ift, can easily be gf if any needs that reading it. Fussy child will eat (extra cheese as bribery!)

I would ask ChatGPT to make you a meal plan for the week. You cannot make 4 different meals every night! I would be making the one meal, fussy child will get used to it and I’d simply make the dish with meat to add in or mushrooms for you etc.

I make easy meals like a tray bake and you could easily make a side of chicken or fish etc for your husband to go with that and everyone else just gets a larger portion of the veggie tray bake.

I often make a veggie lasagne (I use butternut squash instead of lasagne sheets), use dairy free cheese in the cheese sauce if needed etc. There will be ways and means around everything but it will take more prep (or answers from ChatGPT 😂).