There’s no need to argue over dinner, even if everyone is hungry for something different! Ever decided to start cooking dinner at home only to meet resistance from family members who are used to customized choices in a restaurant? Your husband wants Indian, your son wants Mexican, your daughter doesn’t want either of those, and you just want dinner on the table.
When you’re trying to get in the swing of regular meal prep, resistance can be discouraging. You may be willing to cook so that your family will eat more fresh food, but that doesn’t mean you’re all that excited about the added work you’re taking on. Before frustration grows or food fights begin, it can be helpful to explore some ways you can customize without changing your overall plan.
Using a little creativity can help your family transition to meals at home without feeling like personal preferences are limited. Once everyone realizes there’s some flexibility, they’ll relax. That doesn’t mean you have to be a short order cook. It means that you recognize that years of eating out have conditioned the family’s expectations and some retraining is required.
During the transition, it is important to set some boundaries while keeping the atmosphere positive. How can you accomplish this without laying down the law that you eat what’s put in front of you…period?
Here are some ideas:
Flexible seasoning.
With the family in the mood for Indian and Mexican and something else, you can take a flexible approach to seasoning. In other words, establish that the cook chooses the protein, but each family member can choose how his/her serving is seasoned.
Before you let the idea scare you, here’s what dinner could look like: Four pork chops seasoned as follows: 1)Simple – seasoned with salt, pepper, & garlic powder. 2)Indian – seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, garam masala, and applesauce. 3)Mexican – seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cumin. 4)Alternative Mexican – seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder and mole sauce.
Place all 4 chops on the same broiling pan and broil. Any of these will be delicious served with rice and a salad, thereby keeping the menu simple while accommodating several flavor preferences.
This could also be accomplished using steak seasoned multiple ways or grilled with basic seasoning, then sliced and finished with various sauces — salsa verde, chimichurri, teriyaki, and blue cheese for example. Steamed spinach, sautéed mushrooms, and mashed potatoes will round out this steak menu.
Grilled or broiled chicken is easy to season independently, but cook simultaneously. Baked chicken can be shredded and served over salad or added to sour cream and green chile peppers then served over black beans and lime cilantro rice. It can be tossed in barbecue sauce and served as a sandwich. It can be added to enchiladas or used in chicken spaghetti.
In short, independent seasoning doesn’t have to take additional time or add another trip to the store. All you need is a little flexibility and creativity.
Choose a pot.
If weekends are when you have the most time to cook, make several one pot meals at the beginning of the week, then let the family help themselves to their preference each day. Include vegetables in the pots or steam a few separately to serve as sides. In addition, stock the kitchen with fresh fruit and salad components to compliment your prepared items.
Consider one pot meals like chicken & rice with broccoli; ground turkey with sour cream, Parmesan, and English peas; tuna with pasta, cheese, and spinach or kale; ground beef with taco seasoning, black beans, and cheese; beef stew; or chicken pot pie.
Beat the heat.
In the summer, you may want to offer salad samplers — chicken salad, tuna salad, and egg salad paired with 5 bean salad, broccoli salad, black bean & corn salad, caprese salad, or a build-your-own green salad. There are so many options with salad!
If your kids like to help in the kitchen, creating salad recipes can be a great introduction to experimenting with flavor combinations. The more involved they are the more likely they are to consume the end product.
Warm your insides.
Soups can give you nutritious variety in the winter. There’s something about soup that’s extremely satisfying — especially in cold weather. Prepare two or three types for the week and let the family choose a preference at meal time. Chicken vegetable, chicken with rice, chicken noodle; tomato, cream of tomato; chili; clam or corn chowder; potato; minestrone; white bean; matzo ball; and split pea are all good options. This list could go on and on and your family is sure to have some favorites. Most soups freeze well, so your prep could be as simple as taking something out of the freezer.
Soup can be supplemented with bread, cornbread, or crackers; raw vegetables with a favorite veggie dip; sandwiches; or salads.
Make breakfast a wild card.
Obviously, it’s important to establish that meal choices when you’re cooking are not a free-for-all. If you don’t, you’ll have chaos and a full time job on your hands. On the other hand, there’s no reason for anyone to go hungry because they simply can’t stomach steak when that’s what you are serving.
Preparing for this possibility in advance can prevent a power struggle later. One way to do this is to make breakfast a wild card. If your daughter can’t stand steak, she can play a wild card and cook her own breakfast for dinner. As long as she uses ingredients already on hand, cooks it herself, and cleans up her dishes, you agree to refrain from comment on her choice.
Of course, you can set age limits and weekly limits for use of the established wild card. (No wild cards until you are in first grade and only 1 wild card per week.) The wild card doesn’t have to be breakfast. It could be sandwiches, loaded baked potatoes, salad, pasta, or something out of the freezer.
Keep track on a calendar or dole out printed monthly coupons to be redeemed. The rules are yours. Just make them clear, concise, and consistently enforced. For the best chance of success with this plan, all negotiating should take place prior to a rule’s instatement. Review dates can be established in advance to insure that the system can be improved without diminishing its enforcement.
Inspiration may be a side effect.
Cooking at home has many health advantages. The key to making it a habit is removing the obstacles that prevent you from cooking on a regular basis. Families that are used to custom ordering in restaurants may resist a sudden change to one-size-fits-all meals. That doesn’t mean you need to argue over dinner.
Using the techniques listed here to create an easier transition from restaurant ordering to uniform meals can help you avoid complaints and resistance and the resulting emotional fatigue that may make you feel like implementing a healthier lifestyle is too much trouble.
As an added bonus, providing variety in a way that only requires a tiny bit of additional thinking and no additional work could actually turn out to be fun! I love the process of visualizing new menus, unexpected combinations, and solutions. It’s the kind of mental activity that inspires me.
Try these ideas and who knows, you may get inspired along the way too!
