Cooking meals your whole family will enjoy

When you have a family, dinner time can be the perfect opportunity to get together and socialize over some delicious food and drink. You can catch up and learn about what’s going on in your loved ones’ lives.

However a difficulty can arise when everybody likes different meals. If some family members don’t enjoy the same dishes that others love, meal planning can be a challenge. Cooking takes time, especially when you’re creating multiple dishes at once. It’s much easier to get everybody eating the same foods to reduce your cooking time and prevent yourself from becoming overwhelmed in the kitchen.

If you are the cook, you will want to keep things as simple as possible in the kitchen. This is much easier said than done when you have a family of fussy eaters, but here are some top tips to help you get every family member on the same menu.

Ask everybody to contribute to the meal planning

When every family member feels involved in the meal planning, they are more likely to be open to suggestions. You can brainstorm some meal ideas together to see which dishes seem to be the favorites amongst the group.

You could also plan out some meals that can be easily adapted or split up. For example, if I’ve decided on spaghetti bolognese, but one person dislikes minced beef, you can cook the beef separately and allow each person to serve up their own portion of meat.

If somebody dislikes sauces, serve the sauce on the side of the main dishes so those who want it can add their own servings.

Bring everybody along to the grocery store

Encouraging your family members to come along to the grocery store with you gives them the chance to take a look at what is on offer.

Each person can discover new foods they might like to try and agree on the best options as a family. As with meal planning, if everybody is involved, they’re more likely to try dishes they’ve never considered before.

Get everybody involved in the kitchen

Bringing everybody into the kitchen to help out can reduce some of your stress, and it gets your whole family involved in the cooking of their food.

If you have younger children, asking them to help out can be a great way to spark their interest in cooking or nutrition. Additionally, you can teach them some of the key kitchen skills, such as the benefits of cooking beyond the nutritional value of their food, to increase their motivation to cook in the future.

When the whole family is cooking together in the kitchen, it gives you extra time to socialize and catch up with each other. You can notify each other of exciting news or updates and share lots of laughter.

Getting everybody involved in cooking also gives each person the opportunity to adjust their meal according to their preferences, so they’re more likely to enjoy their dinner