Step 2 - Family meeting

I will eat anything.  My husband Bo doesn't like coconut, cucumbers, asparagus, olives, etc but he's willing to eat most things from time to time or at least pick it out what he doesn't like in what I made.  My son will eat only what he's willing to eat at that moment and/or anything without bell peppers or tomatoes.  My daughter...well so far she's a bottomless pit but she isn't too fond of meat like ground turkey/beef, steaks, pork chops and some lunch meats (I think it's a texture thing, because she'll eat all these meats in other ways).  Menu making can get interesting when each person has their own list of likes and dislikes.  So how does each person get their favorite foods with such vast differences in taste?

A family meeting.

In building my binders I started from scratch.  I kept things in there that I knew 3 out of 4 of us liked, and that's my base.  It's not fair to others if the menu is always catered to the picky eaters and vice versa.  To make sure that everyone gets things they like, you need to compromise at each meal and everyone needs to be aware of their options.  The only way to do this is to sit down and talk about it.  Make a list if you want.  Make a plan and make it happen.

Who loves what?
Who won't eat what even if you paid them?
When are recipes are made?
How often does everyone want to eat certain recipes?
What did each person think of each recipe?

That way when you sit down to make your menu you can see these notes and it will help you build a weekly menu that everyone will love.  You won't be making the exact same recipes over and over by accident, if you have it written down when you made it last.  This is also a great tool for your picky eater who thinks they are always eating things they don't like; you can show them that no they did not eat brussell sprouts yesterday, that was last month.  This is something I'm really looking forward to for my son.  One of his favorite things to say is 'We always eat this' and I want him to see that no we don't.  MWUAHAHA.

Whether you go day by day or plan your menu a week a head, you should ask everyone's opinion before you go shopping.   Every week I give my boys a few recipes I'm thinking of making that week, they get to vote on what I've suggested and/or add things I didn't have in the list.  And at any time someone gets out voted, I let them chose a side so they don't feel like they lost entirely.

For me personally, I think that the more the entire family, not just the kids, are involved in menu planning the more everyone will enjoy dinner time.