One way to avoid this is to figure out what your family likes. It's a really novel concept, right? Before I started couponing in 2009, there was no such thing as meal planning here. If we wanted a particular dish, one of us would drive to the store, purchase those ingredients, and use them. Other days, my husband would head to the store without a plan, just to pick out whatever looked good. Another night, I might get out of class and pick up something from the drive-through because we had to eat something.
Hear me when I say there is NO judgment here. I get it. It's hard to strike a balance with time, money, nutrition, appetites, and motivation. It's not reasonable to cater completely to kids' whims, or our diets would consist solely of cookies, chips, and chocolate milk. On the other hand, adopting an attitude of Eat it or starve! introduces animosity around the whole concept of healthful eating. What works for us is that we've never insisted that kids clean their plates, but we do require that they at least taste new dishes. We let them serve their own portions, and ask that they eat what they take. If they really hate what's served, they're welcome to substitute by making a peanut butter sandwich and/or having a cup of yogurt and/or fresh fruits/veggies.
The other advantage of shopping the matchups is that you'll end up with variety. If you're able to foster culinary experimentation with your family, all the better. Eventually, they'll not only express what they dislike but what they like. Build on it. Chances are, if you have a kid who loves pizza, it's not a huge leap to try lasagna or tortellini with different sauces. If another kid loves muffins, stock up on packaged fruits to try custom recipes. (Believe it or not, my kids are in love with Banana Prune Muffins!) Even if you have a finicky spouse, you can likely find certain dishes he or she likes and begin to build your repertoire.
One of my favorite tools is AllRecipes. You can create an online recipe box, search by ingredient, search by category, etc. I'll find a recipe I want to try, print it, and stick it to the exhaust hood over the stove with a very sturdy magnet while I cook. After we've eaten, I ask for feedback. If the family hates it, the recipe gets tossed. If they love it, I punch holes in the page and it goes into my recipe binder. There's always plenty of room in the margins to make notes, including who in the family loved it, what needed to be tweaked, and how much the recipe actually yields using my measurements and bakeware.
Today's recipe is a variation of my mom's Seven-Layer Bean Dip. I snag refried beans, salsa, and olives whenever they're on sale. I also keep an eye out for deals on cheese, which freezes very well. We also buy the bags of onions when we find a deal, because the excess can always be diced and double-bagged for the freezer (if you don't mind onion-flavored ice cubes, feel free to single-bag your onions). Then, all I have to do is watch for a deal on sour cream, and we have everything we need. This week, Kroger is running a Daytona Promo; you can load digital coupons to your store card on a whole slew of items. Unlike most weeks, with this promo you can actually use the digital coupon up to five times. In other words, you can buy five of a particular item and the discount will come off of all five at the register, but would not for the sixth one. This made the 16-oz Kroger-brand sour cream $1 today. I bought four, and came home to make dip.
This is what I recommend; my mom adds green chilies, and I'm sure you'll want to swap out something which you can do because once you collect a recipe you get to alter it to fit your and your family's tastes.
Step one: heat the beans in a saucepan with a pinch of cheese and half the diced onion. Once it's smooth, spread it in the bottom of your serving dish. Sprinkle a bit of chili powder on top. This souffle' dish doesn't get used for much else.
Step two: Spread sour cream on top. Add the other half of the diced onion and black olives.
Step three: Spread salsa on top. Sprinkle cheese all over. Garnish with black olives and jalapeno slices.
Step four: Cover and refrigerate about half an hour.
Step five: Serve with tortilla chips. Be pleased when your spouse proclaims that you did a really good job on the dip, even though that's what your spouse always says because it is a favorite dish.
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