[rach3975]

I hate cooking, too! I've never loved it, but my picky crew is so difficult to feed. I'm a vegetarian and try to eat lower calorie meals with lots of vegetables. My 18 year old is very picky. He hates mixed foods, strong tastes, most vegetables, and melted cheese. The 15 and 13 year old are easier to feed, but they get very tired of eating the plain things acceptable to kid #1. It's easier now that he's older and I can tell him to make himself something else if necessary. DH wants to eat plain chicken and a green vegetable most nights. I long ago told DH that he was on his own since I couldn't feed the kids that same thing every day. He eats a few of the meals I prepare, but if he doesn't want that he cooks for himself. I also tend to make my own meal, cooking once at the beginning of the week and then eating leftovers.

Here's how I handle it for the kids. I meal plan a month at a time and try to make sure there are no repeats during the month.

Monday is pasta night. One week is pasta with tomato sauce, one week is pasta with meatballs, and the other two weeks are various pasta dishes. If the oldest won't eat the "other" 2 weeks, he can make his own plain pasta. That's almost always what he does.

Tuesday is a meat (often chicken or pork, but they also love turkey meatloaf and roasts) with a separate side (potatoes, corn bread, rice, etc).

Wednesday is leftovers.

Thursday we alternate between breakfast for dinner and Mexican.

Friday is quick and easy stuff--homemade personal pizzas (with kid #1's cheeseless), frozen chicken tenders, soup and sandwiches, etc.

Saturday we do take out.

Sunday is DH's night to cook. About 75% of the time he grills a meat and serves it with bread from the bakery.

Kid #1 is a senior in high school this year, and next year he'll be away at school. I'm probably going to have to throw most of our current meal plans out the window and actually start cooking a lot more variety for the other 2!