Today we’ll talk about Making the Meal Stretch as I share our Big Family Food Journey. But this post could also be titled: Feeding Picky Kids. See also: How to Add a Big Variety of Fruits and Vegetables to the Table. Sounds like we have a lot of ground to cover today!
What I am about to share will tell you how we regularly:
- Feed our big family without making a huge portion of the main dish for every meal
- Accommodate picky eaters, and…
- Provide lots of fruits and veggies for our crew.
- Bonus: This stretches the grocery budget too!
Another Bonus: This method works for families of all sizes, small and large!
Big Family Food: Making the Meal Stretch
Even though we typically feed 8-15 or more at every meal, I don’t always make a double or triple batch of our main dish. That could get really expensive! So instead, I often make one large main dish and then provide a big variety of nourishing sides to fill us up!
Here’s a list of items I might pull out to serve with the main dish we have prepared. Typically I prepare (or simply pull from the fridge or pantry) four or five of these:
- Kid-Friendly Green Smoothies
- Grown Up Green Smoothies
- Peas
- Green Beans
- Broccoli
- Carrots
- Mixed Veggies
- Corn
- Salad
- Baked Potatoes in the Crock Pot
- Grape Tomatoes
- Olives
- Pickles
- Bananas
- Prepared Unsweetened Applesauce Cups (or applesauce scooped out of a jar into small bowls)
- Applesauce Squeezies – with other fruits and sometimes vegetables included
- Blueberries
- Raspberries
- Blackberries
- Strawberries
- 100% Peach Cup
- 100% Pear Cup
- 100% Mandarin Orange Cup
- Canned Pineapple – tidbits or slices
- Apples
- Clementines
- Pears
- Watermelon
- Cantaloupe
- Chips and Salsa
- Chips and Guacamole
- Avocado
- Stick-of-Butter-Rice
- The Easiest Mashed Potatoes
- Sweet Potato Fries (I usually buy these premade at Costco now and throw them in our Air Fryer.)
- Beans
- Bread and Butter
- Muffins
- Cheese
For instance…
Here’s an example of some food I set out to serve with a 9×13 Cheesy Beef and Rice Casserole one night. We had company, so there were 18 of us eating. (Note: Several were little ones who ate very small portions.) With our casserole, I served:
- a pan of warm homemade rolls
- a pot of steamed green beans
- a pot of buttered corn
- a plate of clementines and kiwi
- and a plate of sliced cheese.
Not pictured from this meal: corn, rolls, and casserole. Plus the adorable face of our 2yo. :)
Everyone got full and we even had a little bit of corn and casserole leftover.
Stretch the Meal, Accommodate the Picky Eaters
If I set out 4-5 of the above-listed items to go with our meals, I tell the kids to pick 2-3 (or more if they want). This has worked so beautifully because in the case of our foster/adopted kids, letting them choose their sides gives them a sense of control when so much of their life has felt out of control.
But I don’t let them rule the show. As in, I don’t let the kids ask for something that isn’t already an offering on our buffet.
If I’ve set out the main dish, a bowl of grapes, sliced apples, steamed broccoli, and mixed greens with ranch – they don’t get to turn up their nose and ask for a pickle or a PBJ. I know what all of our kids like and don’t like. So I know that the choices I set out WILL accommodate all of the kids’ preferences in some way. I have them choose at least one fruit and one veggie from the choices provided and that’s that.
See how this stretches the meal?
I feel like I’ve talked more about accommodating picky eaters than I have about stretching the meal to feed 10-20 people. So let’s talk a little bit about how my method of serving several side dishes makes our main dish stretch farther!
If I were to make a Simple Ham and Hashbrown Casserole and serve it with a salad – we would run out of casserole after everyone had only one small or medium-sized helping. But if I make a Simple Ham and Hashbrown Casserole and set it out with:
- Green Beans
- Salad
- Cantaloupe
- Blueberries
- Muffins (whatever kind I have on hand)
…then everyone can help themselves to the casserole, and fill up on all/some of the sides that are available. (Just like the example I shared above when we served one casserole to 18 people.)
Yes, sometimes I make a double batch of the main dish – 2 big casseroles, an extra huge pot of soup, or several pounds of meat. But this can really eat away at our grocery budget and typically it means I fight more food battles with the littles. Making one biggish portion of our main dish and serving a big variety of sides works much better for us!
Samples of Making Our Meals Stretch
Here are some examples of what I might serve with main dishes to stretch our meals.
Roast with:
- The Easiest Mashed Potatoes
- Carrots
- Green Beans
- Pineapple
- Strawberries
Taco Meat with:
- Tortillas and Chips
- Black Beans or Refried Beans
- Stick-of-Butter-Rice
- Corn
- Salsa
- Avocados
- Lettuce
- Tomatoes
- Olives
- Cheese
- Pineapple
- Grapes
Hearty Bean Casserole with:
- Biscuits or Muffins
- Apple slices
- Clementines
- Salad
- Grape tomatoes
Hamburgers with:
- Sweet Potato Fries
- Tomatoes
- Pickles
- Watermelon
- Blackberries
Pizza with:
If I make these smoothies, I don’t typically set out anything else. They include greens and fruit, so that covers everything!
Spaghetti with:
- Steamed broccoli
- Fresh greens with ranch
- Corn
- Sweet peppers
- Cantaloupe
- Pears
Grilled Chicken with:
- Peas
- Fresh greens with ranch
- Raspberries
- Pickles
- Bread and butter or muffins
In some ways, it might seem easier to some to make a main dish with just a couple of sides and call it good. But that doesn’t work for my family. There are too many of us and many of my little ones and teens are picky. I’ve found that I fight fewer food battles by setting out several sides. Plus most of these sides don’t take any effort to put on our counter for our kids to pick from!
It’s really very easy.
Fruit mostly just has to be washed and served. Or if I need to cut or slice it, I try to do it ahead of time and just pull out a bowl of cantaloupe or watermelon, etc. at mealtime. Veggies just have to be steamed and served. Pickles come in a jar. Muffins have already been baked – I just take the lid off the container. Easy, easy, easy!
Stay tuned for more Big Family Food posts, where I share all about how I make food for our big family!
You’ve got a lot of good information here about some of the logistics of feeding a large family! Having an effective storage system helps busy households stay organized at mealtimes and all the times in between. https://www.impeccableclosets.com/
Hi Laura,
Fellow large family momma here and thats exactly how I do it too. We don’t allow another option (like pb and j or cereal) but I’m sure to lay out a variety of food. Also an array of sides is cheaper than additional meat in the main dish. But I also like to add shredded fine zucchini or carrots, chopped fine mushrooms, or pureed spinach to help stretch our meat. Now, my kids are used to my “weird” foods, but my nieces and nephews gobble up my “weird” foods without question and it gives us a greater variety of veggies we may not normally eat (stinky mushrooms).
I’m really enjoying this series!
I’ve been thinking about this since I read it! I’m shocked you don’t make triple recipes (I have 4 kids and I often double). Never heard it before, but I Love this idea. It’s so smart!