Dad's Cafe

The other day I had a thought that when I decide to go back to work I have a bright future as a short order cook. For the most part, I decide exactly what I am going to serve the kids when it's time to eat. There's only so much that is available in the kitchen to cook. Today the menu includes spinach and cheese ravioli, chicken, maybe corn, and applesauce or fruit cup for desert. But as my sons get older they have this annoying habit of having their own individual taste when it comes to food. Both of my sons love sandwiches. While my older son loves all types of sandwiches, my younger son pretty much sticks with either PB&J or just PB. One likes fish sticks while the other wont touch anything breaded unless its chicken nuggets. My older son will eat most vegetables with a little "encouragement," while my younger son turns his nose up at anything that includes vegetables. He has made some improvement on the fruit side. I recently had someone give me the advice to try using ranch dressing as a bribe to get the vegetables off their plates and in their bellies but I have not tried this yet. I know that some people have extreme success in getting their kids to eat vegetables but I am pretty sure that most parents struggle with this everyday.
Snacking can also get out of hand and hinder eating at dinner time. My wife and I noticed that our sons were snacking too much. Now, they usually get one snack in the morning ( This is unless they sleep in past their usual 7:30 for some reason. But this doesn't happen all that much.) and they do not get a snack in the afternoon. This is mainly because my son gets home from school at 4pm and we normally eat dinner between 5:30-6. Cutting down snacks has significantly helped in getting my older son to eat his whole dinner. My younger son is still stubborn about what food he eats. I am hoping 3 is a turn around year for him.
On average I try to make the same thing for them at the same time. Not only does this show an attempt to get the boys to eat their vegetables, but with two kids involved, it stops some of the bickering about who has what. On a perfect day I try to make one dinner that is for all of us. This does not always work out, so many days I take the orders and get to work. I think it is good to give them some kind of choice so unless I have something in mind (like tonight) I will narrow choices down to 2-3 things and let them choose. I can usually get things going out in a pretty reasonable time. I am thinking about getting a table top bell to ring when the orders are up.