Cooking for a blended family

As many of you know I have a blended family, but I try not to refer to the children as "his kids" or "my kids" because to me they are simply our kids. For this posting purposes only I will use the naughty terms (as I call them). When Steve and I started dating it was very obvious that he was a single father trying to do all he could too provide for his family. In a matter of weeks I noticed when the kids plates were placed on the table they would stand to eat and come and go as they pleased. If they ate a quarter of their food everyone was surprised. Now mind you, Steve works anywhere from 12-16 hour days and he was having to come home and do his fatherly duties as well. So, on to my point! The kids basically ate on the run and there was really no room for routines due to his work schedule. This was something I was completely not used to because my girls had a routine and when it was supper time they sat and ate their food. 

In addition, I noticed that when I began cooking half of the kids refused to eat most of what I cooked because they claimed to dislike it. This was also something I was pretty much unfamiliar with because the girls were taught to eat what was put in front of them especially vegetables. Needless to say, I knew I was up against a battle; however, I was determined to win! Our oldest son, Dylan has been the biggest challenge of all! For months he's refused to eat green beans, spinach, dressing, butterbeans, and a number of others foods. Well, I finally sat down with him and explained the importance of trying new foods and how different people cook things differently. Finally, I've broken his stubbornness and he now loves my dressing and he gets excited when I cook green beans ( but it has to be French style)! 

I am honored to say that with a little compromise on everyone's parts we now have a sit down supper, where all 6 are at the table and they normally do not get up until their plates are cleaned and we no longer have disagreements over likes and dislikes! This has been a monsterous accomplishment and it just goes to show that with a little structure, routine, and patience a blended family can become ONE solid unit!