Kids’ Meals for All

The Family: Kerri, 38, and Brian Charette, 39, and children Andrew, 14; Matt, 12; Chris, 8; Summer, 7; and Joy, 6.
Home: Gales Ferry, Connecticut.

One of the trickiest parts of the dinner hour for Kerri, a mother of five and a part-time spokesperson for an adoption agency, is figuring out what to make. She doesn’t like to cook, and her kids are picky eaters. “If I fix something that has more than three ingredients, they won’t touch it,” she says. “But they’ll eat chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, or pancakes.” Which means the family’s typical weekly fare looks as if it came straight from a kids’ menu. They’ll have dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets one night and frozen waffles, eggs, fruit, and yogurt another. For vegetables, Kerri cuts up raw cucumbers and carrots or serves steamed fresh broccoli.

Then there’s working around the schedules of three active baseball players and two gymnasts. So Kerri has created a strict policy: “We have dinner every night at 6 p.m., no matter what.” Kerri covers plates for latecomers, which they can heat in the microwave later. Most nights, though, the whole family is together. “We turn off the television, and we don’t answer the phone,” says Kerri. “Everyone knows it’s family time.”

Or picnic time. The family of seven, often accompanied by a friend or two, sits down to dinner at a pine trestle table with benches in the kitchen and eats off of paper plates. “It’s easier for the kids to set out a stack of paper plates than heavy china ones, and paper makes cleanups quicker,” explains Kerri. She buys whichever kinds are on sale — but no foam. “I’m not that bad,” she says. Kerri makes up plates at the kitchen counter and lets each child carry his or hers to the table. “This helps me monitor what they’re eating,” she adds. For instance, she gives larger portions to the older kids and makes sure everyone gets some vegetables.

To avoid hearing “What’s for dinner?” five times a day, Kerri writes the evening’s menu on a dry-erase board in the kitchen. All in all, total prep time — from opening the refrigerator to serving — is less than an hour.