Dinner tips for those with families?

I think for me it is a matter of portion control. I have the lapband now so I eat my protein first followed by veggies. I generally eat 5 oz lean protein for dinner and a 1c or more of broccoli with whole grain pasta if i can fit it at the end. (I am hungry pretty much constantly and I get stuck about 2 times a week and bring up my dinner, but those are band issues)

My husband cooks so it looks like we are pretty much on track. I look forward to not being hungry between meals and being able to eat a lot in one sitting.

I do struggle with getting my toddler to eat healthy since she is only 33rd percentile for weight and every meal is a fight. She refuses to eat any veggies. She will try them, but spits them back out. She eat a lot of fruits, but that is a lot of carbs. She will be three next month and for example today so far she has eaten a quarter serving of cereal with 1% milk, 1/2 c yogurt, 5 grapes, 1/4 c pretzels. Carbs, carbs, carbs. That's it. It is 2 hours to dinner and the kid has eaten crap. I don't want to set her up for obesity. She is just like I was - small for her size right now. Moms and dads? I ask her pediatrician and the office nutritionist for help and they both say she is fine.

Everyone in my world eats what I cook I don't modify... much... well I will have bread available or a roll or something but not always. I didn't read how far along you are but I agree with the poster above that said it does get easier. 

Thank you to those above that gave a blog shout out... you are welcome to take a look almost 9 years of recipes and menus (link below) 

My kids ate what I cooked, or they didn't eat.  No normal kid is going to purposefully starve themselves forever... for every day they live off a bite of sandwich, there will be another day where they love whatever is put in front of them. 

To be fair, I didn't make them live off protein exclusively... I would do things like a meatloaf and veggies and bread, and then not eat the bread myself, that sort of thing... or tuna noodle casserole and set aside a bit more tuna for myself while skipping the noodles...

Audrey

I'm really lucky that my daughter has always eaten well.  At four years old, she would tell people her favorite foods were pink steak (medium-rare) and sushi.  But she still loved the typical crap food that kids love.  So I make sure that whatever I make for dinner has stuff that is good for me.  The frozen steam in the bag vegetables have been lifesavers.

For example, yesterday was hamburgers.  My daughter and wife had their's on a bun, with grilled potato wedges.  I had mine bunless, one single potato wedge, and some broccoli and cauliflower.  Taco Tuesday is a taco salad.  Spaghetti night is meatballs and sauce over vegetables (especially spaghetti squash).  

It hasn't been hard, and when I enter maintenance, I figure it'll be even easier.  And my daughter has been eating healthier (and even making healthier choices at school) as a result.