CINCINNATI (WXIX) – With Thanksgiving just days away, many families face the challenge of preparing a meal that satisfies everyone at the table, including picky eaters.<\/p>\n
Courtney Snow, owner and CEO of the Cincinnati Mom Collective<\/a>, said the holiday can feel like a balancing act between managing food costs and ensuring no one goes hungry.<\/p>\n \u201cIt can be a combination of food prices and then also having picky eaters, especially with younger ones,\u201d Snow said. \u201cSo trying to keep it fun and fill everybody up, but not have it be too expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n [Watch more from FOX19 NOW]<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n How to watch FOX19 NOW on Roku, Fire TV and Apple TVKeep it simple with variety<\/p>\n Snow said the key to success lies in simplicity and offering options.<\/p>\n \u201cI think everybody just has different tastes and if you just keep it simple and just a variety of stuff, everybody can just kind of dig in and find something they like,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Her team at the blog has compiled recipes designed to appeal to picky palates, including mac and cheese cups and a turkey veggie platter with hummus dip.<\/p>\n Snow emphasized using simple ingredients that families likely already have at home.<\/p>\n \u201cThe simple ingredient thing is really key, because that\u2019s stuff that a lot of us already have,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s just being resourceful.\u201d<\/p>\n Snow noted that flexibility matters more than following recipes exactly.<\/p>\n Her team substituted rotini pasta for elbow macaroni in their mac and cheese cups recipe, demonstrating that adaptation is acceptable.<\/p>\n Focus on gratitude over perfection<\/p>\n Snow encouraged families to release pressure around creating the perfect Thanksgiving dinner.<\/p>\n \u201cOne thing that I\u2019ve learned and that a lot of other moms have learned over these last few years in the chaos of life is that you don\u2019t have to put so much pressure on yourself,\u201d she said. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to have a perfect Thanksgiving dinner; you don\u2019t have to do it all yourself. You can cater it, you can go out, you can make easy stuff. As long as you just remember to be grateful and enjoy time with family, those are really the most important things.\u201d<\/p>\n See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it<\/a>.<\/p>\n