oh foa... You just opened a large can of worms lol...

Here's the thing... I know how hard it can be to have to please everyone, but I think that you should have a sit-down with them and let them know that you are -not- a short order cook, and tell them how hard it is for -you- to have to take such pains to make sure your meals make everyone happy as a whole. And like someone said before, have them go with you to let them see what goes on when it comes to planning. Or better yet, each week have someone -else- do your job - the planning, the list, the shopping, the cooking. All of it. Exactly the way you do it. Maybe they'll appreciate what you do more and be less picky.

Also, if it's veggies some people are picky about, it's not hard to sneak them into foods - unless it's like tomato. Our roommate absolutely -loathes- mushrooms. He swore up and down that he can tell if there's mushroom in something.... I got a pack of baby Bella mushrooms, chopped them up super fine, and cooked them in with the meat when I made lasagna. He had not a clue at all.

My mom has a horrible habit of getting stuck in a cooking rut - she'll cook the same handful of different meals every week and then when she realizes she needs/wants something different, she'll change it up, but then it's back to her usual - fried chicken & mashed potatoes, fried cube steak and whatever, chicken & steak on the grill with crispy potatoes, pot roast, stuff like that.

I hate falling into that type of routine, but I'm also lucky to have a bf who A.) Isn't a picky eater & B.) Is willing to try whatever I put in front of him and always likes it.

I cook every meal - or at least Breakfast & Dinner ... Lunch for him is leftovers from dinner the night before. I try to cook dinner in bulk to save on having to cook a solid 3 meals everyday. Plus with my bf's health issues that have yet to be figured out, I have to cook a lot of high-carb, starchy, super filling meals that stay within budget.

So, most of what I make is Mexican. When cooked right, Mexican can be healthy, but still filling and cheap. Mexican red rice, black beans (buy dried beans and go from there. It costs less to buy an lb of dried black beans than it does to buy canned), tacos with corn tortillas, etc.

I usually cook pasta dishes or Mexican meals. or if my daughter is here, then fried chicken and a steamer bag of veggies or soup of some sort. I'm trying to get her out of her picky stage.

I think the biggest tip I can give you, is buy the so-called "pantry staples" all in one trip - flour, baking powder & soda, whatever pasta noodles you use most, canned tomatoes, a bag of onion, garlic, things like that. Stuff that can be stretched out throughout the month. Then think about individual meals for each week and buy what's needed for those.

I've even gotten into buying bigger packs of meat and portioning them out into individual freezer bags and freeze what I won't be using for awhile.