Cooking for your family doesn't mean you have to cook a different meal for everyone. I've learned that cooking to please my family actually involves cooking less and spending more time with them-it's a lesson learned I won't soon forget.

When you're trying to cook for a large group of people-and seriously, depending on how you feel about cooking, any other than yourself can make a crowd-it can sometimes be difficult to know what to do as far as cooking to please all the different palettes in the room goes.

But fear no longer. It is possible make meals that everyone can appreciate, without cooking a different meal for each individual.

My sister is the type who raised her children to be completely independent, which was an excellent idea until they both developed a taste for different foods and won't eat anything else. So every night, my sister has to make 5 chicken nuggets-fried, Mommy, not baked-, one salad-with cucumbers and pickles, Mommy, please--, and a meal for herself and her husband.

At my house, on the other hand, I have gotten it down to a science. I have this idea that my kids like to spend time with me more than they care what we eat and if they can't stand around telling me what to cook and how to cook it, then I get less complaints. But you're probably wondering how in the world I can accomplish that. I do it with…drum roll please…a crock pot. That's right. I get up at 6am and stick dinner in the crock pot before the kids are even awake. I usually hop on the internet the night before and pick out a crock pot recipe that I think sounds good (usually something from my favorite site www.A-Crock-Cook.com) and then get all the ingredients together so I can just throw them into the crock pot, set it on low and leave it to cook all day while I do other things and take care of the kids.

Since I implemented the crock pot policy-I cook in it everyday, that's my policy-I have never once had a problem with my children not wanting to eat the meals I cook because they're happy to spend time playing games with me and talking to me about theirs days while the aroma of dinner fills the house.

Not to mention, in a crock pot, I can cook virtually anything I can cook using more traditional methods - so I save myself time and still make their favorite food: lasagna. They also love my beef crock pot recipes and my chicken crock pot recipes because the meat is always tender and the food always cooks fast and on its own.

Over the years I really have come to realize that cooking for your family is more about making time to be with your family and do something for them that shows you care about them and want them to be happy. At my house, it's never been about the food.

I've been trying for years to get my sister to make the cross over to the crock pot but she just never learns.

Remember, it's not always about making what everyone demands. It's about making what everyone can enjoy.