Advice Needed

So it's November, 2011.  I completed my major New Year's Resolution, to finish a triathlon.  There is one uncompleted resolution that is nagging at me, though.  The one where I resolved to get my kids to eat better.

To bring you up to speed, I decided I was going to make one dinner for EVERYONE, at least four nights a week.  No frozen pizza for the kids, no salads for me.  The children could eat or not eat, but I would not be a short order cook.  I usually ended up putting Patrick's portion in the fridge for when he arrived home around 9:00pm or so.

So I stuck with this, but 11 months later I am highly frustrated that I have seen little to no improvement in my kids' palates.  This, combined with the fact that I am spending more on groceries on a regular basis but throwing away more of each dinner, REALLY makes me want to quit.  Even Patrick doesn't always eat what I've cooked, mostly because he's not that hungry at 9 o'clock at night.  So it's me and the baby eating about 25 percent of whatever I've cooked that night, and the rest either getting moldy in the fridge or being thrown away.  Frustrating.

Really, the only thing keeping me going at dinner time IS the baby.  God bless her, she'll munch on red peppers and cucumbers while she waits patiently for her Cajun Chicken Pasta.  I figure at least I can keep her palate from shrinking, right?  In the back of my mind, though, it nags at me that all of my kids were adventurous eaters at an early age.  I seemed to do everything right until they hit about 2 and 1/2.

So, my kids go to bed hungry every night (they really seem to be getting used to it, neither of them ever complains about being hungry) and wake up to eat seven waffles each, and meanwhile I drink more and more wine at dinner to deal with the stress of another failed meal... Likewise, my husband silently cringes at the growing grocery bills every month.  Where do I go from here?  I've ordered a couple of books from Amazon, hoping to get back on the right path.  I'm a little wary, however, because I've tried most of the advice out there, including, but not limited to: 

1. Let the kids help with meal preparations.  We do this a lot and the kids have fun, I get to clean up a bigger mess, and dinner still doesn't get tasted.

2.  Let the kids pick out healthy foods to try at the grocery store.  We did this frequently over the summer, but I ended up eating a ton of kiwi and asparagus all by myself. 

3.  Let the kids plant a garden.  We've had a raised bed garden for three years now, and my kids do enjoy digging, planting, and picking.  Sadly, at harvest time, everything they pick they bring to me and say "Look mom, a tomato for you to eat!"  My kids apparently think I am the only one in the family that consumes vegetables.

I've tried everything, people.  New recipes, new vegetables, new plates.  I'm beginning to think the damage is already done and I might as well cook the kids what they want, so at least they get some calories in them every night.  I'm seriously thinking of consulting a nutritionist, or possibly Dr. Phil.  I'll give these new books a chance, and then... I don't know.  If anyone has some sound advice, I'm open to suggestions.