We didn't do alternate meals either. When I think of all the time I wasted choking down beans... well, fortunately, Dad's as picky an eater as I am, so we rarely had to eat fish. And nobody forced you to eat the side dish, just the vegetables, so I could skip the mashed potatoes or noodles.
Mom stopped trying to force me to eat yogurt or things with that consistency after I was four due to one spectacular display of my gag reflex.
We weren't really forced to eat anything either...not even vegetables. But I guess for the most part we just ate what was put in front of us. Maybe we were just born with weird tastebuds. ;-)
ROTFL!! Yeah, I have a bad memory of our #1 son and carrots.