I never forced my kids to eat anything. They never wasted anything because they chose. This is what's for dinner. Eat it or be hungry. Only take what you will eat. If you dish it onto your plate you are expected to eat it. If it's something new then take a small portion and go back for seconds...
My youngest is in college now, so it's nice to think back to when we were going through those times. I always let my kids decide how much of something they wanted. They'd put an oven mit on and spoon out their own helping. If it was something new I'd tell them ahead of time "now you probably...