Teen boys and portion sizes
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Anonymous
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Sounds totally reasonable to me. There are two meat obsessed teen boys in my family, and DH and I eat meat more sparingly. We definitely limit them and eat just rice and beans and eggs some nights. If he wants to buy more shrimp I’d offer to cook them.
Something I do a fair amount is make veg/non-veg versions of the same dish. Fried rice, quiche or frittata, grilled cheese with and without ham and soup, make-your own rice-bowls, two trays of enchiladas (both with some bean/veggies in the filling but one also with meat), frittatas, ramen bowls (tofu or meat). It’s only minimally more effort. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
OP here, This kid struggles a lot with jealousy and sibling rivalry. If something is unfair I want to fix it, but I also feel like he sees favoritism when things are fair, so I just want a reality check. I should add that we don’t eat this way every night, we solve the vegetarian/omnivore issue in other ways on other days. |
Anonymous
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This sounds exhausting to me.
I suggest that you don’t need to anything else but have food available for him. And you don’t have to bend over backwards to make a bunch of different meals, when the shrimp runs out, he can make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I have a kid (also an athlete) who would eat nothing but steak, but that’s not happening. |
Anonymous
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Have him shop with you then look at register receipts and figure out cost of the lentil dish and meat dish.
Then how much the meat dish is per serving or shrimp or however it breaks out. Is he consuming as much $ as the lentil eater? More? More than the whole lentil dish cooked? Fair enough? |
Anonymous
| Just ask him if he thinks it would be fair if you bought him 300 dollars worth of animal protein in addition to what he eats now but you then give Larla that in cash . . . |
Anonymous
Good one! |
Anonymous
| We have nobody vegetarians in our house, and we still don't have unlimited steak and shrimp. It's always going to run out. It's impossible to fully satisfy these kids. |
Anonymous
| I think you are reasonable with the protein but for reference my family of 5 with two teen boys and 1 tween boy would have 2lbs of meat protein per meal and 3 lbs of chicken. We don’t eat seafood. |
Anonymous
+1. Your child is immature and needs to get a dose of reality, particularly as he will have to pay bills soon himself. |
Anonymous
| You shouldn't restrict what he eats but buy cheaper foods and save the more expensive stuff for dinners only. Change where you shop to Aldi's, Lidl or Walmart. He can eat more vegetarian food or cheaper meats than shrimp. If he wants more, tell him to get a job. What did you expect with four kids? |
Anonymous
5 lbs of chicken and meat? |
Anonymous
| Teens should have part time jobs. Point him toward Aldi and he can see about picking up more shrimp or whatever with his paycheck. You are being totally reasonable! |
Anonymous
Um, exactly! |
Anonymous
This is what you say. |