I'm having trouble keeping everyone fed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did we figure out if this is a troll?

I think she is just effing clueless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here.

Tonight was fried chicken. With pasta and a homemade Alfredo sauce. Two loaves of garlic bread. Salad on the side. Still no leftovers. Two boxes of penne and I used 2 chickens to make the fried chicken.

Starting to think that I could cook the whole kitchen worth of food and they would eat it all lol.

Getting closer. If there are still no leftovers, you're not there yet

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tonight's dinner I'm making meatballs using an lb of ground beef and I will use a full box of pasta and cheese. Baked spaghetti. I'm taking the pps advice and I'll make a salad with lettuce, spinach, sunflower seeds, mandarin oranges and thousand island dressing. They like that.

Have you not been paying attention? It's been said OVER and OVER that one pound of meat is NOT enough

Ew, mandarin oranges with thousand island on them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tonight's dinner I'm making meatballs using an lb of ground beef and I will use a full box of pasta and cheese. Baked spaghetti. I'm taking the pps advice and I'll make a salad with lettuce, spinach, sunflower seeds, mandarin oranges and thousand island dressing. They like that.

Have you not been paying attention? It's been said OVER and OVER that one pound of meat is NOT enough

Ew, mandarin oranges with thousand island on them?

OP said they liked it. Didn't ask if you did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here.

I don't have food issues. I just also feel like a pound of ground beef is a lot of meat. I will use two boxes of pasta for tonight and I'll make extra meatballs. I feel like a failure. Even when I order a pizza and wings for the family they are still hungry. At this point my goal is really just to have left overs so I know everyone is content.

The problem is that you are still thinking about food for yourself as a middle aged woman, not about teenage male athletes.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/estimated-calorie-requirement

A woman ages 31-50 should have about 2000 calories (less if she is dieting or trying to lose weight). A boy 14-18 should have 2800-3200 calories per day. That's 1.5 times your consumption. Your younger kids need about 1500 calories per day. Your husband needs about 2200 calories per day. Your family should be eating about 13000-14000 calories per day. For 3 square meals, that's about 4500-5000 calories per meal.

One lb of gr beef is about 1500 calories. Pasta is about 1600 calories per box. So now, you're getting closer. But I would go with 2 lbs of beef and 2 boxes of pasta to be safe. Plus sides. Don't forget sides.

[Anonymous]

2 person thin household here- we eat 1lb of meat every night for dinner. I would estimate 1/2 lb meat a night per person.

[Anonymous]

Okay well I tripled the amount of food I'm cooking tonight. Hopefully this works and we get leftovers. For other moms with big eaters, how do you handle things like lasagna. Just make multiple lasagnas? My pan that I use isn't deep and it only will hold about one box of noodles and a lb of meat with sauce and cheese. I'm looking online for glass versions of those deep casserole pans that are used at banquet events

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay well I tripled the amount of food I'm cooking tonight. Hopefully this works and we get leftovers. For other moms with big eaters, how do you handle things like lasagna. Just make multiple lasagnas? My pan that I use isn't deep and it only will hold about one box of noodles and a lb of meat with sauce and cheese. I'm looking online for glass versions of those deep casserole pans that are used at banquet events

I use a roaster as my lasagna pan. I got it specifically for that purpose. I like a tall lasagna!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay well I tripled the amount of food I'm cooking tonight. Hopefully this works and we get leftovers. For other moms with big eaters, how do you handle things like lasagna. Just make multiple lasagnas? My pan that I use isn't deep and it only will hold about one box of noodles and a lb of meat with sauce and cheese. I'm looking online for glass versions of those deep casserole pans that are used at banquet events

I use a roaster as my lasagna pan. I got it specifically for that purpose. I like a tall lasagna!

+1. You basically have three options: get a bigger pan, use multiple pans to make more than one lasagna, or make enough other hearty dishes that the lasagna is a minor part on everyone's plate - almost more like a side dish rather than the main meal. For example, you could serve lasagna and pizza, or lasagna and a big pasta salad. Lasagna with a side of meatballs. That kind of thing.

[Anonymous]

OP, your family might go through a stage of eating everything you make because they're not used to having so much food. Keep cooking and things will even out eventually.

[Anonymous]

OP if you're not a troll you should meet with a nutritionist or personal chef who specialized in meal planning or in-home
cooking for the week. Give them your family details, say you want a few leftovers, and watch what they make.

A nutritionist should be able to give you written meal plans and quantities, and a personal chef should also do the same if you ask (and perhaps pay a bit more). Either way, a session or two wouldn't be too expensive (if you consider a few hundred not too expensive).

[Anonymous]

Dinner should be able to get left overs tonight. I'm making a chicken pot pie casserole style with string beans and sweet potato as side dishes.

I asked my son what did he think about last nights dinner and he said he loved it. So I guess I'm doing better.

[Anonymous]

NP here. 17:40, if you ever wanted to post what you prepare for dinner, I'd love it. It is clear you have this down to a science and I definitely have a lot to learn as my DS grows!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks pps. No the food won't stop. I'll just cook more until we get leftovers. Tonight's dinner is kale, pork, and sweet potato stir fry. I'll make rice and salad as well.

Cooking enough until you get leftovers is a good strategy. Then it definitely means everyone has had their fill. Or you could be like my MIL who comments that she made the perfect amount since there was none left and I look at my DH and BIL and feel bad since I know I'm still hungry so he has to be since one egg and a tiny muffin per person just isn't cutting it for brunch. MIL has forgotten what it's like to cook for more than two so she makes her portions of things for everyone. Good luck, OP!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have 2 teenaged boys and an 11 yo DD. DH and I eat norm human quantities.

I don't want them filling up on cereal (both for cost and for nutrition), so for breakfast I buy (weekly) 3 large containers of full-fat greek yogurt, a large bag of sliced almonds, 4 pints of berries, and 3 boxes of granola. I also make on the weekend and freeze an entire package of whole-grain pancake mix, which they eat with nut butter. I also boil 2 dozen eggs. I also buy a bag each of apples and oranges and several bunches of bananas, all of which they also eat with nut butter and/or greek yogurt. We also go through a jug of maple syrup each week to sweeten all the yogurt. And I get them each a gallon of whole milk (literally theirs--their name goes on it and if they run out, that's it). I always keep boxed muffin mix in the house in case we run out of breakfast food before grocery day.

For lunches I buy: 6 loaves of bread, an entire ham, 3 cans of chicken or 6 cans of tuna (I mix up a salad on the weekend), and ingredients for a big batch of lentil "sloppy joes). I also buy several heads of lettuce, some avocados if they are on sale, a few lbs of tomatoes, some onions and mayo and several blocks of different kinds of full-fat cheese.

When they get home from school/practice we have vegetables for snacks. Each week I buy two large bags of baby carrots, 3 heads of celery and some mushrooms or broccoli or peppers (rotate according to sales for some variety) which they eat with dip (2 tubs of hummus and 2 tubs of full-fat sour cream with ranch seasoning mixed in and 2 jars of salsa. They each get 2 large boxes of crackers per week (again labeled), which varies with sales/coupons). I also buy 6 or so sweet potatoes and roast them on the weekend so they can just pull the skin off and eat with butter. I also buy a huge tub of spinach and about 6 heads of romaine per week and 3-4 kinds of salad dressing and toppings (subflower seeds, nuts, croutons, cheese, olives, etc.).

For dinner, I serve them each double what I would eat, and always have either 1 cup (uncooked measurement) brown rice per kid, or 1/2 loaf of french bread or 1 large russet potato to go alongside dinner per kid. If they are still hungry after dinner they are welcome to make pasta and sauce or have more of their snack stuff or bake some of the afforementioned muffins.

Omg. My 14 yo nephew is about to move in with us. If this is what they all eat like our grocery bill is literally going to triple overnight.