Teen boys and portion sizes

[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]

Anonymous wrote: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.

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]

Anonymous wrote:He can eat as many lentils as he wants also.

Um, exactly!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He can eat as many lentils as he wants also.

Um, exactly!

This is what you say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is about sibling rivalry, not actual food. You are being reasonable.

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.

He probably needs more attention and support and 1-1 time. Try approaching parenting differently.

[Anonymous]

How much meat exactly are you buying? It may sound reasonable but i understand their point.

I eat almost exclusively vegan and eat a ton of lentils. Yes, they are cheap. My teens eat a ton of meat. I can’t imagine telling them to fill up on lentils. It’s not the same.

I buy bulk chicken breasts when they are 1.99 per pound or less. They were at Giant this week. I make the entire family size package for dinner for the two kids and DH and there will be a bit of leftovers. They eat a tremendous amount of chicken.

[Anonymous]

I think it is more of a sibling rivalry thing than anything, and I don’t think any household provides “as much as one wants” of more expensive items like steaks, out of season berries or whatever. Especially considering teen boy appetites.

I will say this sounds really exhausting for the cook. Can you do a hearty vegetarian meal sometimes (like meatless baked ziti + salad + garlic bread, vegetarian chili or whatever)- and then the next night do a meat centered meal (steak + potatoes + veg etc) & ask the vegetarian kid to prep his own quick protein item to substitute for the steak? Or reheat an veg protein item made in bulk? To reduce having to cook so many different things?

I’d find it stressful to trying to please everyone each night. I’m more concerned about you. 🤣 The kids sound fine and I would not entertain these complaints given you have plenty of other healthy leftovers & items to snack on.

[Anonymous]

If two people go for several drinks, and one has club soda and the other has champagne, should they split the tab?

If the champagne person is on a budget, is it reasonable to have one glass and then switch to club soda?

This is not hard to explain. You could also illustrate your family with two meat proteins: ground beef and filet mignon served on the same night. Have a taste of filet and then switch to ground beef bc no one is entitled to unlimited filet mignon. Surely your child can understand this? That the second protein happens to be vegetarian is not a pertinent detail.

[Anonymous]

Shrimp isn’t even that expensive compared to other animal proteins these days. We just perceive it to be because it was in the past.

I think the issue is you have a hungry growing teen and it sounds like you live in an “ingredients” house. He wants more shrimp because it’s already part of the nice hot cooked meal. He doesn’t want to be draining tuna cans! If you have meats/proteins prepped that he can just reheat, he will eat those.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shrimp isn’t even that expensive compared to other animal proteins these days. We just perceive it to be because it was in the past.

I think the issue is you have a hungry growing teen and it sounds like you live in an “ingredients” house. He wants more shrimp because it’s already part of the nice hot cooked meal. He doesn’t want to be draining tuna cans! If you have meats/proteins prepped that he can just reheat, he will eat those.

Where are you buying shrimp thay you don’t think it is expensive? It’s 10 times more expensive than lentils.

We are on a budget and with teenage boys we rarely served protein alone. Shrimp had to be mixed with pasta. But it’s not a great leftover food so I would pick something else

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

5 lbs of chicken and meat?

I think they are saying either 2 pounds of red meat or 3 pounds of chicken.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shrimp isn’t even that expensive compared to other animal proteins these days. We just perceive it to be because it was in the past.

I think the issue is you have a hungry growing teen and it sounds like you live in an “ingredients” house. He wants more shrimp because it’s already part of the nice hot cooked meal. He doesn’t want to be draining tuna cans! If you have meats/proteins prepped that he can just reheat, he will eat those.

Where are you buying shrimp thay you don’t think it is expensive? It’s 10 times more expensive than lentils.

We are on a budget and with teenage boys we rarely served protein alone. Shrimp had to be mixed with pasta. But it’s not a great leftover food so I would pick something else

I buy it at Costco and Trader Joe’s. Yes I know it’s more expensive than lentils, but I was comparing it to animal proteins (fish, meat, chicken breasts, etc). It’s definitely 10 times tastier than lentils…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is about sibling rivalry, not actual food. You are being reasonable.

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.

He probably needs more attention and support and 1-1 time. Try approaching parenting differently.

+1. I think this might be a symptom of being one of so many kids.

[Anonymous]

He can’t possibly believe his sister eats as many pounds of lentils as he eats in his preferred proteins. The cost of the food is an important factor, but also, part of why she can eat as much as she wants is that she wants less than he does. When you order pizza, does she eat as many slices as he does? Of course not. Should he have to stop at whatever number of slices she stops at to make it fair?