Teen son ate an entire large container of Whole Foods smoked mozzarella pasta salad

[Anonymous]

Years ago we had a neighbor with 5 teen boys. They were all tall over 6’5” except for one who only grew to be about 5’8”. One became an NBA player. She would talk about how much they ate. She wasn’t complaining, she just talked about it. She started an area food bank. I never thought much about it at the time, but I guess her and her husband started the food bank because of their own personal situation.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We started marking food in the fridge with tape when our teenage son needs to leave it alone. If it has tape on it, he can only take one small serving. A year in and so far, this is working.

This is so bizarre. Just buy more food.

I guess to you it is bizarre! He can have anything else in the fridge, but if we have leftovers of a meal I cooked that everyone loves, he gets one share of that and everyone else gets a share too. There is plenty of other stuff and he knows how to cook meals as well. It is working for us- he learns he can’t just take all of everyone’s favorite foods and should be aware others want it too. He is also able to eat when he is hungry, just not other people’s food they are also looking forward to.

We have plenty of food, but no I’m not doubling up on cooking meals and doing twice the dishes (some things only fit in certain pots/dishes) so he gets to eat whatever he wants.

Jesus Christ. Just make more food when you make these amazing meals you doofus. Your doubling up on dishes excuse as to why you refuse to cook bigger portions is extremely lame and doesn’t make sense. (Cook the food in a bigger pot maybe?) Why is this so difficult for you to grasp?

Hahaha are you really writing here to tell me how to cook food?
Sorry everyone- thought we had a solution that works for us and might work for others. Clearly that isn’t you PP! Congrats on telling me off!

I mean, you’re either incompetent or you resent your own son. I was giving you the benefit of the doubt, but I’m guessing you’ll be one of those confused women someday who doesn’t understand why your son spends most of his holidays with his in-laws. Enjoy!

NP. You sound insane.

Also NP.People write the wildest fan fiction on here to work out their inner fears and demons.

Yeah, it’s super wild that a son might grow up and not be close to his miserly mother who thinks he’s an entitled glutton for eating more food than she does during one of the biggest growth periods of his life.

That’s not what she said. She said she ensures there are portions left for other family members. We do the same so we can use the leftovers for another meal. The kid can snack on something else.

LOL. She also said she absolutely refuses to cook MORE of the food her whole family wants to eat MORE of, but instead weirdly tapes off tiny portions of leftovers.

Like I said, she’s incompetent.

DP who hasn’t posted in this thread for many days. I really don’t see your perspective here. The pp — who to my understanding is not the OP — came up with a system that works for her family and for her kid. It actually seems like a pretty good system to me (and I am so totally NOT an almond mom — I happen to think op has big issues).

Her excuses are dumb. Sorry. She should have left off the BS about how she can only cook chicken or pasta (or whatever) in one pot and therefore she would have to do TWICE the number of dishes (the horror!) if she cooked more food whenever she cooks if she didn’t want anyone to point out that she sounds almost as ridiculous as OP.

+1 I mean obviously 2 containers of the WF pasta salad was enough for the family when her son was 12. Now that he’s 13, she needs to buy 3 containers so all family members have the amount suited to their hunger. She’s making this about the perception that her son is eating more than his “fair share.” But he is hungrier and has higher caloric needs than other members of the family. The solution isn’t for him to eat 6 different other small things to get full. The solution is to buy or make more food so that he can have an adequate portion of the item to achieve satiety. The shaming and controlling and expecting that everything you cook will be portioned out into equal identical portions for different family members is not helpful or appropriate for handling this situation. This isn’t like he ate all the homemade chocolate chip cookies leaving none for his siblings.

Separately, that pasta salad is a main dish in my opinion, not a side dish. I perceive it more like Mac n cheese (although not hot) than macaroni salad.

There is a whole lot of unwhole foods in that salad:

Ingredients: Smoked Mozzarella Salad Dressing (Dressing [Canola Oil, Water, Brown Rice Syrup, Modified Food Starch, Pea Protein Isolate, White Distilled Vinegar, Sea Salt, Mustard Flour, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Xanthan Gum, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, White Pepper], White Wine Vinegar [Aged White Wine Vinegar. Contains Sulfites], Minced Garlic in Water [Garlic, Water, Citric Acid], Cayenne Pepper, Salt, Black Pepper), Cooked Penne Rigate (Water, Enriched Semolina Flour [Durum Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid], Canola Oil, Wheat Gluten, Eggs, Agar, Carrageenan, Locust Bean Gum, Xanthan Gum), Smoked Mozzarella (Pasteurized Cultured Cow's Milk, Salt, Enzymes, and Smoke [Liquid]), Roasted Red Pepper (Red Sweet Pepper, Water, Sea Salt, Citric Acid), Parmesan Cheese (Pasteurized Part Skim Milk, Cheese Culture, Salt, Enzymes, Flow Agent: Less Than 2% Microcellulose Crystalline To Prevent Caking), Spinach, Parsley.

The kid would be much better off filling up on homemade snacks IMHO.

Which ingredient do you object to?

Canola oil is pure junk; trans fats, inflammation, clogs arteries, cellulite, makes you fat. It's used because it's dirt cheap. Why can't these greedy companies use olive oil and charge, what, $1 more per pound? Everything in the WF deli and bakery is now full of canola or palm oil. So much for being a "healthy" grocery store, it's like the entire global economy wants everyone sick and obese.

LOL at thinking there’s some difference between olive oil and rapeseed oil.

I’ve never heard of rapeseed oil.

It's forced down your gullet, whether you want it or not.

1. False
2. Seriously, explain (physiologically) the health benefits of olive oil and contrast with the health drawbacks of canola (rapeseed) oil.

Dp. Here you go. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/canola-vs-olive-oil

That article didn’t answer the question. The studies cited aren’t actually comparisons of olive vs canola oil for example, but rather “people who eat olive oil are healthier than people who don’t!” (Mediterranean diet, anyone?) and “people who consume the most canola oil are less healthy than people who consume the least!” (Canola is frequently the oil of choice for deep drying, which the article even mentions…)

Now I am actually not saying that one is more or less healthy/unhealthy than the other, but the real takeaway is that the American public is scientifically illiterate and you posting that article as some sort of “proof” for the PP’s hysteria about canola oil is Exhibit A.

Exhibit B is that people are thinking food needs a “Flow Agent”

I agree with you that most people don’t know enough. In fact, I would say scientists don’t really know enough. That said, because we don’t know and things like liquid smoke or canola oil or Carrageenan have research that points in different directions, eating homemade stuff is better. Not perfect, but better.

Here is some info:
Consumer Reports and the National Organic Standards Board called for removal of carrageenan in organic products due to its questionable safety. But the USDA decided to continue to allow carrageenan in organic products, and carrageenan can still be found in many nonorganic foods — so check ingredients lists.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/food-additives-to-avoid/2020/09/25/bca05e18-d73b-11ea-9c3b-dfc394c03988_story.html

So, no I wouldn’t have my teenager pig out on prepared foods, even if they come from Whole Foods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teen boys don’t nosh. They ravage.

The problem is that he wants expensive, delicious, and abundant snacks. Tell him he can choose two.

I have a feeling OP won’t be okay with expensive + abundant. But I get what you’re going after, and I hope OP does too.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We started marking food in the fridge with tape when our teenage son needs to leave it alone. If it has tape on it, he can only take one small serving. A year in and so far, this is working.

This is so bizarre. Just buy more food.

I guess to you it is bizarre! He can have anything else in the fridge, but if we have leftovers of a meal I cooked that everyone loves, he gets one share of that and everyone else gets a share too. There is plenty of other stuff and he knows how to cook meals as well. It is working for us- he learns he can’t just take all of everyone’s favorite foods and should be aware others want it too. He is also able to eat when he is hungry, just not other people’s food they are also looking forward to.

We have plenty of food, but no I’m not doubling up on cooking meals and doing twice the dishes (some things only fit in certain pots/dishes) so he gets to eat whatever he wants.

Jesus Christ. Just make more food when you make these amazing meals you doofus. Your doubling up on dishes excuse as to why you refuse to cook bigger portions is extremely lame and doesn’t make sense. (Cook the food in a bigger pot maybe?) Why is this so difficult for you to grasp?

Hahaha are you really writing here to tell me how to cook food?
Sorry everyone- thought we had a solution that works for us and might work for others. Clearly that isn’t you PP! Congrats on telling me off!

I mean, you’re either incompetent or you resent your own son. I was giving you the benefit of the doubt, but I’m guessing you’ll be one of those confused women someday who doesn’t understand why your son spends most of his holidays with his in-laws. Enjoy!

NP. You sound insane.

Also NP.People write the wildest fan fiction on here to work out their inner fears and demons.

Yeah, it’s super wild that a son might grow up and not be close to his miserly mother who thinks he’s an entitled glutton for eating more food than she does during one of the biggest growth periods of his life.

That’s not what she said. She said she ensures there are portions left for other family members. We do the same so we can use the leftovers for another meal. The kid can snack on something else.

LOL. She also said she absolutely refuses to cook MORE of the food her whole family wants to eat MORE of, but instead weirdly tapes off tiny portions of leftovers.

Like I said, she’s incompetent.

DP who hasn’t posted in this thread for many days. I really don’t see your perspective here. The pp — who to my understanding is not the OP — came up with a system that works for her family and for her kid. It actually seems like a pretty good system to me (and I am so totally NOT an almond mom — I happen to think op has big issues).

Her excuses are dumb. Sorry. She should have left off the BS about how she can only cook chicken or pasta (or whatever) in one pot and therefore she would have to do TWICE the number of dishes (the horror!) if she cooked more food whenever she cooks if she didn’t want anyone to point out that she sounds almost as ridiculous as OP.

+1 I mean obviously 2 containers of the WF pasta salad was enough for the family when her son was 12. Now that he’s 13, she needs to buy 3 containers so all family members have the amount suited to their hunger. She’s making this about the perception that her son is eating more than his “fair share.” But he is hungrier and has higher caloric needs than other members of the family. The solution isn’t for him to eat 6 different other small things to get full. The solution is to buy or make more food so that he can have an adequate portion of the item to achieve satiety. The shaming and controlling and expecting that everything you cook will be portioned out into equal identical portions for different family members is not helpful or appropriate for handling this situation. This isn’t like he ate all the homemade chocolate chip cookies leaving none for his siblings.

Separately, that pasta salad is a main dish in my opinion, not a side dish. I perceive it more like Mac n cheese (although not hot) than macaroni salad.

There is a whole lot of unwhole foods in that salad:

Ingredients: Smoked Mozzarella Salad Dressing (Dressing [Canola Oil, Water, Brown Rice Syrup, Modified Food Starch, Pea Protein Isolate, White Distilled Vinegar, Sea Salt, Mustard Flour, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Xanthan Gum, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, White Pepper], White Wine Vinegar [Aged White Wine Vinegar. Contains Sulfites], Minced Garlic in Water [Garlic, Water, Citric Acid], Cayenne Pepper, Salt, Black Pepper), Cooked Penne Rigate (Water, Enriched Semolina Flour [Durum Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid], Canola Oil, Wheat Gluten, Eggs, Agar, Carrageenan, Locust Bean Gum, Xanthan Gum), Smoked Mozzarella (Pasteurized Cultured Cow's Milk, Salt, Enzymes, and Smoke [Liquid]), Roasted Red Pepper (Red Sweet Pepper, Water, Sea Salt, Citric Acid), Parmesan Cheese (Pasteurized Part Skim Milk, Cheese Culture, Salt, Enzymes, Flow Agent: Less Than 2% Microcellulose Crystalline To Prevent Caking), Spinach, Parsley.

The kid would be much better off filling up on homemade snacks IMHO.

Which ingredient do you object to?

Canola oil is pure junk; trans fats, inflammation, clogs arteries, cellulite, makes you fat. It's used because it's dirt cheap. Why can't these greedy companies use olive oil and charge, what, $1 more per pound? Everything in the WF deli and bakery is now full of canola or palm oil. So much for being a "healthy" grocery store, it's like the entire global economy wants everyone sick and obese.

LOL at thinking there’s some difference between olive oil and rapeseed oil.

I’ve never heard of rapeseed oil.

It's forced down your gullet, whether you want it or not.

1. False
2. Seriously, explain (physiologically) the health benefits of olive oil and contrast with the health drawbacks of canola (rapeseed) oil.

Dp. Here you go. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/canola-vs-olive-oil

That article didn’t answer the question. The studies cited aren’t actually comparisons of olive vs canola oil for example, but rather “people who eat olive oil are healthier than people who don’t!” (Mediterranean diet, anyone?) and “people who consume the most canola oil are less healthy than people who consume the least!” (Canola is frequently the oil of choice for deep drying, which the article even mentions…)

Now I am actually not saying that one is more or less healthy/unhealthy than the other, but the real takeaway is that the American public is scientifically illiterate and you posting that article as some sort of “proof” for the PP’s hysteria about canola oil is Exhibit A.

Exhibit B is that people are thinking food needs a “Flow Agent”

I agree with you that most people don’t know enough. In fact, I would say scientists don’t really know enough. That said, because we don’t know and things like liquid smoke or canola oil or Carrageenan have research that points in different directions, eating homemade stuff is better. Not perfect, but better.

Here is some info:
Consumer Reports and the National Organic Standards Board called for removal of carrageenan in organic products due to its questionable safety. But the USDA decided to continue to allow carrageenan in organic products, and carrageenan can still be found in many nonorganic foods — so check ingredients lists.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/food-additives-to-avoid/2020/09/25/bca05e18-d73b-11ea-9c3b-dfc394c03988_story.html

So, no I wouldn’t have my teenager pig out on prepared foods, even if they come from Whole Foods.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I come from a family of 5 girls and 1 boy. Us girls always felt like we had enough to eat. We were thin. Years later my brother told us he was always hungry and would steal other kids lunches at school. We were shocked! We were middle class, but he considered us poor because he never had enough to eat. When he got a family of his own, he always bought lots of food so no one ever felt hungry. We had no idea he felt this way growing up in the same household. He said he expressed these feelings to my mother at the time, but she would tell him he had plenty and was just being greedy. He grew to be 6 feet tall and was athletic in school.

(Some) women dont understand how much more men eat. My dad was a telephone lineman. He said he and his buddy would each order an extra large pizza, everything on it, so overloaded it would still be dough-y in the middle and they would each devour a pizza. He is a Viet Nam vet. He said at the end of basic training the drill instructor came and crammed his hand in each soldier's pants to see if they needed to go down a pants size. This was the 1960s with 18 year old kids, hardly any of them started basic even chubby. Another man I know did the Appalachian trail. He said he'd come into town, eat an entire pizza, be hungry an hour later and eat 1/2 gallon ice cream. He said it was difficult to carry enough to food to last between rest stations. Said some men could be scary thin by the end of the trail

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I come from a family of 5 girls and 1 boy. Us girls always felt like we had enough to eat. We were thin. Years later my brother told us he was always hungry and would steal other kids lunches at school. We were shocked! We were middle class, but he considered us poor because he never had enough to eat. When he got a family of his own, he always bought lots of food so no one ever felt hungry. We had no idea he felt this way growing up in the same household. He said he expressed these feelings to my mother at the time, but she would tell him he had plenty and was just being greedy. He grew to be 6 feet tall and was athletic in school.

I feel so bad for your brother. He was legitimately suffering from hunger and called greedy. I’m sure your mom just didn’t know better.

My dad told us that once, when his mom was out of town, his widowed grandmother stayed with his family and cooked dinner for them. She cooked the same tiny portion of food for each person — only the amount she could eat. They didn’t want to be rude, but at the time, my grandfather was performing physical labor and my dad and his brother were teenaged athletes. They waited for her to go to bed for the night and then they made a second dinner because they were all so hungry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I come from a family of 5 girls and 1 boy. Us girls always felt like we had enough to eat. We were thin. Years later my brother told us he was always hungry and would steal other kids lunches at school. We were shocked! We were middle class, but he considered us poor because he never had enough to eat. When he got a family of his own, he always bought lots of food so no one ever felt hungry. We had no idea he felt this way growing up in the same household. He said he expressed these feelings to my mother at the time, but she would tell him he had plenty and was just being greedy. He grew to be 6 feet tall and was athletic in school.

(Some) women dont understand how much more men eat. My dad was a telephone lineman. He said he and his buddy would each order an extra large pizza, everything on it, so overloaded it would still be dough-y in the middle and they would each devour a pizza. He is a Viet Nam vet. He said at the end of basic training the drill instructor came and crammed his hand in each soldier's pants to see if they needed to go down a pants size. This was the 1960s with 18 year old kids, hardly any of them started basic even chubby. Another man I know did the Appalachian trail. He said he'd come into town, eat an entire pizza, be hungry an hour later and eat 1/2 gallon ice cream. He said it was difficult to carry enough to food to last between rest stations. Said some men could be scary thin by the end of the trail

Umm…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We started marking food in the fridge with tape when our teenage son needs to leave it alone. If it has tape on it, he can only take one small serving. A year in and so far, this is working.

This is so bizarre. Just buy more food.

I guess to you it is bizarre! He can have anything else in the fridge, but if we have leftovers of a meal I cooked that everyone loves, he gets one share of that and everyone else gets a share too. There is plenty of other stuff and he knows how to cook meals as well. It is working for us- he learns he can’t just take all of everyone’s favorite foods and should be aware others want it too. He is also able to eat when he is hungry, just not other people’s food they are also looking forward to.

We have plenty of food, but no I’m not doubling up on cooking meals and doing twice the dishes (some things only fit in certain pots/dishes) so he gets to eat whatever he wants.

Jesus Christ. Just make more food when you make these amazing meals you doofus. Your doubling up on dishes excuse as to why you refuse to cook bigger portions is extremely lame and doesn’t make sense. (Cook the food in a bigger pot maybe?) Why is this so difficult for you to grasp?

Hahaha are you really writing here to tell me how to cook food?
Sorry everyone- thought we had a solution that works for us and might work for others. Clearly that isn’t you PP! Congrats on telling me off!

I mean, you’re either incompetent or you resent your own son. I was giving you the benefit of the doubt, but I’m guessing you’ll be one of those confused women someday who doesn’t understand why your son spends most of his holidays with his in-laws. Enjoy!

NP. You sound insane.

Also NP.People write the wildest fan fiction on here to work out their inner fears and demons.

Yeah, it’s super wild that a son might grow up and not be close to his miserly mother who thinks he’s an entitled glutton for eating more food than she does during one of the biggest growth periods of his life.

That’s not what she said. She said she ensures there are portions left for other family members. We do the same so we can use the leftovers for another meal. The kid can snack on something else.

LOL. She also said she absolutely refuses to cook MORE of the food her whole family wants to eat MORE of, but instead weirdly tapes off tiny portions of leftovers.

Like I said, she’s incompetent.

There's nothing wrong with this*. I would be pissed if I weighed out/food prepped diet portions of diet food or froofroo artichoke hear salad/whatever and it got vacuumed up by a piggie who would just as happily eat 1/4 box of cheerios or whatever. She is teaching basic roommate manners. Also, nobody sawed a teen's arms off such that they can't prepare their own food.

*provided there is plenty of other suitable caloric food available

[Anonymous]

Hi op. I was recently watching the series Adolescence, which is streaming on netflix. Do you think there’s any chance your son is becoming an incel?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi op. I was recently watching the series Adolescence, which is streaming on netflix. Do you think there’s any chance your son is becoming an incel?

Non sequitur much?

[Anonymous]

Is that the pasta salad and is it that good? Because this post made me look at that salad twice. I ended up not getting it.

[Anonymous]

Is it b/c it was special and/or expensive? If so, have other similar types of food around

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it b/c it was special and/or expensive? If so, have other similar types of food around

It's because it requires zero preparation and OP's son is too lazy to make a PBJ or an omelette.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS is 13 years old. Would you chalk this up to hungry "growing boy" or gluttony worthy of concern? The container was just over a pound. Purchased last night, noticed it empty in the trash this morning. He presumably ate it some time between our family dinner and his bed time.

this is nothing for my son. Unless your kid is overweight let it go. He has good taste. My son eats the whole jeni’s container of salted caramel. I now attempt to hide my ice cream stash under veggies in garage freezer.

[Anonymous]

Every single thread about boys makes me so glad that I don’t have them. I met my husband once he was a (relatively) mature adult. I didn’t have brothers either so all this “boy” stuff is just bizarre to me. No you can’t pee on the floor near the toilet or wrestle/play ball indoors or eat all the food in sight. Why do people allow this?