I'm having trouble keeping everyone fed.

[Anonymous]

Not a financial problem, it's just that by the time I go cook a meal and wash dishes, my kids are all hungry again. I made two dinners last night. Original dinner was pasta with broccoli, salmon and vine fretted sauce. Tonight, We had kale and spinach salad chicken stir fry and rice. By the time I finished cleaning up that meal, DS 15 comes in and asks if we have any snacks. He ate a bag of Doritos and asked if I would order pizza. At which point my dh, ds 15 and 17 and Dd 8 all start talking about what pizza they want. I'm just sitting there like "you all just ate an hour ago!". Dh ordered 2 pizzas and they are both gone along with 2 liters of coke he got as well. Even the toddler said that he wanted pizza before he went to bed. No one here is overweight but they eat like they are all line backers even the 3 yo. I spend 800$ a month on food and they are all still hungry always. We go through this nightly chorus of "I'm hungry!" Every day. I'm feeding them wholesome meals so why are they all so unsatisfoes? Advice?

[Anonymous]

They are telling you they want food of substance.

[Anonymous]

Increase the portions. By a lot.

[Anonymous]

Ice cream and ensure

[Anonymous]

Teenagers and boys of all ages, eat a LOT. Plan for more food. Maybe put bread on the dinner table.

Maybe make double portions of each dinner and then put the leftovers in the fridge. When everyone announces they're hungry, just pull out the leftovers for round two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are telling you they want food of substance.

veggies meat and carbs are filling foods. More filling than fast food! That's why I'm wondering why everyone is starving.

[Anonymous]

If you doubled the amount of food at any meal, would they eat it? If they did, would they come back asking for more?

[Anonymous]

You need more side dishes. I serve the main entree with two kinds of vegetables, bread and fresh fruit. They are not filling up on the entrees you serve, which sound light on carbs and protein.

[Anonymous]

I have teenagers who are athletes (and a DH who is too). They eat like that, with the noteable difference that I don't buy Doritos or cokes. That's what stands out to me. Feed them more protein, good fats, and whole grains in larger portions at meal time. Limit snacks to healthy choices, they'll work it out. If the option is junk food, they tend to eat again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teenagers and boys of all ages, eat a LOT. Plan for more food. Maybe put bread on the dinner table.

Maybe make double portions of each dinner and then put the leftovers in the fridge. When everyone announces they're hungry, just pull out the leftovers for round two.

These kids eat about a loaf of bread every day. We usually have a quarter loaf of French bread (the long one) on the table each night. We also have butter and garlic to add to it as they like. And also we have dessert just about each night. But yeah there are usually never any left over at all lol. I try to make enough for each person to have a serving of each item but sometimes I think each of my kids could personally eat a whole chicken.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ice cream and ensure

Teenagers, not toddlers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teenagers and boys of all ages, eat a LOT. Plan for more food. Maybe put bread on the dinner table.

Maybe make double portions of each dinner and then put the leftovers in the fridge. When everyone announces they're hungry, just pull out the leftovers for round two.

These kids eat about a loaf of bread every day. We usually have a quarter loaf of French bread (the long one) on the table each night. We also have butter and garlic to add to it as they like. And also we have dessert just about each night. But yeah there are usually never any left over at all lol. I try to make enough for each person to have a serving of each item but sometimes I think each of my kids could personally eat a whole chicken.

Quarter loaf of French bread does not sound like a lot.

[Anonymous]

You need to stock up on more fruits, carrots, celery, hummus, peanut butter, yogurt etc.

Make sure that salads of fruits, veggies, meat, egg, nuts and seeds are the first course of your meal, then the regular entree and sides and end your meal with a dessert of fruits, cheese, yogurt. You will be feeding them more variety and healthy stuff as well.

Increase the portion size as well. Also, you might think about giving them a sizeable meal, as soon as they get home from school (Lasagna, meatloaf etc - stuff they can warm themselves). And then also serve them dinner.

[Anonymous]

Op again

My eldest sons play soccer and ice hockey 3x a week. Anytime I try to give them a soup for dinner they freak out and basically refuse to eat it. Last week I made 10 chicken legs for dinner. Every last one was eaten in about 25 mins. When I feed them till they are full, it's like preparing a meal for an army. They managed to eat 10 potatoes worth of mashed potatoes the other day. I cooked a rack of ribs and they were still hungry after.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op again

My eldest sons play soccer and ice hockey 3x a week. Anytime I try to give them a soup for dinner they freak out and basically refuse to eat it. Last week I made 10 chicken legs for dinner. Every last one was eaten in about 25 mins. When I feed them till they are full, it's like preparing a meal for an army. They managed to eat 10 potatoes worth of mashed potatoes the other day. I cooked a rack of ribs and they were still hungry after.

A rack of ribs each? or one rack total? One rack is definitely not enough. 10 chicken legs? I would think teenage boys would eat 4-5 each, my 8 year old will eat 2-3. Seems to me you are not making nearly enough food, especially for an active family.