I'm having trouble keeping everyone fed.

[Anonymous]

OP try cooking more for a few days and let us know how it goes. For a while it didn't seem to matter how much my ds ate at a meal, he was scrounging for food an hour or two later. I would like to have their metabolism!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you serve things like pasta with salmon or chicken stir fry with rice -- how much salmon or rice is in each portion? And how much pasta is each teen getting? I would think that if a "normal" adult portion is one salmon filet or one chicken breast -- the portion for teen athletes should be consisting of 2-3 salmon filets or 2-3 chicken breasts. Also how much pasta and rice is being served? I think the "rules" re serving sizes being a 1/2 cup for carbs etc is out the door for teens who've just gotten out of hockey practice. Hell when I was that age (a female and not a serious athlete) and I was just eating pasta and sauce for dinner -- I'd consume 1 cup of pasta myself. So chicken stir fry for them should look like 2+ cups of rice with 2-3 chicken breasts stir fried in there along with whatever veggies -- and that's a portion for ONE teen.

I frankly wouldn't worry about DD8 or DS3 too much. I mean feed them of course, but chances are they are saying they want pizza or doritos or whatever bc their big brothers are having it. But for the teen boys, I think they NEED the food.

Also are you doing things like stir fries and pasta to "stretch" out portions of meat? I know people do that, and I get it. But if there are constant complaints of hunger and pizzas being ordered after dinner consistently, I'd switch to meat and potatoes with an entire loaf of French bread for a while; you can do things like pot roast or burgers or whatever. I wouldn't worry about being too "fancy" with sauces and the like -- they don't need or want it; they need significant amounts of protein.

For serving sizes, we do have about 5 cups of cooked rice or pasta total. When I cooked the stir fry I cut up 4 chicken breast and added to it. I guess I'm mainly worried about food being wasted. I will add more food to the cart, it hair always looks like so much!

FOUR chicken breasts for a family of 6?! You are effing crazy, OP. Or completely clueless. Maybe both

[Anonymous]

Okay I'm about to make dinner for the evening. I'm cooking a whole chicken, lasagna, asparagus and a loaf of Italian bread.

[Anonymous]

OP, are you also the OP of this thread?

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/463790.page

[Anonymous]

You can try giving them black bean and cheddar cheese wraps or a tuna sandwich, hard boiled eggs or egg salad on toast - as an afternoon snack, before your main dinner.

The one thing that seems to be missing in your meals is fat. Maybe that is why they are ordering pizza right afterwards..

[Anonymous]

17:03- no that's not me.

-op

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

OP, I posted the above, and have read most of the subsequent posts. My kids are also hockey players who practice 3 times per week, 2 games, plus soccer practices, plus games. So I'm not kidding that they eat A LOT.

You need to listen to some of the PPs about increasing the quantity. But seriously consider eliminating the junk sugar. As athletes, the concern isn't even that they won't burn the calories. You don't put low grade fuel into a Ferrari, right? That's what they always say. Put the right kind of fuel into your kids, and it curbs the need and desire to eat a lot of crap constantly. As I'm sitting here watching my youngest do homework, he has eaten a banana and two grapefruit--after having eaten his bowl of veggie chili. I haven't put dinner on the table yet, but will in about 30 minutes. They do eat nonstop.

I feel your pain, my grocery bills are around $800. A month.

It's a good investment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you serve things like pasta with salmon or chicken stir fry with rice -- how much salmon or rice is in each portion? And how much pasta is each teen getting? I would think that if a "normal" adult portion is one salmon filet or one chicken breast -- the portion for teen athletes should be consisting of 2-3 salmon filets or 2-3 chicken breasts. Also how much pasta and rice is being served? I think the "rules" re serving sizes being a 1/2 cup for carbs etc is out the door for teens who've just gotten out of hockey practice. Hell when I was that age (a female and not a serious athlete) and I was just eating pasta and sauce for dinner -- I'd consume 1 cup of pasta myself. So chicken stir fry for them should look like 2+ cups of rice with 2-3 chicken breasts stir fried in there along with whatever veggies -- and that's a portion for ONE teen.

I frankly wouldn't worry about DD8 or DS3 too much. I mean feed them of course, but chances are they are saying they want pizza or doritos or whatever bc their big brothers are having it. But for the teen boys, I think they NEED the food.

Also are you doing things like stir fries and pasta to "stretch" out portions of meat? I know people do that, and I get it. But if there are constant complaints of hunger and pizzas being ordered after dinner consistently, I'd switch to meat and potatoes with an entire loaf of French bread for a while; you can do things like pot roast or burgers or whatever. I wouldn't worry about being too "fancy" with sauces and the like -- they don't need or want it; they need significant amounts of protein.

For serving sizes, we do have about 5 cups of cooked rice or pasta total. When I cooked the stir fry I cut up 4 chicken breast and added to it. I guess I'm mainly worried about food being wasted. I will add more food to the cart, it hair always looks like so much!

FOUR chicken breasts for a family of 6?! You are effing crazy, OP. Or completely clueless. Maybe both

What?! 04/22/2015 18:08 here. There are only 4 in my family, I don't eat meat at all, and I serve more than 4 chicken breasts for dinner. SMH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, l think that the real problem here is that you are an awful cheapskate. Even with all everyone has written about the woefully inadequate amounts of food you are cooking, all you got out of this thread is that your kids should eat less junk food?

Either that, or she has an eating disorder. I feel sorry for her hungry kids!

[Anonymous]

I'm astonished by the food descriptions given by many posters with only 2 or 3 children. How do people without good incomes afford to feed their families this quality, variety and quantity of food?

[Anonymous]

My 8 yr old eats me out of house and home these days! I bought 10 apples on Tuesday, and 3 are left this morning. He eats a big breakfast before school, has a snack, eats a bug lunch and is ready for dinner at 5. He'll then eat desert and then another big snack or small dinner before bed. I'm constantly in the kitchen preparing something for him to eat! I only have one, it would be hard to keep up with more children at the rate he eats. I feel lucky though, a lot of his friends don't eat or don't eat good food, they'll eat more junk than anything else.

Bread at dinner will help. I keep a big bowl of fresh fruit out, and it goes quickly. We also have desert after dinner, which is usually ice cream, but ONLY if he eats healthy all day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm astonished by the food descriptions given by many posters with only 2 or 3 children. How do people without good incomes afford to feed their families this quality, variety and quantity of food?

They don't. Then they get lectured by strangers about how they *should* be feeding their families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay I'm about to make dinner for the evening. I'm cooking a whole chicken, lasagna, asparagus and a loaf of Italian bread.

I'm not sure one chicken is enough protein! I cook a roasting chicken for my family of 3 (one of whom is only 4 years old) and we can get two meals out of it. But there's no way if I had two teenage boys and a big eating DH a family of 6 could get enough protein from one chicken. Chickens aren't big!

[Anonymous]

OP, do you have a history of disordered eating? Not saying that to give you a hard time, but it may be why you're not serving an appropriate amount of food. If you do have a history of this, I recommend meeting with a nutritionist who may help you continue to serve healthy meals but also the appropriate sizes for your family and the right balances of protein, carbs, etc.

I had a 15 year long battle with bulimia and feeding my family has been difficult at times because of my checkered history with food. It's ok to say you need a little help and maybe you have an unhealthy relationship with food. That's part of what nutritionists are here for.

[Anonymous]

My takeaway from this thread:

I'm going to need a second refrigerator in 5 years.