if you have multiple teen boys, what does a meal look like for you?

[Anonymous]

I'll soon have very active 3 pre-teen / teen boys. I already have a tough time with meals and am nervous about the sheer quantity we will need to have at each meal soon (or so i hear?). i partially struggle with meals b/c I've internalized decades of diet/health culture towards women that a "healthy" dinner is chicken and a veggie side which i'm assuming would be a small snack for a 16yo boy. I've done ok with younger kids where their meals can be small portions of lots of things but feel like by pre-teens / teens, meals should be an actual meal and that for 3 teenage boys i'll need to be preparing huge quantities.

my husband is absolutely no help here, his eating habits are awful and I'm desperately hoping I can provide large satisfying meals so my kids eating habits don't evolve to be like my husbands which are not eathing much all day, eating a "light healthy" dinner and then binge eating total junk late night including large quantities of fast food multiple nights a week (obviously a separate issue i've given up on addressing)

maybe all my perceptions are wrong! i'm just curious if you have teen boys what meals look like for them both in terms of items and volume (how many packs of chicken will i need to cook for one dinner!?)

please don't move to food forum - this is purely a types and quantity question, i'm not looking for gourmet ideas or cooking tips at this time.

[Anonymous]

I have 2 teen boys, one is a vegetarian, so I make a lot of curries, chili, stirfrys in large quantities so they can eat leftovers for lunches. My boys don’t eat immense amounts at dinner but we go through ice cream at a clip. They also eat extra meals in the afternoon before practice: sometimes pb&j, a burrito, something to get them through.

The biggest thing I notice is the sheer quantity of groceries: so much more fruit, 3-4 boxes of cereal a week, a few loaves of bread, tons of milk. But at actual meals they aren’t eating crazy amounts.

[Anonymous]

I have a teen and one who eats like a teen. They are very active. A typical dinner is a 2 lbs of fish, two huge sweet potatoes and a head of broccoli. When we grill, DS1 eats almost an entire family sized grilled chicken wings bag with garlic bread (I make it at home with butter and fresh garlic) and a grilled sweet pepper. At lunch they typically eat sandwiches (ds1 around 4 and ds2 around 1) with buttered rolls, pork tenderloin, and arugula. DS1 usually eats an Amy's pizza (he loves the margherita one) before bedtime. A trader Joe's pork tenderloin piece usually lasts them for lunch. A make a lot of spaghetti with lots of veggies in the sauce. Steak is also very popular, and they both can eat a wegmans package of grass fed tenderloin for dinner. We get sushi and DS1 can eat 8 - 10 pieces. They usually finish a bag of mandarins and a box of strawberries a day.

Mine are thin - heaviest they've been was 75 percentile weight and super tall (ds1 is 98 percentile, ds2 is outside the chart) and I think it's because they don't like sweets as much and they don't have a sweet tooth. But they eat an enormous amount and we spend a lot of money and time feeding them. Short story is that they eat a lot and we try feeding them nutritious dense foods.

[Anonymous]

I have two teen boys and I don't think you need to overthink it. I just have plenty of food in the house available to them for when they're hungry, and when I make meals, I do the usual dinners the family enjoys, just a lot of it.

My boys have two different eating styles, one could go nearly all day without eating, but then when he does he eats a LOT of food. And "second dinner". The other one grazes through the day, and his portions are much smaller than DS#1.

One tip would be to let them start to cook, if you haven't already. My boys both started cooking early and could prepare their own meals pretty early on. It helps to keep them from just throwing something crappy in the microwave. Now clean up is a different story, neither does a good job of that, but at least they're eating nutritiously for the most part.

[Anonymous]

You can always add pasta or bread. Yes, I know carbs but for active boys with no weight problems they will burn it off. I also find meals with beef more filling for them (which is a real shame for us since my husband and I don’t eat beef so when I serve it I have to do a second dinner for him and I. I also am ok with lots of snacking. My kids like yogurt and cheese and fruit so I always have that around (along with the usual more junky snacks - We aren’t overly restrictive).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have 2 teen boys, one is a vegetarian, so I make a lot of curries, chili, stirfrys in large quantities so they can eat leftovers for lunches. My boys don’t eat immense amounts at dinner but we go through ice cream at a clip. They also eat extra meals in the afternoon before practice: sometimes pb&j, a burrito, something to get them through.

The biggest thing I notice is the sheer quantity of groceries: so much more fruit, 3-4 boxes of cereal a week, a few loaves of bread, tons of milk. But at actual meals they aren’t eating crazy amounts.

This second part is true for us. Its the extra stuff before or after activity that really fuels it, the toast and tuna and strawberries and cheese type quick food that can make for a mini meal goes FAST. Like the big container of strawberries is gone in 2 sittings. Yogurt tubs, etc go fast.

[Anonymous]

As my 3 boys entered the teen years, I bought some large cookware that I've used constantly including a 9 1/2 qt dutch oven and some large high-quality sheet pans. It takes about 2 pounds of meet and/or 1 1/2 pounds of pasta to feed the kids dinner. Here are some favorites:
A big pot of red beans and rice with sausage on top.
Spaghetti or Spaghetti Carbonara
Chicken Parm
A large Caesar Salad with grilled chicken or salmon
Salmon burgers/Hamburgers
Tacos
NY Times Chicken Shawarma doubled.
Chicken Verde in the crock pot
Chili

My kids all play, or played sports, so they don't have a lot of time to cook during the school year. I really only rotated through about 10-15 dinners to keep it simple and so I could shop without elaborate lists.

[Anonymous]

One tip to avoid your husband's situation is to try to put some focus on making sure they are feeding their bodies regularly. It's very common when folks don't feed their body regularly (whether it's because they are actively trying to restrict or like your husband get in kind of a pattern/habit - my husband did the same for awhile) to then overeat, say late at night etc. It's much easier for our bodies to listen to hunger/fullness cues (and they are more accurate) when we are eating fairly regularly (three meals, and for some people, snacks - of course everyone is different). So doing your best to make sure you're offering regularly so the focus isn't always on dinner. And then I would just do your best as it sounds like you said you're already trying to fight against your preconceptions about carbs. I had the same hold ups from like you said years of internalizing all sorts of things, but trying to fight against "carbs are bad" in my own brain helped. Kids especially really active kids in sports need plenty of carbs - a variety of protein, carbs, veggies, fruit, etc.

Really interesting - I don't know the research but my dietician/nutritionist shared that when we aren't eating regularly, or getting that variety, for most active people then often you might find yourself craving simple carbs actually as a normal response because your body is then seeking quick energy. It needs quick energy and so it craves more simple carbs because they are very effective at bringing energy FAST. And sometimes that's what we need - some fast energy, that's okay and fine. But also including carbs, protein, etc all the things helps our body not feel like that ALL the time at least I thought of this when hearing about your husband, kind of makes sense - his body is seeking that fast energy after a day of not getting what it needs. But like you said not your issue to address right now

[Anonymous]

This is all such good advice! Let's keep it going ... it's reminding me of the thread where everyone kept telling the OP she had to cook more, more, more.

First thing: Yes, they need carbs. Lots of them. Every worry you've ever had about eating too many carbs has to go out the window. You don't have to eat them, but they do.

Some of our crowd pleasers, and I how I pump them up.

-- Spaghetti and meatballs. They could eat this every day. I usually make meatballs from scratch, starting with 3 lbs. of ground beef. Leftovers become snacks and lunches for another couple of days. I make a pound of pasta and serve it with a baguette and salad.

-- Chicken. I buy a pack of thighs, and often a pack of drumsticks. Augment with quinoa, rice, vegetables, etc.

-- Burgers. They easily eat two. Serve with potato wedges and a vegetable.

-- Enchiladas. I make a big pan, but when someone is in a growth spurt, I might also make rice and beans.

Hearty, not junky ... just lots and lots of food.

[Anonymous]

A meat, a veg, a starch and a couple bottles of fizzed water. I make double recipes of everything because leftovers are king.

A couple times a week we can get them to do the cooking.

Chili, pasta with sausage in a red sauce, chicken pesto pasta, pork chops and whatever else looks easy in my 1968 vintage cookbook.

[Anonymous]

ha I saw this and thought, "If you have multiple teen boys, how far back from the dinner table should you stay to ensure that you don't lose an arm"

[Anonymous]

You should read this thread. It's long, but it's eye-opening.

Lots of advice on feeding growing boys, and lots of comments about the OP who was trying to feed growing teen boys like a dieting middle aged woman. Portion control is key. You can still cook healthy, but you just need to make sure that you allow much larger portions for active growing teen boys.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/465595.page

[Anonymous]

Carbs are good for teen boys. Really, they NEED carbs. Bread, pasta, rice, all the carbs.

If you can keep them to complex carbs that's better (no just plain white bread, use brown rice, etc).

[Anonymous]

The best thing I did was teach my sons how to cook. They are very good at making themselves dinner.

[Anonymous]

My teen boys do not eat the way other kids seem to. There is no one formula. In fact, my teen who swims 2 hours/day is tall and thin and can't even finish a whole chicken breast, will only have one slice of pizza, but eats a ton of raw vegetables. We work hard to monitor the food for athletics, so he gets a lot of milk and cheese and nuts and pasta for carbs.