Anonymous wrote:

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

Um, exactly!

This is what you say.

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

Um, exactly!

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 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?

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 wrote:Show him the cost breakdown. It’s time for him to be able to think beyond a childish understanding of “fairness.”

If he wants a cost neutral way to achieve his vision of “fairness,” it’s probably for the whole family to eat lentils 2 days and then shrimp one day, or something. But anyway just let him solve it how he wants without affecting the budget.

+1. Your child is immature and needs to get a dose of reality, particularly as he will have to pay bills soon himself.

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.

We have nobody vegetarians in our house, and we still don't have unlimited steak and shrimp. It's always going to run out. It's impossible to fully satisfy these kids.

Anonymous wrote:Just ask him if he thinks it would be fair if you bought him 300 dollars worth of animal protein in addition to what he eats now but you then give Larla that in cash . . .

Good one!

Just ask him if he thinks it would be fair if you bought him 300 dollars worth of animal protein in addition to what he eats now but you then give Larla that in cash . . .

Have him shop with you then look at register receipts and figure out cost of the lentil dish and meat dish.
Then how much the meat dish is per serving or shrimp or however it breaks out.
Is he consuming as much $ as the lentil eater? More? More than the whole lentil dish cooked?

Fair enough?

This sounds exhausting to me.

I suggest that you don’t need to anything else but have food available for him. And you don’t have to bend over backwards to make a bunch of different meals, when the shrimp runs out, he can make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

I have a kid (also an athlete) who would eat nothing but steak, but that’s not happening.

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.

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

+1

Sounds totally reasonable to me. There are two meat obsessed teen boys in my family, and DH and I eat meat more sparingly. We definitely limit them and eat just rice and beans and eggs some nights. If he wants to buy more shrimp I’d offer to cook them.

Something I do a fair amount is make veg/non-veg versions of the same dish. Fried rice, quiche or frittata, grilled cheese with and without ham and soup, make-your own rice-bowls, two trays of enchiladas (both with some bean/veggies in the filling but one also with meat), frittatas, ramen bowls (tofu or meat). It’s only minimally more effort.