This week:

Thurs: Ham and cheese sandwich (hot - In Air fryer)

Wed: Chili

Tues: Egg sandwich

Mon: Tacos (meat is ready, he assembles what he wants)


The above would also have: fruit (apples, pineapple), if still hungry, he’ll eat more lunch meat or have a yogurt or nuts

Costco, Costco, Costco.
Those platters of rollers, the taco platter thing, bags of salad, fettucine and all things frozen.

Not right now, but before August, everything that I fed him before. Homemade soups, more broth-like for a starter, ribs and potatoes, steak, pasta, beans (I make my own), soups, stews, chicken curries...breakfast was always huge, turkey bacon, eggs, Nutella on toast or pancakes. He would still go and buy Chipotle in addition to this, but not every single day. At night I would often make crepes for a bit of a treat.
DS is not overweight at all, in fact, he is barely hitting 140lbs at almost 6feet.
In college, off-campus housing now. I think he is starving!

Anonymous wrote:I cook dinner and the teenage kids fend for themselves for breakfast and lunch. for lunch they mostly make sandwiches, wraps, bagels and eggs. On occasion they eat leftovers from dinner (leftover pasta or burgers are popular), boxed mac and cheese, frozen mac and cheese. Its not very different from what they ate in school.

I strongly encourage a piece of whole fruit with lunch and they often comply.

Same here. They make ramen, rice, scrambled egg/omelettes, pasta, sandwiches, etc. I need to nag them to incorporate more fruit/veg, but otherwise I’m hands off (and since I make dinner, I know they’ll get at least some vegetables at dinner time!).

If you are in MoCo, school lunches are free for all kids 18 and under and we’re encouraged to pick them up. Lately there have been deli sandwiches, chicken, mac and cheese, fruit, veggies and dip, and tons of milk and juice. We get them a couple times a week and it definitely makes life easier.

"teen" is a big phrase, PPs, and they are not all ready to go off to college! Mine is 12 but eats like a teen (growing a quarter inch a month) and if I totally left lunches to him, he would eat too much crap. We do sandwiches and fruit most often, but also do frozen burritos, frozen TJs Indian food or Tastee Bite Indian pouches (no, we're not Indian...), or bagel with cream cheese or bagel/egg/cheese/sausage.
I find that there's really no way to keep him full until dinner. I serve him a normal size lunch, or supervise him making it himself, and then he eats 2-3 snacks before dinner, which are usually cottage cheese, yogurt, dried fruit, meat sticks, crackers, leftovers, frozen veggie ravioli, muffins if we have them, etc.

I hear you! My son has hit the “bottomless pit” phase in the last two months, and it seems to be accelerating.
He is responsible for making his own lunch and. Real fast, but I am still in charge of bringing food into the house, and I can’t seem to keep it stocked with things he likes. Case in point: last weekend I bought a pineapple for the first time since spring. 9 months ago a pineapple would have provided lunch and snack fruit for at least a week. This one was gone in 3 days, even with two bags of grapes as a secondary fruit for snacking and the table. The grapes are all but gone too.

Anyway, lunch is usually grilled cheese, French bread in the toaster oven with pasta sauce for dipping, or leftovers. He often takes a pb&j to school for lunch, but refuses to eat one during DL. For leftovers, I will make a big batch of chili, and then freeze a bunch of it in lunch-sized containers. Same for other things like pork bbq. Spaghetti night I make enough for several extra lunches.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't cook anything but dinner for kids who are teenagers, unless it's a special occasion. They can figure it out themselves.

+1. I consider it life training as they need to be able to cook for themselves when they leave for college in a few years. Mine put a frozen meatloaf in the oven today for lunch.

Same. We have tortillas, cheese, bread, deli meat, frozen pizzas, fruit, PB&J, string cheese, etc. on hand. They put together whatever they want.

Pasta with steamed spinach and leftover grilled chicken
Toasted Italian sandwiches on baguette
Frozen meatballs
Eggs and sausage

The teens cook for me.

Get with the program, OP.

Chana Masala in the Instant Pot -- I like the recipe from smashedpeasandcarrots.com

Salad bar - Hard boiled eggs, cheese, seeds/nuts, lettuce, bell peppers, cucumbers, beans (some combination of these things)

Shredded chicken in Instant Pot - I put in a whole bag of frozen chicken and then shred it. You can freeze in smaller portions if you want. It's great to have on hand to add to a quesadilla, salad etc.

Pulled pork - pork in crockpot, stir together with bbq sauce. Can be used in sandwiches, salads, grain bowls, quesadillas.

Leftovers (but those are harder to come by -- I need to cook bigger dinners with teenagers in the house). They were bored with sandwiches after the first month or two. I've picked some some quick frozen items for some variety -- individual pizzas, hot pockets, some TJs meals, Stouffers mac n cheese, frozen burritos. They will also eat the frozen quick breakfast items for lunch -- the egg/sausage/biscuit sandwiches, etc.
If they have a little time (they often have only 20 minutes and aren't supposed to eat "on zoom") they will make their own pizza bagel or cook up some ramen.

Trader Joe's potstickers w dipping sauce
spaghetti and (frozen) meatballs
rotisserie chicken and rice (I just keep a Tupperware of rice in the refrigerator)
simple fried rice
beef hot dogs w chips and fruit
grilled cheese

Chicken Biryani with okra raita. Cut oranges.This will be dinner too.

Tomorrow - sunken burritos.
Day after - lasagna and salad.

I have simplified food. Cooking in the morning for lunch and dinner. Dame menu for lunch and dinner. They haven't protested yet.

Anonymous wrote:I don't cook anything but dinner for kids who are teenagers, unless it's a special occasion. They can figure it out themselves.

+1. I consider it life training as they need to be able to cook for themselves when they leave for college in a few years. Mine put a frozen meatloaf in the oven today for lunch.