Anonymous
06/17/2026 19:26
Subject: new dinner ideas for teens/kids who eat a lot
Anonymous wrote:Big salads (light on the dressing of course). Load it up with hearty veggies like cauliflower, tomatoes, broccoli.
“Light on the dressing of course”
Ok almond mom.
Anonymous
06/17/2026 17:29
Subject: Re:new dinner ideas for teens/kids who eat a lot
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:+1Anonymous wrote:Baked ziti with spinach, salad, garlic bread.
It's my two athletic college-aged sons and me. These are some of my hearty dinners, off the top of my head.
Chicken Pot Pie with salad (double recipe)
Shrimp and vegetable Fried Rice with eggrolls (double recipe)
Butter chicken (double recipe, and I add spinach to the sauce) with salad and Naan bread
A typical Sunday dinner that makes enough for Monday leftovers: I rotate Fried Fish (3lbs), Salmon patties (about 15 medium-sized), or Baked cod (3lbs) [you can insert whatever protein you want] with baked sweet potatoes (I cook 5), roasted broccoli, and homemade rolls.
Dirty Spaghetti (double recipe) with tomato and avocado salad, and rolls.
Tacos with white rice and salad. (I make around 15 tacos - a mix of blackened shrimp or ground beef). I make a salsa of chopped avocado, jalapeno peppers, corn, black beans, red onion, fresh cilantro, lime juice, and tomato to top the tacos.
Sometimes we do breakfast for dinner, so I typically will do:
Fried potatoes with peppers and onions, blueberry pancakes or blueberry waffles, bacon/sausage patties, grits, and scrambled eggs with onions, spinach, and peppers.
My sons would LOVE these.
Same. I make the butter chicken but add paneer to the chicken. So half paneer, half chicken (I adore paneer so it's a bit selfish) but lots of protein. I love the idea of adding spinach to the sauce. Going to do that! Thank you PP.
Anonymous
06/17/2026 13:34
Subject: new dinner ideas for teens/kids who eat a lot
I have 3 teen boys who eat a lot. My biggest concerns with how much they eat are the impact on my budget, and also the amount of meat in their diet. I serve a lot of meat, but I also think it's important to balance meat with other foods.
One way I manage this is by serving 1 - 2 reasonable adult sized portions of meat for each kid, and then having a vegetarian protein they can eat their fill of. So, maybe I serve chicken or steak tacos, and I also have beans. Or I serve turkey sandwiches with lentil soup.
The second way I manage this is by serving foods that combine two proteins. So, a miso based soup with shrimp and tofu. Or cottage pie with a mixture of ground beef and lentils.
And finally, I manage this by making sure that the vegetables and grains I make have added fat, like roasted veggies with oil and salt, or salad with a full fat dressing. I do this both so that they taste good which makes the kids more likely to eat it, and because it increases the total amount of calories in the food which leads to satiety.
One way I manage this is by serving 1 - 2 reasonable adult sized portions of meat for each kid, and then having a vegetarian protein they can eat their fill of. So, maybe I serve chicken or steak tacos, and I also have beans. Or I serve turkey sandwiches with lentil soup.
The second way I manage this is by serving foods that combine two proteins. So, a miso based soup with shrimp and tofu. Or cottage pie with a mixture of ground beef and lentils.
And finally, I manage this by making sure that the vegetables and grains I make have added fat, like roasted veggies with oil and salt, or salad with a full fat dressing. I do this both so that they taste good which makes the kids more likely to eat it, and because it increases the total amount of calories in the food which leads to satiety.
Anonymous
06/17/2026 13:26
Subject: new dinner ideas for teens/kids who eat a lot
Anonymous wrote:Stuffed shells and meatballs
Steak with chimichurri and scalloped potatoes
Grilled fish, corn on the cob, cucumber tomato feta salad
Sometimes I make a flatbread pizza and cut it into wedges as an “appetizer” while the rest of the food cooks
None of this is new but those are my defaults currently
+1 to chimichurri. Mom’s has a great premade version in the cheese section.