Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to stock up on more fruits, carrots, celery, hummus, peanut butter, yogurt etc.

Make sure that salads of fruits, veggies, meat, egg, nuts and seeds are the first course of your meal, then the regular entree and sides and end your meal with a dessert of fruits, cheese, yogurt. You will be feeding them more variety and healthy stuff as well.

Increase the portion size as well. Also, you might think about giving them a sizeable meal, as soon as they get home from school (Lasagna, meatloaf etc - stuff they can warm themselves). And then also serve them dinner.

Thank you!! They snack on the things you mentioned all afternoon and evening as it is. They all enjoy hummus, pretzels and salads. To put the amount of food they are eating into perspective, last week we went through 4 gallons of milk, two jars of peanut butter, 2 dozen eggs, 4 packs of cheese, about 10 lbs of meat and 20 lbs of veggies, a couple loaves of bread, 6 liters of soda, a tub of smart balance, 10 (!) avocados and 3 boxes of pasta.

I'm just dreading summer when all my sons' friends are over just about every day.

They need jobs! Just kidding....this is the beauty of having boys.

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.

This. Serve beans and rice with most meals. Also add a green salad and load with avocado. When my DS was a teen, I had to make all sorts of additions to meals to fill him up. Good luck OP!

OP, the crock pot is also your friend here. Make batches of chili, heavier stews (I do a lot of chicken and dumplings), even meatballs. Get big bags of Costo meatballs, which aren't expensive and make a sauce for them in the crock pot. Keep protein-rich foods in the refrigerator too.

There is also no need for you to do all the heavy-lifting on cooking yourself. Enlist the teens to help you make batches of macaroni and cheese or lasagnas, or chili on weekends. They can certainly take on the task of boiling a dozen eggs or making quiches to keep for the week.

Anonymous wrote:You need to stock up on more fruits, carrots, celery, hummus, peanut butter, yogurt etc.

Make sure that salads of fruits, veggies, meat, egg, nuts and seeds are the first course of your meal, then the regular entree and sides and end your meal with a dessert of fruits, cheese, yogurt. You will be feeding them more variety and healthy stuff as well.

Increase the portion size as well. Also, you might think about giving them a sizeable meal, as soon as they get home from school (Lasagna, meatloaf etc - stuff they can warm themselves). And then also serve them dinner.

I agree with this approach;

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why some of the pps are trying to act like everything on the table is junk food. I stated all the stuff that i feed them and then they are still hungry. I already stated that I'll cook more. Sorry but I don't believe that a teen boy eating a 160 cal bag of Doritos is negligence.

When you get into the 2 chickens served in one night category THEN you understand. Like you, I do. There was no such thing as leftovers in our home. Many times I was lucky to get in on any meal. Those suckers INHALE food. LOL. And I cooked 3 meals a day most days. Talk about no me time. My me time happened when grocery shopping alone.

I learned to bake cakes, cookies, brownies, pies because they still feigned hunger one hour after eating. We had to have dessert or they would die of starvation. I made all that from scratch because the already made stuff didn't last, wasn't enough or didn't taste good.

The only thing I can tell you is buy more food and cook more each meal. If you can't, make sure you have a good backup snack for later because a yogurt, fruit cup, popcorn ain't gonna put a dent into those bottomless pits.

Wait until they leave home. You get so used to cooking big that it's actually hard to just cook for two.

Beans, rice, potatoes. Baked potatoes especially are filling and don't skimp on the stuff to put on them. You can buy big cartons of sour cream, big canisters of chives, big blocks of real butter, huge bags of cheeses at your bulk store for way cheaper than the regular grocery store. Buy those big potatoes there too. Make your own mac and cheese real cheap. Buy big cereal bags. And don't forget the big bottles of chocolate/strawberry syrup because what good is buying 5 gallons of milk each week if you can't have flavored milk. LOL. Learn to grill. Stews, loaded homemade vegetable and chicken noodle soup, spaghetti and meatballs, lasagna, chili, what I call brood food.

Good luck OP. I do know what you're going through and it's hard to keep up with all those hungry mouths.

OP: We are a family of 4, 2 adults, 2 four year olds, I cook 10 chicken legs for dinner, each kid eats 2. I read your posts, it is clear there is not enough food on the table and also lack of good sides. Make those adjustments and that should bring down the pizza bill.

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why some of the pps are trying to act like everything on the table is junk food. I stated all the stuff that i feed them and then they are still hungry. I already stated that I'll cook more. Sorry but I don't believe that a teen boy eating a 160 cal bag of Doritos is negligence.

I personally don't think Doritos or soda are a big deal at all. If a teen boy who plays sports consumes a lunch sized bag of Doritos and 16 oz of soda, the calories will burn off before you know he's consumed it. The issue is -- if he eats Doritos, he'll need a snack again in 30 min. There's nothing in them -- there's nothing that will hold them over. Why not make a big pot of mac and cheese or beef stew or something as a snack? Just have a pot in the fridge, they can fill up a bowl and heat it up for themselves? A snack like that with protein will stick to their ribs and keep them full for a few hours.

Anonymous wrote:21:40, can I get that recipe for lentil sloppy joes? They sound good!

And I totally agree that OP is not cooking enough food. My DH and 9 yo could polish off 10 chicken legs before the 6 and 3 yo could even get to the table!

OP, if you don't have a Costco membership, now is the time.

There are tons of different recipes, and at this point I just do it from memory, but this is basically it:
Chop 2 onions and 4 green peppers and maybe some carrots or shredded zucchini or something if I have it around. Pour a little oil in the bottom of a large pot, heat on medium, then add some minced garlic and cracked pepper and sautee, then add in the veggies, plus 2 cans tomato sauce and 2-3 cups of lentils and water (follow lentil-to-water ratio on bag). Sprinkle in a TON of ground cumin (like half a container) and pour in 1/2-1 cup molasses and 1 tbsp salt. Simmer on medium, stirring often until lentils are soft, adding water if you need to. I've made it with most kind of lentils, but the french are my favorite (doesn't work on red lentils).

And here's a bonus: if we run out of anack stuff mid-week I make bean salad from the pantry.
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can garbanzo beans
1 can corn
1 large or two normal cans diced tomatoes
1/2 bottle italian dressing
Drain beans and combine. Serve cold as a salad or heat and serve as a veggie "chili" with sour cream and cheddar cheese. Of course I usually double the recipe.

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!

Clearly waste isn't an issue. It sounds like they eat your food -- they finish it and are looking for more things to eat. It's not like they're turning up their nose at your cooking and ordering burgers.

Frankly -- there's your problem. 4 chicken breasts for a family of 6? That's 2/3 of a chicken breast per person. And 5 cups of rice with said stir fry -- again -- less than one cup per person? You're feeding them like weight conscious teen girls or older moms on a diet.

For a family that size -- I'd have no less than 12 chicken breasts in a stir fry; doesn't matter how you cut it up -- but it should amount to 3 chicken breasts per teen; 2 for DH; and 1 each for you, DD and the toddler -- with an extra one in there to be eaten by whoever. And as for rice -- 2 cups per teen boy and another 3-4 cups total for the rest of you. That much food will fuel them for a while. They may still need a snack before bed, but the snack likely won't be pizza if they've each had 3 chicken breasts with veggies stir fried in in addition to 2 cups of rice. If you have some left over in that massive stir fry, I wouldn't worry about it -- it will be consumed next time someone wants a snack. Do you belong to Costco? It may be a good time to join as you need to start buying massive quantities of staples. Also -- why not have huge boxes of cereal around with gallons of milk? It's not the healthiest, but teen boys inhale cereal and it's vitamin fortified unlike soda or doritos. I think you have to count on them turning to snacks like that more than carrots and hummus -- they'd be full after 2 bowls of cereal; whereas they may need like a pound of carrots to get full.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op again

My eldest sons play soccer and ice hockey 3x a week. Anytime I try to give them a soup for dinner they freak out and basically refuse to eat it. Last week I made 10 chicken legs for dinner. Every last one was eaten in about 25 mins. When I feed them till they are full, it's like preparing a meal for an army. They managed to eat 10 potatoes worth of mashed potatoes the other day. I cooked a rack of ribs and they were still hungry after.

Um, 10 chicken legs is not many---especially with teenage boys in the house!!! And one rack of ribs for a whole family? I do two, with 3-4 sides, so we do have some leftovers, but not a lot!
You're not cooking enough, I think that's clear. And like other posters have said, snacks need to be veggies, fruit, hard-boiled eggs, things like that---NO doritos!!

I'm female and when I was a teenager I recall eating four chicken legs at dinner.

I don't know why some of the pps are trying to act like everything on the table is junk food. I stated all the stuff that i feed them and then they are still hungry. I already stated that I'll cook more. Sorry but I don't believe that a teen boy eating a 160 cal bag of Doritos is negligence.

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!

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?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here

Thank you all. It just seems like there is a ton of food in the grocery cart each week. In fact the cart is full. Outlawing junk is not gonna go over well with my kids.they are able to self regulate and not each too much.

AN entire bag of Doritos for one kid, a pizza and two liters of soda?? They are not self regulating! You think they are because they are not fat but that is a LOT of inappropriate junk. My kids are allowed one small junk food snack and one sweet a day (they choose but an 8oz soda counts as a sweet). Beyond that, it is healthy food all day long. Junk is a big part of your problem.

Op here. A single serving bag of Doritos..... Not a family size bag. I'm talking the size that can go in a lunch box. The two liters of soda were drank by dh, the two boys and my dd.

Start making a gallon or half gallon of yogurt every Sunday using whole milk and Greek yogurt as your starter. When they want more food pull the yogurt out of the fridge along with a box of cereal and let them snack on that. The yogurt is cheap and easy to make, protein dense if greek, and homemade had no added sugars.