I can not feed them anymore! It's impossible!

[FaithManor]

This is what a cooked for the five of us....DD is on an ambulance run so she's eating in the rig.

 

1.5 lbs of ground beef with taco seasoning

1 lb. of chicken breast, pulled apart and seasoned

8 oz. cheddar cheese

16 oz. sour cream

16. oz pinto beans

4 oz. black beans

1/3 head of shredded lettuce

4 oz. dried red peppers

4 oz. dried grape tomatoes

16 oz. salsa

17 taco shells

 

There is not a scrap left! Not one little bit! I would not be shocked if they went into the kitchen and licked the pots while I wasn't looking! In addition, they drank ONE WHOLE GALLON OF MILK! (All of these boys wear slim pants.)

 

It's been one hour and the 13.5 year old wants to know what the evening snack is!

 

I lost it and calmly but firmly told him to graze on the lawn outside.

 

Faith, who just might have to run away from home once all three boys have officially reached their teens.

[Jennifer in MI]

Um. How old are they? How many are there? Let's never get our children together. That would be an expensive lunch or dinner!!!!

 

I think my kids could easily pack that away (14, 12, 10 and dd 4). :glare:

[fenni]

oh my goodness! My husband keeps telling me I don't know what I am in for with all these boys! Well my 9 yr. old now eats as much as me and I don't take eating lightly. Eek!

[mysticamethyst]

It is sick how much food my boys eat and eat and eat then want dessert or popcorn. Leftovers is really not a word used in our house anymore my Tupperware is getting lonely from the lack of use. They really eat like nothing I have ever seen.

[Melissa in Australia]

I have 3 teen boys , they are constantly hungry. They have even started looking at the labels, to work out what food will give them the most energy.

[JudoMom]

This is what a cooked for the five of us....DD is on an ambulance run so she's eating in the rig.

 

1.5 lbs of ground beef with taco seasoning

1 lb. of chicken breast, pulled apart and seasoned

8 oz. cheddar cheese

16 oz. sour cream

16. oz pinto beans

4 oz. black beans

1/3 head of shredded lettuce

4 oz. dried red peppers

4 oz. dried grape tomatoes

16 oz. salsa

17 taco shells

 

There is not a scrap left! Not one little bit! I would not be shocked if they went into the kitchen and licked the pots while I wasn't looking! In addition, they drank ONE WHOLE GALLON OF MILK! (All of these boys wear slim pants.)

 

It's been one hour and the 13.5 year old wants to know what the evening snack is!

 

I lost it and calmly but firmly told him to graze on the lawn outside.

 

Faith, who just might have to run away from home once all three boys have officially reached their teens.

 

I seriously need to stop reading your posts. You scare me. Or rather, your boys scare me.

[Guest ME-Mommy]

2 teenage girls and 1 pre-teen boy in this house...leftovers are a thing of the past!!

 

Seriously, I canNOT cook enough food...:001_huh:

[justamouse]

 

I lost it and calmly but firmly told him to graze on the lawn outside.

 

 

:lol::lol::lol:

 

You poor thing. :grouphug: What can they cook for themselves?

[MyLittleWonders]

I seriously need to stop reading your posts. You scare me. Or rather, your boys scare me.

 

:iagree: I don't know why I click on these threads - my 9 year old is already eating about as much as me, and then there's the almost 7 year old and the 4 year old coming up right behind him. They are all skinny kids and I have no idea where they put the food they eat, but man are they constantly hungry! The only consolation if Little Bean is a boy is that by the time he's old enough to eat us out of house and home, at least one of the older boys should be living on his own. :lol: :tongue_smilie:

[astrid]

This is what a cooked for the five of us....DD is on an ambulance run so she's eating in the rig.

 

1.5 lbs of ground beef with taco seasoning

1 lb. of chicken breast, pulled apart and seasoned

8 oz. cheddar cheese

16 oz. sour cream

16. oz pinto beans

4 oz. black beans

1/3 head of shredded lettuce

4 oz. dried red peppers

4 oz. dried grape tomatoes

16 oz. salsa

17 taco shells

 

There is not a scrap left! Not one little bit! I would not be shocked if they went into the kitchen and licked the pots while I wasn't looking! In addition, they drank ONE WHOLE GALLON OF MILK! (All of these boys wear slim pants.)

 

It's been one hour and the 13.5 year old wants to know what the evening snack is!

 

I lost it and calmly but firmly told him to graze on the lawn outside.

 

Faith, who just might have to run away from home once all three boys have officially reached their teens.

 

Wow.

 

The food I can see. But why a GALLON of milk? Why not a glass each, and then water if they're still thirsty?

 

I give you moms of hungry teens credit-- it's like cooking for the duggars! ;-)

 

Hugs,

astrid

[FaithManor]

They are 13.5 almost 14, just 12, and 10. They eat Dh and I under the table and dd says she feels nauseous looking at how much they take.

 

The only other person I have personally cooked for that ate like that was dd's best bud, A. She ran track, played girls basketball, and women's softball. She trained an hour before school and for two hours after school on days when she didn't have practice. She was all muscle and would come over on the weekends, lay her head on my shoulder (no mean feat because she is six feet tall/only 130 lbs and I am 5'4"), and say wistfully, "Food?" I fed her a lot of cheese and eggs.

 

DD recently brought A home for her birthday supper. A doesn't train as much as she used to as the sports schedule is not conducive to her criminal justice degree pursuits. So, instead of training three hours plus per day, she is down to 1.5 hours. Anyway, now I had ALLLLLLL of the eaters together and of course, our crazy birthday policy is that the child gets to choose his/her birthday meal. Guess what she chose??????? Shrimp Scampi with Bay Scallops! You want to talk about expensive! 32 oz. each of shrimp and scallops, one lb of mini-bella mushrooms, two red peppers, half a celery heart, one onion, one stick of butter plus coconut oil stretch it through the sauteing, three garlic cloves minced and several splashes of fresh lemon juice, all sauted together and served over a rather largish kettle of hot linguine. The family managed to polish off 8 oz. of fresh parmesan plus a quite large salad to boot! NO LEFTOVERS! She wanted cheesecake and butterscotch pie for dessert. 16 pieces of pie, only three left. I dropped into bed that night feeling as though I had been personally looted, pillaged, ravaged, gnawed on, and bankrupted! I fully expect that one of them will consider cannibalizing the cat or one of our show ducks at some point before puberty ends.

 

Tomorrow night they are getting a meatless lasagna but they must first each eat a huge bowl of salad and a baked potato before embarking on the main course.

 

When the last one leaves home, I may never cook or grocery shop ever again!!!!!!!

 

Faith

[HRAAB]

Holy Cow! Maybe I'm thankful I had all girls - although one of them went through a few stages where I could never keep her filled up.

 

I don't think I could afford it.

[justamouse]

Wow.

 

The food I can see. But why a GALLON of milk? Why not a glass each, and then water if they're still thirsty?

 

I give you moms of hungry teens credit-- it's like cooking for the duggars! ;-)

 

Hugs,

astrid

 

My kids go though 8 gallons (whole) a week and are skinny as rails. My oldest calls them walking spaghetti. I DO make them drink water, but I really want them to have every calorie at this point. :001_smile: I think the OP said her kids are all slim, too.

[FaithManor]

Oh, and we allowed the gallon of milk to be polished off because when dh went to the farm to pick up Mabel's milk, she was in a seriously producing mood and though we normally only take three gallons per week, the farmer requested we take more. That's the only reason they were allowed that much milk.

 

Faith

[Jennifer in MI]

:iagree: I don't know why I click on these threads - my 9 year old is already eating about as much as me, and then there's the almost 7 year old and the 4 year old coming up right behind him. They are all skinny kids and I have no idea where they put the food they eat, but man are they constantly hungry! The only consolation if Little Bean is a boy is that by the time he's old enough to eat us out of house and home, at least one of the older boys should be living on his own. :lol: :tongue_smilie:

 

I know!!! My then-9 yo ate as much as I did. Now, he's 14 and he eats more than twice as much as I do. Seriously. And, he's SKINNY!!!!! It's not fair. He eats a bowl of oatmeal with peanut butter and milk, 4 eggs, 3 slices of bread/toast, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and mayo for breakfast. And, he's hungry an hour later. And, I have two more boys behind him! The 12 yo eats nearly as much. The 10 yo not quite as much - but more than I do I (and I eat a lot - I'm training for a marathon!!).

[Quiver0f10]

Wow.

 

The food I can see. But why a GALLON of milk? Why not a glass each, and then water if they're still thirsty?

 

I agree. The food looks reasonable to me. I only allow the kids one cup of milk with each meal. If they are thirsty they can have water.

[astrid]

My kids go though 8 gallons (whole) a week and are skinny as rails. My oldest calls them walking spaghetti. I DO make them drink water, but I really want them to have every calorie at this point. :001_smile: I think the OP said her kids are all slim, too.

 

Well heck, I wasn't talking about calories, or whether the OP's kids are overweight, normal weight or underweight--- I was just saying that a gallon of milk per meal is kind of, well, excessive? If they're getting adequate calcium, etc. elsewhere, how does one afford to go through a gallon of milk at each meal?

 

I realize I'm in the minority, but I just cannot wrap my head around four kids drinking a gallon of milk at one sitting. But hey, whatever works.

 

astrid

[astrid]

:001_smile:

 

 

Well heck, I wasn't talking about calories, or whether the OP's kids are overweight, normal weight or underweight--- I was just saying that a gallon of milk per meal is kind of, well, excessive? If they're getting adequate calcium, etc. elsewhere, how does one afford to go through a gallon of milk at each meal?

 

I realize I'm in the minority, but I just cannot wrap my head around four kids drinking a gallon of milk at one sitting. But hey, whatever works.

 

astrid

[Dobela]

Oh. My. My ds10 is just entering puberty. At his well child check up in July his pediatrician said to me, "Now, mom, the most noticable sign of puberty in boys is appetite. His appetite will at least triple, if not quadruple, during the next few years." And I am thinking, "Great, he is already capable of eating 40 fish sticks at a meal.":tongue_smilie:

 

I have a friend that had 3 boys in 5 years, all 3 heavily involved in sports and physical jobs. She says now that the whole reason she worked while they were in junior high and high school was to buy groceries. Literally her entire paycheck, and part of the ds's, went to food during that entire time. She said that college was easy to pay for after spending so much on food for so long...:001_huh:

[simka2]

:iagree: I don't know why I click on these threads - my 9 year old is already eating about as much as me, and then there's the almost 7 year old and the 4 year old coming up right behind him. They are all skinny kids and I have no idea where they put the food they eat, but man are they constantly hungry! The only consolation if Little Bean is a boy is that by the time he's old enough to eat us out of house and home, at least one of the older boys should be living on his own. :lol: :tongue_smilie:

 

 

Yup! Scary!!!

 

Tonight it was a little over a dozen scrambled eggs, a package of bacon and a couple dozen pancakes. My boys are only 8!

Edited October 13, 2010 by simka2

[Carrie12345]

My kids aren't far behind, and none of them are actually teens yet! We did 2+lbs of ground turkey tacos w/accoutrements last night and went through 15 shells. My 3yo only had 1. There was enough meat for me to have one leftover for a snack today. Sick!

[mama25angels]

:grouphug: I was just telling my DH the exact same thing, that I don't know how we're going to feed our boys. My big boys are 17 and 14, but the 8yo. is no slouch at the dinner table either and neither is the 4yo. The only way i've been able to manage is to get Ramen noodles and the cheap burritos for fillers, they usually have one of those before the main meal and they still leave no leftovers. Of course, my DH is trying to quit smoking so he's doing more damage than normal. I've also had to resort to making homemade snacks because there's just no way we can afford to get it any other way

Edited October 14, 2010 by mama25angels

[Cinder]

Ok, clearly my boys are abnormal. They're 15 and 12 and they really don't each that much. The amount of food listed in the OP could have made at least 2 meals for us. Ds1 is a picky eater--always has been. Ds2 isn't as picky but fills up quickly, so he eats small meals. And we don't drink milk, though we use it for cooking and cereal--so 1 gallon a week vs your 1 gallon at a meal. I guess it's a good thing because I don't think my grocery budget could bear it.

 

Cinder

[Giraffe]

They are 13.5 almost 14, just 12, and 10. They eat Dh and I under the table and dd says she feels nauseous looking at how much they take.

 

The only other person I have personally cooked for that ate like that was dd's best bud, A. She ran track, played girls basketball, and women's softball. She trained an hour before school and for two hours after school on days when she didn't have practice. She was all muscle and would come over on the weekends, lay her head on my shoulder (no mean feat because she is six feet tall/only 130 lbs and I am 5'4"), and say wistfully, "Food?" I fed her a lot of cheese and eggs.

 

DD recently brought A home for her birthday supper. A doesn't train as much as she used to as the sports schedule is not conducive to her criminal justice degree pursuits. So, instead of training three hours plus per day, she is down to 1.5 hours. Anyway, now I had ALLLLLLL of the eaters together and of course, our crazy birthday policy is that the child gets to choose his/her birthday meal. Guess what she chose??????? Shrimp Scampi with Bay Scallops! You want to talk about expensive! 32 oz. each of shrimp and scallops, one lb of mini-bella mushrooms, two red peppers, half a celery heart, one onion, one stick of butter plus coconut oil stretch it through the sauteing, three garlic cloves minced and several splashes of fresh lemon juice, all sauted together and served over a rather largish kettle of hot linguine. The family managed to polish off 8 oz. of fresh parmesan plus a quite large salad to boot! NO LEFTOVERS! She wanted cheesecake and butterscotch pie for dessert. 16 pieces of pie, only three left. I dropped into bed that night feeling as though I had been personally looted, pillaged, ravaged, gnawed on, and bankrupted! I fully expect that one of them will consider cannibalizing the cat or one of our show ducks at some point before puberty ends.

 

Tomorrow night they are getting a meatless lasagna but they must first each eat a huge bowl of salad and a baked potato before embarking on the main course.

 

When the last one leaves home, I may never cook or grocery shop ever again!!!!!!!

 

Faith

 

Gulp:001_huh::blink::ohmy:

 

I can hardly get my daughter to eat. Period. I now fear puberty.

[ma23peas]

I am pure evil...we're on a mission to explain thriftiness and eating right....tonight for my 3 growing teens...

 

1 frozen package of cauliflower/broccoli/carrots

2 cans speckled beans

1 frozen creamed corn package

 

It's amazing when we have veggie night that they're full after their servings...okay, my oldest dd who is 12, wears a size 9.5 women's shoe and is 5'6 and 110 pounds is toasting two pieces of whole wheat toast and putting strawberry jam on it for 'dessert'...the other kids if they want dessert are left with fresh apples from the orchard today.

 

When I used to put 1-2 pounds of beef into our nacho toppings, I now only use .5 pounds beef, 2 cans of black beans, 1 can of kidney beans and sauteed onions/garlic with it...they pour it over corn chips and top with sour cream/cheese if they like....I've found that doubling our veggies has really helped with their appetites...my 15 year old is 6'1 and weighs 210 pounds and wears a size 13 shoe...

 

On the milk, it's like gold in our house, it's my only 'splurge' next to veggie raised eggs...I buy organic so they know they each should drink 8 ounces a day but it comes in their cereal bowl or a full glass, I actually bought glasses from Williams Sonoma outlet that holds exactly 8 ounces and has a cow on it, we call it our milk glasses...my son would use our 16 ounce glasses and pour that milk in and drink it down....I just could feel our monthly food budget pouring out!!

 

If they want snacks, I keep almonds (they're good for you but no one can eat that many in our house), fruit, carrots, celery, or whole grain crackers with cheese slices....we've all been feeling better and I have got our food budget down to $560 a month for the 5 of us....:)

 

Once a month we have a JUNKED out food day and enjoy chips/dip, homemade brownies, lasagne! :) We just realized if we really cut back on food and made wiser choices we could afford a cool family vacation more often...so they're all on board! :)

 

ADDED: DRATS!! Teen son just asked where the ham for sandwiches was....ugh....he had 2 slices....now dd 12 is going for her 4 serving size wheat crackers! I think we'll just call it bedtime and hope the oatmeal tides them over in the morning! :)

 

Tara

Edited October 14, 2010 by ma23peas
Kids kept eating

[Lucy in Australia]

Pasta is my best friend :D I often make a pot of it in the morning (we just put some garlic, chilli and parmesan on it just before we eat it) and it's gone by night time (this is in addition to the normal meals) It has been a life saver for us, especially since the boys started swimming seriously.

 

Dips like hoummos and others made from beans have also saved me from bankruptcy many times :laugh:

[Brigitte]

I seriously need to stop reading your posts. You scare me. Or rather, your boys scare me.

 

You should be scared, very scared. :D:lol:

[Tree House Academy]

This is what a cooked for the five of us....DD is on an ambulance run so she's eating in the rig.

 

1.5 lbs of ground beef with taco seasoning

1 lb. of chicken breast, pulled apart and seasoned

8 oz. cheddar cheese

16 oz. sour cream

16. oz pinto beans

4 oz. black beans

1/3 head of shredded lettuce

4 oz. dried red peppers

4 oz. dried grape tomatoes

16 oz. salsa

17 taco shells

 

There is not a scrap left! Not one little bit! I would not be shocked if they went into the kitchen and licked the pots while I wasn't looking! In addition, they drank ONE WHOLE GALLON OF MILK! (All of these boys wear slim pants.)

 

It's been one hour and the 13.5 year old wants to know what the evening snack is!

 

I lost it and calmly but firmly told him to graze on the lawn outside.

 

Faith, who just might have to run away from home once all three boys have officially reached their teens.

 

I hear ya!! And I only have one pre-teen!

[justamouse]

Yup! Scary!!!

 

Tonight it was a little over a dozen scrambled eggs, a package of bacon and a couple dozen pancakes. My boys are only 8!

 

Oh, man, breakfast for dinner is one of my all time faves, hands down. When I was a teen we would all go to the diners in the wee hours of the morning and have big breakfasts. YUMMO.

 

For a breakfast at my house it's two packages of bacon, two dozen eggs, one half gallon of OJ and a half gallon of milk for hot chocolate. If it's eggs over we go through a loaf of bread, waffles I make three batches (6 sticks of butter!) and pancakes is at least three dozen.

 

dinner tonight was 5.5 lbs of chicken breasts (I cut them in half and george foremaned them with balsamic vinegar), 6 cups of jasmine rice, three packages of froz broc and a half gallon of milk. I have enough for my dh to take lunch tomorrow.

 

I let my kids eat as much as they want, we don't waste much at all. ;) I really can't figure out why people (apart from budget concerns) have limits on milk. I grew up dunking our gallons in the farmers tanks and we were allowed as much as we wanted. I nor my brother are overweight, neither are my parents.

Edited October 14, 2010 by justamouse

[CalicoKat]

This is what a cooked for the five of us....DD is on an ambulance run so she's eating in the rig.

 

1.5 lbs of ground beef with taco seasoning

1 lb. of chicken breast, pulled apart and seasoned

8 oz. cheddar cheese

16 oz. sour cream

16. oz pinto beans

4 oz. black beans

1/3 head of shredded lettuce

4 oz. dried red peppers

4 oz. dried grape tomatoes

16 oz. salsa

17 taco shells

 

There is not a scrap left! Not one little bit! I would not be shocked if they went into the kitchen and licked the pots while I wasn't looking! In addition, they drank ONE WHOLE GALLON OF MILK! (All of these boys wear slim pants.)

 

It's been one hour and the 13.5 year old wants to know what the evening snack is!

 

I lost it and calmly but firmly told him to graze on the lawn outside.

 

Faith, who just might have to run away from home once all three boys have officially reached their teens.

Oy, all those beans. How many boys did you say you fed?! :D

:grouphug: Someday they'll be grown up and in their own homes and then you can rest, I promise!

[kalanamak]

 

It's been one hour and the 13.5 year old wants to know what the evening snack is!

 

 

My mom always had a bushel basket of fruit: oranges or apples or grapefruit, in the garage, and it was the only thing we were allowed to "get into" without permission, and not that within an hour of mealtime. I remember eating 12 grapefruit in one sitting. It was not untypical to eat 4 or 5 apples a day.

 

Once, back when I was 12, my dm, df, and I went for a stroll down the shopping district (little shops) they had used 14 years earlier, before I was born. (It was Tokyo, 1956.) One shop keeper leapt at the sight of them, and bowed low and pretended to be riding a heavily leaden bike. We all bowed back and everyone grinned. My mother told she used to buy bushels of fruit from him, and he delivered them on his bike. I'm sure they were the only blond family, with 3 times the number of children Japanese families have, who bought 2 bushels of fruit a week from him!

[mommymilkies]

Sounds like a meal my dh would demolish. I wish I had 1/10th of his metabolism! I fear my kids hitting this stage...

[gardening momma]

I know this is an old thread, resurrected. I skimmed it, and just want to say, I'm glad I have girls!

[missmoe]

I'm a little more than a year away from having FIVE teenagers! :tongue_smilie: I feel your pain!

[StephanieZ]

I'd triple your beans to meat/dairy ratio for health & economy! I've come to adding extra cans of beans and/or corn to mexican recipes, and to preparing large quantities of seasoned brown rice, too. I can't imagine how bad it'll be when mine are older like yours, and to have more as well. . . Yikes!

 

FWIW, noone seems to notice or complain when I add more legumes and vegetables to familiar recipes. Try it one can (or cup of frozen veggies) at a time, and see if they even notice!

[Random]

This is what a cooked for the five of us....DD is on an ambulance run so she's eating in the rig.

 

1.5 lbs of ground beef with taco seasoning

1 lb. of chicken breast, pulled apart and seasoned

8 oz. cheddar cheese

16 oz. sour cream

16. oz pinto beans

4 oz. black beans

1/3 head of shredded lettuce

4 oz. dried red peppers

4 oz. dried grape tomatoes

16 oz. salsa

17 taco shells

 

There is not a scrap left! Not one little bit! I would not be shocked if they went into the kitchen and licked the pots while I wasn't looking! In addition, they drank ONE WHOLE GALLON OF MILK! (All of these boys wear slim pants.)

 

It's been one hour and the 13.5 year old wants to know what the evening snack is!

 

I lost it and calmly but firmly told him to graze on the lawn outside.

 

Faith, who just might have to run away from home once all three boys have officially reached their teens.

 

 

 

 

I am SO not looking forward to this part of having older sons.

[Murphy101]

:001_huh: I don't get it?

 

17 tacos

Divided by 5(?)

Is only 3 tacos a piece

 

That doesn't seem like much to me at all. My 2 year old daughter would eat at least two. And all of mine are twig skinny too. My 16 year old is 5'10 and still under a 100 pounds. They just eat and eat, but it never seems to stick anywhere. Dh and I have concluded they burn the calories as they eat.

 

We were stunned last week when I used four 9x12 casserole pans to make homemade chicken pot pie and exactly 1 scoop was left for dad to take to work the next day.

 

I had intended one to go to another family and thought I had put it in the frig to set aside. When kids asked if they could have more, I told them they could have what was out. It wasn't until the next morning that I discovered it was eaten too! It was completely my own fault. I must have left it out to cool some and just forgot in the chaos of serving dinner and dh coming home from work.

[AuntieM]

Ah yes, mothers of little boys, start setting aside nickels against your future grocery budget now. And let me tell you, my slender teen girl can eat more than her brothers. Our grocery bill has doubled from the days when they were all ten and under.

 

And Faith, "go graze on the lawn"... that is priceless! I'm shamelessly going to add it to my repertoire, thank you very much!

[Skyline]

:rofl:

 

There are five kids in my family and believe me we could have put away that much food. My little brother was the worst. I don't think that kid was ever full.

 

I though you might get a kick out of this story.

My mother called me the other day laughing. It seems she ran into the owner of the local grocery store when she was shopping. It's just her and my father home now so she only had two little bags of groceries to pick up which is a big change from two full carts she used to have. Anyways, he was chatting with her as she put the groceries in her little car and asked her "Don't you miss that old blue van?" We used to have a big blue 8 seater van we dubbed Lurch but since all the kids have flown the coop my parents have downsized. A little surprised my mom answered "no." He laughed and said, "I do, I especially miss filling it with groceries." My mom laughed so hard she cried.

[Peela]

My kids eat about as much as dh and I. So either we eat a lot or they are not huge eaters. I guess ds15 snacks a lot but its mostly fruit. ANd dd16 might sneak in cereal after dinner. But for meals I never serve them more than dh and I.

[pahansen]

<Groan> I don't even want to think about this. We already go through two gallons of milk a week here (at least), and I can't drink it!

 

Everyone keeps telling me how they hope this baby is a boy so that we have two of each. Now I'm thinking my grocery budget would prefer a girl...

 

My 7yo is already starting (to want) to eat way more than I think is reasonable for a child, although generally when the meal is gone, he doesn't complain. Yet. :willy_nilly:

 

--Pamela

[Pretty in Pink]

I realize that this is an old thread, but it doesn't sound like a terrible amount of food for 5 people (aside from the milk and meat, which was more than I would serve at one meal). I will eat four or five tacos myself on taco night! I only serve 1/4 lb. of meat per person though (I would have served unlimited legumes to round out the meal), and one glass of milk would have been the limit (I undestand that there was extra milk to be finished in this situation though). I wouldn't have served milk anyway since I serve tacos with cheese and sour cream. I limit dairy to 3 servings/day.

[Laura Corin]

Ok, clearly my boys are abnormal. They're 15 and 12 and they really don't each that much. The amount of food listed in the OP could have made at least 2 meals for us. Ds1 is a picky eater--always has been. Ds2 isn't as picky but fills up quickly, so he eats small meals. And we don't drink milk, though we use it for cooking and cereal--so 1 gallon a week vs your 1 gallon at a meal. I guess it's a good thing because I don't think my grocery budget could bear it.

 

Cinder

 

He and Hobbes eat about the same amount, which is roughly the same as husband and I eat. The food quoted would be at least two meals, maybe three.

 

Laura

[unsinkable]

When the last one leaves home, I may never cook or grocery shop ever again!!!!!!!

 

Faith

 

After my dad died my mom said that now she never had to cook again if she didn't want to...and she rarely did!

[Tammyla]

I hear you:bigear:, and I only have one teen boy. My dd eats like a normal person.

[Julie in CA]

1.5 lbs of ground beef with taco seasoning

1 lb. of chicken breast, pulled apart and seasoned

8 oz. cheddar cheese

16 oz. sour cream

16. oz pinto beans

4 oz. black beans

1/3 head of shredded lettuce

4 oz. dried red peppers

4 oz. dried grape tomatoes

16 oz. salsa

17 taco shells

 

What you've listed is almost exactly what I'd have cooked for dh, me, and 4 of the kids (the oldest is away at college during the week). We'd have used fresh tomatoes, and maybe a little bit more lettuce. Personally, I found it surprising that you could get away with only 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef, but then I saw that you had chicken too. I do that also, since the girls and I are watching calories rather intensely these days. My boys, however, can eat like nothing I've ever seen! My dh is one of seven brothers, and I can only imagine what his mom must have had to cook when they all lived at home. :eek:

[Karen in CO]

Lesson from my ds and his friends....

Add a couple of cans of beans to stretch out you meat especially in tacos.

Buy more milk.

Pasta needs be served often and in large quantities.

Get the big packages of eggs - it is a cheap protein source.

They will eat even more when they are exercising.

A protein powder shake everyday is a really good idea too - two or three of they lift weights.

[Mrs Mungo]

This is what a cooked for the five of us....DD is on an ambulance run so she's eating in the rig.

 

1.5 lbs of ground beef with taco seasoning

1 lb. of chicken breast, pulled apart and seasoned

8 oz. cheddar cheese

16 oz. sour cream

16. oz pinto beans

4 oz. black beans

1/3 head of shredded lettuce

4 oz. dried red peppers

4 oz. dried grape tomatoes

16 oz. salsa

17 taco shells

 

There is not a scrap left! Not one little bit! I would not be shocked if they went into the kitchen and licked the pots while I wasn't looking! In addition, they drank ONE WHOLE GALLON OF MILK! (All of these boys wear slim pants.)

 

It's been one hour and the 13.5 year old wants to know what the evening snack is!

 

I lost it and calmly but firmly told him to graze on the lawn outside.

 

Faith, who just might have to run away from home once all three boys have officially reached their teens.

 

You need some side dishes. Avocados make you feel full because they are high in good fats. Chop some up and add to the tacos *or* make homemade guac and salsa to serve with chips. *Or* make a salad with fresh peppers, butter lettuce, avocados, etc. Add a side of rice. That would help fill out the meal and make everything go further.

[Remudamom]

I'm just sick of cooking period. I'm sick of my own cooking. I'm sick of thinking about cooking.

 

Most of the conversations I have with my sons revolve around food, cooking, meals, snacks, sweets, pop and something (I'm ashamed to say) they call "flatulence bars".

[LibraryLover]

LOL Oh yes. It's so true.

 

You know, I have mostly switched to whole wheat flax tortiilas (Joseph's brand, which are thinner & roll better than regular whole wheat tortillas. My kids like them, and they were an easy trasition) instead of tacos. A stomach full of flax can stave off the hunger pangs, let me tell you.

 

And, I don't know if it's cheaper, but I do think it's more filling; plain yogurt over sour cream. Plain Greek yogurt tastes just like sour cream on Mexican food.

 

Every little bit helps. ;)