Feeding teenage boys - YIKES

When my boys were in their teens, I basically had some stirfry on the go all the time, but especially if they had their mates over. Depending on how many were in the house at the time, I could just throw in another handful of frozen vegetables, some more meat (ground beef, sausages, chicken, whatever!) and some pasta such as noodles (or macaroni at a pinch). Kept everyone happy & was relatively economical.

My boys used to eat 2 dinners - one at normal dinner time, and another one at night.

They still joke about their “second dinner” lol.

My son was a 6'3" swimmer as a 15 year old - he easily ate 4,000 calories a day when training. A second full dinner or lunch was completely normal. He doesn't eat nearly as much now that he isn't swimming 8x a week - but our grocery bill still dropped 80% when he and his sister went back to school in the fall.

My cousin’s son recently moved to our city for college and he’s come over for dinner a couple of times to have a home cooked meal instead of dining hall food. He polished off three plates of spaghetti and meatballs and took leftovers home. I was not prepared! I’m used to my toddler son’s bird like appetite. He’s a good kid and was so thankful for a home cooked meal so I’m happy to feed him and it’s a glimpse into my future.

That was my siblings and I. We were in swimming and I was also in marching band in the teen years.

Sometimes my mom would have 2 carts full. She would have 1 and I the other. Or a sibling would lush the second.

Back then the bill would be $200-250. That was 80s and 90s.

My appetite scaled back Senior year.

I have three, two of whom are athletes, and it is a complete nightmare. I literally label anything I don't want them to eat or they eat it.

DH was like this when we met in our early 20s so I know how much they can put away, I can’t even imagine how much it would cost to feed him these days.

I have four boys, but only one still at home.

Back in the day, whew. I routinely bought a couple dozen eggs, 4 packs of bacon, 3 gallons of milk, two family pack sizes of any meat, 3-4 loaves of bread, 2 jars of peanut butter, 4-5 of the largest bottles of juice, and other similar quantities every time I went to the grocery store.

And we lived on a large lot in the center of our neighborhood, so we were the "hang out" house. I nearly went broke on snacks and juice boxes for them all.

DS is 14 and would probably eat everything in the house if his ADHD medicine didn't mess with his appetite. Instead he makes himself a snack, and then leaves it partially eaten somewhere in my house... drives me insane!

My mother in law had 4 teenage boys; she would go through a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread a day. Whatever food was in the house, they would eat it so she went grocery shopping daily. Sometimes multiple times a day.

My son has never been a big eater. He used to eat 3/4 of a burger (minus some of the bun) and toss the rest. Now he cuts the burger in half for later. I don’t think I have ever seen the kid eat an entire burger. We have a tendency to share a grilled (shrimp/or chicken) Caesar salad or order of fries from the local Grille.

My friend’s son would eat two burgers and ask about more. My friend was horrified when I asked her how she afforded feeding him. I was seriously amused because it was the first time I truly watched a kid eat that much and still act hungry.

The rest of the teens who visited weren’t quite as ravenous.

When I had a teen female Nordic skier she would eat more than her Dad. Younger brother was 4 years behind, but still I was cooking for about 6-7 people for every evening meal. Rather them get healthy calories, than junk food!

yep. mine is almost 16, in football right now, working out 3-4 times a day, pushing 6', muscled 155# but wanting to get to 210 by next football season. eating like crazy but still not enough. he wants to put on mass but is struggling to get his mind around that he needs to just eat more calories, he can't get there thru primarily protein shakes, veggies and lean hamburg and rice. but he's getting there. he's eating many meals a day, you're right about a whole frozen pizza being an appetizer. did you think you had leftovers? no you didn't, they're in his belly lol. it's like living with a storm of locusts.

my older teen boy never went thru this. he played tennis and wasn't as active tho. 

I went and picked up a couple (thin crust) pizza's to take out to the field one evening. I had my 16 year old son with me. He at a WHOLE pizza before we got to the field. He was like "OMG Mom - I accidentally at the whole pizza" ... We still laugh at his genuine shock that he had accidentally eaten the entire pizza. It was a large, but one topping and thin crust. Man that kid was starving most of the time.

This was along with the school lunches that became so terrible (I blame Michelle Obama, but I don't hate her... it just decimated our school lunch meals.). He was in XC, worked on the farm when he got home from school and was just always hungry! I'd always have a good hearty snack when he got home, but by supper he was starved.

My husband works hard, and our main meal is at noon. Dinner - that is at noon! Even my girls could put away the food. All my kids were high school athletes and also worked on the farm, had horses, etc... so they were HUNGRY! I tried hard to not have a lot of junk, and lean proteins were a big part of my meals.

When everyone comes home at once now, I wonder how in the heck did I keep you all fed?

We are working calves the day before Thanksgiving. All the kids and their spouses will be home, plus the neighbor boy who helps us. What on earth am I going to feed them that day! HA~ I have to have morning coffee and some kinds of rolls/pastry, a big noon dinner meal. Something to grab quick in the afternoon, then supper. Sometimes we don't get done until 7 and everyone is starving. Next day, Thanksgiving meal!