To ban cooking for teenage boys

Exactly! 100% chance the midnight baking is because of this. It's all excessive.

@goz

who does?! 🤣
she probably values her health and doesnt want to gain weight

You are getting a lot of grief because in all honesty, this is typical teenager boys. There are 4 in my family and they are animals. They are constantly hungry and quite enjoy being old enough have choice and ability to pick their own options. I can see why it would put a strain on your finances.
Things I would try:

1. sit down with them all and your budget.
2. work out together what meals everyone likes that can be batch cooked and microwave leftovers
3. rota up cooking duties so everyone gets a turn
4. create a meal plan WITH them rather than your choice.
5. don’t sweat the small stuff. Boiling a pan of cheap pasta is much more economical than roasting a chicken.
6. butterbeans are a good source of protein and fibre and make a cheap but hearty alternative to meat

I have a large slow cooker and regularly cook huge batches of food that everyone microwaves for quick meals:
bolognese
chilli
pulled pork
pulled chicken
Arrabbiata pasta sauce

I cook a huge whole chicken & sausages etc in one hit that people can reheat as and when. If there is a shelf free in the oven when you are doing dinner, ask the kids if there is something they want you to put in for later. They get the choice but you
control when the oven is in use.

There are lots of options that are better than just complaining because I guarantee they will never listen to, what they see as, you being a nag.

😂😂

What in the dishwasher now?! Is this the latest TikTok craze?! 😆

Just to say mine are doing the same, but generally I am OK with it, as long as they clean up. It seems there are a lot of social media trends on types of food things to try. For DD (17) it seems to all be baking with low sugar but fruit and high protein. For the boys, lots of of protein stuff. Generally I would say they are very health conscious and pro vitamins and healthy food stuffs and I do not mind. But I think you are right to make them conscious of the energy bills and cleaning up too.

They don’t have to. They just want to. And they don’t seem to give a shit about the ethics of needlessly consuming so much meat…

Who cares if they’re buying their own disposable cookware and using that?

If people are actually bringing up their kids to think this is fine, the human race is absolutely fucked. Well it obviously is anyway but this will speed things up nicely.

Yes - I would have thought in the context of raising 3 children, a cost like this is not astronomical.

OP has made it clear she doesn’t want to eat white pasta, brownies or sausages and bacon.

Your kids are not making pasta after dinner for fun, they're doing it because they're hungry. If this is happening an hour after dinner then your son is completely right that 6 chicken breasts between the 4 of you simply wasn't enough.

Try cooking larger amounts at dinner time to actually fill them up and even enough to have leftovers that they can just microwave so they don't need to cook again.

They aren’t including the rest of the family because that’s just OP, and they don’t have any respect for OP.

OP has already cut their pocket money and is planning to take more out of oldest son's rent. So hard to know what her point is, which is why I understand her sons not immediately knuckling under

Or that they are greedy sods influenced by social media. I’m also a bit suspicious that it’s not just protein powder going in the brownies…

I accept that energy (calorie) requirements are higher for teenaged boys. But that’s not the same thing as needing to fill their faces constantly. Two of them aren’t even especially active. Feelings of hunger between meals are quite normal, and they need to learn that binge eating isn’t the answer.

If they're using the oven for two hours a day, it would cost you about £1. Much less if they are cooking on a gas hob. So it is maybe costing you £20-30 per month extra? Just take it out of their pocket money.

I find it weird that all these teenage protein freaks have to have chicken, steak, salmon, prawns....

Has nobody told them there is also protein in cheaper foods like tinned sardines, eggs, pulses, tofu and Quorn?

If they are cooking for themselves why aren’t they including the rest of the family in this. Big pot of pasta they can feed whole family, & warm up for the next day. Think you need to see this from a different point of view, least they can cook are they putting cocks in dishwasher? & clearing up after themselves? If they are then get them to cook for everyone. Maybe including them on energy prices & budgeting might help.

My teens cook all the time, cakes, curries, stir fry’s and im pleased they do, it’s such an important life skills. I’d be more alarmed if they were just living off cereal and bread.

And show them how to clean it after use. The amount they’re cooking, these appliances will not be as cheap as chips to run!

How big are your portions? For them to be cooking only an hour later suggests they’re getting nowhere near enough at dinner

Get a microwave that grills, cooks like an oven and microwaves. Cheap as chips to run. Also an air fryer might be worth it?

Reading between the lines here I'd say you think I've got a problem and that you think a nap might help me.

I'm clever like that 😜

Nothing wrong with that!
When my kids were teenagers they didn’t behave like that and they certainly weren’t starved!

What are they buying the food with if they’re still in education. OP mentioned that they get pocket money, so how is she not supplying the extra food ? If OP is being stingey with food then I could understand the need for the extra, but it sounds to me as though there is a budget and OP is trying to supply the most healthy options within it, and her sons are blowing the budget with no thought as to the consequences. Doesn’t bode well for the future and they’re in for a nasty shock when it comes to managing their own household budgets.

It’s not like that at all! No one needs constant hot food!