To ban cooking for teenage boys

They aren’t asking you to eat it. They aren’t even asking you to buy it. Worry all you like but you can’t control what people eat.

You need to get them into pre planning, eg If there's a lot of pasta being made, encourage one of them to put however much pasta they all want that day in a pan and pour boiling water over, put the lid on then leave for a few hours it really cuts down the time needed on the hob. What about a slow cooker and they can prepare dump bags there's lots of easy quick recipes you could put together and refrigerate or freeze until required then just stick it in the slow cooker in the morning and leave it going.

Make up your mind. What are you actually stressing about? It's just because they won't do what you want isn't it?

But if they are regularly cooking meals after you clearly aren’t giving them enough food. The fact that they go out as teenagers and buy the food to supplement their dinners is crazy.

Wanting hot food in the winter is not unreasonable. And them being able to cook is better than them not being able to cook. Don't moan!

Manage it instead. Buy catering bags of fusili and catering tubs of tomato sauce. My ds is home all this week and I've put sausage rolls & Cornish pasties in the freezer, a dozen cans of beans, two loaves of fresh made wholemeal bread, large potatoes and tubs of pasta sauce portioned up for him to cook. Cheese, ham, fruit. That's just for one. He's 17, growing fast and hungry. Revising for maths a'level. He can't help it.

Asking them to eat avocado won't work, they need more protein, more calories, more fibre. Having three teen boys will cost a lot no matter what you do. They eat vast amounts of food at this stage.
Mine eats constantly, is 6'1' and has a 27 " waist. There's no flesh on him despite the mountain of food. That's just how some boys are.

Most teenage boys I know tend to eat out of chicken and kebab shops frequently, so at least there's that.

You sound very controlling sorry. You can’t control what people eat.

You seem more upset about being ignored as you’ve repeated that bit a few times. I think you’re being unreasonable wanting to control what they eat. What’s wrong with cooking pasta? It’s a good filler and they are growing. Boys with healthy appetites isn’t something to be getting annoyed about. The amount of electric/ gas the three of them will use with every other daily activity like baths, showers etc, their cooking can’t be the biggest drain on your electricity bill.

So they buy the food and you begrudge them the few pennies it costs to cook sausages or pasta?

So they need the calories. Stop trying to control what they eat!

This is insane. Get an air fryer and cop yourself on. Fair play to them.for cooking and baking

You'd seriously do that? No wonder some children leave as soon as possible.

You seem to have the dream, OP, three teenagers sorting their own meals out. I can’t believe you’d reduce their pocket money over this. The youngest is 15, that ship has sailed. They’re clearly responsible, so it’s time for a family chat over how bills work, the price of electricity, and a plan made together of how to tackle it.

Or one day, they’ll stop ignoring you, never cook for themselves and then you’ll be running a small bnb.

Good for them!

Bloody hell @Boysfood you need to pull rank on this. Your house, you pay the bills, they do as you tell them. There’s no negotiation here, you are in charge.

Anyone who doesn’t tow the line faces consequences. You will know how to hit them best. Don’t dilly dally about letting them get away with it for another single second.

Personally I’m not convinced the cost of turning on an oven is anywhere near what you seem to think.

My daughter is a bit like this but I wouldn't tell her to stop, she just seems to need lots of food so is often cooking pasta etc. she seems to burn off her food like anything

I would be thankful they are capable of cooking and not ordering takeaways or buying junk

Running all of the rings on your hob for an hour at full heat would cost about £2 at current energy prices and an average hob. While that will add up over a month, I can’t imagine it’s getting that level of usage even with 4-5 meals a day.

It’s another c £1 to run the oven for an hour at full whack too - but again, this seems unlikely.

How high are your energy bills? Is it just an extra £60 per month you’re quibbling about? You must be recovering a lot of that through reducing their pocket money and board pay. The actual food they’re eating probably costs more than the energy used to cook it…

I would have thought cooking pasta on a hob is a far cheaper option than toast and avocado.

im not sure here tbh op. From their pov, they’re hungry so they’re cooking food they want to eat. 2 of them are still in education so can’t contribute financially- that isn’t their fault. I do think when you sign up to have children, you sign up to providing food for them until they’re earning for themselves.

im sorry things are tough for you, but I don’t think teenage boys should be forbidden from eating pasta if it’s there.

What meals do you make? They cannot be properly filling if they then go and make pots of pasta

You have 3 of them. Between them cooking 4/5 times a day is perfectly reasonable. You shouldn't have had 3 kids if you resent feeding them!

I’m confused.

You said it’s partly about cost but they buy the food themselves. You’ve not mentioned mess, or them being in the way in the kitchen.

So you just don’t want them to cook…just because??

They are 15, 17 and 19 - one is an adult the other nearly an adult and the 15 year old is learning independence.

What exactly is the problem? Because ‘because I said so’ is such a strange hill to die on when it’s something as basic as young adults feeding themselves independently in an appropriate manner.