Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that they can't possibly have teenagers?

136 replies

RuddyDuck · 28/02/2014 21:02

Since Christmas I seem to have read lots of blogs and newspaper articles about how to cook frugally. You know the sort of thing - buy a 3lb chicken and it will feed you family for a week, including a delicious casserole for 6 made out of the leftover leftovers. Plus how to turn a pot of yoghurt into dessert for 8.

My 15 year old is currently cooking the pizza meant for tomorrow's lunch because he " fancies a snack", having demolished a full dinner 2 hours earlier. There are NEVER any leftovers in this house. AIBU to assume that none of these frugal food authors live with teenagers?

OP posts:
FrigginRexManningDay · 01/03/2014 14:08

My four year old couldn't eat three weetabix in one sitting. She has a small bowl of porridge with chopped banana in for breakfast.

FrigginRexManningDay · 01/03/2014 14:13

Bit of a generalisation there Veggy. I have a teen girl who has healthy eating habits, is sporty and good body image. She is certainly not starving.
Except for those times she was so starving she had to go to the chipper where the boy she fancied worked Wink

Feminine · 01/03/2014 14:15

My DS (15) very slim nearly 5 11' .

loves to snack...but is fussy!

just this week he decided that he only wanted snacks from Waitrose .

You have to laugh in the end.

Until you have a teen especially a boy, it is very difficult to imagine what life is like! Grin

I'm one of those that guards the fridge. Have to.

Pipbin · 01/03/2014 14:19

My dc aren't allowed to cook/eat the food meant for main meals (we do meal plan and have a list in the kitchen so they know what not to touch) but it's the snacking after main meals - cheese toasties, eggs, ham, all the food that isnt "main meal" stuff disappears fairly rapidly.

In my house anything like a cheese toasty, eggs and ham would count as proper food, not a snack. If you need to apply heat then it's not a snack.
No criticism of you there OP, it's just interesting to see what counts as a snack in different houses.

manicinsomniac · 01/03/2014 14:34

Sounds awful Shock Massive sympathies. I have dancer/gymnast girls and I'd be amazed (actually really pleased) if they ever eat an amount that approaches 'normal'.

However, I'm assuming these teenage boys only eat like this because you are fortunate enough to be affluent and able to afford the food (I'm not having a go, I could afford to buy more food too, if I needed to)

If you were on a very tight budget or actually without enough food to eat and having to go without or use food banks etc then they just wouldn't eat it would they? And you don't tend to see many (I know there are some) underfed teenagers in this country. Yet lots struggle financially. So it can't actually be necessary, just desirable (to the teens!).

Original poster
RuddyDuck · 01/03/2014 14:53

Hi Pipbin, not sure it's so much the definition of snacks differing between households as between generations! I'm with you in that, to me, a cheese toastie would be a lunch/light meal, same with scrambled eggs on toast etc. I wouldn't eat them as a "between meal" snack. But to my ravenous teenage ds they are snacks to be eaten about 2 hours after a main meal, or when home from school because they've got a whole 3 hours between arriving home and eating dinner.

As I said upthread, possibly my own fault for having a go at them about the copious amounts of cereal which used to be their default snack.

And if I ate as much as they did I would be huge whereas one is positively underweight and the other is slim Confused

OP posts:
Orangeanddemons · 01/03/2014 14:57

Ha ha at snacks from Waitrose. I've been there with this several times. Lots of lectures on how we should only eat Organic or M and S. Ds once refused to drink orange that had KwikSave on it. Even now at age 20 as a student, his fave shop is M and S. I shop at AldiHmm

RaspberryRuffle · 01/03/2014 15:01

Toasties, soup, poached eggs, cereal are all snacks here. I don't find fruit filling (except bananas and there are only so many a person can eat!).
I don't ever remember asking for food as a teenager, the fridge and cupboards were fair game, as long as we didn't eat right before dinner if it would spoil our appetite. It never did though, the amount of food I ate was unreal. I definitely eat less now.
As an adult there is no way I could eat 3 weetabix in one sitting!

Creamycoolerwithcream · 01/03/2014 15:12

I've got 3 boys, the youngest is 13. We've got a rule that they can't eat stuff unless the packet is opened otherwise stuff just disappears. My DS1's friends mum who has 3 sons has the same rule. I know it's fridge police but unless you have teen and older boys please don't judge

WheelieBinThief · 01/03/2014 15:12

I don't care how slim and sporty they are, I don't think it is a good idea to encourage teens to eat this way. A lot of the 'snacks' referenced on this thread would be adequate lunches. I was best friends with a group of boys in my teens and spent a lot of time in each other's houses- toast, fruit and an occasional pot noodle were snacks,

Have just asked DH, one of four boys, and they weren't allowed to help themselves to that sort of food either. Can only assume it's families with a lot of money to spend.

Bogeyface · 01/03/2014 18:30

We had ham and eggs with chips for dinner today so I would say that yes they do count as "meal food", and we had cheese toasties for lunch.

I would go mad if we got through packs of ham, boxes of eggs and lbs of cheese on snacks! I have to agree that I dont think it is necessary, it seems to be greed and a lack of self control.

IamInvisible · 01/03/2014 19:33

I have 2 teen boys.

They aren't greedy and have a lot of self control. They don't eat crap. Yes they eat brown toast, cheese, eggs and tuna but I would much rather that than crisps, biscuits and chocolate. Saying to a 6'3 hungry man "have an apple" is a waste of time, imo.

Sightoabloodyscream · 01/03/2014 19:55

Just re the weetabix. Have any of you seen weetabix lately? I remember them being massive and filling. I have 2 for breakfast now and they're really quite small. granted, I do them with only just milk to make them soft, but 2 Bix only just covers the bottom of a bowl.

nooka · 01/03/2014 19:55

I have two tall teenagers and a 6'5" dh. We all tend to graze at the weekend (very lazy) but they don't generally eat a ton. dh probably has the worst habits and he was brought up in a help yourself family.

I am one of four siblings and we wouldn't have dreamed of raiding the fridge, as everything there was earmarked for a meal and my mother would have been furious. We had three good meals a day and tea and were not expected to help ourselves to food otherwise. For tea we could have bread/toast, plain digestives or fruit. We had friendship cake for a while too and I ate a lot of peanut butter. Servings were not huge but there was usually seconds, and my mother could easily make a roast last for three meals. I'd say we were well fed (my mother is an excellent cook and taught us all)

I remember dh visiting my parents and going to the fridge for a snack and being absolutely horrified!

TheBigBumTheory · 01/03/2014 20:03

Nooka

I love the sound of friendship cake, what is it?

Waltonswatcher1 · 01/03/2014 20:05

I was going to post my own thread about this tonight - we have just had a horrible row with my 14yr old . She is very sporty and is always hungry -always . I cook everything from scratch , we have a really allergic dd so need to stay away from processed food .
My grocery bill this month alone is £1039 .( household and toiletry included btw).
Seriously . I just added it up and freaked.
How the hell do I feed five people for less - two of whom can't eat egg dairy soya wheat nuts gluten ?
I don't want to go for cheap shit junk just to fill the teenagers up .

Waltonswatcher1 · 01/03/2014 20:06

Friendship cake is yummy . Bloody love it but can't eat it now as full of allergens .

RandomMess · 01/03/2014 20:09

Value porridge oats????

Waltonswatcher1 · 01/03/2014 20:11

I forgot no oats either . Don't even bloody go there . Not even g free ones. I could weep tonight .

Pumpkinpositive · 01/03/2014 20:14

My grocery bill this month alone is £1039

Shock Shock

How the hell do I feed five people for less

Aldi, Lidl?

Waltonswatcher1 · 01/03/2014 20:19

Oh yeah .
Well known shops for stocking allergy free food . Will rush down there now for the buckwheat flour and coconut milk . Ffs

Pumpkinpositive · 01/03/2014 20:23

Well known shops for stocking allergy free food . Will rush down there now for the buckwheat flour and coconut milk

I assume they stock something in the way of "allergy free" food? I wouldn't have thought coconut milk was too exotic for Aldi but happy to stand corrected.

Waltonswatcher1 · 01/03/2014 20:25

Her bread costs me £4.20 per loaf . A loaf is ten tiny slices . I have to order this on the Internet and pay for delivery .
Thank god she tolerates seeds now ,before that it was £6.70 per loaf .

Waltonswatcher1 · 01/03/2014 20:28

Well think about it . Just because its a specific allergen free ,doesn't mean it's allergy free . No food can be that as all food is a potential allergen . All the supermarkets offer a free from range , but each product is free from something specific- not everything !

FabBakerGirl · 01/03/2014 20:38

You can gluten free flour to make your own bread. Sorry if this is completely not what you meant. It is so unfair to charge so much when it isn't anyone's fault they have allergies or intolerances.