to think a sandwich lunch is a "proper meal"

[SelfconfessedSpoonyFucker]

Teenagers are arguing that it isn't and they should have two hot meals a day.

We have bread and sandwich fixings (lettuce, tomatoes, meat, cheese, peanut butter etc) and fruit. Also beans and eggs that they can have on toast instead if they want. They can have as much sandwich stuff as they want so long as it is fairly balanced... i.e. no just eating five eggs and no veggies or half the fruit in the bowl.

They say it isn't a 'proper meal'.

My argument is that

1. please save the other food for family dinners
2. too expensive to eat two big hot meals a day. Two teen boys at home all summer can get very expensive.
3. it has the same nutrition... carbs, protein, vitamins, calories etc as a full meal.

Also, surely as teenagers if they want something hot, they can make it themselves?

I don't get the economy argument. How is a decent sandwich meal any cheaper than pasta and sauce, a jacket potato or rice with a bit of veg or mince?

Those things all take minutes to prepare.

I agree that it depends on the sandwiches.

I much prefer to have my cooked meal at lunch time.

Beans on toast, soup and crusty bread, pasta/sauce/pesto, all easy and cheap alternatives to when something that feels more substantial than sandwiches is required.

Very true but cold meats, decent bread and cheese etc is no cheaper than hot food so why deny them what they want!

Because presumably their mother is not a slave to their 'wants' - I am sure my DS would love to have pizza and chips every day for lunch - and yes, it would be 'cheaper' than the sort of lunches I provide but as the main provider and 'cook' in the household I prepare what I consider reasonable.

Once the teenagers have left home and do their own shopping and cooking they can have what they like. Yes, most teenagers could easily make their own meal but that would also involve the shopping and clearing up, which in my experience (as the mother of a teenager) is where a lot of them fail.

I don't think there's anything wrong with that. If they want a hot meal then they can make pasta and cheese or something

They can have multiple sandwiches. They can cook eggs (we have chickens so plenty of eggs). They can make a toasty sandwich if they want.

They always have healthy and boring but filling snacks available at any time of day except when someone is actively preparing a meal.

It is cheaper because if they have soup or pasta then there is a bunch of complaining if we have it for supper because they are now lunch meals. So we end up having more expensive supper meals as a result.

One is old enough to be working and was sent out the door this morning and told to find a job. (Home from uni). One is still in school and a young teen but ravenous. He is the one that mostly complains that a sandwich isn't lunch. Adora, yes, he considers pizza a meal. No the lack of logic there hasn't passed me by.

He doesn't much care for the bread we buy I think is the problem. He likes crusty sourdough and we buy wholemeal seedy bread. He knows how to bake bread and is allowed to do so but can't be bothered.

Let me be clear. There is plenty of food and they are capable of preparing it. I would not batt an eye if they had four sandwiches each and all with protein on them. If they get hungry an hour later there are things they can eat. This is not a hunger thing.

In that case - stick to your guns. Necessity is the mother of invention. They'll soon be making their own or making do.

I could have written this, my two when at home all day get up late so want something 'substantial' for 'brunch', tend to make pasta or raid the freezer for something that I would most likely use for a family meal of an evening, then later on they will sit down to the family dinner too! I tried asking them to just have a sandwich or something similar but poor lambs are 'starrrrving' I did suggest they get up at a sensible hour and eat breakfast ... it was met with faces. DS1 is usually at work now so its less of an issue, his main problem is after a drinking session he just eats anything left in the fridge and quite often it was leftovers earmarked for another dinner ds2 is usually away at uni so normally fends for himself, from his own bubget. The saving grace is that they both will do veggies or salad with the food too so at least its a bit balanced. DS2 had avocado mixed with cottage cheese and half a tin of salmon with a huge salad as a 'snack' the other night good job its only in hols and that me and DH are both earning as it would become a major issue if we were on a strict budget and they were home full time.

Yes, most teenagers could easily make their own meal but that would also involve the shopping and clearing up, which in my experience (as the mother of a teenager) is where a lot of them fail.

Oh my goodness yes. Imagine the kitchen if I made a sandwich then #1 makes soup and #2 makes pasta. Both of them would leave a mess and there would be an entire sink full of dishes. Plus I then have to make sure that they haven't used anything that I bought for an evening meal. It is a bazillion times easier to put sandwich stuff on the counter and tell them to make themselves a sandwich. I know what and how much to buy that way and there is one set of washing/clearing up to do.

I can't imagine either of my teens making their own bread TBF. That's a step too far. They can walk to the shop.

Eccles, #1 has been home from uni for months now. #2 finished school almost a month ago. We have much longer holidays here. They also eat much more during the summer. I suspect in part it is boredom.

Sparklingbrook, #1 makes lovely bread when he can be arsed. Lemon and rosemary olive oil bread is my fave that he makes. He does the no knead version where you weight, stir and put it in the fridge for three days, less work than walking to the store.

Plese tell me you don't lay out the sandwich stuff for them and then clear up after them.
< shakes head>

spoony yup I reckon that's true, DS2 home from uni mooches round saying stuff like 'muuuum ..... do you have anything like..... nice in the cupboards I can have' by which he means is the treat box full of chocolate and jaffa cakes he can pilfer , that isn't hunger, its boredom as it is never an issue on the days he is off out or dance training.

No there's no way either of mine would do that Self, and the shop is a mile away.

I've had 3 teenage brothers... The using up food meant for dinner used to drive my mum mad. Though when they were growing they could eat a large dinner, go and do an evening activity and need a microwaved jacket potato with beans and cheese when they got back.

YAabsolutelyNBU
Of course sandwiches are a proper meal.

YANBU - nobody needs two hot meals a day!

It is cheaper because if they have soup or pasta then there is a bunch of complaining if we have it for supper because they are now lunch meals. So we end up having more expensive supper meals as a result.

You don't have just soup for dinner, do you? Soup and pasta for supper, surely?

One is old enough to be working and was sent out the door this morning and told to find a job. (Home from uni).

Not an unreasonable dictat but easier said than done at the moment.

Oh my goodness yes. Imagine the kitchen if I made a sandwich then #1 makes soup and #2 makes pasta. Both of them would leave a mess and there would be an entire sink full of dishes.

Why are you making things/clearing up after them?

I'm so glad I have daughters!

It is a proper meal. I never really get that arguement on mumsnet sandwiches, burgers, pizzas, any junk food doesn't fill people up. Crazy.

Setting out/clearing up
I usually do 'set it out' because I'm usually the first one to make one. Usually the last one to do it puts stuff away. Sometimes I do it because it is my chore for the day (clearing the kitchen). Sometimes it is someone else's chore for the day.

I am not clearing up for them, but I am often chasing them to clear it up and that is more work. Also a sink full of dishes stays there until the person clearing them up gets to them and it means the dishwasher does multiple loads a day to keep up vs a chopping board, knife and a couple of plates.

Yes we just have soup. Soup and bread or sometimes grilled cheese sandwiches. To be fair our soup is homemade and pretty hearty and filling and my teens like it and eat a lot of it. It also contains all the food groups they need.

Only in the UK is a sandwich considered a proper meal. Probably why British people snack on chocolate and crisps all day

Your sons are hungry. They would be much better off with two or three good meals each day then lots of bits of crap because they are not full enough

Not an unreasonable dictat but easier said than done at the moment.

We live in California and he is an experienced qualified lifeguard. Nuff said.

Mine are only 10 and 8 and already go on about how hungry there are. They have to have a school dinner - school rules (although they mainly go for pasta) and then they have another hot meal when they get home. They will still happily demolish a snack for supper such as a toastie. Most days they get a cooked breakfast too!

I am dreading the teenage years!!