To ban cooking for teenage boys

[Boysfood]

I have 3 teen ds 15,17 and 19.

They cook all the time. Breakfast lunch , I make dinner they then cook in evenings and when getting home. My electric bill is too high.

I’ve asked them to have cereal or toast or instant porridge etc for breakfast. Sandwiches etc for lunch and snacks to be something that doesn’t need cooking. We always have these type of things available but they ignore me and start cooking. I can’t remove the oven etc and they often do this when I’m out or in bed. Only 19 year old works so I can charge him more rent to cover his share but others still in education and I don’t know what to do .

Christ almighty. A 'consequence'? For filling themselves up on cheap white carbs they have bought themselves? So they will be hungry and have no Internet. What a half term! This can't be a real suggestion.

Absolutely this!

Honestly it just sounds to me as though you’re trying to find fault.

You said it was the cost of electricity, then them not listening to you, then it’s the types of ingredients they’re buying.

I’d be intrigued to know what the family meals are and portion size.
If the boy can see a massive cottage pie in oven or a lasagne then him making a pan of pasta 10 mins before dinner isn’t on. But op says no sausages or white pasta so who knows what else is on banned list.
If dinner is a tiny salmon steak and steamed asparagus then you can understand him cooking a pan of pasta as a starter and a protein brownie as pudding.

£37 is the average cost of running two gas hobs and an electric oven for an hour per day. It's just a guess as to the extra energy they may be consuming.

You've asked them to not cook but they are ignoring you. Why would you say they are banned from the kitchen or banned from cooking work any better? Only solution would be to put a lock on the kitchen door and leave a plate of sandwiches on the dining room table for when they get peckish.

Absolute cuntish suggestion

If you say so She's not under any obligation to give them money in the first place though

not much if cooking a whole roast dinner in a large 1.( i got mine to do chips (to go with salads & cold meats etc) on hot summer days, so oven doesnt heat up house anymore!)

Why don’t you just turn off electric @ mains?!

Maybe you make a main meal, they can reheat in microwave when they get in?
If they’re making breakfast or light midday meal just have a house law it’s cold; they’ve got to learn to cut back on electric use to save the planet after all!

They should be able to have hot food 10 times a day if they want to @Boysfood

Unusual for your electric bill to be £37 a month! The average standing charge comes to about £16 per month by itself. I have no idea how anyone could use £20 of electricity these days unless you've got thousands of £ worth of solar panels, a windmill and a water mill in your back garden.

Great idea, if you're an arsehole 👏🏼

This thread reminded me so much of being at home and how grateful I am to cook what I like when I like now. I got into cooking and baking as a teen but this was a big issue as we didnt have enough money for me to have that sort of hobby. At the time it made me so resentful when I got told I couldn't cook. I saw what others were baking and felt capable. I was too young to understand gas/electric bills and even water used washing up dishes. I really really had passion for cooking and I just wasn't allowed to explore it.

I remember being proud of what I created and my mum being furious about it. I still apologise to my partner if I use an appliance for 'too long'! It's hard to get out of the poverty mindset. Baking now always reminds me of guilt. It's a waste to spend money on making a cake.

Unsurprisingly this is just one of many issues I left home with!

It seems to me that the root cause of your annoyance is not the cost, but the fact you feel you have no control over how your teenagers behave in your home. You want them to behave like young children, doing what they are told, when in fact they are either adults or nearly adults.

I understand op, it’s a difficult shift and one many parents are having to manage due to adult children taking longer to leave the home.

It’s miserable being hungry. 2 are at school/college so limited to pocket money. They are buying cheap bulk food like pasta not luxuries.
A fast food job like McDonald’s would be good for them from 16 as they get a free meal every shift, the teen lads my dd worked with all used to take full advantage plus they had a good staff discount app and freebies each time new menu launched.

And what is your guess that they are saving the OP by buying their sausages, bacon, eggs, pasta, and treats for the month?

She’s not providing even most of the food her 3 children eat in a month and then moaning about £30 in an increased bill costs. At £10 a child that’s nothing, she would spend a lot more than that if she was buying their food.

Why have children if you begrudge feeding them??

Maybe OP should cut back on the avocados for herself.

Batch cooking and microwave are a good idea

if OP's concern morphs now into saving the planet, she needs a smart meter and to consider energy needs across the house, food miles (avocado?), how to cook or get them to cook a larger and more filling family meal more efficiently.

It's not a simple matter of "eat cold food to save the environment"

Feeling very sorry for these boys. Sounds like they're hungry and being made to feel guilty for feeding themselves. Teenage boys are bottomless pits and if they're not overweight then clearly it's food that they need. Avocado on toast is not close to as filling as a big bowl of pasta.
My 15yo can have a massive meal then ask me if there's anything else an hour later. He eats maybe four or five times what I do and is skinny as anything. The metabolism amd requirements for males of that age can be pretty unbelievable if you haven't come across it before.
There's an enormous amount of growth happening at that age.
I do sympathise with OP as feeding teenage boys costs a bomb but guilting them for eating is not the way to do it.

Plus one is at school all day, the other is at college and the third is at work.

Not sure how all these cooked lunches are happening so often.

OP clearly spent one rainy mid term week spending more time with her children, who she doesn’t like very much, and lost her shit.

There isn’t enough hours in the day for them to have been cooking 4-5 times a day regularly.

I don't have a standing charge though. What do you think I'm using non stop electric on anyway?

But I do know when DS is there the bills are higher.

BTW he's just sent me the screenshot of his fuel . ( Lives with GF who WFH full time) And he's fond of cooking.

and you're definitely having a laugh. our electric bill is currently about £120 a month, mostly on heating as we're a disabled household, but even if you knocked out the heating, in the summer months its about £65 a month.

I don't agree with this at all. As a parent it's absolutely your job to ensure your child is eating healthily. These are not adults, they're children, they are under 18 and living under their parents roof so yes they need to do as they are told!! They aren't paying the electricity bill. I'm a bit gobsmacked how few people on this thread seem aware that ovens and hobs use loads of electricity, and the point is OP is already cooking a hot meal for them! They just want to eat junk like bacon and chocolate brownies.
Just because they are eating does not mean they are starving hungry I have a teen boy who regularly wants to snack on crap because he is bored and eating is a thing to do. I don't let him and guess what he is not withering away. Plenty of his friends who are allowed to eat whatever and whenever are slowly putting on weight and you can see already that by adulthood they will be battling their weight.

Weird. I wish my son would cook.

Avocados and nut butter doesn’t scream poverty to me.

if she's not poor - then this whole thing is absurd