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 .

I know this isn't something you want to hear but if you have three teenagish boys your bills for food and cooking will be higher. They eat a lot at that age. I obviously don't live where you do but is boiling a pan of water for pasta that cost prohibitive?

Are you sure it's just protein powder going in the brownies though?? Do they have the munchies?

There's a lot of faux shock-horror going on here. Or is it parents of very young children who can't imagine that'll they'll ever be anything more than larger versions of their current innocent selves..
These boys aren't putting in hard days of work or sport or gym. They don't want chickpeas and lentils. OP knows that the eldest two use weed. It's not cheap, so who is funding that? And why should she have to deal with the side effects? What do you think is going into those brownies baked at midnight? OP is holding down a job while these 3 are laughing at her up their sleeves, they sound greedy and selfish and I am very sorry for her.

Wasn’t OP’s issue with brownies that it was an hour after dinner, not at midnight?

It’s pretty easy to assume it’s not a filling dinner. The only person who thinks it’s filling is the 40something year old woman. If 75% of people eat an hour after the meal it’s most likely not enough food.

I think it sounds great that they’re cooking instead of online gaming or snacking on processed junk.
annoying if they don’t clear up though.

Wasn’t OP’s issue with brownies that it was an hour after dinner, not at midnight?

The OP said An hour later it had to be a huge bowl of pasta with tons of cheese then at midnight baking.

How much is your electric bill? I cook loads with electric as well as having and electric shower and dishwasher so everything is electric except the heating and its less than £60 a month and about £20 of is the standing charge so not a huge amount and fairly trivial compared with grocery shopping.

But you can do high protein stir fries for less with eggs and edamame beans instead of prawns. Perhaps also let them have one bag of nice oats a week then its the normal ones.

My son cooks all the time. He’s 15. He was hungry the other day and whipped up a crumble from scratch. I was very proud of that! Doesn’t get it from me.

I love the fact he’s self sufficient and likes to cook. I don’t care he does it multiple times a day. He’s hungry and growing.

is the electricity bill a massive issue? Or just the cooking?

One of my friends recently mentioned that her 15 year old boy can happily eat six eggs in a sitting! Not to mention the large amounts of meat, snacks, getting through a loaf of bread a day - I’m skint so it made me grateful not have any boys!

Jesus poor kids, they are hungry teens and want hot meals twice a day which isn't abnormal... If they like pasta can you do things like batch cook a big pasta bake and then they can microwave portions when they are hungry.

Boil and shell twelve (84 cals each). I bet they can't eat all of them in one day?

Between 3 teenage boys?! 😂

I have 3 boys, two gym-obsessed teenagers and an extremely sporty 8 year old. I tend to buy 3 packs of eggs (45) a time and i'm lucky if there are any left after 3 or 4 days. If dh or I want an omlette we need to get in quick.

When people say it costs a fortune to feed teenage boys they're not kidding. They just do not stop eating.

Excuse me! I did offer advice- can you not read? I didn't say one bad word or the 'worst' Mumsnet offers. So many posters have said similar or worse. Why are you targeting me?

So do you think the boys would be ok with it if OP.ate the food they bought for themselves?

Just realised what put sorry meant crocks. 😂

I always secretly wished that I would have boys as I love cooking so much and think it would bring me real joy to have appreciative ravenously hungry mouths to feed on the daily.

I have one quite picky Dd, alas.

I think it’s good they’re cooking but some ground rules are ok to set. Like no baking after 8pm, or if they are baking then do a big batch to last a week rather than more frequent smaller batches.

big protein filled soups are good and easy to have around in winter, like Mexican soup with shredded chicken and beans in. Or soupy curry type things. I think regular hot meals are essential in winter.

😂😂😂😂

Oh I have a 15 year old who does this leaves huge mess - will also fry about five eggs despite having a huge dinner and leaves so much mess for me to clean - also cooks when I’m in bed which I’ve put a stop to so it’s protein shakes etc

I don’t think airfyer will work for a large family. Maybe for stews but that’s all. If you want to save on electricity:

• Pre cook a large amount of dinners on Sundays so you turn on the oven once. And then put some in the freezer if you need to.
• Ask your sons while you have the oven on to do a very large batch of their protein cookies, bars etc and then most of them last for 1 week out of the fridge and 3 months once you freeze them. They can pop them into the microwave anytime and that’s it.
• Also cook lots of plain pasta on Sundays while you are on it and put some in the freezer and some in the fridge for easy access anytime.
• In terms of sausage & bacon, we personally don’t buy it as I find them super unhealthy. We only buy them on special occasions as a treat. If you do the same, they won’t have access to them.

Good luck!

A another cheaper idea they might enjoy - slow cooker pulled pork and beans, buy them a big pork shoulder when you see an offer.

Aldi sell a dupe of Flannagans oats, which are probably virtually identical but just much cheaper.

As long as they're cleaning up after themselves this is far from the worst thing you could be clashing with teen sons over.

And I'm definitely with them on overnight oats, the ingredients might be the same but hot porridge is much nicer, especially in winter.

Winter food: stews and home made pies. Lasagne, bolognaise and moussaka. I also make a bolognaise which I chuck a tin of baked beans in. Teenagers love it.
Teenagers also need pudding. Apple crumble etc. I also make old fashioned school puddings sometimes; such as chocolate crunch, sponge pudding with jam and sprinkles. Pink custard. Eves pudding.
Teenagers also need about a gallon of milk each per day. Breakfast cereals also need to be available and it's plain mean to feed different sections of the household different quality food.
Buy a huge slow cooker and cook large amounts that they can tuck into during the evening. Include sausage casserole if that's what they want.
It's normal to want second helpings. It's normal to tuck into ice cream about 10 minutes after finishing pudding.
It may be normal for many people to accept/ not be curious about smoking weed. Not in this house it isn't. Nor would be charge our kids for food.

Have a family meeting to get to the crux of the matter. Everyone gets a say

Yes 12 each would be tricky, but 12 eggs between 3 isn't a challenge. There is a reason why 2 eggs as a snack is becoming popular in the meal deal.

@HarshbutTrue2

”Teenagers also need about a gallon of milk each per day.”

they really don’t. I haven’t drank milk since I was about 2 years old.

I hope that all the people suggesting cramming the oven full once its on realise, that a full oven means food cooks a lot slower. With some food 4 trays at once take the same amount of time as 4 trays one by one.

I didnt know this