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 .

Oats? The cheapest food on the planet? This is what you begrudge them?

I have one teenage boy and he eats a LOT. He's tall and slim and for years he's eaten at least 2 additional meals a day because teenage boys just need a load of calories. He cooks pasta, fried rice, sausages etc. If you have three of them, I can imagine it looks like they never stop eating. But they are not doing it out of malice, they are just hungry!
You are coming across as though you're determined to find fault whatever they do. First it's the cost, then it's because they are not doing what you tell them to, then it's the wastefulness. What is the actual issue? It sounds like they are practical, independent and resourceful. Ok they might not be eating what you'd like them to, but they are adult/near adult, you can't control them like that.

Adding to the chorus of "get an air fryer". I have teenage boys who prior to air fryer would think nothing of having the oven on for a hour to cook a steak bake from frozen.

It sounds like they also have a poor understanding of nutrition and good source of protein and how much protein they actually need.

Unless they are hard core gym bunnies they don’t need protein powders (and not even then in most cases) and processed meat is a poor source of protein. Are they following some daft food influencer flogging a “high protein” diet to young men?

What kind of foods are they cooking? what do you expect them to eat instead? Pasta takes 10 mins to make...and wouldn't use a lot of electricity.

teenagers eat a huge amount of food.

Can they batch cook so they aren't all cooking at separate times? So one of my friends will buy sausages in bulk but will cook them all at the same time then freeze them. When they want some sausages they only have to reheat them in the air fryer instead of cooking them from scratch. Takes half the time.

To some posters this might sound like a stealth boast.

To have one teenage boy cooking is unusual. To have all three is a fucking miracle. 😀

@Jc2001and @Boysfood- cereal is not healthy. Sandwiches are not healthy. Avocado toast is ok but they’d not need another sandwich for lunch. The nutrition and diet in the UK is appalling and seeing someone actually try to stop their kids from cooking and encourage them to snack and eat sandwiches is exactly what leads to bad food habits, microwaveable dinners and taking the low effort road. But sure. I’m the problem

No not on a basic level but when they take mine, leave none and don’t replace them knowing it’s for my overnight oats it’s hurtful

Yeah but come on. It really doesn't cost that much to cook. You can see the breakdown usually via your electricity app. Mostly the high costs are dishwasher, washing machine, tumble drier.

I don't think this really is about cost of energy and more about OP's need for control hence the fixation on being 'ignored'.

I'd really struggle to get upset about teenage boys cooking for themselves, I'd be glad they were doing it rather than nagging at me to do it. Teenage boys eat A LOT.

It seems like such a non-issue as long as they aren't making a huge mess and are clearing up after themselves.

Jesus, pull yourself together. This is ridiculous.

White pasta and processed meats are worse

You would genuinely prefer them to eat avocado toast, provided by you, than use a hob for 10 minutes to make pasta that they have provided for themselves? Surely you can see that one of those things is much, much cheaper than the other and it is not the avocado toast.

OP you seem to have a bit of a fixation on the fact they're eating meat such as bacon and sausages, and regular pasta rather than wholewheat. Whilst I agree that eating bacon and sausages multiple times a week isn't great it's definitely better than if they were ordering dominos or KFC at the same frequency...

Agreed that an airfryer would be a good idea, and that it would be reasonable to ask them to contribute to this if you wouldn't otherwise use it. However if you can afford the electricity bill then this really doesn't seem to be the hill to die on - they're teenage boys and they clearly need the food if they're not overweight.

WTF?!?! You can't be being serious?!

Its unreasonable for any teen to treat their home as a glorified restaurant which brings hardship on the whole family

They're buying their own food and cooking it themselves. It's not much of a restaurant!

Hurtful?

do you have a grocery list? That helps in our house - if my daughter finishes the butter or bread or whatever she adds it to the list. Or replaces it herself.

Alternatively you could have a shelf for your own stuff as you are inherently sharing a space with adults/almost adults. If there's something you need for breakfasts before work it's fair enough to have it on hand.

Still think this is a logistics problem unless I'm missing something!

🤣

My DS will often ask me to make him a second dinner after dinner. If I'm feeling nice I'll do beans and egg on toast but usually tell him to make his own but evenings seem to be when their appetites wake up! He already gets at least 1.5 of the portion that DH and I eat, even double.

Count your blessings! There is quite honestly much worse things teenage boys could get up to!!

'Your' oats?

Can you not just buy more in the weekly shop so they're not just yours?

Also, the 'huge amount of foil roasting trays , takeaway type tubs and paper plates and bowls' will be cutting down on the amount of fuel used to wash up.

So it sounds like he's trying his best to solve the problem.

Do you actually have a real idea of how much the extra cooking is costing or are you just guessing?

You need to give your head a wobble OP. Quite honestly if this is the biggest problem you have in your life you're very lucky. But someone eating your oats is not hurtful.

You are being utterly awful. Your teenage sons are hungry, they like cooking, they are buying most of their own ingredients... Stop being such a total misery and enjoy the fact that your kids are doing something for themselves. Have a protein brownie!! What I wouldn't give for my teenager to be able to do this.

Why not ask them to cook the evening meal, maybe in turns during the week?
It might be that you dont make enough and if they are tasked with it, they can adjust the content and amount accordingly and it might reduce the amount of snacking later in the evening.

As a woman it can be hard to understand just how much teenagers (especially tall boys) need to eat (I say this as a mother of an 18 and 21 year old).

I think its great they all cook properly. Just try to find a middle ground where you can all co exist in the same house/kitchen,

I think a lot depends on whether you are really on the breadline to the point that cooking a pan of pasta will push you over the edge or not. If this is really about money, I think your adult dc probably needs to move out so you can save money to feed your younger dc, and yes, they will have to accept food is only used for the earmarked meals.

But, you posts sound a bit like you feel this is more a matter of principle. I don't think it's unreasonable for people to cook when they are hungry in their own home, especially the 19yo who is paying rent. I don't believe it takes an hour to cook pasta or sausages. I think you should maybe try to stop enforcing your preferences on them.

I agree with you OP. They are living like they're at uni already, and allowed to graze and eat round the clock. If they have had family dinner, there is no reason to be cooking food again. A snack can be something easy to hand.