I need some help to get my food budget down, but it needs to accomodate a very hungry 9 year old

[saltire]

at the amount of food my DSes, especially DS1, is eating. DS1 eats huge adult size portions of food. My food bills have gone from £50 - £60 a week to alomst £100. A box of 48 weetabix lasts under a week, 1 1/2 loaves of bread a day, 12 pints of milk a week.
We can't afford to sepnd so much on food, I'm not working at the minute and I'm trying to budget with the food, have shopped at Lidl or Aldi, but each time it was high totals at the end. last night for example DS1 (he's9) had 4 slices of roast beef, 4 yorkshire puddings, 2 roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, broccoli and carrots. He had a smallish plate full to start with but kept asking for more. he ate twice what I had. Then he had 2 portions of apple crumble, follwed by a banana, then 2 slices of bread because he was still hungry. He had toast and a banan at bed time, because he has been waking hungry, yet still had 4 weetabix and 4 slices of toast this morning.
Is there any way I can get my food budget down whilst not starving DS1 and 2?
I do menu plan, but it all goes out the window as DS1 just asks for more!
Am nipping off for a shower, will check back soon

Missed a sentence at the start.
it should have said "I'm getting concerned at the amount of food my DSes are eating

That sounds large amount of food for a 9 year old. I would take him to the gp and get him checked out first, and ask for referral to a dietician to help you sort out what and how much to give him.

What is is having for breakfast, btw? Is he very physically active?

What are they drinking whilst they eat? I know it would increase your milk bill, but if they had, say, half a pint of milk with their food, this will have the added advantage of helping to fill them up. The fat content is satisfying.

On the same note, how much fat is there in their diet? Fat and protein are more satiating than carbohydrates, so it might be worth increasing this, if you can.

Sorry, just reread and seen the weetabix, so you have said what he is having for breakfast?

Is he over or underweight or about right?

all you can do is draw up plan or dont cook up as much so there is no more to offer do apprpoiate portions for all and small dessert there is no way they can be hungry after that and juice while having dinner

you could always shop at sainsburys or tesco where they both do a basics range of food very cheap they virtually do it on all products

it could be the fact it is there that they want it so keep some things hidden in storage box on top of cupboard and then give it out as you feel nessasary and just leave fruit laying around

also are they very active? maybe they need to take up a hobby to keep there mind off food if you limit what they have and they still complain it will definatly be worth taking them to gp tell them at breakfast 2 weetabix and 2 toast and jsut give it to them as what they haven't got they cant eat

i know they may get stroppy but fact is more they eat the more they will need to feel satisfied as stomasch is stretching and to eat this much at this age will double as they get older so best to start limiting it now as stomachs will shrink back and they will start to get used to new eating plan will take a week or so of consistency but it will be worth while

good luck

Marks and Spencer have some good offers on at the moment. Half price chicken breats and some other half priced foods. Cutting back on how much they eat also sounds very sensible.

They are both very active, DS1 especially is always charging around playing football with the others in teh street. They both go to football after school one day a week, DS1 is starting rugby in october, and every weekend we go somewhere and he and his dad (and Ds2) inevitably end up having a kick around for an hour or two.

Neither of them are overweight at all,they are both very tall, DS1 especially so, he is 9 bnut wears 11-12 year old trouser and tops.
DS2 is 7 and he is 8/9 year odl, so not so tall.
i think part of the problem could be me, I was thiniking about it in the shower. I had real food fads when I was young, the only veg I would eat were peas and sweetcorn, yet my mum always served up carrots and cabbage, and would make me sit there gagging on it, stone cold and me having to eat it. I sat for 4 hours one day. Also I was never given choice with food, like Is aid I ahd to eat it and was made to eat it, I never got puddings, cakes etc, and was often hungry, yet there was never enough food availiable for me.
Perhaps I'm giving them it because they ask for it, because i never got the chice.

Beans! Very cheap, very filling, full of protein if combined with pasta, rice, cous-cous etc, low GI which seems to be the current 'good thing', keeps em regular... Can be made tasty so that fussy children like them - especially with tomato sauce (like baked beans) or cheese/cheese sauce. I've got Rose Elliot's 'Bean Book' which has loads of recipes and tells you how to cook from scratch from dried beans, which makes them ridiculously cheap, especially if you buy in bulk from wholefood shops / Asian shops rather than diddy packets from supermarket, then freeze portions. But even if you buy tins of ready prepared beans they're pretty cheap, espeicaly compared to roast beef!

You can disguise them in other meals, especially red lentils which disappear into a stew or soup.

Beans, I love them!

That sounds totally excessive to me. It is almost as if he doesn't know when he is full. I would echo what bubblagirl said about not cooking so much - if there is food left, he will want to eat it. Provide good, filling meals with a generous portion but don't overdo it. Make sure there are lots of wholegrains, they are more filling, so wholemeal bread etc. I second the bit about beans - I've got 'The Bean Book' too! And her 'Cheap and Easy' book, you might want to look at that.

But if a 9 year old really does seem to need the amounts of food you're quoting, I would be tempted to ask a GP for advice or to refer you to a dietician.

I have asked the docotr for advice several times - because Ds1 also suffers from consitpation - and keep getting told "He's a perfectly health growing by, my own son eats a lot".
So what can I do?

lidll has got upto 70% off all their fruit and veg at the moment, with regardsto ds do you use wholemeal and seeded breads as this will fill him up more also porridge. more protein instead of carbs , white carbs will not help with constipation

Bump up the complex carbohydrates. Make sure the bread is wholemeal/ multigrain. Slow releace carbs will help to make him feel fuller for longer....if there is protein at the same time, this also adds to the 'feeling full' effect.

Switch to own brand, so ditch the brand names like Wheatabix

You might find some good ideas here

Most of the stuff we buy is own brand the weetabix is tesco own. All our bread is wholemeal, except the odd slice I have because I love it toasted. We have the wholemeal to help his constipation, although sometimes he does need a course of Movicol

I have heard of people having 'worms' (not quite the same as with animals!!) which can make them very hungry and constantly eating. I think you can buy 'worming' or 'de-worming' medication over the counter at the pharmacy for adults and children? It may be worth asking your pharmacist!

the worms thing is cobblers Worms give you an itchy arse, not make you hungry

Thanks MB - thought I may have had wrong end of stick !

If anything worms can reduce the appetite, not that I'm recomending them to the OP.

Saltire, my 9 year old is the same, and he is tall and slim. He has 5 weetabix for breakfast, a soya pudding, and a glass of orange juice, and sometimes a banana. He also eats the same size portion as me.
He will also eagerly eat 5 fishfinger with his meal!
I found that I was always saying.. have a banana if your still hungry but it made him really constipated!
I think they sound like healthy growing active boys to me!

Tesco's Value range is pretty good (but avoid the weetabix as it's like chipboard)

DH loves it. He was so chuffed that they do basalmic vinegar and red and green pestos in that range.

Oh and the DW tabs are better than Finish IMO

Dh says this si fairly similar to what he was eating at that age- bear in mind that when we met he was 5'0" and under 9 stone (he's not now, he's gedddin old ) so he was hardly overweight.

I would be empasising the fibre contenta s fibre is filling- you can get yoghurts etc thata re fibre added, although wholemeal bread and weetabix is a good start for that. As you said he's constipated- up the water content hugely! Some kids get their hunger / thrist impulses confused (OK well I dod) and he could well be eating when he needs a drink

Does he eat enough protein? Just something I heard recently that growing children can often fill up on carbs and not eat enough protein, apparently the protein leaves them feeling more satisfied.

Does he eat really quickly? My DS2 eats tons (and has a bit of a weight problem) so I've been trying to analyse what and how he eats - he wolfs his food down, so I think he doesn't realise he's full until after he's eaten a lot. Also I want him to drink more as I'm concerned he confuses thirst for hunger. He's not that keen on plain water so I get cordial for him to add to it, sometimes.

It's difficult, you don't want them to feel like they're 'starving', slow release carbs are the key I think but they must drink enough to prevent constipation. And smaller portions - I tell mine he can have a second helping of dinner if he's still hungry in 20-30 minutes, after he's drunk a large glass of water.