S/o is this a supper - preteen and teen boys

amother

Thu, Jun 27 2024, 8:36 am

I get the "this is not supper" complaint often from my boys. The thing is, they are genuinely hungry. Preteen boys have legendary appetites, the school lunches are not that substantial, and it's not socially acceptable to bring a sandwich from home. My boys really need the equivalent of 2 suppers a day. As one of them eloquently proclaimed, "Ma, you need to make 2 main dishes and 3 side dishes every day!"
Especially tricky are the non fleishig nights.
Any suggestions?

amother

Dandelion

Thu, Jun 27 2024, 8:58 am

Growing boys generally don’t get filled up on dairy. I would stick to fleishig for most days. If you want to change it up a few times a month you can try

falafel, pita etc
Salmon, pizza, fries, soup
Pasta, sushi, fish

If your other family members enjoy dairy, let them grill this nights.

Amarante

Thu, Jun 27 2024, 9:11 am

amother OP wrote:

The problem is that with fleishigs every night, we'll basically be eating thr same few suppers on repeat and we'll all get sick of it

Why would this be true?

I could make chicken 1000 different ways with no repeats

Chopped meat as well.

Stews and other braised meat.

Loads of variations for briskets.

About the only "plain" would be something like a rib roast or a prime steak because generally the meat itself is so delicious the people just eat it plain with minimal seasonings.

Aurora

Thu, Jun 27 2024, 9:22 am

amother OP wrote:

Not socially acceptable, or actually forbidden? If it's just unusual, I'd send them with a sandwich. And maybe add a very large bowl of soup to evening meals? Very filling.

amother

Olive

Thu, Jun 27 2024, 9:55 am

I love teenage boys!! Cutest age ever! Best years of my life!!!
We start with soup
Then we have a main plate. Protein (quarter of a chicken or similar size to that) a starch and a cooked vegetable.
We have salad or cut up veggies every night
After supper has been served I leave the kitchen.
If kids are hungry- they can eat the rest of dinner that’s left over or rice cakes and peanut butter or fruit.

care4u

Thu, Jun 27 2024, 9:57 am

amother OP wrote:

The problem is that with fleishigs every night, we'll basically be eating thr same few suppers on repeat and we'll all get sick of it

Here's some ideas:
With chicken cutlets:
-Baked cutlets ( you can alternate recipes)
-Fried schnitzel ( I also alternate crumb coatings and different types of batter coatings)
-Grilled schnitzel ( I use different marinades so that I don't feel like I'm making the same ones every other week).
Any cutlet or schnitzel can be put into a roll or a sandwich for a different type of meal, along with toppings.
-Chicken stir fries (over rice or pasta). There are so many different recipes with this that use onion soup mix or a soy sauce type of marinade
-shwarma in pita or Lafa
-Ramen chicken stir fry
-chicken ramen soup (I use a recipe from best of kosher)
-poppers or sesame chicken

Chicken on bone

Ground meats
-meat sauce in wraps or over rice/pasta
-Meatballs
-lasagna
-burgers (reg, pastrami etc)
-meat loaf

Meat if you do that on weekday
-grilled steaks
-pepper steaks
Meat stir fry
-Fried steak
-Potted meat
-Shredded meat over potatoes, sandwich, taco
-London broil
-sandwich steak

I'm sure others have even more ideas!

Bnei Berak 10

Thu, Jun 27 2024, 10:02 am

amother OP wrote:

Socially not acceptable to brand sandwiches? Speechless

I don't know if to cry or laugh.

watergirl

Thu, Jun 27 2024, 10:12 am

amother OP wrote:

I’d like to see one of my boys make this kind of statement to me. I raised a number of sons and have a teen boy and preteen boy at home. Let them just try to demand two main dishes and three sides every day. It’s not going to fly in my house.

They may be hungry, but it does not mean that they have the right to demand this kind of thing. I make food that they like, and I make enough for them.

Yes, they take sandwiches to lunch. If they don’t want a sandwich, they are always welcome to leftovers from previous nights meals. I have thermoses to accommodate all leftovers. The one kid who begged for school hot lunch had additional chores (minor) added to his responsibilities so he can “earn” it. And he did and was happy to do it.

I wonder if husbands who make this kind of demand of their wives came from homes where teenage boys demanded this from their mothers who complied.

OP, you are not doing their future wives any favors by accommodating this kind of demand. Your job is to make sure they have enough appropriate food. Not to comply with expectations of two dinners, one for lunch, one for dinner, including multiple side dishes.

amother

Slategray

Thu, Jun 27 2024, 10:27 am

I make basic suppers. I work full time and dont have time to make extensive meals with soups etc. We also arent wealthy and im not providing huge portions of meat during the week.

My suppers are:

Pizza and salad
Macaroni with meat sauce
Hot dogs cut into eggs with salad and rolls
Tuna patties and rice
Hamburgers, sliced veggies, and buns
Chicken drumstick stew
Lasagna and salad
Chicken quarters, potatoes, green beans
Deli sandwiches and sliced veggies
Chili and tacos
Stew with beef cubes
Shredded shwarma chicken, pita, salad
Very Rarely: shnitzel and mashed potatoes

If they arent full from the above meals, they can make themselves something. I always have cereal, bread, eggs, cheese, fruit, vegetables, deli, hot dogs, hummus, and more in the house. Im not a restaurant or a short order cook.

watergirl

Thu, Jun 27 2024, 10:36 am

amother Dandelion wrote:

Of course they can get full from dairy. In fact two of my boys are fleishaphoic.

mha3484

Thu, Jun 27 2024, 10:41 am

I don't know what you serve now but I have a preteen and a teenage boy and their needs have changed a lot since the oldest was a little kid. My typical template is Meatless Monday (mostly pareve or light dairy) Meat on Tues/Wed and Thursday is dairy and my oldest goes to masmidim and gets cholent if he found he wasn't really full.

I buy family packs of ground beef and use half and freeze half, when salmon is 6.99 a lb I buy a bunch of sides and free them, I use bone in chicken and shred the meat to make all kinds of stuff. Once every few weeks I will buy boneless thighs but too often does add up.

I kind of agree to make a filling dairy dinner, it tends to be more carby. If we eat dairy Thurs, Motzei shab and Sundays I switch off thats a good amount to me.

amother

Cadetblue

Thu, Jun 27 2024, 11:05 am

amother Oleander wrote:

You keep training them to be future husbands. Keep your menu, just make more. Enough for doubles or triples. And bread or potatoes extra to fill them up.

This. You need larger quantities not more types. Then have fruit & cake/ crackers etc so they have what to snack on.

Soup is also very important because it's filling & healthy & a large pot goes a long way.

My boys can cook but there's no way I'd expect them to cook after a 12 hour school day.

Congresswoman

Thu, Jun 27 2024, 11:12 am

Amarante wrote:

Can I be invited for a meal?

TwinsMommy

Thu, Jun 27 2024, 8:53 pm

My teen twins are obese and on psych meds that MAKE them hungry. They're 17 and one is a boy. I rotate between spagetti and meatballs, meatloaf, schnitzel, chicken on the bone, pasta with meat sauce, fish, cheesy baked potatoes, pizza, chili and cornbread, burgers and fries, beanies and weanies, and a few other things that escape my brain at the moment. They are both bentschaphobic so even with burgers and dogs they skip the buns. Steamed veggies are a regular.... or salad..... and/or fruit salad.... sometimes soup, but usually soup is just with Shabbos. sometimes a side of rice or potatoes WITH the veggies. The key is them taking big portions of the veggies and not having as much room for the starches. Smile