How to handle feeding growing children?

[MomToTwoBoys]

My DS12 and DS7 have been eating us out of house and home (literally!) in the last few weeks. DH has experienced an increase in his appetite since we've moved. He's lost a few pant sizes. Every time we eat dinner, he's always eating a bowl of cereal about 30 minutes later. I ask him if I'm making enough food and he tells me that I am, but he's still hungry just after dinner.

It's like these guys never ever get full.

Am I doing something wrong?

I've tried including things like deviled eggs, sliced bread with butter, homemade biscuits and filling side dishes. But I've about doubled the amount of meat per meal that I'm using and that's getting to be really expensive. I tried using more beans, too, but with my IBS I can't eat a lot of beans or rice. I thought of putting out veggies and dip for before dinner, but even if I do that I run the risk of them still being hungry after they get done eating.

Do I just have to bite the bullet and increase the amount of food? This is a typical meal for us:

Chili
Rice
Biscuits

Meatloaf
Mashed potatoes
Carrots

Schnitzel
Butter and herb pasta
Applesauce
Corn

Should I just make it a habit to serve one appetizer before the meal? I can think of things like veggies and dip, shrimp with sauce, cheese ball with crackers (but this one's more for parties), deviled eggs, etc?

[Momto5RN]

just growing kids.

my kids can always eat more an hour after they have eaten - they have high metabolisms .

my middle son comes home from school eats 2 bowls cheerios- an hour later eats a full dinner and an hour later can eat 2 more bowl .

i just try to have fruits available - healthier cereal like cheerios around for them pop corn is a frugal filler snack - too.

[lwlynch]

that is all i do.. is have healthy cereal on hand and they eat that to fill on. whole grain breads and maybe tuna fish, pbj.. and then they eat the regular meals. i also pop a huge amount of popcorn and pour into a large container and a pkg of the cheese mac(cheese) (when i make double mac and cheese i save one of the flavor pks) then shake it all up, leave open just till it cools so there is no condesation and then you have a great snack..

[nuisance26]

~Sounds just like my brothers growing up. My mom would put tons of sides out and bread but they'd still get more food an hour later.
The only thing I can suggest is to turn your meals into course meals. This works really well with my hubby.
Don't put all the food out at once. Start with soup or salad and bread, then an appetizer, then the main course, then dessert. I've noticed that my hubby eats just a bit more than I do when I space stuff out.
All the first courses and desserts can be made in big batches and frozen so you're not in the kitchen hours every day.~

[pollypurebred39]

I do that too!

[akolb]

try doing fruit and protein combos for snacks. your body burns through simple carbs (rice, bread, pasta) really quickly so you're hungry sooner.
My mom was big on bananas or apples and peanut butter, wheat thins with apple and cheddar cheese. If you combing the fat/protein with complex carbs (ie: fruit, whole grains) you will be able to keep those kids full longer!

[Missy]

I make granola and have that in a jar they can eat as is, over yogurt or whatever, makes a good snack, I tell them all to drink a glass of water and wait ten minutes to see if they are still hungry, since that trick has begun to work on me. We often have a salad before dinner, that might help.

[sunshine]

I was also going to recommend peanut butter, popcorn, cheese if you can get it cheap enough, homemade cookies like oatmeal, etc.

[brennasmom]

Just wondering if your DH has had his thyroid checked? My DH had something similar with his appetite and weight loss due to an overactive thyroid.

Other things I add for my growing kids:
beans, smoothies, fruit (apples/bananas), popcorn, PBJ sandwiches, carrots sticks, pretzels

[zakity]

I was going to suggest to up the protein. Growing bodies need extra and they will keep eating until they get what they need. Whole grains with protein and fruit is a great suggestion.

[shoiji]

How about making to much beans and rice. You can serve it as an extra side dish and as leftovers. Since it is extra you do not need to worry about having to eat it since it is extra at a meal.

Having popcorn available also sounds like a good idea.

If you can grow as many fruits and vegetables that you can. Having healthy items around to fill them up with will be healthier in the long run.

Do they enjoy oatmeal? You could package up single (growing boy size) containers of oatmeal and put in freezer. If they want a snack they can quickly reheat it and add what ever they might want that is healthy.

With leftover chilli they can make their own nachos. Just put some chips on a plate, sprinkle with some chilli, some shredded cheese, olives, whatever is in the house and microwave a few seconds. I used to make this all the time just with a can of chilli, whatever cheese I could find, any tomato or salsa, heat up then sprinkle some lettuce on top just to make it more healthy. lol But you get the picture.

[joyofsix]

Cereal is too expensive for us so my kids eat homemade muffins, peanut butter sandwiches, tortillas filled with cheese and salsa and also I keep chili or vegetable soup on the freezer in containers for them to zap and eat with crackers.

[brennasmom]

Refried beans are easy (and inexpensive) to make at home and can be used to really stretch meat in meals like enchiladas, tacos, burritos, etc...

I just made up some chicken and bean burritos and tossed them in the freezer. I wrap them individually in foil and then in a large ziploc. These would be easy to grab and heat up.

I also made a huge loaf of banana bread which is a fairly low cost option (I have found a good/easy recipe if you would like it)

[frugalwarrior2]

I used to boil a doz. HB eggs
make extra spaghetti
cut up cheese bars
make extra for dinner
a lot of pasta

I had an extra "dinner" ready for after school. Sometimes I would buy a pkg. of fried chicken at the market. Always had lunchmeat available.
They're not girls. These are the growth spurt years. Just let them eat. Better save up for some tennis shoes cuz' the feet will start growing fast too. Just ride w/ it. Its right on schedule.
As far as DH goes?? Maybe just on the "see food" diet??

[MomToTwoBoys]

Thanks all for the suggestions.

We had dinner last night and my inlaws came over. We had this:

Cheeseburgers
French fries
Caesar salad
Fruit with yogurt
Deviled eggs (which DH can't eat -- makes him nauseous)
Sliced pickles

Only after he devoured the pineapple, he was finally full. He ate two cheeseburgers, two helpings of fries, two helpings of salad and then the fruit and yogurt. The boys did a bit better; DS12 ate everything but the salad and DS7 ate everything. Of course, they did eat a container of yogurt before dinner too and I had them drink a glass of water with dinner. Oh, and DH had almost a whole bag of Doritos about an hour after dinner.

Our dinner menu for the next two weeks surrounds having things like enchiladas, chicken and rice, etc. I planned on putting out things like veggies and dip, deviled eggs, onion rings, etc.

As far as DH goes, he's on his feet eight hours a day and drinks about four gallons of water. I started making inexpensive things to go with dinner like scratch drop biscuits, cookies beforehand, etc. I don't normally buy whole wheat anything because it's too chewy to me.

I cannot eat a lot of beans, so I choose not to. I'd rather not be curled up in the fetal position for three days afterwards, so beans are technically out of the equation. Peanut butter makes DH physically sick as well, so we don't have peanut butter for him. The kids LOVE peanut butter, so that goes in their lunches every day. Cheese is really expensive here, as is cereal and milk. I've tried making cookies and breads, but the bananas are more used for DS12's lunches than anything else. Tuna fish is also out because it makes DH physically sick.

I'm going to try making some cookies and some homemade bread today since it's raining out. DH tried eating sunflower seeds, but like me, they make his stomach hurt a lot so he can't eat enough to fill him up.