Recipes for VERY FILLING meals

[AMKuska]

Today, I went to get my breakfast bars and found them completely gone. My son, eyes wide, said, "But I had to eat them all. There was no milk!"

Because he drank all the milk.

For dinner he ate two HUGE plates of spaghetti, all of his bread, and then I caught him walking off with my bread off my plate!

He got a whack upside the head for stealing food off my plate, but the fact of the matter is...he's utterly starving, and there is no amount of food that fills him. Any ideas on some very, VERY filling foods that I can make in mass amounts?

 

[Just-Moxie]

How old is he? I guess he isn't picky. I had two teen boys at one time. Bottomless pits they were!

Fried rice, stir fried cabbage,
lots of grilled out chicken legs/hamburgers....throw in some cold potato salad or mac salad
big pot of chili-sides of cornbread, rice...toppings of shredded cheese, sour cream
taco salad
red beans & rice
a baked potato supper w/toppings, salad on the side
big pot of chicken dumplings/noodles
big pot of mac & cheese, with hot dogs on the side
spaghetti with a veg side, or 2
weekend foods-big plate of pancakes, fried egg, ham or bacon
big pile of scrambled eggs, cinnamon toast on the side

I learned alot from the MIL. They had 5 boys, on an Army budget from the 50-60's.

Potatoes
rice
noodles
meat for flavor, mostly
eggs
home made biscuits or cornbread

Look for a FB group for ideas for feeding growing kids. I am sure they have more ideas than what I have forgotten by now.

 

[seedcorn]

For breakfast, cook steel oats with dried (or canned) fruit. I do it in a crock pot night before. Add yogurt, brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, milk (or any combination) great way to start the day. Agree on pancakes-wish I could have them now-sugar in syrup.

When garden is producing, mix in whatever is there with fried rice/potatoes. Top with salsa, ketchup, eggs, etc.

Make low sugar, oatmeal cookies (I add chocolate chips) for a snack. Cheap, easy and good for you. Sub in whole wheat flour for all purpose. Use peanut butter in place of butter.

Can your boys handle heat? Jalapeño?

Rule #1 is—growing boys are always hungry and will eat anything that they can.
Rule #2 is—you can’t change rule #1. Don’t try. (Former growing boy that now has had to change eating habits)

 

[flowerbug]

Today, I went to get my breakfast bars and found them completely gone. My son, eyes wide, said, "But I had to eat them all. There was no milk!"

Because he drank all the milk.

For dinner he ate two HUGE plates of spaghetti, all of his bread, and then I caught him walking off with my bread off my plate!

He got a whack upside the head for stealing food off my plate, but the fact of the matter is...he's utterly starving, and there is no amount of food that fills him. Any ideas on some very, VERY filling foods that I can make in mass amounts?

i remember those years of being able to pile down many plates of spaghetti and bread and still look around for more. 6000 calories a day when i was working hard in the summer.

pasta can fill you up but i don't think it sticks like foods with more fiber. so i'd say more beans/lentils/legumes in general, veggies, don't use white rice but brown rice, you can buy larger bags of beans and brown rice at the big box stores or find them at certain grocers. i think fats too also help with feeling full/satisfied, but there is so much controversy about what kinds of fats these days. if your family/relatives don't have a heart problem history i think some saturated fats are ok, but mostly i'd still stick with the olive oil or other more healthy vegetable fats - packaged foods like snack bars are a large waste of $ in comparison for the nutrition you can get from other things. a large box of those tiny snack bars runs $8-10, for that you can get a large bag of carrots and several lbs of meat and potatoes. not that you have to avoid all snacks like that but it shouldn't be a whole diet.

most cereals don't stick much either (not much fiber and are mostly sugar and starches) - try to get off those and towards eating other things with more varied nutrition instead. fried potatoes and onions can make for a pretty good breakfast with some salsa or an egg or two here or there. keeping a pot of pre-cooked potatoes and a container of already cut up onions handy will make that go faster.

growing your own food you've already discovered how that can help.

we grew up on the poorer side so there wasn't always a lot of food around but we got by and did a lot of canning and helping can and cook are how i learned to do things myself (along with all the other things).

 

[so lucky]

This is contrary to most of the advice you are getting, but I have found that feeding lots of carbohydrates just lets a person get hungry again faster.
Meat, eggs, milk and cheese will work better at filling you up and staying full.
Looks like @flowerbug has the same general advice. I remember starting my day off with cereal and toast, and being hungry again by 9am.

 

[seedcorn]

Sugar is your enemy. Speeds everything up. Reduce sugar as much as you can (impossible to abstain from) and everything slows down in a more manageable way.

Crazy when you read ingredient labels the sugar and refined starches in everything-including food products labeled “healthy”. Whole wheat breads, breakfast cereal, snack bars, granola bars, etc....

 

[flowerbug]

Sugar is your enemy. Speeds everything up. Reduce sugar as much as you can (impossible to abstain from) and everything slows down in a more manageable way.

Crazy when you read ingredient labels the sugar and refined starches in everything-including food products labeled “healthy”. Whole wheat breads, breakfast cereal, snack bars, granola bars, etc....

we picked up the wrong canned mushroom soup the other day. i opened it up last night and it didn't look right. tasted it. was sweet! ick. worked around it because i had already decided to put a pint of roasted red peppers in it and then some cheese and basil.

 

[AMKuska]

My son would love to only eat kraft mac n' cheese, chicken nuggets, plain hot dogs, etc.

There have been times where he has been given a hamburger with lettuce/tomato on it and say something like, "It was GREAT! If you just take the lettuce and tomato off, it'd be even better..."

Unfortunately, it's hard to be a growing boy and a picky boy in this house. He does go crazy when there is stuff in the house with sugar in it. Hence "having to" eat the breakfast bars.

When dessert is available, he also incessantly asks when we will be having it, if there's going to be vegetables at dinner, and if he will have to eat those in order to get some. >.< I think that's fairly normal for his age.

He's gotten a lot better now, and there are 2-3 vegetables he likes as well as most fruits, most dairy, all grains, and most meats.

a large box of those tiny snack bars runs $8-10.

Where do you shop? That's a crazy price, unless you need a forklift for the box! These are $1.50 for a box from a high end bakery. I think I'd pass out if they were that much!

Can your boys handle heat? Jalapeño?

Rule #1 is—growing boys are always hungry and will eat anything that they can.
Rule #2 is—you can’t change rule #1. Don’t try. (Former growing boy that now has had to change eating habits)

No. He thinks plain black pepper is spicy.

I've never had a growing boy before. Is there enough food in Washington state?

 

[flowerbug]

My son would love to only eat kraft mac n' cheese, chicken nuggets, plain hot dogs, etc.

There have been times where he has been given a hamburger with lettuce/tomato on it and say something like, "It was GREAT! If you just take the lettuce and tomato off, it'd be even better..."

Unfortunately, it's hard to be a growing boy and a picky boy in this house. He does go crazy when there is stuff in the house with sugar in it. Hence "having to" eat the breakfast bars.

When dessert is available, he also incessantly asks when we will be having it, if there's going to be vegetables at dinner, and if he will have to eat those in order to get some. >.< I think that's fairly normal for his age.

He's gotten a lot better now, and there are 2-3 vegetables he likes as well as most fruits, most dairy, all grains, and most meats.



Where do you shop? That's a crazy price, unless you need a forklift for the box! These are $1.50 for a box from a high end bakery. I think I'd pass out if they were that much!



No. He thinks plain black pepper is spicy.

I've never had a growing boy before. Is there enough food in Washington state?

it sounds pretty normal to me for kids these days. when we were growing up there weren't so many choices. you ate what was put in front of you, you ate all of it and if there was anything left it was waiting for you in the fridge for the next meal until you ate it. this wasn't an issue for long. when you're hungry enough you will eat it. but you do have to be firm enough and consistent enough to get through this phase. tell them when they pay for their own food and cook their own they can eat what they want. IME the more you cave the longer it takes to get through it. hopefully he'll be more willing to try things when he can grow them himself and eat the fresher stuff instead of canned things.

he may really enjoy the sweet 100s cherry tomatoes, those are really like eating candy.

my nephew was like your son, always wanting hot dogs and mac-n-cheese, his Mom let him get away with it, he's still somewhat picky now, but he's an adult and can eat what he wants. the one time i babysat for them i had to break both of the kids of a few rotten behaviors (pretending to not listen and not eating their food). i succeeded on the first one but not the second. i'll take it...

as for the breakfast bars, they're in a package of a hundred or so. we don't get them for us - i tried one and considered it plastic food and really gross - we get them for my brothers who like to keep a few around.

for cereal - i mix the sugary stuff with plain bran flakes - raisin bran is loaded with sugar so we're not buying that any more. i have a large bag of sugary cereal to mix with the bran flakes and eventually i'll finish that off and then i'm going to just have the plain bran flakes or no cereal at all. once you stop eating a lot of sugar you really notice it in everything else.

 

[seedcorn]

Even commercial “bran flakes” are loaded with sugar.... They like to add phrases like “no sugar added” or “X% less sugar”. Can’t avoid sugar but can reduce. Only bread I can eat without sugar spikes are what I make..... salt and sugar increase consumption and sales.