Christine has a question for you all:
We have been trying very hard to adapt to the frugal living. Do the no shop challenge or pantry challenge. But having a hard time finding ways to feed the bottomless pit of a teenager on a shoestring budget. Thanks so much for any help!
Any advice or suggestions for Christine?
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Make extras for dinner or lunch to eat later. Made sandwiches (ie: using a roasted chicken), pasta dishes (ie: spaghetti), stuffed baked potatoes… Have healthy food available- veggies and dip, sliced oranges, cut up melon, fruit bowl on the counter, banana bread (whole grain breads are more filling)… and try to get them to help you a bit. Have a shelf in the fridge for them so when you set aside something for your work lunch, it’s not eaten as a bed time snack. If they beat you home, leave instructions- put the shepperds pie in the oven at 350. They may not always be super helpful but get them to help you in the simplest ways- if food is the motivator, use it to your advantage.
Bread, bread, bread! I make bread, buns, bagels, soft pretzels, pizza buns, and all kinds of muffins for my four teenagers. Get out your bread machine, or invest in one (it is well worth it), and use it!
If you can get your hands on a slow cooker, I highly suggest it!
With a slow cooker, you can buy cheaper cuts of meat like stewing beef or pork shoulder and make great tasting dishes that are filling and not processed. The other bonus, is that you can you throw all those tasty ingredients in the slow cooker and forget about them for hours…sometimes even over night!
I was going to suggest a lock on the fridge :-). Just kidding lol
I’m not a fan of processed foods (ie all the stuff kids like!) so I try to avoid too much of it in the house. Rice, beans, lentils, home made bread/buns are cheap, filling and healthy. Right now I’m trying to teach my kids to understand the difference between true hunger and “boredom” hunger. They need to understand that if they keep eating a month’s grocery budget in a week, something else like their cell phones or other “non-essentials” may have to go. There’s only so much $$ in the pot. I’m not suggesting making them go hungry, but at some point the have to understand that eating when you’re not truly hungry ruins the family budget AND eventually their own health.
Hi, maybe try adding cooked and pureed beans to different dishes, disguising them altogether if your teenagers don’t like them. Beans stabilize blood sugar and keep hunger at bay for long periods of time. Try spicy black bean dips or hummus (homemade to keep down the fat). Make a huge batch of bean&rice burritos and pop them in the freezer. Keep away from white flour products, white rice, pasta as much as possible, these cause a spike in blood sugar and will increase appetites. some other ideas: Potatoes skins with low-fat cheese, homemade yogourt, portion frozen fruit in baggies for a quick and easy smoothie. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons hemp hearts on breakfast. Also talk to your teenagers about your frugal ideas, nutrition, and their likes and dislikes. They may be willing to eat more frugal real food in exchange for clearer skin, better athletic performance, more brain power. Maybe a portion of the money saved could go in a family holiday piggy bank as added incentive to eat better and cheaper.
I would suggest beans as a healthy and cheap meal. I don’t have teenagers but I have three young boys and I’m afraid of how much they’ll eat when they’re teenagers. They love baked beans. They are so cheap to make from scratch. They also love rice and bean burritos. 2 cups of black beans (one large can), 1 cup of rice (I use brown). Put in a pan to warm up and add salt, pepper and cumin. Wrap in a warmed tortilla (10″), add a bit of cheese. Have salsa and/or sour cream for dipping. Add some veggies on the side and you have a meal. It even fills my husband, which is usually impossible!
All great comments. The key here is that the bottomless pit is inevitable,, and giving in to whining is not required. You are the Mum here- live within your means, and enable co-operation and respect. Afterall, it won’t be long, and they will be in charge of their own finances. It is our responsibility to train them up right. Cooking at home, and trying to squirrel even a little ahead helps, because hunger will strike, often catching you offguard. AQsk for their input as to what works, and there will be less wastage. Use the internet for resouces- there is a multitude of recipes that you can make at home to satisfy cravings. Above all, believe that you can do it- ther e is nithing more crippling than self doubt.
dollarama is one store in Canada. Use inexpensive english muffins for inexpensive pizza snacks or dinners, homemade mac and cheese, buy no appliances for hungry appetites, use a bbq if present, avoid electricity, chicken fresh (on sale) wraps with veggies, make soup from everything in the frig, think waste not, use everything, leftovers make great soup and stews, stale bread makes great croutons, throw nothing out use it all. at the end of a week boil all add corn starch and you have a soup.
experience here
I remember growing up we were always allowed to bring friends over b/c that way mom knew where we were at all times. This involved a lot of feeding hungry teens so whenever they came on sale my mom would stock up on french fries, mini pizzas (the no-name brand were always cheaper), chicken nuggets and pizza pops all those types of foods. The cupboards were always stocked with crackers cause mom could buy a ton for cheap and sandwhichs were a big hit. She would buy us fresh buns and always tons of lunch meat.
Now that I am older its feeding my husbands two hollow legs. I usually make a slop twice a week which involves rice (or pasta) ground beef (or hot dogs or stewing beef) and some sort of veggie with whatever sauce meets our fancy (terrayki, sweet and sour, plum sauce, spagetti sauce, canned tomatoes etc) and that usually fills him up whenever hes hungry and its pretty cheap cause I can buy cheaper pieces of meat.
Buy the LooneySpoons cookbook. Delicious, relatively easy, and it fed me through 4 years of a very slim student budget.
Oatmeal is pretty cheap, and can be used to make tons of filling stuff, like baked oatmeal, muffins, cookies, cakes, and can even be added (about 1/2 a cup) to ground beef to stretch it. Also, if your teen will eat it, a big pot of rice and beans in the fridge is filling and healthy for anytime! What mine like best is yogurt. Buying the individual pots can be pricey, so try getting the big tubs instead and serving out your own portion. Good luck!
Well, do you have a bread maker? I find having a side of a bread like yummy can make the difference for filling a teenager up. Whip up a batch of scones, they’re cheap to make and quite filling!
Superstore often has sales on jumbo packs of Kim Chi noodles, and what teenager doesn’t love those? Cheap, easy, and filling!