How Do You Affordably Feed Teenage Boys?

5 of my kids were teens AND athletes for a couple of years at the same time. I seriously thought of buying a COW! I might have too if it had not been for the zoning laws.

I shopped sales, and planned meals accordingly. I kept fruit around always for snacking. I bought (and replaced) peanut butter by the gallon. I made a LOT of hearty soups, and used those as a starter for dinner with bread and/or a salad. I made home made bread as a special treat, and bought a LOT of store bread as well. I also went through a LOT of potatoes.

It was an extraordinarily busy, yet happy times of my life.

Those 5 are all IN or finished with college now. Just two left at home, and food budget is so tiny now! My biggest trouble is learning to cook (and buy) for just the three of us. Needless to say, my freezer is very full!

Best!

I agree with Suz - Costco, and enjoy those hectic, wonderful days. Now we have lots of food but no teenagers. :*(

And pasta, lots of pasta.

Mostly I keep my hands out of the way when they eat to avoid extra medical bills. :)

Costco! I have found it is cheaper to buy a vacuum sealer and a large extra freezer than buy smaller portions all the time.

Just an FYI young men eat a lot too and they tend to know where you are cooking something good and plan their visits accordingly. :)

2nd mortgage?

vegetarian chilli in a crockpot.
baked potato and bacon.
quiche
burgers

Best,
F. B.

costco was my best friend during the 2-teens-at-home-plus-tons-of-friends years. and i actually DID buy a cow- sort of. went in with friends to buy cows and pigs and share the cost.
but for the most part, costco. and getting really creative with repurposing leftovers.
it was hectic and expensive, but so much fun! enjoy these days!
:) khairete
S.

A few of the go-to meals that I fed my son and his hungry horde:

I'd make pans of cut up sausages (or kielbasa, whatever was on sale) and diced apples (whatever type is cheapest). Bake them until the apples are tender, and the sausages are hot (or cooked to the appropriate temperature, depending on the package instructions). Season with a little cinnamon, and perhaps a little brown sugar. Serve in bowls.

Baked potatoes, when potatoes are cheap, can make several meals. Bake a whole bunch at once. Scoop the potato carefully out of the skins and make a hearty loaded baked potato soup. Make a huge pot because it reheats well. You can omit things like bacon and cheese in the soup and serve them on the side for toppings. Save all the potato skins and quarter them for a great potato skin feast, with sour cream, cheese, and bacon.

Save all the chicken bones from any roasted chickens. When you've got plenty, roast the bones until they're deeply colored and then make chicken stock from them (just toss several pounds of roasted bones in a huge pot of water and simmer away. Discard the bones after several hours and reduce the stock until it's really tasty.). Freeze the stock in quart size zip lock bags and use that to make inexpensive soups. You can make vegetable soups, chicken noodle soup, kale and potato and chorizo soup, there's lots of options if you have a good soup base.

Prepare a crockpot full of black or pinto beans, or get big cans of beans and heat them up. Make a huge pot of rice. Flavor the beans with lots of seasonings, chili powder, jalapenos, or whatever your preference. Make sure the beans are drained so they're not too watery. A bowl of rice and beans, if it's seasoned well and spicy, with tortilla chips or flour tortillas, can be very filling and comforting and inexpensive.

I would sometimes make huge pans of cornbread (not from a mix, just a simple cornbread recipe). And I'd stir diced ham and canned corn and and diced green chiles into the mix before baking. A little shredded cheese sprinkled on top in the last few minutes of baking made this a really substantial meal that didn't just seem like bread.

A pizza-style pasta can go a long way. Just toss cooked pasta with diced pepperoni (cut up small), diced tomatoes, some shredded mozzarella cheese and lots of spices. No need for a sauce, just pasta and pizza toppings.

You can make bread dough and knead finely diced pizza toppings into it (pepperoni, sundried tomatoes, olives, whatever). Bake as usual, and slice into nice thick slices.

A simple homemade marinara sauce can be made in huge quantities and frozen in quart size or gallon size freezer bags. It can be a pasta topping, or just served as a dipping sauce with toasted garlic bread, or it can be the basis for a taco soup (with shredded chicken or not, with lots of beans and spices and crispy tortilla strips).

A big pan of tortilla chips with pinto beans and cooked chorizo, sprinkled with shredded cheese and baked until hot can also go a long way. The chips don't have to be loaded with tons of beans and chorizo and cheese, they just need to have enough.

I think that the basics of feeding teens is having frozen bags of homemade stocksand homemade cooked black beans, bags of rice, and lots of good spices on hand. Kids seem to want lots of flavor, and something that smells good due to plenty of oregano or cumin or chiles just seems to be very appealing. Something that's flavored well doesn't need to be super-loaded with tons of meat or other ingredients. Buy Costco size bulk containers of chili powder, Montreal steak seasoning, cumin, and pizza seasonings.

I agree with the soda ban: just don't serve it. Have pitchers of water available.

You might consider going to a restaurant supply store and getting a couple of big pans, half sheet pans, and large boxes of foil and parchment paper, and a couple of large water containers. This will make your life easier.

My son was on the track & cross country teams, and we either had a start-of-season pasta dinner or a bunch of guys in the basement watching TV and movies. Even if they came over at 8 PM having had dinner at home, by 8:45 they were looking for food!

I bought in bulk at the warehouse club and checked on manufacturers' websites for coupons. Most of the newspaper coupons are for processed food, or are for the "big name" products when the generic/house brands are cheaper even with coupons.

I did a lot of Mexican foods like quesadillas - beans are cheap and nothing had to be defrosted. A handful of frozen corn or frozen peppers/onions could be thrown in too and they'd heat up without being defrosted. If I knew they were coming over and I had ground turkey, I'd cook that up with onions and peppers and either put it in tortillas with beans or make a chili or a pasta sauce. It's also how I hid a lot of vegetables. Frozen veggies are just as nutritious as fresh, and often more so, especially out of season since they were frozen close to the picking time. Put in a soup or stew, kids can't tell the difference.

If frozen turkey meatballs were on sale, I'd pop those out for pasta sauce or I'd slice them and put them on a pizza with frozen spinach and any vegetables that were on sale.

Yukon Gold or sweet potatoes (or some of each) can be sliced into spears and tossed lightly in canola or olive oil and baked on a cookie sheet in about 20 minutes. Dill is good on them, or a spicier mix like chili powder and onion powder (or add onion chunks too).

Oatmeal pancakes are pretty cheap and filling. I also made French toast in big batches with soy powder added to the batter. Use bread on sale - the "holey" type absorbs more nutrition. I froze the leftovers between sheets of waxed paper and they could easily be popped out and reheated in a toaster oven or even the microwave. I use real maple syrup instead of the all-corn-syrup stuff, but only a little bit so the food isn't swimming in it.

Celery stalks stuffed with peanut butter are filling and very chewy so they take some time to eat.

I didn't give them soda - I gave them water from the tap and I never ever spent on bottled water which is a huge budget buster.

ALDI.
GFS Food (if you have it--don't think they're in Texas)
Pasta, lean ground meat.
Meatball sandwiches, tater tot casserole, find good deals on veggies--make a tray & your own dip with light sour cream.
Chicken legs & thighs.
BIG sandwich rings.
Stews, soups, ( you can skimp on the meat in soups))
Have you tried stuffed pepper soup? It's SO good--and filling!

When utility turkeys go on sale for 99 cents a pound around the holidays stock up your freezer. A small turkey goes a long way (meal, leftovers, sandwiches) and is an easy meal to prepare. Pork shoulder can be pretty cheap and is great for crockpot pulled pork you can use in sandwiches and tacos. Stewing hens are also very inexpensive and again can be done in the crockpot and are great for chicken and dumplings or chicken tacos. I would suggest ground beef, but the price of ground beef is really high here right now. Hot dogs, while not the most nutritious food are a very quick, cheap meal and great if you have a large group. Popcorn s a pretty healthy (high in fibre), inexpensive snack food. Potatoes, pasta and rice are cheap and good for filling up. Fruits and veggies should be bought in season when they are cheap.

ETA: Wow! I just learned that in the states utility turkeys go on sale for 50 cents a pound! I may have to take a roadtrip!!!

Protein. My kids aren't teens yet, but they have days where all they seem to want to do is eat. Fruits and vegetable are free reign, snack bucket is open if they ask (fruit snacks, pretzels, cheese crackers, etc), and if they are still hungry after a lot, they are welcome to make a sandwich.

I have found we are going through milk again like we did when they were little. And bread!! I can't keep bread in the house.

We do everything AV mentioned, and also keep tortillas on hand. They put everything in tortillas, and they're filling. I label things with sticky notes and markers, too - especially my lunch for the next day! :)

Today I'm making a big pot of beans. I'll mash them and we'll have refried beans for several days - burritos, nachos, tostadas, etc.

Someone mentioned egg sandwiches, and those are a hit at our house, too.

We make lots of pastas, soups, and stews, as well. We have two boys, and they both have friends that come over all the time. I love it that way, though. :)

When the friends are over? PASTA. Lots of it. Just toss it with a simple garlicky tomato or cream sauce (no meat, that gets expensive.)
Or,
beans and rice.
As in bean, rice and cheese burritos.
Again a little goes a LONG way.
A taco bar (with lots of lettuce, salsa/tomatoes, etc.) can be cheap too, or a big pot of chili.
Hot dogs? Not MY favorite but the kids love em!

Tacos,tacos, and more tacos. They can be made with pork, chicken, ground beef, beef, haven't tried a syrupy ham yet, but we probably had tacos (and beans) over the years more than sloppy joes and spaghetti,. Making the meats in a crockpot works well, we bought buy ones, get ones for free in the meat dept and they are indeed healthy with all the extras on them, lettuce. cheese, peppers, tomatoes. We have grown up boys coming over now even when our sons have been gone, sniffing around for dinner! Cheap on the vegetables: fresh ones from your favorite produce place and you can definitely disguise those in pastas.Or heat and dump any kind of cheese that melts all over it. Everyone loves melted cheese. We have made soups over the years, one son never took to those, but we will continue to do so along with other good things, One thing I noticed if it looks appetizing, even if it is cheap, they dive in. We just spent the years watching the sales and going to places with best prices- do you have Aldi's there? we also went to Sam's club,although some swear by Coscoto get things in larger quantities. We did so, because with teenage boys usually comes a football team or something into your house.

E....I love, love your post! I laughed so much because I was wondering about the same a moment ago....My teenage boy eats rice, pasta, pizza (prepared with different toppings by himself when his friends come over), mashed potatoes and black beans, grilled chicken breasts, tortillas filled with whatever he likes!, chicken and lentil soups, turkey hamburgers, chocolate almond milk, home-made pancakes..this is what comes to my mind just now.

A. :)

Chili, or maybe even grilled cheese sandwiches.
But chili with baked potatoes goes a long way, too.

My teen son had friends over 2 weeks ago, and they ate hardly anything. I was shocked. They left all the chips and junk I laid out for them, and demolished a bowl of raw, baby carrots. Go figure.
Maybe some fresh veggie stuff would go over with your gang, too. You never know until you try it.

For one, I make sure that the locusts know what's off limits. For a while, I took a sharpie to all my snacks, or labeled things "For dinner, do not eat".

I also bought a lot of pasta. Pasta (or Ramen or mac and cheese) is easy, they can fix it themselves, and it's supereasy to feed a hoard of teens with spaghetti. I did not buy chips or similar unless they were on sale. They knew that once that bag was gone, it was gone. They had to moderate themselves. You might also have to tell the friends, "If you're going to be here every night around dinner, I need you to pitch in." Ask the kids to bring a loaf of bread, a gallon of milk, rake the leaves, etc. One of SS's friends STILL comes over to have dinner with us and when they were teens, we put them all to work. Saved me time and money on the lawn.

Eggs and sandwiches are also easy for them to fix themselves and not necessarily $$ for you. Or frozen pizza if there's a sale. But I would not feel obligated to feed a large group of kids all the time. They can order takeout if they're really hungry and your pantry is off limits.

As for feeding your own kids - buy bulk. I agree with things like chili and tacos and chicken legs by the dozen. My SS could eat a whole roasted chicken by himself. We made sure everyone else was fed first and then he ate the rest. And if he was still hungry, there was always mac n cheese or similar.

ETA: I want to clarify "putting to work". I did not have regular chores for their friends. I saw another post, probably a troll, where the poster claimed to have the kids cleaning her house. In our case, the very closest friends who stayed with us often, went on vacation, etc. would pitch in and do dishes or if the sks were outside, they might all do the lawn to get the leaves up. This was not an everybody all the time thing and if they never brought bread or milk, I just reminded them we all need that gallon for the week, please don't finish it off.

I no longer buy bulk unless it's laundry detergent, toothpaste etc. Things I
use all the time & can't necessarily get cheaper.
To feed teen boys think bulk food you can get at the store or dare I say...
......The Dollar store? Yes, I've found bulk spaghetti there. Most things I
won't buy there, like peanut butter, as it is not as good/tasty as the
brand names. However, you can buy crackers there, some brand name
chips etc.
Think stretching your dollar.

So what to make/have on hand for those hungry boys?:
-spaghetti
-lasagna
-chips/crackers
-power or protein bars (shop for the cheapest deals)
-cheap sub rolls to make big, filling sandwiches
-buy the big packs of lunchmeat like turkey
-buy generic products instead of brand names at your local grocery
store. Those products are usually located on the bottom shelves. They
put the expensive stuff they want you to buy at eye level.
-fruit like bananas & apples (you can buy a big bag of apples)
-rotisserie chicken ($5) can be used for dinner or to make chicken
sandwiches. (save the carcass for soup)
-lots of veggies (celery, carrots, lettuce)
-make hearty taco salad from ground turkey, lettuce, diced onions,
tomatoes, crunched Doritos, Thousand Island dressing
-tacos made w/ground turkey, can of beans (protein)
-nachos made w/grd turkey, shredded cheese, diced onions/tomatoes,
salsa
-chicken quesadillas w/salsa
-buy chicken drumsticks to bbq (cheaper meat cut)
-big bags of cereal

When my stepson was a teen his best friend would bring his own snacks and drinks (we did not ask him to). He knew he ate a lot and was kind enough to not eat all of our food.

If their friends are there everyday I would start limiting how many snacks they can have or suggest everyone bring an item to share. If it is just your boys then stock up on high protein foods to fill them up. You might want to consider a membership to BJ's, Costco or one of those types of stores.

I've found that steamed rice is a great filler! I make it EVERY night. Also, things like apples and peanut butter are great snacks and very inexpensive. Also, our grocery store usually has those individual frozen pizzas for .67 each. Stock up!

Fill a huge pitcher with ice water and tell them to start there...fill up! We don't do juice or soda regularly. During the summer I buy the Country Time lemonade and it lasts forever.

I often have hoards of kids in my home. We love it that way!!! But I also love when they leave and I put up my feet and enjoy the silence. I will sometimes ask the kids to bring a snack to share if hosting continuous pool parties in the summer. Parents are very happy to offload their kids all day if all they need to provide is a snack.

I often make a gynormous bowl of homemade popcorn just to leave lying around for them to snack on. It is just popcorn kernels,olive oil and salt.

Pretzels are cheap for snacking

Corn tortillas filled with cheese then fried a little on my griddle in olive oil. They gobble them as fast as they come off the griddle. These are a hit. Round it off with some beans and mexican rice if making a meal.

Beans and rice are filling and there are many ways to prepare these.

Pulled pork with rice. Mine is simply a pork roast in the crockpot with some liquid smoke and Hawaiian sea salt. Cook for 10-12 hours and serve with white rice.

Homemade chili is cheap. Homemade cornbread is cheap.

I make homemade sourdough bread. I will make a couple loaves and serve it with butter,honey and jam. They devour it in minutes.

A loaf of sandwich bread set out with peanut butter and jelly and honey. They can make their own sandwiches.

Flour tortillas set out with fillers and they can make their own. Sliced sandwich meat, shredded cheese, lettuce, tomato and cream cheese for the spread or mayo/mustard.

I leave bananas, apples and oranges laying out washed and ready to be eaten.

I do not let them have the chips and juices. Those are all saved for the lunch boxes or they would all be gone in 2 days!

I usually cook alot at dinnertime so that the kids can graze on it for the next couple of days.

LOTS OF PASTA!! Pasta is cheap and is sooooo versatile!!

Soups are very filling. Make a lot of it!

Potatoes are cheap and also versatile. Turned into a simple loaded baked potato or soup.

I just had a group of teenagers over on Veteran's Day. I made a huge pan of breakfast casserole and my homemade bread then had a plate filled with oranges and grapes. They all ate til they popped and were satisfied all day long.

allrecipes.com is my best friend!! I have scored many family and friend favorites there.

Costco is my go to store along with Grocery Outlet.

Well NOW is the time to really get your moneys worth on all-you-can-eat places.
As for feeding them at home - make sure healthy snacks are available - fruit and veggies.
I'm sure they'd just LOVE chips, hot dogs, pizza, soda 24/7.
In moderation a little of that is fine but all the time in large quantities is bad for them and expensive for you.
If the teens are hanging out at your house a lot, it might be time to have them help chip in a few bucks per person when you order pizza.