Feeding a Bottomless Pit?

[tejon]

Wanted to add that a toaster oven is an incredible blessing when dealing with teens who want food NOW. Great for making all kinds of things quickly, without heating up the house.

[bergerka]

I suffered from severe cramps for years. They frequently woke me up at night, and were often incapacitating, striking everywhere from the arches of my feet up to the sides of my face. My doctor at the time prescribed quinine tablets, and they worked. They did, indeed, stop the pain.

But then one day a different doc told me that most cramps, by far, are caused by varying degrees of dehydration. "Just drink your recommended 64 oz of water a day and you won't need to take the quinine. And furthermore, the water is a lot better for the rest of your body, which is undoubtedly dehydrated too."

I was very reluctant to give up my quinine tablets, but decided to give it a go. That's been about two years ago and sure enough, the doc was right. I do try to keep my water intake high, and I have had not one single cramp in those two years.

While Dr. Dad and I agree with this for the most part, I actually drink at least three liters (yes, I said THREE liters) of water a day, every day (I'm a singer), and I still get cramps in my legs at night that only quinine or yoga stretching will help (had a bout last night, and NO TONIC WATER TO BE HAD IN THE HOUSE, go figure ).

But that's a really important point - make sure Mr. Bottomless pit is getting enough WATER!

K

[GG Mora]

...make sure Mr. Bottomless pit is getting enough WATER!

Both kids carry a (filled) 1-litre Nalgene in their backpacks, and drink at least that much each day. Lots more when they play soccer or ride their bikes.

[NulloModo]

...make sure Mr. Bottomless pit is getting enough WATER!

Both kids carry a (filled) 1-litre Nalgene in their backpacks, and drink at least that much each day. Lots more when they play soccer or ride their bikes.

I am a bottomless pit for water (or any other liquid really, which can get dangerous depending on wha the liquid is). I will typically drink between 5 and 6 litres of water a day under non-strenuous activity.

Of course, having beer as an availible option makes this suddenly dangerous ;).

[helenjp]

milk is a big acne-inducer for those susceptible to food related bumps./QUOTE]

Thanks for that heads-up. I noted the word "susceptible"...this kid had bad baby rashes, and would come up in red lumps where food touched his skin as a baby and toddler...I think I'd better go and put another box of milk in the yogurt maker...

The question in my mind is, did he inherit more of a soybean allergy from me, or more of a milk sensitivity from his father (who likes yogurt but can't tolerate straight milk)?

I second the hard-boiled egg idea.

Peanut butter is expensive here and comes in ridiculous tiny jars, but I sometimes make a home-made version that includes roasted peanuts, salt, kinako (ground roasted soybeans), ground roasted sesame seeds, and some Japanese toasted sesame oil. It's not especially cheap, but it isn't sweet, and is less gucky. The only problem with this is that it tastes TOO GOOD!

Scrambled tofu is great - it keeps better than scrambled eggs in the fridge, can be microwaved quite easily, and includes those little-known substances, vegetables. You can even scramble some WITH eggs.

[Susan in FL]

Cool topic... I don't have much to add to what everybody here is posting... just wanted to chime in and say we raised three boys, so I know what you're talking about. Have fun!

[Kapuliperson]

it's good to have lots of pasta, an assortment of veggies and grains/nuts around. I grew up with 10 boys and well, that's when I was just learning to cook as well.. I really appreciated their voracious appetites though, because I was just learning how to cook, and even if I cooked or baked something absolutely revolting, they'd eat it anyway and it'd be gone in a flash. Fruits, biscuits, rice, - just not so much sweets will be fine! Good luck.

[chromedome]

Just a few additional points...

Use heavy sauces. Anything bechamel-based helps a lot; or anything derived from a puree of peas, beans, etc.

Serve things over a big ol' slab of starch. Yorkshire puddings are great for that (that's what they were designed for). Wrap things in pastry, whether made or bought. Having roast beef and gravy? Make it hot roast beef sandwiches. Serve biscuits, or milk. Buy clearance bread from the local bakery's clearance outlet, and make savoury bread puddings and strata (or sweet ones, for that matter).

Corn breads and suchlike are a great thing. The cornmeal will still expand in their bellies, and will keep them full longer.

Serve a bowl of home-made soup at every meal. As the first course. Don't serve the entree until the soup is cleared. Serve lots of bread and rolls with the soup.

Leftover mashed potatoes in the fridge are a fast and filling snack. So are leftover potatoes diced up for panfries/hash browns, and then the young 'uns can take responsibility for making their own.

A decent parm or asiago cheese is more expensive than the regular cheddar-style product, but it takes relatively little to put an emphatic cheese flavour onto any dish. Wanna be really sneaky? Use a small amount of parm to "spike" your dish, and you can cut back quite a bit on the cheddar...use it more for top-dressing. Use less but display it more, kind of a thing.

Home-made noodles are great, especially if you make them with pumpkin or buckwheat. In fact, use a bit of buckwheat in any pancakes or biscuits you make and they'll be more filling. And sweet potato pie is one heck of a substantial dessert.

My son has grown three inches in the last few months, and filled out to the tune of 25 pounds. He's not what you'd call a light eater.

[saskanuck]

Yoicks, you guys are scaring me. I've got a 10 year old and a 6 year old son, and the 10 year old is becoming a bottomless pit lately. He's just about 5 feet tall and 85 pounds or so. They will both likely top out at least 6 feet tall as both of us are sturdy, tall people.

I think the husband and I are going to have to get part-time jobs to supplement our income if they eat as much as you all are talking about here.

There are some really good ideas in this thread, especially the smoothie idea.

I couldn't believe it when my 10 year old wanted to try the wasabi I was eating along with my sushi. So I gave him some, and he didn't think it was that spicy at all. He's going to be a chilehead just like us, although he wasn't up to trying the Sriracha yet.

He's also getting very interested in cooking, and likes to help me prepare food. I let him use my cheap set of chef's knives that I keep around, and he thinks that's just grand.

[Marlene]

Tonight we dined at Ruth's Chris. Like it or hate it, Ruth's serves BIG portions. So here's what my 11 year old son ate tonight.

4 pieces of bread and butter

at least a third of the Carpaccio we ordered as an appetizer

Lobster tail ( 16 oz) and 20 oz rib eye steak.

When he was done, he looked at my plate with my half eaten steak on it and said:

if you're not going to eat that Mom........

and proceeded to scarf it down.

He is now ensconced on the sofa, eating popcorn.

I'm afraid, I'm very afraid.

[snowangel]

I'm very afraid.

←

Me, too. Diana never went through that. Heidi on the other hand...

She is 10 and only 52.5" tall, weighs about 55 lbs. She's tiny. Still wearing size 7 clothes. Today she ate: 4 scrambled eggs and 2 peaches for breakfast (at home). 3 boxes of cereal for breakfast at school (those little single serving boxes) and two containers of yogurt. FOr lunch, one cheese sandwich, 2 bananas, a huge bunch of grapes. And, she had a snack at school -- pudding cup (provided by school; not something I would send ) and 6 graham crackers. After school snack: 2 cheese rollups with a ton of refried beans, 2 more bananas. For dinner 3 hardboiled eggs, 10 golfball sized new potatoes and a chicken thigh. Add two more peaches. This does not include all of the milk she drinks. (I'm not counting water here, because it is free).

How can she eat so much and be so tiny? I know, because of her genetic disorder, she has muscle tone issues, but...

Edited September 18, 2004 by snowangel (log)

[helenjp]

So what happened to all those 11-year-olds in the intervening years? Or do you all spend so much on food now that the internet had to go?

We have Mr 15 and Mr 13 now. I get up at 5:15 to prepare two HUGE packed lunches, plus husband's dinky little lunchbox, and then start cooking SOLID breakfast.

I'm sure that the solid breakfast helps prevent the four o'clock horrors - their schools forbid any kind of food, but their friends all have stashes of candy, because they breakfast lightly, and just can't last from 12:30 to 6:30pm with nothing to eat.

I don't think the 15 year old eats as much now as he did when he was 13, and he even requests salad if it looks like I'm not making any. The 13 year old, of course, eats like a 13 year old boy. Fortunately he likes pasta carbonara...

Dinner is actually less of a problem now, because Japanese school runs late, and they get home after 6pm - they don't want snacks when they get home, they want DINNER.

Serving dinner very early gives me more time to put together a moderately healthy dessert (instead of scarfing down bought snacks as they run in the door), which they even like to help make, if they have time.

Time for me to go make some choux puffs.

Edited May 5, 2007 by helenjp (log)

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

My older boys are only 9 and 7 (soon to be 10 and 8), and when they come home from school. their first stop is usually the kitchen.

Between the 2 of them and the youngest (16 months) they can plow through a gallon of milk in less than a week.

[chromedome]

You're lucky. I'd get about a day and a half out of a gallon of milk (sometimes less), and that's with two kids. Oh, and a week's worth of cheese would sometimes be fifteen minutes of snacking, if Dad wasn't around to wield the Wooden Spoon of Doom.