cooking for teenage boys

[helenas]

Help! I have guests for a week, and i have no idea what should i cook for boys liking. Yesterday we had a successful dinner of burgers and grilled corn and broccoli, and i'm planning baked chicken wings for today, but i'm at loss for the rest of the week.

Maybe i'll do stuffed peppers mid-week...

Suggestions, please!

[Fat Guy]

Impossible to predict. How about asking them?

[Jinmyo]

Ortolan is a big hit with teenage boys. Though confit is a close second.

[tommy]

Impossible to predict. How about asking them?

because they'll probably say "whatever," or "i dunno."

slice up some skirt steak, marinate in low-sodium soy and worchestereerererer and lots of fresh cracked pepper. put in on a stick and grill. boys love meats on sticks.

give them beer too. tell 'em uncle tommy said it was OK.

[helenas]

Impossible to predict. How about asking them?

because they'll probably say "whatever," or "i dunno."

i tried, and got the answer predicted by tommy.

slice up some skirt steak, marinate in low-sodium soy and worchestereerererer and lots of fresh cracked pepper. put in on a stick and grill. boys love meats on sticks.

is it an appropriate diet for seven consecutive days?

Ortolan is a big hit with teenage boys. Though confit is a close second.

even if the boys are canadians?

[Jinmyo]

If they're Canadians then moose meat on a stick, frites, and ortolan. No confit.

[tommy]

If they're Canadians then moose meat on a stick, frites, and ortolan. No confit.

no confit? canada is weird.

[Jinmyo]

Not for teenage boys, no.

[Fat Guy]

Chili, lasagna, make-your-own tacos, fried chicken, pizza, turkey with fixin's.

[Rhea_S]

My brothers aren't teens anymore, but they still eat like (Canadian) teenage boys. Fajitas, quesadillas, burritos and other tex-mex food are very popular. Pasta is usually a big hit, but nothing too creative. Something like the uninspired (Tommy's adjective) Penne with Sausage from Food & Wine would be quickly devoured.

[Jaymes]

I spent about twelve years with teenage boys in the house. I hope your food budget can support it.

My guys went through a gallon of milk a day and a gallon of ice cream a day and that was just for starters. I had to lock up the "snacks" such as chips and that kind of thing.

Here's what I'd probably do:

Start by baking the biggest ham you can find. Serve with potatoes (I'd do sweet potatoes, baked, then split open and lathered with honey butter and sprinkled with cinnamon) mac & cheese and broccoli. If you have a prayer of getting them to eat broccoli, they might do it with the cheese from the mac & cheese. A gallon of ice cream for dessert.

(If you bake a ham on the first day, you'll have ham the entire time. That's good for breakfasts and for sandwiches and picnics, late-nite snacks, etc.)

Steaks grilled out one night, with homemade fries, tossed salad, corn on cob, gallon of ice cream for dessert. (Make it clear the steaks are one night only. I once hosted four French boys for a week from a traveling French choir. I made them steaks and fries the first night and every single goddammed night after that they turned their little galic noses up at everything else, saying they wanted more "steak and pomme frites." Boy was I glad to see them leave.)

Sloppy Joes; make lots and lots and lots. Each boy will probably eat three for dinner and it would be good if you had some left over for lunch or snacks the next day. Alongside, serve slaw and chips and gallon of ice cream for dessert.

Spaghetti with meatballs; make lots and lots and lots. Each boy will probably have two big servings, and you can use leftover meatballs for meatball sandwiches the next day. Alongside serve tossed salad (try to put some marinated vegetables in it for nutrition's sake - I used to buy premade 3-bean salad for this purpose, either in cans or at the deli), garlic bread, and gallon of ice cream for dessert.

Big pan of chicken enchiladas. Make lots and lots and lots. Each boy will have either two or three helpings, depending on how good the enchiladas are. Alongside, serve canned refried beans spruced up with extra cheese and homemade salsa on top, corn, and sliced farm tomatoes. Next day can heat up leftovers to serve for lunch. Gallon of ice cream for dessert.

Meatloaf. Make lots and lots and lots. Each boy will probably eat half a meatloaf and you can have some left over for meatloaf sandwiches the next day. Alongside, mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, tossed salad with vegetables. Gallon of ice cream for dessert.

One day only: make nice breakfast - either french toast or pancakes or waffles. Do not get into the trap of dishing up big breakfasts every day or you'll be sorry. Ask boys what kind of cereal they like and buy it along with milk and OJ. Buy lots of OJ. Boys will go through a gallon of OJ a day.

OH - and buy lots of bread. It's cheap. It'll help fill them up. And peanut butter and jelly. Lots and lots and lots.

Good luck. :raz

[Jinmyo]

Jaymes, . That's fearsome stuff.

[bigbear]

Hamburgers. Cheeseburgers. Repeat as often as necessary.

[Jaymes]

Maybe i'll do stuffed peppers mid-week...

Suggestions, please!

Skip the stuffed peppers. They'll just eat the meat out of the middle and leave the peppers.

Make meatloaf instead. See above.

[Jinmyo]

Skip the stuffed peppers.  They'll just eat the meat out of the middle and leave the peppers.

Yes. They spit the ortolan bones out too.

[helenas]

Thanks, everybody.

Jaymes, a special thanks ( despite the glaring absence of orlotans in your suggested menu )

[bushey]

Another option that might go over well is Baked Potato Bar: Some big Idaho potatoes, baked, with a lot of offering for toppings: broccoli, shredded cheese, chili, sour cream, butter, chives. This could be a quick meal in itself, or serve along with grilled chicken breasts.

After reading this post, I'm thanking my lucky stars that I only have teenage girls to feed. Of course, I'd be willing to trade them one week every month for boys .

[Jaymes]

Thanks, everybody.

Jaymes, a special thanks ( despite the glaring absence of orlotans in your suggested menu )

Well... at the quantities it would take to fill up teenage boys, I suspect you would single-handedly decimate the stock down at the Ortolan Shoppe.

Also, I just don't see how you could get the boys to sit still and stop fidgeting long enough to keep the napkins on their heads.

[Jaymes]

Another option that might go over well is Baked Potato Bar:  Some big Idaho potatoes, baked, with a lot of offering for toppings: broccoli, shredded cheese, chili, sour cream, butter, chives.

That would be really good, and great fun, but trust me, it's not enough protein to fill them up. One hour later and they'd be crawling all over each other in front of the fridge to see what else was in there.

You MIGHT could get away with it if (as you suggest) you made LOTS of chili or something else with meat and poured it over the potatoes.

Or, also as you suggest, with grilled chicken breasts (lots and lots and lots - each boy will eat three) alongside, and a rest of a "meal."

PS - I remember once when I was on a "health" kick... I'd been making meals heavy on vegetables, potatoes, salads, eggs, cheese, chicken, fish.... that kind of thing.

At around four pm this one night the boys appeared in the kitchen... They were scowing. One of them said, "What's for dinner tonight Mom and it'd better not grow from the ground or fly or swim."

We had steaks, and they forgave me.

[jhlurie]

At first I thought this was going to be about teaching a teenaged boy to cook and I was going to say "oh brother, don't even BOTHER!" Too bad, I could have had fun with that topic.

If I put my mind into a time warp I remember liking:

Meat, red. Cooked. Pasta, but simple--nothing complicated. BBQ. Just about anything. Chicken cutlets, fried--maybe with some lemon or garlic, or as a parmigiana.

I was odd in that I didn't like shrimp, clams, stuff like that (still don't), but I don't think its that uncommon for teenagers to like that stuff as much as most adults.

Lasagna. Most people of any age like lasagna unless they've got cheese problems. If you make a good meat lasagna, its going to be shoveled down bigtime.

All of the mentions of various Mexican style food is right on the mark, I think.

I had a weakness for Yankee Pot-roast, for some bizarre reason, as a teenager. With those big floppy egg noodles...

The Pizza/Turkey/Meatloaf ideas are obviously universal.

Then again, maybe teenagers' tastes change every 15-20 years and all of this is bunk. Maybe they all like big salads now.

[CathyL]

Also, I just don't see how you could get the boys to sit still and stop fidgeting long enough to keep the napkins on their heads.

Because the crunchy bones and blood and guts would be awesome, dude.

Helena, if you want a break from cooking lots and lots one muggy night, buy an armload of hefty baguettes and several pounds of cold cuts, cheese, sliced onion, lettuce, tomato, condiments etc. and let them make their own hoagies/subs/grinders.

[Jaymes]

Helena, if you want a break from cooking lots and lots  one muggy night,  buy an armload of hefty baguettes and several pounds of cold cuts, cheese, sliced onion, lettuce, tomato, condiments etc. and let them make their own hoagies/subs/grinders.

That's another great idea.... there are lots in this thead!

And buy some good potato salad from a deli. To give it that "homemade touch," add a little extra mayo, chopped onions and sliced hardcooked eggs.

And canned baked beans that you fix in the time-honored Mom tradition....bacon, onions, catsup, mustard, brown sugar or maple syrup.

[helenas]

And canned baked beans that you fix in the time-honored Mom tradition....bacon, onions, catsup, mustard, brown sugar or maple syrup.

we (boys including) grew up in russia, so our Mom tradition would be definitely pelmeni

(which is a good idea, since i can buy some decent ones in our local russian grocery).

[Priscilla]

Helena, what condiments do you offer when you serve pelmeni?

[helenas]

dilled sour cream, ketchup, melted butter...