Seems like many fluwikians have teenagers who as we all know eat like there’s no tomorrow. Our food preps are based on need levels vs. want levels. I have told my guys that they will each have a specific allocation per person per week and it’s up to them to make it last (including TP). I will make dinner each night. The discussion has gravitated to how they can steal from someone else’s inventory or weekly allocation. We currently have a 3 month supply, assuming everyone sticks to their guns. They don’t really understand how serious it will be if they binge and use up supplies early and then find out that Publix is closed for the winter.
Do any of you have any unique or interesting plans or concepts to address this challenge???
Sounds like a: they aren’t ready for their own, individual pile of preps and be: you will need to lock up everything. Rationing could get very ugly, right down to who gets lick the beaters. Teens may not be able/ready to make those kind of decisions. If someone blows through their preps in 2 weeks, do they go without for 2 more weeks while the ones that paced themselves go on perpetual guard duty?
Good question. Something to consider.
I have a 14 year old who can eat non stop most of the time. One of the things that is working in my favor is the choices we make in how we eat today which will make emergency eating easier to manage. Let me explain.
Generally I cook from scratch. Homemade bread from wheat I grind myself (weekly breadmaking occurs on Sunday in this house). Fresh veggies from the garden when it is producing - or dried/canned during the non garden season. Meats, cheeses, dairy, and fruits/berries in season. Almost no sugar - instead we use a little honey (now and then and not much when we do because it is SOOO sweet to the taste buds when you are not consuming sweets all the time) and sugar is reserved for making low sugar jams and/or a small amount as required in a recipe (such as cornbread that calls for 2 TBS of sugar).
When we eat out (which is maybe six times a year anymore) and/or have a treat such as an icecream cone at the park… it is a TREAT!
I have always cooked well and often - but we cut the refined foods and sugar out about five years ago (the whole family by choice) and we all are now at a good body weight and enjoy good health overall. We eat three meals a day and my daughter snacks on in the shell sunflower sees or fruit for her “snacks”… but honestly we do not graze all day anymore like we used to be want to do.
So how does this help me if I have an extended Shelter in Place with my teenage daughter? Simple. I will fix meals (just as I do now) using foods we are basically accustomed to now. We will sit down and eat what is prepared together and when portions of food prepared has been eaten… that will be that until the next meal is made ready.
I expect I would focus the bulk of the eating for each day on breakfast and dinner and make lunch a very light mid day meal. I have dried fruit, sunflower seeds, and dried whole milk for my daughter to have for snacks - to take the edge off her growing girl hunger between meals if needed - pretty much what she eats now when she chooses to between meals.
I imagine that a sudden diet change or calorie reduction would be very difficult when the conditions are stressful and “cramped” anyway.
I am in public health planning in Minnesota, with 3 teens still at home. When estimating food, my wife realized that the kids each eat 2x the amount of an adult, so our lists just include more food for them.
Slightly kidding, but rationing food to my 3 teens is a recipe for cannibalism. (note to self: get more barbecue sauce)
Ranchgirl - I have 2 teenage boys. The 15 year old has grown from 5′8″ to 6′4″ in 16 months! His caloric intake is a consistent 3000cals a day and he’s a beanpole. I’ve thought hard about how to keep him fed without starving everyone else during sip. I’ve decided to have the largest meal in midday. His appetite seems to be satisfied well this way, whereas if I wait till late day/suppertime for largest meal he needs to eat all day to keep himself going. With lunch as volume/calorie packed meal, he munches less over course of whole day. The other child’s no problem yet. No big growth spurts and appetite still manageable…
It might help to find a very satisfying “filler” food that is easy to make store and prepare. My personal favorite is popcorn, very cheap if you buy the regular kind, not the microwaveable version.
We weren’t poor or anything growing up, but I remember being hungry by nightfall and always ate a big bowl of popcorn each night before bed. Other possibilities would be a big bowl of oatmeal or steamed wheat berries or oat kernels (is that what they are called? Maybe oat groats?) topped with maple syrup for those with a sweet tooth.
Another idea would be to frequently serve a bowl of broth or bouillion (easy enough with some boilion powder) before a meal or as a snack — I have heard that is supposed to take the edeg off of hunger as well.
AvgMom - I’d forgotten about the broth idea. It’s a good one. Adding a little olive oil or some decent fat to it would reaaly help take the edge off of a voracious teenage boys appetite.
Strict rules and padlocks on the cupboards will work. Remember - You are in charge.
Wow - some great ideas and feedback. I like the popcorn as filler, and Ramen is always good for fodder. I typically slip a packet of sweetner into lots of stuff for them (oatmeal, soup, etc.) which seems to help satisfy their need for sweets. I have also stocked up on some chocolate sauce, honey roasted peanut butter, syrup, honey, etc. My challenge is that my sons are not living here now - they are in college - but will be REQUIRED to come home should tshtf. Now…imagine what their daily diet looks like at college…hmmm. Who knows, maybe they’ll think my home-cooked prep food is more like a feast! I do agree, however, that lock and key are probably going to become the necessity. Bar the door Annie!!!
I may also make it a calculations challenge for them - since there won’t be that much to keep them occupied. I’ll let them inventory everything, note the quantities in each can/box/container, and then ask them to figure out how many meals we can sqeeze out of everything. That might serve as a good educational exercise to help them realize that we really do have to budget our consumption.
Speaking of keeping them occupied…another challenge for socially active young adults. Any interesting ideas for when there’s no electricity???
Chopping Wood - there’s never enough.
Prepping Gal - that was my thought. My teenager will fast become a working member of the family and there will be LOTS to do everyday that she can help with. Water gathering/purification, bringing in wood for the stove including splitting up some kindling, gardening/harvesting tasks, information monitoring, food preparation and preservation, laundry/cleaning, and potentially caring for someone who is ill etc. Everyone may have to take a turn at being on “guard duty” if civil disorder is happening.
I forgot to add a thought earlier… so I will do it now.
Just because we CAN eat virtually non-stop today - and just because some of these children CAN eat virtually non-stop and not get overweight - does not mean it is necessary or detrimental to stop it. We are a fat nation for a reason - we simply eat too much, too much of the high calorie/highly processed foods, and we physically don’t work as much on average. Granted that is a generalization - but it is true for the vast majority of people in the United States. Humans can do very well on three balanced meals a day and adequate water intake with an occassional treat for celebrations etc. I guess the point of my previous posts is that I think it is wise to begin viewing our relationship with food and physical work differently TODAY rather than waiting for an emergency situation.
One thing you might try is this: Have a trial run for a week. Put the whole family’s weekly “rations” into plastic zip bags and tell them that this is a trial run so they can see what would be expected of them. Give them what you normally would of their share of preps for that week and tell them it is up to them to make it last for the week, everything else will be under lock and key. Don’t go anywhere without that key. Your teens won’t believe you (I know because I did this with my teens several years ago) and it will not last but by the end of the week when they have run out of everything and you have not given them more they may begin to understand just a little. Then do it again the next week to reinforce the lesson so they learn you actually mean it. Having done this myself my kids learned they need to be responsible enough to have some self control and not use up another family member’s share of anything because when they do everyone suffers.
Make sure you put names on each persons bag of rations.
Teens and pre-teens are in the greatest growth period of their lives, with the comparible exception of the first year of life. That’s why the sleep so much, like an infant. They are truly going through a growth period, so their caloric needs are indeed greater. It is a real concern. If you look at you “child” compared to this pre-teen/teenager, you can “see” the difference.
Protein intake will be important. Red meat is needed for this rapid development, but not daily. Supplementing with rice and grains is one way to fill them up. Beans & dehydrated foods are other ways. People, including teens, have different metabolisms. Some need to eat smaller, more frequent meals. Some can handle larger, less frequent feedings. You just have to guage it on your children’s individual needs. Ramen noodles are one thing I have stocked up on just because of this. Cheap and bulky. Oatmeal is another, and 1/4 cup of milk added to it yields a complete protein.
If a child isn’t fat, I wouldn’t be restricting food intake. I understand we are talking food shortage, but while there is time, I’d be taking this into serious consideration. Even if a child is fat, the recommendation isn’t “diet” but healthy eating & exercise, with the goal being for height to catch up with weight.
Multi-vitamins, zinc supplements, and vitamin C are certainly in my preps for my teenagers. Also, calcium supplements. Vit D helps uptake of calcium, and the best source of the necessary type of Vit D comes from the sun (sun exposure.) The B vitamins are very important to this age group. Foods high in iron are better absorbed/taken up with a Vit C source (i.e., chili with OJ) Food and Nutrition Information Center—Adolescence: An USDA information center that provides information on adolescence, health, and nutrition as well as links to other web sites. Baylor College of Medicine’s, kidsnutrition.org, has a consumer index with a lot of useful information.
One good thing about trying to give your family a “ration baggie” now is it will allow you to see if you really have planned for enough to meet your teens needs. If you give it to them on Saturday and everything is gone by Monday then you know you have seriously underestimated how much your child needs and can adjust accordingly. This is not something you do with everything they will be eating but with their snacks and light meal food items that they would ordinarily prepare on their own. I know just how much teens can eat I have one in his early 20s who is still a bottomless pit. My daughter once grew three inches in two weeks, the doctor, thinking it was a mistake that she was suddenly measuring at a height taller than him measured her again himself, then astonished asked me what I was feeding her. The answer: Just normal food. She did nothing but eat and sleep during the previous three weeks since he had last seen her. She is 19 and still can sleep the clock ‘round. Teens need lots of food and good nutrition. The devil is in the details about how much do you need to allow them to grow normally without shortchanging other family members during a rationing situation. The personal baggies allow you to figure this out now before it comes to that. They also show your teens the importance of making what they have last for a given period. It can help them learn what life will be like if there are no stores open to buy more food.
For some reason this suddenly reminds me of being in college Freshman year in Rhode Island. We teens were of course up all hours of the night and always became hungry long after the college cafeterias were closed. We’d rush right out to the local convenience stres were called but they were CLOSED on Sundays due to RI’s “blue Book” laws. What an inconvenience! For some reason we students (at least in my groups) never seemed to remember that the stores would be closed on Sundays and we’d have to have enough food to last us through that day of rest and on into MOnday! (-: Fortunately it was just one day we were deprived of snacks and as I recall this very inconvenient law was changed the next year or so so we never had to learn to plan ahead fo our snacks…. (-:
Kind of off topic, but pertinent. There was a similar situation here not too long ago, where the story got out that the local college football players ate their way through their meal cards (prepaid) and were actually going hungry! One kid got picked up shoplifting hamburger and pasta. Now, I know that these guys are as large as a barge, but I have seen my own son demolish a large pizza all by himself, and still be hungry! And if I look at one slice I gain ten pounds . . .
Lisa in Southern Maine – at 21:54 The 15 year old has grown from 5′8″ to 6′4″ in 16 months!
I empathize. I grew six inches in one semester in high school, going from 5′8″ in late September to 6′2″ in January … just 4½ months. My mother, now 83, still remembers that year :)
I do not wish to frighten you or discourage you, but I kept growing to 6′6″ and my feet kept growing until well into college. I now wear size 16 shoes. Have fun.
I made it to 4′11, my daughter is the same, thank goodness my son finally passed me up when he was in high school; he is 5′9
I hated food as a kid, wish I still did : ) I remember eating a lot of popcorn after my divorce, the kids got the real food.
If TSHTF, I think most of the teens wil work with you. Right now its a very far off possibility. When they see us, the news, they will get with the program and ration themselves to a certian extent. I think the kids of today are pretty together with a strong desire to be a part of something bigger and will rise to the occasion.
My parents were raised during the depression. My mother’s family were very small girls, who didn’t eat much… so the daily alotment of cornbread & whatever my granddad caught was plenty… plus they had a garden and picked berries. My dad came from a family of big strapping boys. Bottomless pits, according to my grandmother. They hunted and raised gardens and fished and raised chickens, and basically ate well… for the depression. If they got hungry before meal time, they went out and found something… like wild berries. Or they’d go fishing and cook it on the spot. I realize we are in different times, but, when push comes to shove I think our teens will be resourceful team players. Who… more likely than not… will eat just like they are suppose to… alot, often.
I’ve planted fruit trees and nut trees. Even if you don’t have land, they can grow in containers. Before I had land, I grew everything in containers, and still grow stuff in containers. (Sort of like that movie Water World, where the guy carried his tree around with him.) Prepping has more than one facet.
This is something Ive been thinking a lot about lately since the great Pop-Tart Annilation Event. Back in June, my husband brought home a huge box of Pop-tarts and individually packaged cereal left from a summer day camp that he runs through his work, and I thought “Great Preps!” and filled a Tupperware bin with these goodies. Somehow my kids found them while I was out of the house for a couple weeks. They are totally gone-the Pop-tarts, I mean,-the kids are still here.
Years ago my husband and I took Outward Bound Courses. The participants are mostly highschool/collage eat-every-thing-in-sight- age doing intensive outdoor activites with limited rations-food had to be carried with. Food was plain, but plentiful-I don’t remember being hungry-exhuasted, yes, but not hungry. I have some of those recipies and food tips. I’m also looking at a great cookbook I picked up a couple of years ago-The Great Lakes cookbook-a collection of recipies from galleys from Great Lake Ships-everything from gourmet cooking on luxury cruise ships to no nonsense cooking on ore freighters. Lots of great food storage tips.
I would love for you to share with us both the OBC tips and recipes, as well as the ship cookbook recipes & storage tips. I haven’t seen anything from those types things mentioned anywhere. Thanks!
Couple of things I can tell you straight off- On OBC little to no meat was eaten-because stuff had to be packed around in backpacks or canoes. The diet was very high carb with lots of fruit- (Mostly dried fruit, but some fresh) a diet designed for energy, not nessasarily for muscle/bone building. I am a little concerned then, with protein needs, but a dietian told me that for teens if you used a variety of foods and met the caloric needs, you would also meet the protein needs. Apparently Americans in general get too much protein in their diets, instead of not enough.
This last winter, I experimented with OBC breakfast ideas and found they worked quite successfully for my family. Basically breakfast is hot cereal, and a hot beverage. I cooked a pot of hot cereal-oatmeal, of course, but also cream of wheat/rice, or grits, or bulgur. These are the cheap standbys but you can buy whole grain mixes that are interesting. In the pantry, I keep a couple of cannisters of breakfast goodies to go on top of the cereal-dried fruit, nuts, coconut,chocolate chips, m-n-ms, brown sugar. Fresh fruit is also great. If you need to “beef” up the cereal, stir in powdered milk, or malt, or soy flour, or yogurt-and of course butter. Kids love being able to come up with their own combos- my daughter came up with Pina Colada Cream of wheat-CoW with pinapple chunks and shreaded coconut. The ONLY way she would eat hot oatmeal is to toss some chocolate
chips in it. Everybody can adjust for their own needs-I tend to have cereal ‘with lots of fruit and a few nuts. My teen son puts everything on his.
Clean up is very easy-you have one pot, four bowls four spoons four cups. Any leftovers go to the dogs-leftover hot cereal is dreadful. On OBC you had to eat everything that was cooked, so we were careful not to cook too much. And there was not the variety of toppings that I keep-powdered milk, and nuts, dried fruit,and brown sugar mostly. On my trip-Northern Minnesota in Early spring, we had lots of butter. My husbands trip-The Everglades-no butter but more fresh fruit. I rotate toppings- we will have fresh blueberries and cream in summer, apples and cinnamin in the fall, dried cranberries and almonds in winter. Keeps it from getting boring.
Hot beverage-Three of us drink coffee, my daughter switches out between hot cocoa and cider.
Very cheap meal. You can be generous, even extragant with toppings and still its easy on a budget.
On weekends when I have a little more time, I make muffins/scones/coffee cake, etc. I make extra batches of these to use as snakes during the week.
Hope this helps-I’ll add more ideas and tips as I can. (I’m sorry, but I’m really short on time this week!)
Don’t forget nuts! I don’t see a lot of people talking about storing unts (except for PB of course) but you can buy bags of almonds and walnuts and I believe they will last a good long time in the fridge or freezer.
Our MD said not to complain about late night snacking by our teens — that can be a natural time for them to be hungry. Peanut butter on crackers can go a long way. I’m thinking of hiding chocolate though. That seems to vanish so quickly around here.
Olymom— re: hiding chocolate —
Do what I do — a big box labelled “Feminine Hygiene”… works GREAT if you have men and boys. (Wouldn’t obviously be a deterrent for teen girls!) (-:
peanut butter on graham crackers has been big here this summer. You can get several varietys of crackers too-even chocolate!
Our kids get “dessert” before they go to bed-they call it dessert but its actually just a snack-pb on crackers, cookies, fruit-bananas mostly sometimes popcorn, uasually with a glass of milk. I think the milk and carbs keep them from getting hungry, but also helps them to sleep.
Caloric NEED may be different from caloric WANT.
When we SIP our caloric needs will probably differ from what we are currently used to getting/using. Growing teens or not, if someone is laying about all day they do not need the same number of calories that a working individual will need.
They may be in the habit of expecting a certain number of snacks. They may get cranky until their body exhausts its addiction to the additional carbs and sugars … but it isn’t going to kill them.
And a lot of kids get so much bigger today because of of the relatively better nutrition and access to more calories … the body utilizes what it has available, both the good and the bad.
Throw in some preps that are more “stick to your ribs” kind of food. Grits, whole grains, beans, etc. Natural sugars/sweeteners will also be better than refined white sugar.
If you really are hard up for food … if your kids are really “starving” … then they WILL eat what is available. Its not going to hurt them to miss a couple of meals if they are missing them because of attitude. Hard headedness and stubborness will only carry you so far in this life. Sometimes you must simply “give in” to the inevitable if you wish to survive and prosper.
My SIL had a firm policy in her house concerning nutrition and diet. She prepared the meals and dished out the portions. If you ate what was on your plate and wanted more, (and it was available), you could have it. If you didn’t eat what she dished out, she covered over the plate with plastic wrap and it went in the refrigerator. Next mealtime you started with what you had leftover and when you finished that you could move on to the current meal. Sounds tough I know, but she made it work and once her kids knew she wasn’t going to back down it saved her a lot of aggravation.
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KathyinFL at 14:41- I agree totally. Well said.
Hillbilly Bill at 14:46 - your SIL sounds pretty tough. Personally… I believe everyone has the right to select the portion they want to eat and to choose NOT to eat something… but I draw the line at being a short order cook. If someone decides not to take much or to pass on something altogether… that’s great… but there is not another meal coming until the next SCHEDULED one and if that will hold you until then.. super! Snacking right afterwards because you turned your nose up at everying… not happening!
By being respectful of every person’s right to NOT like something and to decide how much of anything they wish to eat… it allows for a healthy relationship to food. By not allowing finicky eating to translate into snacking and/or short order cooking (make me another meal please!?) it instills a sense of reasonable limits and personal responsibility.
My daughter eats very healthfully, she eats alot (as she should because she is a growing active teenager), she is a great variety of foods, snacks rather modestly (in the shell sunflower seeds in the evening predominantly), and she has grown tall (much more so than me) and is at a very healthy weight. I look at her friends and classmates and a good 2/3rds are fighting overweight and/or outright obesity.
I know one size does not fit all - but this has worked well for us.
DoubleD,
Here, here! But I would still stock up on Chef Boyardee Pizza Kits if I had teenagers in the house.
Melanie – at 04:19 - Great suggestion, they are inexpensive and have a long shelf life.
DoubleD – at 00:57 - I agree, she ran the family with a strong will (kids in college now). However, they could not afford any health insurance at that time and she has a good background in nutrition. She made sure each child got their daily requirements as a means to keep them as healthy as possible. Whatever they wanted in addition to her portions was OK, as long as it was available.
I grew up in a family where Mom or Grandma fixed your plate and you didn’t leave the table until it was finished so I agree completely with what you are saying.
In our family if you don’t like what is served (and they often don’t) you can have anything ELSE that is already in the fridge (i.e. leftovers from a previous meal) but I won’t make anything special. Essentially the same thing as HBB’s sister in law since in practice there isn’t anything left but the stuff no one wanted the first time around!
If the power is out and you are stuck at home cooking I say just serve 2 meals a day — breakfast and a biggish dinner around 1 or 2 PM. Save whatever didn’t get eaten at dinner in a cooler (or as cool a place as you can find) for a light supper/snack in a few more hours, or just eat no cook foods in the evening (a can of something, some crackers) If you have no way to save food from dinner then just really REALLY encourage no leftovers from that meal.
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