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Feed a Hungry Teenager Without Breaking Your Grocery Budget

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Feed a Hungry Teen

I’ve heard how expensive it is to feed a hungry teenager because they can eat everything in the house, and now I’m experiencing it firsthand.  My son isn’t even a teen—just 12—but over the last six months, he’s grown three inches and put on 20 pounds.  I used to think my husband could eat a lot, but our son can easily eat double or triple what his dad can eat.  Then an hour or two later, he’ll tell us he’s hungry again.  If you have a tween or teen, this may sound all too familiar.

However, we don’t really have enough room to raise the grocery budget, so we’re finding creative ways to keep him full.

Satisfying Foods to Feed a Hungry Teenager

There are several foods that can keep your hungry teen satisfied.

Protein

Meat can be expensive, but growing teens need protein to help them feel satiated.  We make sure to serve an ample serving of protein at breakfast and during every meal.  Some of our favorite breakfast proteins include homemade meat patties, eggs, or bacon.

For snacks, we like to make protein based snacks such as these Cacao Balls.  Between the pecans and protein powder, this snack keeps our teen full.

Healthy Carbs

Three staples in our teen’s diet are white potatoes, sweet potatoes, and rice.  He often eats rice with breakfast, homemade baked French fries for lunch, and baked sweet potatoes for dinner.  These carbs help fill him up and round out his meal.  After he eats an entire plateful of food and is still hungry, we give him vegetables and one of these carbs.

Fruits

These are a great way to fill up hungry teens, especially in between meals.  I find that grapefruit is my best bet.  It’s not that expensive, and it’s large and watery, so it fills him up.  Other options include apples, pears, bananas, oranges, or whatever other fruit you have on hand.  I always buy a lot of fruit when doing my weekly shopping.

Veggies

Vegetables are another choice that aren’t that expensive.  Organic carrots are .60 a pound at Costco.  We buy the ten pound bag and prepare them as raw carrot sticks or as roasted carrots.  We also frequently give the kids hummus to dip their veggies in.  Whenever a vegetable is on sale, I stock up and make extra knowing that our son will have multiple servings.

Healthy Fats

Feed a Hungry Teen
Photo by Heather Ford on Unsplash

Healthy fat can definitely help fill up a teen.  We’re big fans of avocado.  We often make guacamole to serve with our salads and soups.  We also serve it as a snack with organic corn chips.  Coconut oil, coconut cream, and coconut milk are also great ingredients to use in muffins, smoothies, and desserts to help satiate your child.  One of our go to favorites now is Chocolate Chia Pudding.  The chia and almond milk (or sub out for coconut milk) keep him full and satisfies his sweet tooth.

Foods to Avoid

Junk Food

I know, I know, teens love this stuff.  But the truth is, they can wolf down a bag of Cheetos or chips and then be hungry just a little later because they were eating empty calories.  We like to keep the junk food to a minimum and rely on healthy staples instead.  In the long run, when it comes to teen appetites, healthy food IS cheaper.  Plus, you’re helping your child maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Fast Food

The stereotype has teen boys living off fast food.  While it is temporarily filling, if your child relies on this type of food frequently, he may be facing health issues down the road.

Final Thoughts

While teen’s appetites do ramp up tremendously in the tween and teen years, feeding them healthy food without ruining the grocery budget is possible.  Our family has a number of food intolerances, so we can’t rely on other staples that will help fill kids up like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or cottage cheese, but those are also fairly nutritious options.

What are your favorite foods to help fill your growing teen’s bottomless pit?  Please share.

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Cheap Foods to Buy When Broke

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Cheap Foods to Buy When Broke

Whether it’s nearly the end of the month and you’re out of cash, or you’ve just lost your job or you had a large expense this month, we all have times when we have to nourish our bodies for as little money as possible.  Luckily, there are many cheap foods to buy when you’re broke that are also nutrient power houses.

Cheap Foods to Buy When Broke

To get the most nutrition from limited money, you’ll want to first focus on fruits and vegetables.

Vegetables

There are many basic vegetables to choose from:

Carrots

Carrots are so versatile!  You can eat them raw or use them in soups and stir frys.

Cabbage

One head of cabbage can stretch, and stretch, and stretch and be used many ways.  Just recently, our family of five had a head of cabbage to use.  The first night, we made cabbage beef soup; it fed us all, plus there were leftovers.  The second night, we had skillet kielbasa and cabbage, and again, there were leftovers.

You’ll find plenty of recipes for cabbage.  Consider looking for recipes from other countries, too, as cabbage is a staple in the cuisine of many countries.

Fruits

While fruits like grapes, blueberries, and strawberries are delicious, they’re not affordable when they’re not in season.  Instead, focus on fruits that are affordable in any season.

Bananas

Bananas are quite filling and cheap.  You can eat them plain, or blend them up and use them as mock ice cream.

Apples

Cheap Foods to Buy When Broke
Photo by Sarah Gualtieri on Unsplash

Apples are in season for quite a long time and can often be found for less than $1 a pound.  I like these because of their nutritional value and because they can be eaten as a fruit, or used in a meal, or baked for a dessert.

Starches

When you’re on a budget, you need foods that are filling.  After fruits and vegetables, your next priority should be starches.

Potatoes

Potatoes are almost always a reasonably priced food.  Add them to meals to bulk up the content.  (One of our favorite breakfasts is diced, cooked potatoes mixed with a little cheese and scrambled eggs.)

Oatmeal

Oatmeal makes a great, filling breakfast for just pennies.  Stir in some protein powder or jam for a little extra flavor.

Oatmeal can also be used in muffins and ground up in a food processor and used as a substitute or supplement to flour in baked goods.

Flour

The price of flour can’t be beat per pound.  Use it to make homemade breads, rolls, desserts, etc.  You can also use flour as a thickener to homemade sauces and gravies.

Rice

Rice is also versatile and can be used for a side dish, dessert, or breakfast.  When rice is combined with beans, it is the ultimate frugal meal.

Protein

Protein will help satiate you longer, stretching the length of time you feel full, so hopefully you’ll need fewer in between snacks.

Dry Beans

A pound of dry beans costs between $1 and $2 per pound and can likely be used for several meals.  Use beans in soups, casseroles, and dips like hummus.  You can even use beans in desserts like black bean brownies.  (Don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it.  They’re delicious!)

Chicken

Chicken is a great animal protein that can be frugal if you buy it on sale or on the bone.  We usually try to use our animal protein as a supplement to a meal, not the main focus of the meal.  Try dishes like fried rice with some shredded chicken or chicken pot pie to complement all of the vegetables in the meal.

Don’t forget to take the bones and turn them into a homemade broth to use for future meals.  (We freeze our broth in ice cube trays for future use.)

Final Thoughts

If you’re on a tight grocery budget, remember that if you choose the most frugal food options, you can still eat healthy, nutritious, and filling foods.

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How Not to Overspend When Stocking Up for a Home Quarantine

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Even if you’re rational, it’s hard not to panic when you go to the grocery store and see empty shelves.  You may wonder how not to overspend when stocking up for a home quarantine.  That sense of panic can fuel you to spend more than you normally do on groceries because you feel a desperation to just.get.food.  But calm down, take a deep breath, and realize there is enough food in the supply chain.  You will have food, but perhaps not the food you want.

How Not To Overspend When Stocking Up for a Home Quarantine

How Not to Overspend When Stocking Up for a Home Quarantine

Take these steps to keep your budget in line, even during times of crisis.

Do a Pantry and Freezer Inventory

Before you go to the grocery store, take the time to do a complete pantry and freezer inventory.  You may be surprised what you find in the depths of your freezer.  I had more meat than I thought I did.  I even a found a homemade pie crust in a ball that we had made two years ago.  You bet that we’re still going to use that.

Likewise, you may have more in your pantry than you think.  Plus, taking all of the items out and inventorying them can help you feel less desperate.  You DO have food in the house.

See what recipes you can create from what you have on hand.  Likely you can come up with many meals than you thought.  Don’t forget to use sites like Supercook, a site where you can put in the ingredients you have on hand, and the site produces recipes using those ingredients.

Be Flexible with Food Choices

When you do get to the grocery store or place your order for pick up, don’t be surprised if many of the items you want to buy are unavailable or limited.  I’ve placed two orders for pick up now and both times the store couldn’t completely fulfill my order.  For instance, the first trip, there were no eggs available.  The second trip, we were allowed to buy two dozen—for our family of five.

How Not to Overspend When Preparing for a Home Quarantine
Photo by Semi O on Unsplash

Clearly we won’t be eating eggs for breakfast every day, and that’s okay.  Instead, we’ve branched into other breakfast foods that we typically don’t eat like homemade muffins, oatmeal, and even sometimes leftover soup from the previous night’s dinner.  Be willing to be as flexible as possible with what you eat and when during this time, and you will be able to keep your budget in check.

Allocate Money from Other Budget Categories

If you still have your regular income coming in and you find that you are overspending in your groceries category, one way you can resolve this is to take money from a different category.  For instance, we overspent this month on groceries.  I can’t shop many stores for the clearance items as I used to do, so our spending increased.  However, we put $140 in our gas category every two weeks, and now, being self-quarantined, we don’t need that money.  I simply funnel it to our groceries category.

Of course, if you’re currently unemployed, you’ll want to use as little money as possible for groceries so you’ll be able to meet your other financial responsibilities.

Final Thoughts

We’re living in strange times the likes of which our country hasn’t seen in over 100 years, not since the time of the Spanish Flu.  However, rest assured that you can still get the groceries you need without seriously overspending.  Just plan ahead with your purchases and be resigned to the fact that you won’t be able to eat the way you can when we’re not under quarantine.