Thursday, April 24, 2008

Can Teenagers ever eat!!!

I have three teenagers living at home now, and one pre-teen. I cannot BELIEVE how much food we are going through. There's my nineteen-year-old who burns most of his calories attacking the piano and maybe still doing some growing? There's my sixteen-year-old son who is running track (great sprinter) and doing off season weight training for football. There's my thirteen year old daughter who is still in her growth spurt and filling out season. And my 11 and a half-year-old who is starting to grow at an alarming rate. And then there's my 22 year-old who does not live at home but stops by for meals frequently.

OK. You get the picture. We are going through a gallon of milk a day. Yes, one ENTIRE gallon a day. I now buy four to five gallons at a time. (And one of these kids doesn't drink any milk.) We bought 32 bagels the other day. In three days they were all gone, every last one of them. A cereal box (especially if it's a sweet, junky one) will disappear in a day. I bought about four boxes of crackers the other day....gone in three days. I mean GONE. Not a single cracker left. A 9x13 pan of Rice Krispy Treats-- one day, max.  And they don't just eat carbs either. They also devour strawberries, grapes, apples, cheese- (That's where the crackers went) and yogurt. And let's not forget ice cream. A half gallon? I'd give it two to three days, and that long only because they are supposed to ask before they eat ice cream.


God is good. I'm grateful I can keep them full and growing in a healthy manner. It's just amazing, that's all. I guess growth and all that energy burns a LOT of calories. Wish I could burn calories like that.

9 comments:

Mimi said...

It is amazing, isn't it? And, I only have two!

Mary Rose said...

Oh, Rosemary...LOL! Amazing, isn't it? You wonder how on earth they can eat so much and not seem to gain a pound!

Do you have an Aldi's in your area? I'm in Ohio and we have them here. Many a college student has sworn by Aldi's, able to get groceries at a low, low price. I get a knock-off of Apple-Cinnamon Cheerios there for under $2.00. Canned goods are super-cheap. They also have fruits and veggies but the selection varies. (Bell Peppers were cheap!)

A visit to Aldi's may help stretch your dollar just a bit. :-)

P.S. Thanks for visiting!

Rosemary said...

Mary Rose (great name), we don't have an Aldi's. Is it maybe like Sam's Club? Do you have teens?

Barb Szyszkiewicz said...

I've got one distance-running teen boy age 16, one girl age 12 whose mission in life is to grow as much taller than me as she possibly can (she passed me up 5 months ago and is not looking back) and a 6-year-old who doesn't want to be left in the dust.

We can't keep any food around here either.

Aldi is a "not name brand" type store. They sell one kind of canned corn, for example. You can go to their website to see if there's one around. It's definitely worth the trip if there is. Bring cash, a quarter for the cart deposit (you get that back) and your own bags or boxes.

Mary Rose said...

Rosemary,

My husband has a son from a previous marriage and at this moment, he's in the Army. But when he came in for visits, yes - he had hollow legs! I made sure to stock up on some food items to make sure he had enough to eat!

Aldi's is actually owned by the same family that owns Trader Joe's. It's pretty wild because both are so different. TJ's (as it's affectionately called by their fans) is a reasonably-priced health food/gourmet store. They carry lots of international-type food and specialty items such as chocolate truffles during Christmas.

Aldi's is a warehouse-type place. Their inventory varies according to what they get from vendors. They do carry name brand items on occasion. One week, I was able to get a Ghirardelli Brownie mix at $1.79. They have flyers and you can have the weekly specials emailed to your inbox. They also carry non-food items like grills, clothing, like a little Sam's Club!

I checked online to see if there were any Aldi's in Michigan. There is. Here you go:

Aldi's in Michigan

A recent purchase: Family size sliced ham (for sandwiches), Cooked chicken breast, a big bag of shredded cheese, Apple-Cinnamon cereal, a "Wheat Thins" knock-off, brownie mix, 4 little apple pies (looking almost like the Hostess Apple Pies), a bag of pretzels and bag of potato chips.

Grand total: $20.14

Yep. Like I said, thank God for Aldi's! :-D

Rosemary said...

Mimi, it is TRULY amazing.

Mary Rose and Barb, thanks for the tips. We do have Trader Joe's which I really like. I'll be looking for the Aldi's.

Beck said...

My husband is already astonished by how much three little kids can eat - I'm betting that adolescence will knock his socks off!

Rosemary said...

beck, it's really unbelievable. And they're all lean as can be while eating like horses!

FloridaWife said...

That's a lot of milk.