Will they ever stop eating?!

 

Let me introduce you to my bottomless pits:

 

 

I think they had a planning meeting a couple of months ago to see what would be the quickest way to eat me out of house and home.  And from the results, it was a very successful meeting.

Every time I turn around we're out of bread, milk and eggs.  And apparently lunch meat has a 2.2 second shelf life in this house.  I honestly wonder if they're eating it as they put away groceries. 

So, what to do?

I still have to have a grocery budget.  We're not the Rockefellers.  I can't just go willy nilly in the grocery store getting whatever strikes their fancy - not only because of cost but also because I don't want them eating a lot of the junk that passes for food or snacks these days. 

Here are some of my tricks and tips that I use to combat eternally hungry boys:

1.  Always make extra.
          Leftovers rule in this house.  If I'm baking potatoes, I make double.  If I'm grilling meat -
          double.  You get the idea.  I want to have good food available for quick meals during
         the day.  As a bonus, Ronnie's lunch isn't that big of a deal to pack at 5:30am because
         it's ready to go from where I packed up an extra meal the night before.

2.  Homemade really is the way to go:
          If left unattended, those sweet little faces will destroy an entire box of graham crackers or
          bag of oreos in 15 minutes.  Some of my go to snacks are granola bars,  popcorn (we buy the
          giant bag of kernels from Sams and store them in mason jars), apples with dip (mix peanut
         butter, plain greek yogurt and honey together for dip), homemade lunchables (more commonly
          known as meat, cheese and crackers) cornbread and cut up veggie and ranch dressing.

3.  Eating your meal is not an option.
          You know this one.  They try to say they're not hungry but 20 minutes later they're waist deep
           in the fridge looking for a treat.  No way.  You don't want to finish dinner or you're not hungry
           no problem.  But I'm going wrap it up and when you decide you're "starving" later, you'll see
           it again.  And again.  And again.  This is probably the most effective of all my tips here
           today. 

4.  Keep cheap, healthy, filling basics on hand.
          Baked potatoes are a staple here.  Each of the boys has the ability to wash a potato and
          hit the potato button on the microwave if they're that hungry.  Apples are filling and cheap.
          We go through an average of 40 pounds of apples a month.   Boiled eggs are kept in a baggie
          in the fridge to snack on. 


 Stick with it.  It's hard to get your kids into eating healthy filling snacks, especially if they're used to
 grabbing crackers, cookies and prepacked granola bars (which are really just candy with a little
 oatmeal). 

Your budget will thank you even if your kids won't.