imanangel
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Post by imanangel on Jul 15, 2014 1:44:47 GMT -5
I have 3 teenagers (soon to be 18 year old boy, 14 year old boy, and 13 year old girl), I don't know what food waste is. They are like garbage disposals. I bought groceries on Sunday....and I am already out of milk, bread, lunch meat....sigh.
When they were little, I just gave them really small portions. If they ate that and wanted more, I would give them another really small portion. I never had a clean your plate policy. My MIL did and it drove me insane when we would eat at her house. I did have a "try a bite" of new things policy, but I never forced them to eat things they didn't like nor did I make them clean their plates.
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whoisjohngalt
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Post by whoisjohngalt on Jul 15, 2014 3:58:24 GMT -5
My theory with food waste is it is the same amount of gone - if someone eats it, or it gets thrown into the garbage. Either way - it is gone - right. So, it isn't really a money thing to force them to eat, unless they come back later and eat something else. If your kids don't eat dinner and then expect ice cream and cookies - that has to be controlled, but if they just don't eat much and they are okay, then they will eat when they need to and the amount they need to. I think the whole "clean plate club" and the guilt of wasting food has turned our country into a bunch of unhealthy fat-asses. I refuse to participate. Trash can today, or toilet bowl tomorrow - why do we really have such a hang-up with food waste. Do you cry when you poop?
LMAO!!! I'm going to adopt that attitude. Not the crying when I poop part but the first part. I try to give all leftovers and uneaten food to the wild life. I figure they're out there any way so they might as well have dinner before they head to the pond. I don't even need to go outside. We have 4 turtles. They have eaten plenty of leftovers.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jul 15, 2014 6:42:13 GMT -5
Or: stuffed into a bell pepper and baked; stuffed into a zucchini boat and baked; wrapped into cooked lasagna noodles to make rolls and covered with marinara sauce (and baked, of course); rolled/stuffed into cabbage leaves, swiss chard leaves and covered with marinara; rolled into tortillas and covered with enchilada sauce; stuffed into mushroom caps and baked; stuffed into pretty much any vegetable that is hollow or that you can hollow out with a knife (onions, eggplant, tomatoes, summer squash) . . . do I need to go on?
Be sure to use plenty of your favorite cheese, breadcrumbs and a beaten egg as a binder. And add some fresh herbs to your stuffing.
Food does not go to waste in our house, and no one goes hungry either
Cool ideas!! Now I just need to figure out what to do with half eaten PB&J sandwiches or tuna sandwiches. Use one piece of bread and make a half sandwich?
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michelyn8
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Post by michelyn8 on Jul 15, 2014 7:02:24 GMT -5
Cool ideas!! Now I just need to figure out what to do with half eaten PB&J sandwiches or tuna sandwiches. Use one piece of bread and make a half sandwich? That is what I did with mine and now do with DGD. Then if they wanted more, I fixed another half sandwich. As for tuna - that is something I hate and only fixed because my kids loved it so I never had any issues tossing what they didn't eat of those sandwiches. I'm a picky eater and as a child if something didn't look right or smell right, there was no way I'd touch it. My mother never forced any kind of food on us but neither didn't she fix separate meals for each of us. Each meal had something each of us would eat and I did the same with my children. The only thing special I could ever remember my mom doing for me regard food was setting aside a helping of potatoes before she mashed them for the rest of the family. I can't eat them mashed - makes me gag - but I love potatoes. It wasn't a big deal to set my portion aside and probably actually healthier since I ate them without the added fat of butter and milk. Even today if I'm at her house for a meal with mashed potatoes as part of it, she'll still set my portion to the side first. I'm not a fan of wasted food but it happens. I'm not big on leftovers and some things just aren't good re-heated so I try to cook enough for just the meal we are sitting down for and depending on what or how much is left, either save it or toss it. And with DGD I instituted a no leaving the table until we're all done policy. Not because we finished before her but because she usually finishes first and then wants to get into everything while me and DD2 are still eating.
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whoisjohngalt
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Post by whoisjohngalt on Jul 15, 2014 7:35:40 GMT -5
Cool ideas!! Now I just need to figure out what to do with half eaten PB&J sandwiches or tuna sandwiches. Use one piece of bread and make a half sandwich? I already do
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ArchietheDragon
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Post by ArchietheDragon on Jul 15, 2014 7:37:50 GMT -5
Send them to Africa. Do you know there are kids starving there?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2014 7:42:54 GMT -5
Use one piece of bread and make a half sandwich? I already do So cut them in quarters. We really don't have a lot of waste, but we eat leftovers. The only thing that goes to waste is anything left on their plate and honestly, lots of times I won't eat until younger son is done and will finish his before deciding if I need more. This morning he wanted a bagel and only ate one half of it, so I took the other half.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jul 15, 2014 10:12:41 GMT -5
Makes sense. Yup, cut sandwich is quarters. What you don't want to do is get in the hait of eating what your kids don't. Easy way to gain calories without thinking.
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Sam_2.0
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Post by Sam_2.0 on Jul 15, 2014 11:04:25 GMT -5
Last night I made sandwiches for Aly and I, and cut up some cucumbers for a quick side. Usually she loves cucumbers so I figured it would be no big deal. She happily pulled apart her sandwich to eat the cheese, then the meat, then picked at the bread. She really wanted some chips so I told her she could have them after she ate some of her cucumbers. Little turd waited until I was distracted talking with DH and she walked over to the trash can, tossed in her cucumbers, and brought me her clean plate to ask for chips. LOL! It was so hard not to laugh at her. Poor kid didn't get chips either, and she was pretty mad that her little plan didn't work out.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Jul 15, 2014 11:11:48 GMT -5
Gwen stuffed her chicken nuggets under her pillow once. It didn't dawn on her that we could see her do it from the living room. She comes out and I ask her if she ate them all. She goes "yeah". I said "are you hiding them somewhere?" "no". "Well let me check". Look on her face was awesome when I picked up her pillow to show her the nuggets.
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whoisjohngalt
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Post by whoisjohngalt on Jul 15, 2014 12:47:03 GMT -5
Last night I made sandwiches for Aly and I, and cut up some cucumbers for a quick side. Usually she loves cucumbers so I figured it would be no big deal. She happily pulled apart her sandwich to eat the cheese, then the meat, then picked at the bread. She really wanted some chips so I told her she could have them after she ate some of her cucumbers. Little turd waited until I was distracted talking with DH and she walked over to the trash can, tossed in her cucumbers, and brought me her clean plate to ask for chips. LOL! It was so hard not to laugh at her. Poor kid didn't get chips either, and she was pretty mad that her little plan didn't work out. holy crap!! You know she is the same age as my youngest - I don't think he would be smart enough to do something like that
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Sam_2.0
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Post by Sam_2.0 on Jul 15, 2014 12:59:30 GMT -5
Last night I made sandwiches for Aly and I, and cut up some cucumbers for a quick side. Usually she loves cucumbers so I figured it would be no big deal. She happily pulled apart her sandwich to eat the cheese, then the meat, then picked at the bread. She really wanted some chips so I told her she could have them after she ate some of her cucumbers. Little turd waited until I was distracted talking with DH and she walked over to the trash can, tossed in her cucumbers, and brought me her clean plate to ask for chips. LOL! It was so hard not to laugh at her. Poor kid didn't get chips either, and she was pretty mad that her little plan didn't work out. holy crap!! You know she is the same age as my youngest - I don't think he would be smart enough to do something like that She's sneaky. Her skills aren't so great now, but I do worry for when she gets older!!!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2014 13:02:31 GMT -5
when it comes to sandwiches, sometimes kids just don't like them. For a while, when my oldest was 3 or 4.. he wouldn't eat sandwiches. So I would just cut up some turkey and cheese and put it on a plate with crackers and just let him eat them with his fingers. It also kept his interest long enough to finish the serving I would give him. My 4 year old won't eat a sandwich, but I can pile his plate with ham, turkey, cheese, lettuce, cucumber and a slice of toast on the side and he'll eat it all! LOL I think it's the whole combined foods thing.
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whoisjohngalt
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Post by whoisjohngalt on Jul 15, 2014 13:24:48 GMT -5
My kids are not even that picky, I don't think (I don't really have anything to compare it to).
And most of the time, I give them what they want, so it really annoys the crap out of me if they don't finish it.
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Wisconsin Beth
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Post by Wisconsin Beth on Jul 15, 2014 13:48:21 GMT -5
Drives me nuts when they pull apart pb&j though.
DD loves salami. Enough that DH and I agreed we needed to start buying the nitrate free kind. And she won't eat bread crusts.
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