Feeding sporty teenage boys on a budget!

Plenty of mince dishes such as shepherds pie or lasagne, meat pie, sausages, sausage casserole, chicken casserole, pasta bake, curry. Add plenty of veg to the casseroles and pasta dishes to make them go further, even lentils can go into bolognese sauce. Most boys like large portions of potatoes. Your garden can provide the veg and fruit. Multipacks of crisps are much cheaper than smaller packs for snacks. Try shopping in the cheaper supermarkets like Lidl or Aldi if they are near you.

Ask your DD what she feeds them on at home. Teenage boys aren't always adventurous about food, so at least start off with something familiar. Being Australian, they might like to organise a barbecue if you have the necessary equipment. Take them shopping for provisions. Enjoy their company.

I can only comment on what my two boys ate as teenagers. Gallons and gallons of milk mostly poured onto cornflakes, plus lots of bread. We joked that they ate three breakfasts in between three meals and snacks. As children they never really enjoyed cereal but just before and during that push to grow it became a staple. They ate it from pudding bowls! I have a faded memory of my brother doing the same. I don't remember my daughter, myself or my sisters doing it. There must be a reason but it's lost on me.

P.S Forgot to say I hope you have a marvellous time.

First give them a filling breakfast - plenty of cereal and milk etc.
Next a tip given to me by a mother of teenagers when ours were growing up: If they're sporty they won't get fat at their age. So always have some good quality bread and jam, or cheese, out on the kitchen table. To help themselves if they're hungry.
Another tip is to serve soup first at mealtimes - this is quite filling and they won't need so much of the rest of the meal.

BBQ - good sausages, Aberdeen Angus beefburgers with bread rolls to make it all go further
Bacon done on the BBQ for breakfast too!

Aussies seem to serve salad with everything (even got served it with a roast dinner!)

They may enjoy cooking their own outside and you can do the breads, salads, potatoes, rice, veg etc.

As DH says as I slog away in the kitchen when we have a BBQ - it will give you a break from cooking

and of course, steak on the BBQ but steak for eight people could be a bit pricey!

loads of chicken dishes and pasta,my 14 year old grandson was here yesterday ,he had a tuna pasta salad made with two tins of tuna and a whole can of sweetcorn jelly ice cream and fruit for pudding and then a stack of pancakes and jam...mind you he had just walked a 23 mile Kiltwalk for charity

All the above plus eggs - breakfast, omelettes, in salads etc.

Thanks to you all for lots of brilliant ideas! I don't want to be tied to the kitchen so might get them to do some cooking too, so BBQs great idea weather permitting (I know DH and SIL like doing these). Yes, we haven't seen them for nearly 4 years so will be wonderful to have them with us - although I suspect we might need a holiday afterwards!

Bulk cook in advance and store in the freezer. Casseroles and stews are ideal for this kind of cooking and they, of course, use all the cheaper cuts of meat. DS and family recently stayed a week and all the cooking was done in advance; bolognaise sauce, moussaka, chicken casserole, even fish pie.

Don't forget really big baked potatoes with butter, baked beans and grated cheese are both economical and filling.

You can get very cheap veg now especially from Lidl and Aldi. A couple of weeks ago Asda had quite large bagss of carrots, parsnips,leeks, potatoes etc for 20p each.

PASTA PASTA PASTA!!!

I would ask what things they like and how much they really eat, then stock up before they arrive.
My 28yr old son has always been very active, footie/swimming etc, but has never been a big eater. He rarely eats breakfast, snack lunch and small evening meal. He's still playing football 2 or 3 times a week. Pasta/rice dishes or stir frys are his favourites. Not keen on roasts or casseroles etc.

My eldest brother took up cross country running and hill running in his teens. He had always had a large appetite from babyhood. He got the same three meals as the rest of us (though bigger proportions) but also ate an entire loaf every day (usually peanut butter sandwiches).

It was quite noticeable when he went to uni that the six of us remaining (including my parents) only got through one loaf a day between us.

So, yeah, bread, pasta, rice to pad everything else out.

THink this is what the good old fashioned British Pud is for. Its certainly what kept my Mum sane....filling a growing family up on a very tight budget.

Pasta, Potatoes, Rice, Veg, Puddings, Beans, Lentils.

I misread your heading as "feeding spotty teenagers on a budget"

Or offering a thick homemade soup as a starter with good bread......half full before the Mains!

Think I am going to have to change our bread buying habit - one loaf usually keeps DH and me going for nearly a week! I will certainly try and stock the freezer with some ready-made main dishes, and have masses of pasta, rice etc on standby! Lots of really good ideas so thank you everyone.

Susie511.....this is all reminding me of the conversation I had with my sister a few years ago....she suddenly realised she was underfeeding the two boys....they were growing upwards and needing longer trousers yet the waistbands seemed too loose. They were sports mad and needed so much more food than their elder sister. That's when my sister got into homemade bread and bulking everything out with twice as many root vegetables and very thick gravy! Oh, and proper puddings with custard!

All the young Aussies I know are big meat eaters!

Pulled pork with brioche buns, wedges & coleslaw
Slow-cooked lamb shoulder with couscous
Chicken & chorizo tray bake
Meatballs & pasta

Some tips from when I had lots of teenagers visiting
- bulk out meals with large bowls of pasta, rice or potatoes - keep any leftovers to make salads etc
- meals like bolognese, chilli, stew, pasta bake and curry etc can be bulked out with seasonal veg
- use cheaper veg as the basis of salads - grated carrots and homemade coleslaw are very filling.
- use cheaper cuts of meat - slow cook beef or roast chicken drumsticks or thighs
- Get the kids picking and helping prepare home produced veg - my brother used to take my kids to the allotment and then they made spicy parsnip soup for lunch
- Omelettes can be cheap and a "Spanish omelette" can use up leftover cooked veg and meat
- you can often get good deals on frozen pizza - less expensive than the pricy premium fresh pizzas
- perhaps have a bbq with sausage and/or burgers with lots of bread ad salads made with your own veg

Have simple filling breakfasts
- some simple value cereals (cornflakes, rice crispies, weetabix etc) and toast with jam or marmite. Put a carton of value juice in a jug. If they like porridge then this is a cheap and filling breakfast.
- "treat" breakfasts could be pancakes, eggy bread or eggs on toast

You could also keep costs down by getting them to help make some packed lunches for days out- some sandwich stuff, juice cartons and perhaps a multipack or crisps or funsize chocolate

As they're Australian, better pick up a jar of Vegemite! Marmite won't do it for them.