Abigail asks: "I have been following your posts and I love that you are posting pictures. In theory your menus are great but I wonder how much you supplement with snacks? I can't imagine asking my husband to share a portion of that size - he would eat it all, and part of mine too, and then say he is still hungry.
I often make something that I think will be dinner and lunch the next day too, but he will eat the portion I serve him and then the portions I intended for lunch too.
Is there some secret to getting away with smaller portions that I am missing?"
Thanks for the question Abigail!
I do take a picture of what we're eating, but that one single plate is not *all* that we're eating! There's usually enough for two servings if we want them. The Chinese food was the exception, which we split. I did supplement that with extra brown rice, and there were no leftovers. We also ate the whole pizza the other day, but there were 3 slices apiece.
When we go out to eat or bring home takeout, we often share one entree. We started doing that when we were dating to save money, and found that it was usually more than enough for two of us. It's common knowledge that American restaurant portions are HUGE. Even sharing, it is likely that we're eating too much.
We do eat snacks a few times a day! Some of our favorite include popcorn, yogurt, chips and salsa, and fruit.
As for saving food for lunches, one thing we do is set aside the lunch food before we have dinner. Out of sight, out of mind!
We also try to eat a lot of fiber and a decent amount of protein, which helps keep hunger at bay.
All that said, I don't think my husband is not a big eater the way some guys are. He's not very tall for man. Our roommate is not super tall or big for a man either. I know my food budget would be higher if they were both 6 foot 4 and weighed 250 pounds! Or if I had teenagers in the house. Everybody has to come up with the food budget that is right for their family.
Readers- how do you keep your husbands and your teenagers fed without desecrating your budget? Any tips?
8 comments:
Yep,I'm one with a 6'3 husband who's way over 200 pounds.
I had the same problem as Abigail. My hubby is 6'1", 250 pounds, and works a very hands on job. When he wants dinner, he wants lots of it. If I know that I want to use part of the meal for lunch the next day, I do set it aside before I make the dinner plates. That actually didn't defer him from eating it in the middle of the night, but once I learned to actually put it in his lunch bag, he didn't touch it lol. If I know dinner will not be ready by 6 or so, I will put toghether a snack for hubby to eat when he gets home from work. Lots of fruit, dips(hummus is the one of choice lately), and "teenager food" like cheese toast are thrown together.
We also have a "dessert of the week" that I will make at the beginning of the week. I only make that one dessert, so he knows that if he eats it all up by wednesday, there won't be another one until next week. This causes him to ration himself without me standing there with a ruler to smack his hand.
Another good tip is to think like the Europeans and pack(or make) a big lunch. I send off a sandwich, soup(or leftovers from night before), yogurt, protein or granola bar and a "treat" like a piece of candy for his lunch. I've started to notice that he either doesn't need the extra snack when he gets home, or he is eating less at dinner.
I feed my husband and two sons (ages 15 and 20). Usually, if I am making a casserole the meat is stretched and mixed in with pasta or rice or vegies or something. That way, the pasta or rice is filling.
If I am serving just meat, I serve other things with it to help fill them up.
I also am learning to cook with lentils (they loved the lentil tacos I made) in order to have more meatless meals and stretch the budget.
I guess I just kind of expect them not to overeat. You can eat more than you should because your stomach is stretched out and you are actually eating a bigger serving than you should.
On the other hand, my husband and kids are all under 6 ft tall so they don't need to eat as much as a taller person would.
I know someone the same height as my husband who eats twice or three times as much as my husband. I'm not sure if he's hungry or just used to eating more.
If the kids are still hungry we just tell them to eat more fruit or vegetables and not to fill up on the main dish. They should be eating the fruit and vegies anyway.
I never refuse them food or make them go hungry, but I do tell them to eat fruits and vegetables if they haven't had any. Otherwise, they would just eat the main dish and not anything else, usually. I also suggest they wait a few minutes to see if they're still hungry (it takes a few minutes for their stomach to feel full I've heard).
Usually, a meal can last us for two meals but last night I made a creamy burrito recipe from recipezaar and they just went nuts on that. So I don't know what I'm going to do for dinner tonight, lol!
i have a 5'9" hubby who weighs around 180, and he'll still eat as much as i put in front of him!
he doesn't like to reheat things himself (he was an only child - we're working on the "feeding yourself" skill) so if i go ahead and set my lunch aside and put it in the fridge he won't touch it.
Wow, thank you for taking the time to answer this as its own post!! I have already got some good advice here, things I have been trying to do unsuccessfully but will work harder at (fruit/veggies if still hungry, put away lunch portion before serving dinner, and WAIT before taking seconds).
My husband's only 5'7 and 140 lbs, with a sedate desk job - but it astounds me how much he can eat ;)
Thanks again!!
No problem Abigail! It was a good point- everybody eats different amounts. My husband is about the same height and weight as your husband- how funny! :) But he's not a big eater. I've always eaten more then him! Our roommate eats even less, and he's 5 foot 9. I don't know how much he weights, but I'd eat my hat if it were over 150. Dainty eating guys- and me, the horse of the house!
I once dated a 6 foot 4 guy. He was not overweight by any means and the amount of food he ate was insane! I'm talking a whole pizza and salad and wings...and he'd be hungry two hours later. If I had to feed him, I'm sure my grocery budget would have to be different.
Hi, I'm new to this list, but I wanted to comment on the big man/big serving size issue. My husband is 6'2", and was 185 lbs when we married 28 years ago. Now he's 230. As a high schooler, he used to come home from afterschool sports and eat a whole loaf of homemade bread. His mom and dad would tell me this as though they were proud of him or something. He was very active, and not heavy, but all those carbs were still harming him. Then at 51 he was diagnosed with type-2 Diabetes, although there is no history of it in his extended family.
We homemakers need to be smart. We need to educate our husbands and children, or they will pay the price.
I never let him eat that much bread all the years we've been married, and he is not a big sweets eater. He did drink one diet soda a year for many years, although I warned him that I'd heard it could cause diabetes. Guess what?
Well, now I serve him a healthy salad (No iceberg) and a glass of wine when he comes home from work. The wine makes it feel special, not like diet food. Dinner follows eventually, though not always promptly as I am babysitting our grandchild. And he's learned to eat smaller servings. We also split an entre whenever we eat out. And if I prepare enough for lunch the next day, I pull out that serving and put it in a dish in the refrigerator BEFORE dinner. So, if my DH wants to eat more, he now has to get it out of the fridge and reheat it (we don't have a mic). He usually grabs an apple instead, as it's easier.
GrandmaMusher
My husband is a big eater too. He's 6'3 and 215 pounds, roughly. *I* am also a big eater. Not nearly as big as him, but I like myself some food. :-)
Since we're veggie and our food is usually inexpensive and healthy/delicious, I just make a lot. I normally make enough for 6 people for dinner, and it will serve us and usually at least one lunch. Hopefully two. :-)
I reserve less healthy things for once a week or so, and treat them the same way.
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