This is the question I got from my 16 year old son on a recent weekend afternoon.
Mind you, the shrimp he’s referring to is a huge 2 1/2 lb. bag of shrimp in the frig’ which I was planning to make into this delicious New York Times shrimp scampi recipe for the family dinner later that night. To help you get a sense of how much food we’re talking about, there were about 60-70 large shrimp and I fully expected to have enough for dinner for all of us, plus some leftovers for the next day.
But when a 6′ 3″ basketball playing 16 year old asks you to make him some shrimp, you make him some shrimp. Right away.
So I made the 2 1/2 lbs of shrimp with some cocktail sauce, and set it out on the table in the family room where my son and husband were watching the game.
Which game I have no idea, there’s always a game on in our house. Hell, I don’t even know what sport it was. ‘Could have been football, baseball, basketball, golf; you name it, they’re watching it. Sports all blur together for me. Give me a good book or a movie, anytime. But, I digress…
I figured this shrimp would be our pre-dinner appetizer and I’d make something else for dinner a few hours later.
I went back to the kitchen to wash the dishes I’d used, which took me no more than 2 minutes. And before I could even head on over to the couch to grab a few shrimp for myself, my son was walking back over to me with the plate now filled with about 60-70 shrimp tails.
Yeah. They’d already finished them all, every last one of those suckers.
Man, can teenage boys eat.
If you’re a My Left Breast reader, you’ll know that I work from home, in an office in the bonus room over our garage which allows me to be here pretty much 24/7 for my kids, while I squeeze in client meetings and conference calls around their school day.
Every afternoon around 3:00, my son comes home from school and stands for about 5 minutes in front of the open refrigerator door, peering in there for something to eat. And he mostly likes meat. Let me tell you, that refrigerator is jam packed full of food, but he never seems to find what he’s looking for; it’s a bit maddening for this mom.
A few months ago I came to the realization that in order to keep said ever-hungry son well fed, I needed to have a lot of meat ready for him every 3-4 hours. And since I work from home, one of the simplest solutions was to throw stuff on the grill outside.
I started out naively thinking that I could grill a pack of 4 chicken breasts and it would last me a few days. Can I just say that 4 chicken breasts is a freakin’ lot of meat?
Within a few days, I realized that I was dreaming if I thought one package of chicken was going to last more than a day. The first day, he ate about half of what I had cooked that afternoon when he got home from school. Then he went to sleep for a couple of hours, got back up to go to the gym and work out, then came back home to do homework and then of course he came back downstairs to stand in front of the open refrigerator door again around 9:30 p.m., looking for more chicken. He ate some more and the container was empty.
Holy smokes, that’s a lot of chicken for one day.
In addition to the ever popular grilled chicken, I throw in a couple of steaks or a pile of shrimp to mix it up and in between that there are lots of eggs and turkey subs. It’s more protein than you can believe and it’s got to be readily available every 3 hours or so.
It’s gotten to the point where I’m at the grocery store every 3 days, stocking up on steaks, chicken, shrimp, eggs, yogurt, milk and waffles. The refrigerator is either crammed so full of food on Day 1 after I’ve shopped that none of us can find anything in there, or it’s practically empty by Day 3. Then it starts all over again and I’m back out to the store for more.
So, if you’re wondering where I am these days, I’m either in my office, on a client conference call or at the grocery store. Life can get pretty simple when you work full time and have a growing teen. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.
For the year and a half of my life when I was going through breast cancer and reconstruction, I could barely get out of bed, let alone cook and take care of my family, so there’s lots to be grateful for at our home, these days.
And, you’re welcome for my inclusion of the amazingly simple and delicious shrimp scampi recipe from the NYT here. It’s super easy and holy moly delicious.
Claudia, this cracked me up. I remember my brother being one of those big-eating-teens and stuff disappearing from the fridge in an instant!
Carol Cassara recently posted…Fourth century girls just wanna have fun
Yeah, my brother was like that too. He’s still like that, come to think of it…..Thanks for stopping by!
Holy side of beef! I thought we ate alot of food! I would love to have your grocery budget. There is nothing better in the world than a well stocked refrigerator. I know the feeling about the sports thing though hubby watches EVERYTHING! He will say quit working and spend some time with me then sit down on the couch and you can see his eyes glaze over…done!
Rena McDaniel recently posted…WALK TO END ALZHEIMER’S IN GREENVILLE, SC
Yes, the grocery budget is pretty astronomical, but since he’ll be going off to college in another 2 years, I figure it’s going to decrease pretty dramatically soon (although of course, then we’ll be paying for college….)! Thanks for stopping by, Rena!
If there’s one thing teens are good for…it’s eating you out of house and home. Then they bring their friends! But, thank god he’s healthy…as are you! Great recipe, BTW. What could be wrong with wine, lemon, butter…
I know, right? What could be better than butter, wine, lemon, shrimp….it’s so delicious.
Claudia, first – so glad you are well enough now to cook. Second – I remember when my son lived at home and the fridge was always opening and closing 10 times a day. Now when he comes home he always says “there’s nothing to eat in this house.” I forget how much a growing boy eats. A lot less than a 50+ woman.
Judy Freedman recently posted…Jane Pauley Shares Insights For Reimagining Your Life
Thanks, Judy. Yes! It’s amazing how much more a 16 year old teenager needs to eat than his 50+ mother!
Hi Claudia,
I have two sons and a daughter who was a swimmer during high school, so I know of what you speak.
By the way, I love your site’s new look!
Nancy’s Point recently posted…Has There Been a Breast Cancer Cover-up?
One of my friends kids were swimmers and she said the same, that they were ravenously hungry all the time. I could get that, swimming takes a lot of energy and those early morning practices would be tough in the winter. Thanks!
Would you believe it; my older one loves shrimp too, so I’ll definitely look up the recipe!
Thanks for letting me know that in a few years, I may need to buy an extra fridge and freezer! 😀
The recipe is amazing, really delicious and so easy. And, yes, you’ll probably need a 2nd refrigerator!
dear Claudia,
what I wouldn’t give to have a whole gaggle of my son and his friends around our table, digging in to the things they were so hungry for – or standing in line with enormous bowls waiting to be filled with Hugh’s special chili on a football sunday. such ravenous appetites that we both loved catering to. many are still good friends and still call me mom, now in their early 40’s, and it’s still my pleasure to feed them. one funny thing my son told me about his dad ladling out the chili – he always made sure he had a fresh supply of “Beano” – and Hugh would stand at the head of the line and dispense those gas preventing tablets with the admonition, “No Beano, fellas, no chili!” it would break all the guys out laughing – but he knew our family room would have smelled like a barn after those enormous portions had their way with 20-30 teen-age GI tracts!
much love,
Karen OOxxOO ps – sorry I was laid a bit low, so only had the wherewithal to respond now.
Hi Karen,
Sounds wonderful! It’s so nice that your sons friends still come around and call you mom, even in their early 40’s! xo