What to cook for four greedy boys?

In our series «We ask ourselves ...», we at Fritz+Fränzi ask each other questions from the big family universe. Author Claudia Landolt answers the question posed by Thomas Schlickenrieder, Managing Director of the Elternsein Foundation.

«Dear Claudia, you have five little and big men at home with constantly growling stomachs. How do you get round the daily pasta trap?»

Dear Thomas, what do you cook? This is actually a question that often occupies my mind. When I didn't have children yet, I used to imagine what it would be like to have a family meal at home. Something like this:

Once upon a time, there was a family that met three times a day at the long dining table. Mum, dad and four children. They enjoyed the meal, amused themselves with all kinds of stories and talked about their day and their experiences. Everyone ate in a civilised manner, the children ate gratefully and praised the food.
No one at the table wolfed down the food in five minutes, grumbled about the vegetables, spilt water and then went under the table to look at the water. Or complained about the bits of tomato on the pasta and tried to separate the pasta with the sauce from the pasta without the sauce.
Today I know that such families don't really exist, and if they do, people either don't want to be part of them or don't even want to know they exist. It starts with the fact that real families with schoolchildren cannot eat their meals together every day. If you have more than one child, you soon realise that there are different timetables, which means that a morning meal together does not always take place. The same applies to dinners, which can also be somewhat disparate on some days depending on the children's leisure or learning activities and the parents' commitments.
But the dinner thing is one of those things that nobody tells you before you start a family. You think of tantrums in front of the checkout or adolescent expressions of displeasure because the wifi has been switched off, but I was caught cold by the challenge of cooking two or three hot meals a day, seven days a week.
After all, living with five men actually means filling the fridge and cooking. After all, the famous Swiss dinner of «café complet», rice pudding or Bircher muesli is at best an appetiser for four growing boys. In other words: I actually need my own wheat field.

Baste pasta? No way! A wheat field of your own would be good! Claudia Landolt's boys have a healthy appetite. Photo: private

So you're wondering what I cook? We have porridge with bread, orange juice and muesli in the morning. At lunchtime, salad, meat/fish, a side dish and vegetables, fruit and sometimes a piece of waffle or Bircher muesli for a snack, then something warm again in the evening, consisting of protein, carbohydrates and vegetables. My eldest then often needs a snack around 9pm, often leftovers from lunch.
If you're wondering how often I go shopping, let me tell you: twice a week. A trolley from the supermarket is filled to the top. Our food budget is as high as the rent for a nice 3.5 room old flat in Zurich. Sometimes even more - if we have lunch invitations, school trips or other children regularly come for lunch.
So what's on the table? Spaghetti again? is a question I ask myself several times a week. The nutritional advice is clear; there shouldn't be too many carbohydrates, even if that's the best way to satisfy ravenous children. Children should eat five portions of vegetables, salad and fruit a day, plus four portions of bread, cereals and side dishes as well as dairy products, according to the recommendations for meat/fish and oils.

However, this recommendation leaves some parents somewhat perplexed. If a child was allergic to a particular food, I would be gasping for breath. At least I am reassured by a quote from nutrition expert Sonia Thommen that I read recently. Thommen says: «Eating a healthy, balanced and yet affordable diet for a family of four is sometimes a real feat these days».
So now in concrete terms: I cook according to a menu plan, which I ideally do on Saturdays when the weekly shopping (which my husband does, by the way) is due. The menu plan also depends on the kids' school and extracurricular activities as well as the additional kids who eat with us at lunchtime or sometimes in the evening.
Fish is on our menu twice a week. But, as we all know, not all fish is the same, and so sometimes you stand in front of the fish display undecided, trying to figure out what is best? For us, the following rule applies: just the fish that we adults love. For example, salmon from the oven or loup de mer on a bed of vegetables. The other is an evergreen that the children love: fish cakes with potatoes, for example.
Sounds great, do you think? Me too, actually. But my children less so. An example: last Saturday we served salmon with rice, asparagus and salad. Strawberries with cream for dessert.

Online dossier

Mum and dad are happy when they can enjoy a warm meal

Kind 1 findet, es habe in seinem Leben schon zuviel Lachs essen müssen und stopft sich daher voll mit Reis.
Kind 2 liebt Reis nicht so innig wie der ältere Bruder, mag dafür Lachs sehr. Also schnappt er sich dessen Portion.
Kind 3 ist ein unkomplizierter Esser und isst von allem etwas, Hauptsache keine Spargeln!
Kind Nr. 4 isst alles, was auf dem Teller ist, sofern es Mayonnaise oder Ketchup dazu darf. Dann findet es auch Lachs ok.

And mum and dad? They're happy when they can enjoy their meal warm.
Two hours after lunch, child no. 1 and 2 are already sneaking around the kitchen again on some pretext. Hungry again. «Mum, we only had fish for lunch!» After a two-minute discussion, they eat an apple and a few nuts before eating half of the kilo of plaited bread that was intended for lunch.

Pasta is less controversial than fish

It makes everyone full and satisfied. Wholemeal pasta is often served instead of wheat pasta. But the sauce is the point of discussion. So I make pasta all amatriciana, a classic from Italian cuisine with lots of bacon (everyone loves bacon except me). Lots of salad, a portion of vegetables, yoghurt with fresh fruit and a piece of chocolate for dessert.
The reactions:

Kind Nr. 1: Warum hat es nur so wenig Speck?
Kind Nr. 2: Was ist dass denn für eine Sauce? Sind das etwa Tomaten?
Kind Nr. 3: Ich finds mega fein!
Kind Nr. 4: Mamaaaaa, ist da etwa Tschili drin?

Note: The tomato sauce on the pizza the next day is pureed. For child no. 1, the ratio of tomato sauce and bacon is inversely disproportionate. For dessert, he treats himself to lemon sorbet. From the 600ml pack. He leaves two scoops for child no. 4.

No. 2 goes to the cellar and gets a cornet, No. 3 wants a certain water ice cream that child No. 4 secretly ate with his friend in the afternoon («Mum, I wanted to show him my favourite ice cream, and then it got soft, and then I had to eat it, don't you understand?»).

Lay the table, fill the fridge? It would be nice ... Because this is what a (rather empty!!!) fridge looks like at Claudia Landolt's. Photo: private

So you can twist and turn it however you like: you can't please anyone, and with a food table in your head, you become a total brake on fun. As long as my kids are outside a lot, get plenty of exercise and sport and eat more or less everything that's on the table, I try not to waste too much energy on food.
So I asked my children how they like our food and what their absolute favourite dish is. Here are the answers.

Ja, aber zu viel Gemüse!
Wienerschnitzel
Burger
Pizza
Selbstgemachte Pastetli
Entrecôte vom Grill
Erdbeertörtli

(A child who was eating with us said: My favourite food is rice with natural yoghurt).
So much for variety and a sophisticated diet plan.
Child no. 3 recently went to Whitsun camp for the first time as a scout. There they had to cook for themselves for the first time; over the fire, of course. When the ten-year-old came home on Monday, he asked for pizza for dinner. At the table, he said to me: «Mum, I really missed your exquisite (I swear he used that word!) food.»
I gave him a cuddle, told him how sweet that was of him and asked him to repeat the sentence.
So that I could record it.

The next question goes to Renata Canclini from the Fritz+Fränzi sales team:

«Dear Reni, you live in a patchwork family. What are your tips for making this togetherness a success?»

The answer has now been published:
Tips for the patchwork family - the answer from Renata Canclini.

Previously published in the section We ask ourselves:

Editor-in-chief Nik Niethammer answers the question: Dear Nik, do your children still believe in Father Christmas and the Christ Child?

Editor Florina Schwander answers the question: Dear Florina, do your twins get the same presents for Christmas?
Lead author Claudia Landolt answers the question: How does it feel to be a woman with five men and a dog?
Deputy Editor-in-Chief Evelin Hartmann answers the question: How do you manage the bilingualism of High German and Swiss German?
Patrik Luther, Deputy Publishing Director, answers the question: What is it like when the children have a big age difference?
Florian Blumer, Head of Production, answers the question: How do you manage to distribute work, family and household equally?

Bianca Fritz, Head of Online, answers the question: What is it actually like to work for a parenting magazine when you are (still) childless?

Sales Manager Jacqueline Zygmont answers the question: How do you let go when your son (20) is slowly fledging?
Sales Manager Corina Sarasin answers the question: What is the relationship like with your godchildren?

Publishing assistant Dominique Binder answers the question: What is it like to grow up as an only child?

Managing Director of Stiftung Elternsein, Thomas Schlickenrieder, answers the question: Family in different time zones: What is it like when your son is studying abroad?