Influencer Program - Teen Hunger Challenge

[CafeMom Team]

We've challenged 20 CafeMoms to find out what happens when their teens are left to fend for themselves in the kitchen. We are supplying these moms with Ball Park franks and all the fixins'. They'll give their teens access to the franks, but the rest is up to them.

Check out what these moms are saying about what happens when their teens were let loose in the kitchen!

Ball Park Influencers post your assignments here!

** The CafeMom Team

[Mommy_0f_many]

Your teens attitude about cooking and meal time - My daughter loves to cook certain dishes for the family.  She has mastered Tacos, Tuna Casserole and can order a mean pizza LOLE!  I try and teach her how to cook while I cook dinner for the family to help her prepare for life outside of the home.  Even though she is only turning 13 I think it is never to early to teach your kids to be self-sufficient.  For Meal times - Dinner is the only meal that everyone in the family is required to be at.  She is not happy about that sometimes when she is told to come inside for dinner if she is swimming in the pool or playing with friends but she also understands that it means a lot to my DH & myself.  We feel that eating dinner and a family brings us closer together and helps my DH and I bond with our kids (12, 2 & two 1 yr olds) since we both work outside of the home.  It's our guaranteedtime to talk and learn about what they have done that day without TV's, books or friends to interrupt.

Tell us about your teen. - Kayla is WONDERFUL.  (IMO)  She is a loving, honest, Smart young woman.  It was just her and I for 9 yrs until I married my DH.  She loved finally having a father figure in her life and right away asked him if he would adopt her. We soon had a daughter that was born right after our 1 yr anniversary and she just turned into a loving big sister.  Shortly after we found out we were expecting twin boys and they arrived right after our Second anniversary.  That is when Kayla really showed us how grown-up she has become.  She really wanted to help out with the kids however my husband and I agreed that we would limit what she could do (not because of safety but because we want her to remain a child as long as possible).  She knows how to do the laundry and has learned as you have read above how to cook a couple of meals all on her own.  I told her it would be good to know at least 10 dishes and 4-5 desserts by the time she goes off to college.  That way she won't have to live off of pizza and fast food.  She is intelligent and is always at the top of her class.  Kayla is currently learning French, Spanish and German - pretty soon she will be able to say things to us and we won't have a clue LOLE.

What type of food does your teen like? - RIght now she loves the same thing every teenager does - Pizza, Cheeseburgers and Fries.  However she also loves my home cooking, Steaks and you can't forget dessert!

Does your teen make meals for the family? - She cooks dinner once a week for the family.  It helps teach her responsiblity and to "think ahead" to what she wants to make so that I get the right ingredients from the store.  The only rule we have is that she can have pizza or any other frozen entree as her dinner selection once a month.  The other 3-4 times it has to be healthy and she has to make it.  (We are working on Meatloaf and Adobo right now)  She likes to do this also because of our other rule - she/he who cooks doesn't clean!

[vickieb310]

Hi, I'm Vickie.  I have two daughters, a 15yo - Joanne, and an 8yo - Elizabeth.

Joanne likes to bake, she's not too big on cooking, but she enjoys baking.

Tell you about my teen...hmm, okay.  She'll be 16 soon, she's a picky eater.  She likes pizza, but no sauce.  Of course, junk food ranks right up at the top. lol 

About the only meal she likes making for the family is homemade pancakes! :-)

***ETA***

So we picked up a package of the beef hotdogs and the other the Angus, along with buns of couse!  Joanne added some to boiling water and took a bite, and didn't like it!  Sorry Ball Park!  We took one of the packages to my SIL and they grilled them and served them to all the kids and they enjoyed them!

Thanks for letting us particpate!

[krisr169]

 Hi!  My family was chosen as one to receive the coupons as well.  I haven't been to the store yet but wanted to give the dish on how my kids roll.

I have a 16 year old son that will eat anything on a bun.  He's really just recently learning how to cook for himself, he has really poor impulse control so I don't like him in the kitchen much :)

My daughter is eighteen and is great in the kitchen.  She helps out a lot making dinner.  She doesn't eat pork so I'm thrilled that Ball Park has other options for their hot dogs!!  You don't know how much that pleases me.

We also have her boyfriend staying with us until he saves up enough money to get his own place, he's 19.  He's very creative in the kitchen, he especially loves to barbeque.

I'm really excited to see what the kids come up with.  Thanks Cafemom for this awesome opportunity!

[sheri305]

Hi,im Sheri. I have 4 teens. 17,15,12,12. All of them have healthy appetites.They arent really picky and will eat just about anything.lol  I do a lot of cooking,so they dont really like a lot of fast food.My oldest daughter is starting to cook more.I make the girls watch me in the kitchen.As far as the Ball Parks,they loved them.They put them on the George Forman grill and they were great.I have never been too much of a hot dog buyer,but I will be for now on.lol  Thanks CafeMom for sharing!

[Mommy_0f_many]

Okay - so I accidentally deleted the Wal-mart gift card in my email right before I left for Vacation :o(  

Anyways we did get the Ball Park franks and told my daughter she has been assigned a "challenge - survivor style" (we are addicted to Survivor)  we told her she had to use the Ball Park Franks but she could also use anything we had in the kitchen to make a dinner. 

She ended up making the little kids mac 'n cheese with hot dogs cut up in it and peas, and for us we had scrambled eggs and hot dogs!  What a yummy dinner! 

It was a treat for us and for her since we normally don't buy hot dogs but we just might every now and then.  We will also challenge her to come up with other recipes to use them with!

Thanks CafeMom for this opportunity!  Next time I will double check all emails before deleting!!!

[Laurieanne42]

Hi Ladies,

My name is Laurie and I gave my 16 year old son Nick this challenge. He decided to use the Ballpark Franks a little differently. He cut them up and made a crockpot meal of Baked beans and hot dogs!!!! Now my son is babied quite a bit around here and usually my husband or myself will cook for him. Being a big Italian family, we do ALOT of cooking together as a family but somehow, Nick always seems to sneak out of it. LOL This time, he couldn't!!!

I must say, having him come up with a meal on his own was fun for me!!! It was nice taking a backseat to mealtime and just let him run with it. LOL. He cut up most of the hot dogs and mixed them with some molasses, an onion, and baked beans and let them cook in the crockpot for a couple hours. They were delicious!!!! He steamed a few of the remaining hot dogs and steamed the buns as well!!!! It was fabulous!!!!!

I want to thank you for letting our family take part in this challenge. We thoroughly enjoyed it!!!! We've now stocked up the freezer with Ballpark Franks..they've become a staple in our home!!!! :-)

Laurie

[GOBryan]

Hello Ladies,

We received 2 coupons for the BallPark Franks. My children loved them, especially in a pool setting where they got to eat and party in the pool along with our extended family.

They enjoyed helping out and eating them on buns as well as just on a fork like a corn dog, while they same.

I didn't receive a Walmart coupon, just the coupons but they came in very handy and my teen loves dogs since they are pre-cooked and so easy to make, whether we bbq them, boil or even microwave them. My teen will at times, just eat them right out of the refrigerator.

[Tiredmom53]

My son is 14 years old.  We gave him the ball park coupon, and the gift card and took him to Walmart.  He did all the shopping, He got the bun length franks, chili, coleslaw, buns, onions and sherred cheese.  Dinner was North Carolina Dogs (Hot Dog in bun, topped with chili, coleslaw, onions and cheese. He put them in the Microwave and melted the cheese, served it to husband and I with a garnish of pickle and chips.  He did very well.  When he graduates he wants to continue on to Culinary School.  He loves to cook and loves working out in the Kitchen. It was a joy for once having him serve me. He liked the flavor of Ball Park and said he will get them again.

[RUSTI44]

hello i'm rusti,my son's name is jeffrey he is 13.

I DON'T TYPE OR SEE GOOD ANYMORE SORRY.PLEASE OVERLOOK ANY MISTAKES I MAKE.THANKYOU.

MY TEENS ATTITUDE ABOUT COOKING IS GREAT.IM A SICK MOM ( HEART VALVE DEFECT,SO ALOT OF TIME POOR JEFF EXCEPT FOR DINNER EVEN IF ITS TAKE OUT DINNER IS FAMILY TIME!I BOUGHT ALL THE FIXINS BEFORE I GOT THE WALL MART CARD,I PUT RELISH ,SAUERKRAUT,KETCHUP MUSTARD EVEN MAYO ONIONS CHEESE. I WANTED JEFF TO TRY A VARIETY OF THINGS OR SEE WHAT E WOULD TOUCH AND WHAT HE WOULDN'T. HE DOESN'T MIND COOKING HIMSELF AN EGG SANDWHICH AND BECAUSE HE IS GOING TO BE A BACHELOR SOMEDAY I WANT HIM TO LEARN TO COOK AND EVEN SEW FOR HIMSELD.I TAUGHT HIS SCOUT DEN HOW TO SEW!HEYY TENTS RIPP!LOL

ABOUT JEFFREY- JEFFREY IS A GREAT KID FOR HAVING A SICK MOM ,HE WORRIES AND BRINGS ME FOOD.SO AT AROUND 8 WE TAUGHT HIM TO MICRO WAVE AND CALL FOR TAKE OUT LOL.AT TEN WE FIGURED HE IS OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW THE STOVE IS HOT TIME TO LEARN.JEFF WAS A SCOUT FOR YEARS,PLAYS BASEBALL,THE ALL AMERICAN BOY!LOVES VIDEO GAMES,AMUSEMENT PARKS,HIS PAINT GUN AND HIS KITTIES. ALL 5 OF THEM!HE IS AN AVERAGE STUDENT EXCEPT IN MATH HE EXCELLS UP TO GENIUS LEVEL AND HE IS VERY TECHNO.ALSO HE IS A VERY HAPPY CHILD ALWAYS WILLING TO LEND A HAND. HE RECYCLES, HEW WORKS HARD FOR HIS COMMUNITY PLANTING TREES FOR OUR FUTURE GRANDCHILDREN AND THEIRS.HE CARES ALOT ABOUT BEING GREEN!WE THINK HES PRETTY SPECIAL.

WHAT TYPE OF FOOD HE LIKES- WOW ,PIZZA YOGURT.SUSHI,ANYTHING WITH SUGAR.CHEESE PASTAS HE ALWAYS HAS LOVED SPAGEHETTIS LASGSNGAS.ETC.LOVES ICE CREAM JUST LIKE HIS DAD. HE DRINKS KOOLAID WE DO LIMIT POP HE MUST DRINK KOOLAID FOR HYDRATION AMND JUICE. HE HATES SPINACH AND SALAD.HE LIKES HOT DOGS, HAMBIURGERS AND MILK.

WHAT DOES TEEN COOK FOR FAMILY- YES! JEFF HAS OFFERED TO COOK US DINNER WE ATE PANCAKES ,EGGS OR GRILLED CHEESE SANDWHICHES.HE HAS HELPED WITH A WHOLE LOT OF OTHER DINNERS MAKING SALADS (HE HATES) MASHED POTATOES YES HOT DOGS HE LOVES THEM .HE WAS PERFECT FOR THIS!HE ABSOLUTELY SHOWS A LOVE OF BEING A CHEF.I GUESS THATS IT! NICE TO MEET EVERYONE!

WE LEFT THE HOT DOGS AND FIXINGS HE HELPED PICK OUT AT WALMART OF COURSE! HE ATE THEM EVERY WHICH WAY .RELISH, HE IS LEFT TO FEND FOR HIMSELF BECAUSE OF MY ILLNESS PROGREESSING SINCE HE WAS 10 OR 11 I HAD AN ACCIDENT ON TOP OF MY HEART DEFECT .I HAVE HAD NUMEROUS SURGERIES.I DO FORCE MYSELF TO GO PLACES AND COOK EVERYDAY.DINNER IS FAMILY TIME.JEFF ATE THE HOT DOGS OVER A PERIOD OF TIME HOWEVER HE COOKED HOT DOGS WITH SAUERKRAUT AND CHEESE AND MUSTARD FOR US WITH CHIPS AND JUICE HE WAS PROUD AND I WOULD LIKE TO THANKYOU FOR THE OPPURTUNITY TO DO THIS AS A FAMILY WE WILL BUY BALL PARK FRANKS AND ONLY BALL PARK (NOT THE GENERIC ONRES)FRANKS! THEY WERE GREAT PLUMP AND JUICY JEFF SAID "MOM THESE ARE THE BEST HOT DOGS I EVER HAD" THERE YOU HAVE IT OUT OF THE MOUTH OF THE CHILD HIMSELF.THANKS AGAIN!

[samthecat001]

My daughter WANTS to cook but I think when it comes right down to it she would rather just veg out while **I** cook. lol
She DOES like to cook desserts on her own.  I think she takes pride in serving us up something yummy.
We ALWAYS eat dinner together.  ALWAYS.  even if its just take out or left overs...even if its in the living room around the coffee table...we ALL eat together.  Its important to me.
I wonder if everyone still does that?  Is it harder now that your teen is getting older?  Do you have rules about this?