When your kid needs a ton of protein . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 12 year old is big, 97th %ile for height, and gearing up for a growth spurt. He's also incredibly active, getting up on his own to run before school, playing two sports at a high level, and choosing things like basketball at the park whenever he has down time.

So, not surprisingly, he eats a ton, and particularly craves food with protein.

But, I feel like so many kinds of protein have some kind of warning about consuming too much.

Eggs, red meat -- cholesterol
Soy -- estrogen
Fish -- mercury
Protein powder -- processing

etc . . .

To complicate things, we've got nut allergies in our house. He eats them away from home, but we don't cook with them at home, eat them in the car, etc . . .

If you have a kid eating thousands of calories a day, and wanting a lot of protein, what are you serving them? Can you give me a sample day's diet?

We eat lots of wild-caught salmon. It's low in mercury.

[Anonymous]

Don't overthink it. I make a big batch of meatballs many weekends, and my teens will snack on them or make themselves sandwiches as a lunch or afternoon snack.

You could roast a turkey breast or a dozen chicken thighs and keep that on hand for sandwiches and snacks.

[Anonymous]

OP here,

Just to clarify, my kid eats 3 eggs for breakfast almost every day. And I'm good with that, but it makes me hesitant to do egg based dinners like shaksuka or quiche too often.

I'm wanting to cut back on meat. Not cutting it out, but he eats 4 meals a day, and I'd love to get it down to say 5 times a week, because meat is expensive, and bad for the environment, and the adults in our family have health issues that would probably benefit from less meat. So, I'm just figuring out what to sub. I read that even for lower mercury fish you should aim for 12 ounces a week due to mercury. That's probably what he eats at one meal.

He eats a lot of soy, and a lot of beans, and a lot of dairy.

As for why I think he needs the protein? Because it's what he craves. If I put out a variety of foods, the foods he's drawn to are the ones with protein and fat. So, I assume he's listening to his body and eating what he needs.

[Anonymous]

My kids eat tofu as fast as I can cook it.
I coat in corn starch and fry in avocado oil. Tiny bit of soy sauce or just salt and pepper.

Greek yogurt and smoothies

Tuna, grilled chicken however they want it.

[Anonymous]

Cottage cheese is a great snack. Mine also has a yogurt every day for snack. Been and cheese burritos or quesadillas.