Feeding my ravenous tween. Guidance?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay.

The dcum moms of preschool girls are going to jump in soon with their carrots, kale chips and organic water drawn from mountain springs, but here goes:

Hot pockets
Carnation instant breakfast
Hard boiled eggs (cooked one dozen at a time and replenished maybe every few days to a week
Breakfast burritos, made ahead, wrapped in foil and reheated as needed
Popcorn (we prefer the real kind made in a pan but microwave is fine)
Coldcuts/sandwich
Costco mini tacos
And
Cereal with milk. Frosted flakes were my siblings go to pre bedtime meal after a day of running followed by dance lessons and soccer practice.

Good list. I'd add from my experience with 2 teenage boys -

Those boxes of frozen taquitos that can be microwaved (but are better baked)
Frozen pizzas
Various spreads/dips and accompanying carbs - ie, hummus/pita chips, sour cream onion/potato chips, guacamole/salsa/tortilla chips
Bagels with cream cheese or peanut butter or nutella or all 3
Various frozen things from Trader Joes - take him there & browse the cases - my boys like the samosas, egg rolls, mini pizzas, mac & cheese, puff dogs
Gallons of milk - whole milk, preferably - organic, preferably
Stuff for smoothies - yogurt, fresh or frozen fruit, ice cream - as my boys got into sports they added protein powder

[Anonymous]

We do an evening milkshake with protein powder or almond butter and banana added.

High Protein Milkshake
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup dry milk powder
3/4 cup ice cream
Add ice cream and milk powder to milk and beat well.

Calories = 485, Protein= 24

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: What are your dinner is typically like? Sometimes different foods will fill you up temporarily but then leave you feeling hungry 2 or 3 hours later. Chinese food is notorious for doing this and so is pasta unless you go whole grain noodles.

We are big fans of skinny pop (Costco is your friend for this and other snacks foods), soft pretzels, whole milk, watermelon, nuts as pos dinner snacks.

Also, are you sure he'snot confusing thirst with hunger?

OMG, this is hilarious!

[Anonymous]

I make a hearty turkey chili with kidney beans, canned tomatoes, chopped green peppers and onions. (or any kind of soup/stew that can be dished out and microwaved)

Cheese/salami/pepperoni on rolls.

Popcorn

Yogurt smoothies

Hot pockets

Frozen pizza

Ramen

scrambled eggs (they don't like hard boiled, grrr)

Cut up chicken breast sauteed in olive oil (I serve each a plate of that along with rice, green beans or a salad)

[Anonymous]

Chicken & rice - (cooked ahead in a large pot & he just microwaves it)
Eggs (hard boiled are done ahead/he cooks scrambled)
Hot dogs /Corn dogs
Hamburgers (patties made ahead and kept in freezer kid cooks)
Ramen
Beans (mine like the 16 bean soup mixed beans cooked on the weekend & get reheated )
Any fruit / melon
Canned soup
Cheese

[Anonymous]

Thanks PPs, these are all great! He is a super picky eater so it’s sometimes a challenge, but you’ve given me great suggestions for stuff we really haven’t tried but he’s probably love. (Why didn’t I think of frozen burritos and a stash of quesadillas? Or deli meats wrapped around cheese stick? Brilliant!) He is anti-pasta but will eat meatballs like it’s his job. I will review all the suggestions again when I’m at home, make a list, and hit Trader Joe’s and Costco with thenlist in hand. And while I’m at Costco perhaps I’ll pick up a second fridge to stash it all in!

Quick funny note on his response when I came home from Costco earlier this week with six loaves of sandwich bread, two loaves of country French bread, two baguettes, and two bags of bagels: “Oh my gosh Mom, thank you SO MUCH for getting all these carbs!”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In addition to what 23:46 posted, we’ve purchased stock in Cheerios.

—mother of a 17 year old son with 2% body fat and who I’m convinced has a hollow leg because I can’t figure out where it all goes

Must be a typo or he would be dead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: What are your dinner is typically like? Sometimes different foods will fill you up temporarily but then leave you feeling hungry 2 or 3 hours later. Chinese food is notorious for doing this and so is pasta unless you go whole grain noodles.

We are big fans of skinny pop (Costco is your friend for this and other snacks foods), soft pretzels, whole milk, watermelon, nuts as pos dinner snacks.

Also, are you sure he'snot confusing thirst with hunger?

OMG, this is hilarious!

The watermelon and skinny pop are silly.

A soft pretzel can have almost 400 calories, so it is a decent suggestion, and nuts as a snack are high nutrient dense source of calories.

[Anonymous]

I have three boys ranging in age from 6 to 17. I found that when the two oldest wanted a post-dinner snack, they craved (and I refused) junk. I found that if I let them have junk for a post-dinner snack, they were grumpy the next morning until after breakfast. Instead, we fought a lot at first and finally compromised on fat-heavy (rather than carb heavy) post-dinner snacks that they could prepare themselves. They eat/ate a lot of guacamole, hummus, nuts, salami, and cheese. They usually combine it with a glass of milk. The oldest will now frequently down half a dozen hard boiled eggs before bed and seems happy. The middle son still struggles to make peace with the options of offer and seems to mostly really want someone to prepare something for him.

[Anonymous]

My son is 13 and eats two dinners. I keep sliced chicken breast in the frig that my son eats with apples or rolls up in a tortilla. He also likes those individual Brie cheese things from TJs that he eats with crackers. Other quick things - baked potatoe with fixings, avocado toast, those mini pizzas from TJs, frozen TJs fried rice (add the chicken).

[Anonymous]

Question for all the respondents. Is your son very physically active? My son just turned 14 and doesn’t eat at these quantities at all. He hasn’t had his teen growth spurt yet and not far into puberty. He’s also not physically active (despite my best efforts). I’m wondering if he’ll come into this appetite when he is in the full throes of puberty and growing or if his lack of exercise will limit his appetite.

[Anonymous]

My kid is very active.

Right now my son's weekdays include a couple of hours of work, lifting weights (4x per week), and 60-120 minutes of pretty hard basketball training (yesterday he looked like he had just taken a shower with his clothes on when I picked him up). After he got home, he went to the park and played more basketball with his buddies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have three boys ranging in age from 6 to 17. I found that when the two oldest wanted a post-dinner snack, they craved (and I refused) junk. I found that if I let them have junk for a post-dinner snack, they were grumpy the next morning until after breakfast. Instead, we fought a lot at first and finally compromised on fat-heavy (rather than carb heavy) post-dinner snacks that they could prepare themselves. They eat/ate a lot of guacamole, hummus, nuts, salami, and cheese. They usually combine it with a glass of milk. The oldest will now frequently down half a dozen hard boiled eggs before bed and seems happy. The middle son still struggles to make peace with the options of offer and seems to mostly really want someone to prepare something for him.

Most trainers and lifters say that lots of carbs are essential to building muscle for athletes:
https://completehumanperformance.com/2015/09/11/build-muscle-carbs/


Research suggests that conventional wisdom is wrong:
http://roguehealthandfitness.com/are-carbohydrates-needed-to-build-muscle/

[Anonymous]

Extra serving of dinner already on a plate ready to be microwaved;
In my house whenever we make a pasta dish the kids like, we make some extra so the next day or maybe 2 (usually it doesn't last) -- leftover bowl of pasta gets polished off;
Bagels and cream cheese are the recent favorite;
Cereal -- buy it in abundance bc it won't just be 1 bowl;
Cheese -- though that needs to be paired with something bc a few cracker cuts aren't enough;
Ice cream -- junk but usually paired with cookies;
PBJ isn't a favorite but they eat it;

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: What are your dinner is typically like? Sometimes different foods will fill you up temporarily but then leave you feeling hungry 2 or 3 hours later. Chinese food is notorious for doing this and so is pasta unless you go whole grain noodles.

We are big fans of skinny pop (Costco is your friend for this and other snacks foods), soft pretzels, whole milk, watermelon, nuts as pos dinner snacks.

Also, are you sure he'snot confusing thirst with hunger?

OMG, this is hilarious!

The watermelon and skinny pop are silly.

Skinny pop is cheap at Costco and its perfect for grazing and eating it by the handfuls so it fills you up, but you don't feel gross. Love it as do my kids.

Watermelon is fine. Another good filler and hydrater. I'd think bananas are cheaper, fill you up more and not as messy.

OP asked for cheap and easy ways to fill her bottomless kids. Above suggestions are fine as well as other Pps suggesting microwavable taquitos, hot pockets, bagel bites, etc
Ymmv.

A soft pretzel can have almost 400 calories, so it is a decent suggestion, and nuts as a snack are high nutrient dense source of calories.