Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give him a jar of peanut butter. That's how my brothers fended for themselves.

DS is peanut/nut allergic. do you know of any good/cheap alternative to peanut butter?

Sunflower seed butter?

Anonymous wrote:OP, I think kids going through major growth spurts can require up to 2800 calories a day, especially if they do sports!

Not "up to 2800". I'm a mostly sedentary, average weight middle aged man, and that's about what I eat.


From
http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/many-calories-teenage-boy-need-1871.html

USDA guidelines:
Moderately active teen boys (meaning they walk around a bit rather than sitting on the couch all day): 2400-2800
Active teen boys: 2800-3200
Athletic teen boys: up to 5000. If you're practicing soccer a few hours a day and trying to grow, you'll need a lot of fuel.

Basically, they need to eat until they are not hungry as long as their body fat isn't increasing substantially.

Anonymous wrote:Give him a jar of peanut butter. That's how my brothers fended for themselves.

DS is peanut/nut allergic. do you know of any good/cheap alternative to peanut butter?

oatmeal is filling. hard boil a bunch of eggs. Peanuts in shell (if you can handle the mess). Greek yogurt. Chicken tenders (they cook quickly from frozen). Chef Boyardee. Get an air popper for popcorn--healthy (if you don't add much butter) and filling.

Give him a jar of peanut butter. That's how my brothers fended for themselves.

OP, I think kids going through major growth spurts can require up to 2800 calories a day, especially if they do sports! And a LOT of fat!
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/wecan/downloads/calreqtips.pdf

If you have typical "healthy" food around the house it often doesn't have a lot of fat or calories. So for a teen to get to 3000 calories a day eating say grapes and bananas, and Cheerios with 1% milk, he's going to have to eat a LOT Of food.

If you make sure to up the fat and calorie content of food available to him, he might not need to eat so much. Buy full fat yogurt, cheese and milk. Add oils to food. Make sure you aren't buying low fat or reduced calories versions of foods he likes. Buy premium ice cream. Granola instead of flakes, with lots of nuts and seeds. Nuts and seeds (or nut butter) for snacks. Hummus with pita instead of celery sticks. That kind of thing.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/how-to-feed-a-teen-boy-nutritiously-and-inexpensively/2011/07/06/gIQAdS4RAI_story.html?utm_term=.ecb16fd019ab

I pack a 2000 calories lunch for mine. He is recovering from an eating disorder so I need to do this, but this may help you see how much food kids this age need to fuel their growth!! It seems like an insane amount of food to me but I'm a perimenopausal woman....

bottle of full fat chocolate milk 400 calories
3 servings of lentil soup with 2 T extra olive oil mixed in 600 calories
peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole wheat bread 400 calories
bag of chips 100 calories
carrot sticks and ranch dip 100
chocolate cookies 200
Ritz Crackers and cheddar cheese slices 200

I make a big pot of chili - ground turkey, green peppers, kidney beans, onions, spices - and they eat that.

Cheese quesadillas on high fiber wraps w/flax.

Hamburgers.

Chips, Hot pockets, ramen, popcorn.

Mine are not breakfast eaters. They eat lunch, after school snack, dinner with sometimes very limited snacking after dinner.

My son is 15 and eating non-stop. I have no idea where it's going becasue he's skinny as a rail.

I do not cook for him other than dinner. He eats bowls of Cheerios, heats up frozen pizza & burritos and goes through clamshells of strawberries and grapes. He makes grilled cheese sandwiches and regular sandwiches.

You do not need to be waiting on your kid hand & foot.

He's 13. Point at the refrigerator and then go back to doing whatever it was you were doing. He can fend for himself. It's not like you need to teach him to hunt squirrels.

He's certainly old enough to make his own sandwich, get string cheese, cereal, nuts, protein bar etc. And clean up after himself.

Agree with both PPs but it's also time to teach him to start cooking things. He'll need that skill anyway as an adult. What are his favorite types of dishes? It's easy to make a cheese quesadilla for example. He can dress it up with chicken, onions, green peppers, spinach, or whatever he prefers. Just using that as an example. Helping them cook their favorite things is the best way to encourage that. Just try getting him to make one thing on weekends or something.

When my 10 year old gets super hungry, if he doesn't want a sandwich of some sort, he will make himself either heated up canned soup, or he will scramble some eggs. Melt some American cheese on top.

Man here. I remember being hungry all the time as a teenager. I'd get up in the middle of the night several times and eat bowls of cereal. There'd be 5 or 6 bowls in the sink in the morning. Keep cereal handy?

Leave ready-to-eat snacks, like cut up veggies to eat w/ hummus or ranch, pita chips w/ pre-made Cava dips, easy to eat fruit like Halos, almonds / peanuts / cashews, healthy bars, granola and yogurt. Make it easier for him to grab and go!

And not used to fending for himself he's making me crazy! What do other moms do? What does your teen make for themselves? He's 13 and skinny. Eats breakfast, lunch, after school meal, dinner and meal at 9:30/10 at night!!