Help! How to Feed A Growing Boy??

[JacobsMom]

Help!!
My 16 year old brother has just recently moved in with us and I am amazed at how much he eats! He is constantly in the refrigerator! I am in need of any suggestions on HEALTHY snacks that I can make ahead of time and keep in the fridge. He's bored with plain fruit. Thank you for any suggestions :)

[badunnin]

My brother LIVED on cold cereal at that age.

[zippy478]

Some ideas that I thought of are:

Chicken fajitas - cook the chicken, chop up the veggies and he can just heat the chicken and put it together

Tacos - same as the fajitas but with meat

I ate a lot of pasta and other carbs at that age.

Peanut butter and celery

Chicken or tuna salad with fresh bread/rolls

I also ate a lot of veggies with dip at that age

I know some of these aren't gonna be super healthy but they are all relatively easy to throw together and can be made healthy by using low fat mayo or whatnot.

Get him involved in it, too - see what kind of tolerance level he has in terms of what he'll eat. You may come up with some good ideas if you sit down with him and brainstorm.

Good luck!

[RunnerKim]

I've been searching the boards for granola/energy bar recipes to make for my young daughter for breakfast. I think they might work well for a teenager's snack. Here's a link to a good thread http://community.cookinglight.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44552

What about hard boiled eggs, apples with peanut butter on them. Even PB & J sandwiches? Granola, chex mix, nuts..

Kim

[tbb113]

My fourteen year old son likes:

Popcorn
Soup
Chili (canned)
Cheese tortellini (frozen from Safeway)
Guacamole and chips
Hummus and chips
Tamales (buy frozen at Trader Joes)

I read somewhere that they can eat between 4000 - 6000 calories a day (to fuel the growth) :rolleyes:

[rosie_one]

You have to teach him to cook, at least a little, so you don't spend your life feeding him. Teaching him to clean up afterward is the hard part though!

At that age I LOVED to make my own rice crispy treats... toss a bowl of cereal (any kind that is relatively light like rice crispies or crispix or corn flakes) in the microwave with a glob of peanut butter, a little butter and a handful of marshmellows for about a minute. The marshmellows puff up and look pretty cool too. Stir up and devour. Repeat.

Fried egg sandwiches are good too. Grilled cheese. Bagels are filling with PB or cream cheese or as a sandwich. Good luck!

[ilikecats85]

quesedillas! My 16 year old son is a fiend for them and he makes them and cleans up easily himself. He uses up the leftovers for me, chicken, chili, beef- whatever is handy and loads of cheese.

Karen:)

[karen w]

As a fellow mother of a "Jacob," I can sympathize with you. My Jacob is only 6 y.o., however, but I fear for the day he becomes a teen. He already is a BIG eater, and a skinny kid(guess he gets his metabolism from DH and I:D ). I'm sorry I don't have any more suggestions for you, but I'll have to remember some of this great advice for when my "Jacob" as well as his brother and sister hit the teen years!

Karen

[JacobsMom]

Thank You for all of the excellent suggestions! You guys are awesome!