My child’s day on a plate: The reality of feeding a growing teenage boy...

Every mother of teenage boys knows the terrifying sight of a hungry boy standing at the fridge slowly surveying the contents. If there’s “nothing to eat” the fridge light flickers, the door slams and a junk food proprietor calls.  Other days, leftovers vanish and potential meals become snacks. Then there really is nothing to eat.

Once I was out walking and stopped in my tracks.

“Oh my God,” I said, “I’ve left Sean at home with a roast lamb.” Lo and behold, there was no lamb to speak of by the time I got home.

At 18 years old, my son Reilly stands at 195 cm and weighs 90 kg, with newly hairy and ‘hollow legs’. Like his older brother Sean, when he’s hungry he’s really hungry. But even when he’s not, he’s still happy to graze on whatever is available. Some mornings I swear he’s grown taller overnight. Growing that body plus all the sports and activities we encourage to keep him busy and focused, evidently takes a lot of fuel.

Boys like volume, flavour and crunch. Their mothers want them to eat breakfast and proper meals and make healthy choices for all the snacks in between. We want to stay ahead of the after school feeding frenzy that happens when they don’t.

Breakfast/morning tea/lunchbox.

When the weekend rolls around, Reilly will always stop to enjoy a bowl of cereal for breakfast, but during the week he simply, “doesn’t have time to eat breakfast”. This goes back to primary school when we lived so close that he could do a mad scramble when he heard the first bell and run to school in time for the second bell.

He still gets up minutes before he has to leave for university and only has time for a quick shower and a self-approving check in the mirror. He takes a fairly solid lunch and eats most of it at morning tea.

French bread with salami, lettuce, roasted capsicum and avocado (squeeze of lemon to keep it green). Anzac biscuits (standard recipe) two boiled eggs and two bananas.

Afternoon tea.

At least one large glass of milk, preferably not glugged straight from the bottle.

Wait a minute, I thought I bought two litres this morning?

Pre-dinner snack, of sorts.

Here’s a picture of the tuna pie, which in my plan-ahead-dream-world was going to be dinner. Instead, Reilly got into it after football training.

Anyway it’s quick and easy and I would rather they ate solid savoury food than flavoured snacks or instant noodles (which my kids think deserve a ‘food group’ all of their own).

It’s a $1.00 packet of macaroni which you cook first then add a can of tuna including the spring water, a bottle of cream, parmesan cheese, chopped celery, spinach, parsley, green chili and onion. Cook in oven with melted cheese on top. Goes down well with barbeque sauce.

Dinner (the back up one).

Lamb wrap: souvlaki (lamb marinated in oregano and lemon juice) served with cucumber, tomato, lettuce, feta cheese, hummus and black olives.

There’s something mysterious about a wrap. It could be a Mexican tortilla, a pita bread or Vietnamese fresh spring roll it doesn’t matter.

My kids will eat multiple salad items in a wrap that they wouldn’t fancy in a bowl. Plus I love the ‘make your own’ style of dinner, where I just have to put the ingredients on the table and the kids adopt a hands on approach/no cutlery.

Dessert.

Mango. Sweet and simple.

Nutritionist review.

Teenage boys – it really is quite amazing how much they can put away and just how quickly your fully stocked pantry empties before your eyes. One thing that might help spare your superbly, pre-cooked evening meals, is by encouraging your son Reilly to get up even just 10 minutes earlier for breakfast.

Breakfast doesn’t have to be anything too extravagant – the best option for Reilly at this stage would be a simple bowl of cereal (as he enjoys on the weekends) or when he’s particularly hurried, he could even whiz up a smoothie containing milk, Greek yoghurt, a piece of fruit and LSA, put it in a shaker and drink it as he runs out the door. This will help keep his nicely packed lunch for his lunch, instead of a mid-morning snack.

Speaking of lunch, fantastic work. It’s perfectly organised and contains a nice balance of protein, carbohydrates and healthy fats. To help keep him feeling fuller for longer, try switching to wholegrain sourdough, which will boost the fibre content and lower the glycemic index.  Adding more protein by switching the salami to skinless chicken or tuna or even roast beef will also help keep those hunger pangs at bay.

I love the fact you have a second dinner at your fingertips when your first option is (heartbreakingly) eaten. If you continue to find that your kids’ are still hungry, try adding more vegetables or beans, like kidney beans or black beans, to your wraps as this will help to boost their fibre content and fill them up.

As for dessert, natural sweetness is the best way to finish a meal, so two thumbs up.

* This third party nutritionist is not affiliated with any of the companies we partner with.

How do you keep your teenagers well fed?