Packed lunch ideas for very active teenager

[KatyMac]

Today she went off with:
Porridge for Breakfast with dried fruit (before she went)

Then has:
Pasta salad, with peas, sweetcorn, cucumber, tomato, ham & peaches with a bit of Soy sauce as dressing
Apple Charlotte
Dried fruits, seeds & nuts (about 6oz)
Breakfast bar
2 fig rolls, 2 chocolate half covered digestives
Chocolate bar & some sweeties

Water to drink

But she will be staving when she gets in tonight (despite having money to buy extras - she often buys a sports drink) - but if I pack much more she will not be able to carry it apparently

Any ideas?

[ivykaty44]

will she eat chicken drum sticks cooked in a simple redcurrent jelly honey and mustard dressing and then left to chill. Put tow in a food bag and pop in the lunch box.

I usually pack

crackers for break - or rice cakes (cardboard things)
ham and lettuce sarnie with mayo on wholemeal bread or marmite
one large banana
one mandarine
pink biscuits or sainsbury own apple and sultana bars


she has a jam sandwich on swimming mornings to take with her after eating weetbix.

I am going to do beans on toast next week for breakfast to see if this will fill her up more, but we will not have time on swimming days as she needs to eat in the car.

[KatyMac]

She eats so much bread - mind you she eats so much pasta

I wonder if protein is the way to go - she would love that chicken; she has grown 3.5 inches since Christmas

[KatyMac]

I wonder if they have access to a kettle at the school; I'll ask when she gets back

I think you can get pasta pots she could have hot, or just more porrdige

[Trickle]

DH was unfillable as a teen - his mum went for quite a lot of pastry based stuff, but she was a SAHM so she had time to bake them herself to make sure they were healthy. He says mince and onion pie, pork pie ect. He would have a big salad with it - if you're growing and doing as well stodge is about the only thing that fills - he says pasta just was never enough, neither was bread.

Also flapjack with nuts and seeds

[KatyMac]

Hmm pastry - she loves tuna puffs, cheese & tomatoe pinwheels & sausage rolls (all HM) so that might be a way to go........

Don't think she'd eat a pie at school; they are always on about their weight

[ivykaty44]

I make pizza at home - simple dough in bread machine and cheese and tomato topping - I make four small pizza and then wrap in tin foil.

Do pesto in pinwheels with pizza dough to some times -dd like these two as lunches.

Flask and soup? A thick chunky bean soup?

[bagelmonkey]

More protein to fill her up. And carbs too. Chicken drumsticks/wings, sausage rolls, cocktail sausages, pork pies, scotch egg, cheese & crackers, prawns & dip? Flapjacks? Milk to drink?

[crypes]

Its so easy to make massive sausage rolls for packed lunches. Just buy ready puff pastry and supermarket sausagemeat and put em together. Jamie Oliver adds a sprinkle of parmesan cheese on the sausage meat to make them more tangy, and they really are filling.

[KatyMac]

Yep, I'm thinking carbs

Cold pizza seems a bit off; but I suppose she will eat it (eats most things not nailed down)

[singinggirl]

DH takes a flask of soup - cycles ten miles each way. Lentil and bacon soup plus a bread roll is a great favourite, then banana, summer fruits pudding, flapjack.

[lilolilmanchester]

bananas are good for energy boosts. I know you said she already has a lot of bread, but things like hot-cross buns/malt loaf might make a change. Decant some hummus with carrot sticks/pitta slices. Rice/couscous or potato salads as alternative to pasta. Scones/fruit cake instead of biscuits?

[KatyMac]

Great ideas; I think I got out of the swing of it over Easter (3 Saturdays off!)

She loves cold bleurgh risotto & kedgeree but we ate all the leftovers already oops

[ivykaty44]

She loves cold bleurgh risotto & kedgeree but we ate all the leftovers already oops

Then surely she will love cold pizza?

Bananas are great for teen girls as they help with periods as well as being filling - just don't give them to ripe.

What about cold rice pudding things you get in pots?

[KatyMac]

You are right - she pointed out she had cold pizza for lunch on Monday I'm not sure my brain is in gear

She would love cold rice pudding (& had asked to take a tin of but I veto'd that as she couldn't open a tin & eat out of it or dispose of it safely)

She eats a lot of bananas, but we had run out; I think I need a bit of a re-organise

[sharond101]

HOw about either of these,

mygreendiet.com/green-diet-plan-recipes/no-bake-protein-bites/

mygreendiet.com/green-diet-plan-recipes/introducing-the-new-rice-crispy-treat/

This girls website is heaven!

[bagelmonkey]

You can get rice pudding in little plastic cartons with a foil lid, so no tin problem.

[DialMforMummy]

Add a boiled egg? Cheap, healthy and yummy.

[DialMforMummy]

And you can make your own rice pudding and put it a small tupperware type thing. Even cheaper than buying it. Do one batch for the week and give her a bit every day.

[nooka]

Personally I think that teenagers should be making their own lunches, but perhaps you are making lunches for younger children too?

Anyway, looking at the lunch I'd say much too much sweet stuff and not enough protein. I'd go for a main item with meat, fish, eggs or nuts and a wholegrain, and just one sweet thing (looks like nine sweet things to one main dish in that pack up). If she is crashing then a snack, lunch and another snack if she's doing an after school activity, but the snacks don't need to be sweet - slow release energy is what you should be aiming for.

[KatyMac]

She makes her own Mon-Fri (hence me not knowing she had cold pizza earlier in the week) but often on a Friday she gets in at 11 and has to be out at 8:30 - so there isn't really a lot of time as there are leotards to be washed etc

Which is why I make Saturdays but as I said I've had 3 weeks off & I hadn't really shopped for it (as I forgot) so we were make do & mend yesterday (plus when she came in on Friday she had eaten the veg filled pancakes & the tuna puffs which she was supposed to have)

I think I was just feeling a bit about it all yesterday

She may have a go at those recipes (she is quite a good cook) & DH has jumped on the whole rice pudding idea - we have spare milk in the fridge, so I'll make a big one & she can portion it out

[passedgo]

Just reviving this teenage packed lunch thread. Mine are excrutiatingly self-conscious about what they take in. We're talking inner city comp, not a selective or private school - I'm sure it makes a difference!

Any ideas of filling and nutritious food that won't make them stand out? I have one slightly overweight 13 year old and a skinny 15 year-old.

Now DP also needs packed lunch so I want stuff I can make the night before for all three.