Food for D of E expedition. Fussy eater please help

[Turmerictolly]

I have a fussy eater ds15 and he can't seem to come up with meals for his weekend camping expedition. Won't eat anything with a wet sauce ie; chilli, spaghetti Bol etc. Will eat plain pasta, bread (not brioche), tinned sardines at a push. He'll be bringing weetabix and fruit for breakfast but stuck for lunches. Will need non perishable foods.

He's always hungry even after huge meals at home. Any ideas please?

Maybe it is this sort of pandering that has led to it.

Now a group of strangers is meal planning for a 15 year old boy less than 3 year away from becoming a man.

Leave him to it. As others said give him a £20 note he can buy his own food

He will be so tired he will eat anything by the end of the first day. Let him sort himself out
He should have a list of suitable foods to take
Have faith in him and let him crack on with it

Will eat plain [bread] ... stuck for lunches

What's wrong with just plain bread (not even butter?) for lunch. I'm not seeing what the problem is. At least he eats bread.

He needs to sort this himself. If he's so fussy at 15 that it means he can't do things he enjoys he needs to understand this and have to work around it. Maybe he will grow up and stop eating like a toddler if her realises it has an impact on what he gets to do for fun?

I don’t think people realise what food issues can be like.

It might be down to pandering, but it might not.

I have three children, all raised on fairly adventurous food. The middle just has really sensitive taste buds and can’t manage much that’s interesting at all. He tries things but says they taste horrible.

DH can’t eat anything with a gritty or grainy texture. Most lumpy soups, pulses, many fruits. Again, he tries but he gags. It’s really not him just being fussy.

@SheWoreYellow

I don’t think people realise what food issues can be like.

It might be down to pandering, but it might not.

I have three children, all raised on fairly adventurous food. The middle just has really sensitive taste buds and can’t manage much that’s interesting at all. He tries things but says they taste horrible.

DH can’t eat anything with a gritty or grainy texture. Most lumpy soups, pulses, many fruits. Again, he tries but he gags. It’s really not him just being fussy.

Fair enough, but if a child is still that fussy by the age of 15, surely that's all the more reason for them to learn to manage their food issues independently?

Maybe being with friends and having the option of going hungry, he’ll suddenly realise that he can eat wet food after all???

What's wrong with just plain bread (not even butter?) for lunch. I'm not seeing what the problem is. At least he eats bread.

No protein. Plain bread isn't an adequate meal for someone engaged in a day of physical activity.

As a parent and step parent of children who do have difficulty with certain textures you have my sympathies.
To those of you who think kids will eat when hungry or that eating with their peers will change everything - to some extent maybe, but lots of these kids are not neurotypical so it's really not a simple matter of choice or pandering.

Protein bars, is Huel Hot & Savoury an option? Plenty of flavours with that.

Have you got time to do a trial run of what he'll be eating? To make sure it's filling enough but also so he's more in control.

DofE is really hard for eating. I went through to Gold. It's hard because the amount of food needed, and the weight is very difficult.

The original idea, I think, was that people would catch fish and stuff, but that never actually happens and there is no training. I think it would be very hard to find an unpolluted river these days anwyay.

Can you give him his own little gas stove and one pot? Then you could give him a lot of plain rice and plain pasta. I also took tinned fruit salad, and a lot of bread, which keeps well. It could be in those little sealed packets that you get in cafes. A trianga is also an option with a little bottle of meths to burn, but a gas canister is much more effective.

Would something tinned that doesn't need heated be any good? Like small tins of corned beef or tuna?

Does he eat butter? If he could have sometime buttered that would get him a lot of calories.

I'm also a super picky eater and found it really hard.

DofE is a lot about survival tbh. I found that putting on a ton of weight just before was helpful.

I think the important thing to remember is that these kids are likely to walk 18 miles a day with a two and a half stone rucksac on their backs, and a lot of it will be up steep hills with very rough ground so lifting their feet high to get over heather and all sorts. It's serious work.

@DameAlyson

What's wrong with just plain bread (not even butter?) for lunch. I'm not seeing what the problem is. At least he eats bread.

No protein. Plain bread isn't an adequate meal for someone engaged in a day of physical activity.

It's fine as long as he gets enough protein over the day. There is protein in bread anyway, it's about 10% protein by weight. You don't need protein for physical activity, you need carbs for energy.

@AliceinBorderland

Maybe it is this sort of pandering that has led to it.

Now a group of strangers is meal planning for a 15 year old boy less than 3 year away from becoming a man.

Leave him to it. As others said give him a £20 note he can buy his own food

You have no idea what you are talking about. Buying food leads to an instant fail. I'm guessing you have never done anything like as gruelling as a DofE hike.

I used to find these power bar protein bars really good when I was on transatlantic flights with no access to food:

www.powerbar.eu/en_GB/products/muscle-shape/protein-bars

D of E leader here, he does need to cook as part of his group, most commonly I see the following meals:

Quick cook pasta and sauce
Boil in the bag meals
Tins of soup (but heavy to carry)
Super noodles
Pot noodle/mug shot (frowned upon)
Bacon rolls
Roll and sausage

One group did sandwiches and made a hot pudding which we allowed.

Most of the time they survive on sugar… even though we try to encourage more healthy options.

My DS also took those military packet things that can be used to heat food but they really work with sachet type wet meals which isn't an option in this case.

And no, a person with ingrained food issues is not just suddenly going to eat foods that they dislike just because they are hungry - they would rather just go hungry and perhaps end up failing. Setting him up for success is what is required, no-one is suggesting doing it all for him.

He may, or should, just forget about his food fussiness, when outdoors with the other people, and just muck in, and eat practically anything..

Bear Grylls and all that.

Buying food leads to an instant fail.

Presumably not if you do it before the event

You have no idea what you are talking about. Buying food leads to an instant fail. I'm guessing you have never done anything like as gruelling as a DofE hike.

Lol. Buying food to make himself and take with him. Buy food at the shops for himself in advance to take with him an make.

Calm down my dear xxx

@etulosba

Buying food leads to an instant fail.

Presumably not if you do it before the event

Exactly. 😃

Someone understood

A lot of suggestions sound too heavy to carry.

They are often walking over 60km over 3 days for silver. Their pack is likely to weigh between 12 and 15kg before they put food in….that is with the bare minimum of clothes, but the essential tent, stove, sleeping bag and mat and 2litres of water. When I tired, I could barely lift the pack, never mind walk over 20km some days with it.

They do have to prepare a hot meal. They have to carry their food for 3 lunches, 2 breakfasts and 2 cooked meals.

Food with v limited packaging is needed. It needs to be light and quick. Gas for cooking will be limited due to carrying it, so things that cook in 5-10 mins max, including the water boiling time.

And by the time you’re at silver level, this is getting quite hardcore and it won’t probably be working for those with very fussy needs…whatever the root cause of them are. Those who can’t/won’t share a tent or carry their pack or eat the food or walk the distance won’t get through it. It’s not mean to be easy, but to be a real challenge that stretches them a lot.

Many on these hikes will cry at some point, they will be exhausted, their feet will ache and they will still have some distance to go with the heavy pack. My DS who was fairly robust (rugby player etc) said in his group’s training expedition, all 6 in his group of boys and girls had a little cry at some point. They had terrible weather and found it very hard. Several had blisters and they just hadn’t faced the distance with a big load before, even at Bronze level.

Between the practice hike and the real thing a few dropped out. Apparently that’s entirely usual. And more drop out before Gold. Getting Gold is meant to be a real achievement and not something the majority will manage. Some activities have to be undertaken for the full year and then there’s the 5 day trip - practice and qualifying which includes wild camping with no loos and a trowel! It’s not for all, but those who manage have a tremendous sense of achievement. I think it’s FAB and it absolutely shouldn’t be watered down or managed by parents or schools or Scout groups to remove the independence that it’s designed for.

The lad could add tinned sardines for his lunch. To get perceived protein requirement met. Peel back opening kind of tinned sardines.

Assuming plain pasta, plain bread and tinned sardines are the entirety of all the foods he ever eats.

You're missing the point of D o E. and undermining him.

It's to foster independence, autonomy, confidence, self reliance, planning, and the expeditions are to teach resilience, team work with peers, how to recognise his personal challenges , face them and overcome them.

It's not for Mummy to organise. He has to do it himself.

@2bazookas

You're missing the point of D o E. and undermining him.

It's to foster independence, autonomy, confidence, self reliance, planning, and the expeditions are to teach resilience, team work with peers, how to recognise his personal challenges , face them and overcome them.

It's not for Mummy to organise. He has to do it himself.

All of this. He's 15, he isn't 5. If he's going to be fussy he should be doing the planning to accommodate it.