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?

I took mint cake or whatever it was called to up my calories, could break it down to fill all the little spaces
No tins of food, just packets, quarter of a bar of soap and a bit of dry milk I seem to remember
Ahhhh happy days
Don't forget to give him money for cider though OP

Jesus, no-one is suggesting that OP should do all his planning and food packing. She is looking for ideas that either she or he may not have come across so they can add options to the list. So things like instant mash potato that they might not be aware of/have forgotten about etc. It's about suggestions for him to consider. So, melting a bag of grated cheese into hot instant mash with fruit on the side and a slice of malt loaf with jam would be a reasonably nutritious and filling meal.

You can get dried bacon, I think from M&S.

He needs to do this himself.

But you can help by giving him a list of high protein and bulky foods that will help fill him up.

Worry less about the end of the trip because by then he will be tired and knackered and more willing to try other things.

My fussy 13 yr old on scout camps will eat plain pasta, plain rice etc but adds cheese, sausages etc to get some protein in. I also let him take plenty sweets for the sugar and energy n

Some people are being very cruel here and clearly have no idea what it's like to be a 'fussy' eater.
I struggled massively with the communal meals when I was on a scout camp at age 20 and probably lived off apples and bread for a week. There were a lot of tears that week because I couldn't 'do' food like 'normal'.
Now - 20 odd years later I know much more of what I could have eaten. Packets of super noodles, pasta, porridge, savoury rice etc would of been my lifesavers if I had been more aware of those products then.
Who cares if he is 15. He needs advice and guidance.

DS1 did his bronze DofE last summer, he is not only fussy but also has multiple allergies.

He had breakfast biscuits, chocolate spread wraps for lunch. Dinner he had a pasta pouch thingy, if your DS won't eat sauce then suggest as a PP has said taking his pasta or rice out of the pan before the sauce is added. Sardines or eg Babybel for protein. And lots of calorie dense snacks (dried fruit, flapjacks etc)

[quote barleywoken]@GoWalkabout give over he's 15 for crying out loud. He should know what to eat to sustain himself by now [/quote]
This!

He needs to sit himself down with a pen and paper and meal plan.

No harm in giving him some ideas though is there? He can decide what he likes and wants to take.

Lots of high calorie snacks like chocolate and biscuits? I wouldn’t worry too much if he is being very active that weekend and it’s not a habit.

@ElephantOfRisk

Jesus, no-one is suggesting that OP should do all his planning and food packing. She is looking for ideas that either she or he may not have come across so they can add options to the list. So things like instant mash potato that they might not be aware of/have forgotten about etc. It's about suggestions for him to consider. So, melting a bag of grated cheese into hot instant mash with fruit on the side and a slice of malt loaf with jam would be a reasonably nutritious and filling meal.

Exactly this.

... and thank you for all of the suggestions- there are definitely things we hadn't thought of that could work.

Ds is a good trekker - has experience climbing Scafell, Snowdonia, Scottish fells and mountains in all weathers. We also camp but obviously have our own gear, cool boxes etc so can cook properly. He has a good diet at home of mostly fish/meat and two veg variety. He has school lunches or a packed lunch of a ham sandwich.

Part of the problem is that he's probably a bit too embarrassed to tell the others the long list of things he doesn't eat as he doesn't want them to think he's a pain or for them to change their diet to suit/includehim. He'd rather just bring his own stuff.

@StrongLegs are they supposed to grow their own? Or steal it?
Of course they buy it. 🙄

Give him money to shop for his own trip and see how he does in the packet aisle of Asda! He might surprise us all.

He'd rather just bring his own stuff.

Well, in that case, he needs to plan his own menu and take his own stuff then - he has to cook at least one hot meal a day to fulfill the requirements. If he won’t eat any of the normal stuff kids eat on DofE (endless pasta and sauce meals), then he has to come up with an alternative. Kids that don’t eat properly on DofE expeditions can become a danger to themselves and their group.

@MeredithGreyishblue I thought you meant he should buy it while on the hike. That is not allowed.

I'd be interested to know if you have done a DofE hike yourself. Catering for it is really challenging.

If you have, what did you eat?

The idea is they plan a group meal and cook as a group.
Carrying own stoves and pans just adds to weight. They should have a stove and pan set per group of 3-4 ish.

Menu planning as a group and coming to compromises is all part of it. Doing your own thing and just eating what you fancy isn’t. It’s all about team work - ie people who walk at different speeds must stick together and check into check points together. People cannot go off and leave others behind, nor do their own food thing. Team work is the name of the game. Likewise, tents in pairs, not just having your own space.

@ElephantOfRisk I now really want cheesy mash and malt loaf. Yum.

I wondered about jerky? The stuff in bags like bags of crisps? I'd hell manage noodles or plain rice then that might be a good meat option and light too.
Sardines are great if he'll eat those - he just might have to have a very well sealed bag for the rubbish!
If he'll do a ham sandwich then maybe some of that chicken already cooked in a pouch could be mixed with rice or noodles too?

If he likes ham sandwiches, you can get little 2 serving size tinned hams. He could have half for lunch and chop it into pasta/couscous/rice for dinner.

www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/sainsburys-lean-cooked-ham-200g?productId=17312&utm_campaign=11354430451&utm_medium=cpc&storeId=10151&gclid=CjwKCAjwk6-LBhBZEiwAOUUDp_lbmeydgvf-9Ufb9zfChiIaZ2T6gUELDcJHZeJ78rcRvEL0uVgLIRoCYLoQAvD_BwE&catalogId=10241&langId=44&utm_source=Google&krypto=HpiDMYX2vwTGZVk8fP5NFVO6F%2BlLO7XEhMptiOX%2BcXSsXAQiWp%2FQtCZ8UazYnHKipjPb106d9ggw2XGQ5HMVCoGhKPoxPyBU0EOuusFK6Om5vRgI5N9gTc67IREeZ1rzibsQjzoqjJu9HSUgfv%2FSJzX73fGzi8Ymzcy2T8AUrWIu%2BqWkWsgFrg9aPz3TQ%2Ff%2B2kWB51yj691h4cI32GUDk9Fchy8ZEFZ%2F5T4mRl557DjND7JTtla4HjIuicLekdPGxBQGGtXOQrCPwbx3V2NhQcmmEl6ouz%2Bu3FfUxtb%2F7LAaip1npUvmkJUKbLKWXt9%2FNCv5UC1q6%2FsFnxukxBlZBRXPtRmQtm7EgCHNTyjC4ISFUl0ii655jnnCESATt1IFF2lbs3fXb%2BAmW4xLedf3OAtS9ge4e7Z1LXq5pjGxV2jkFyq2CjjixrP7ZCEssfYN&ddkey=https%3Agb%2Fgroceries%2Fsainsburys-lean-cooked-ham-200g

Does he eat gravy or is it too wet? We took boil in the bag roast beef slices on one expedition.

Don't pack food that's going to stink like sardines. Same as you wouldn't / shouldn't pack it for School or work lunch.

They tend to generally end up eating all the bread items and snacks that get packed. When my DS went last year they ended up sharing all their food because it was much easier so just ate whatever was easist to cook that they had between them. So if one DC cooked hot dog sausages or noodles they shared it amongst themselves. It was a combined effort of laziness on their part after their long treks. They didnt have the most rounded of diets that weekend.

My DS is a fussy eater so I shoved crisps, jelly beans and brioche amongst the dry packet food. Didnt bother with fruit as it would just get squashed and bruised. DS 15 managed to survive the weekend

He has school lunches or a packed lunch of a ham sandwich.

Why can't he have packed ham sandwiches on expedition?
Big thick ham even, to satisfy the protein-obsessives.

Exactly - parental involvement should be minimal! Their expedition supervisor should be overseeing it and providing advice.

And no tins/jars - far too much weight! Keep the space for blister plasters and moleskin

(Daughter done bronze and gold expeditions)

He'll be hungry and eat or he'll be hungry and not eat. If he takes some chocolate and so on I'm sure he'll survive.

Wraps, individually wrapped croissants, marmite, flapjacks, oranges/satsumas, cup-a-soups, super noodles, packets of vegetable rice, tuna.

My hiking lunch is slabs of fruit cake, cheese and crisps. Food groups all covered, salt to sweat out, high energy.
Wraps or rolls travel better than sliced bread that gets crumbled.

The kind of light weight, low packaging food to cook on a single burner does tend to lend itself to sauces because of the need to rehydrate it which is tricky for someone with sensory issues which tend to be far harder to overcome than simple dislikes.

DS1 can eat wet food, but struggles to process too many foods together and anticipate the varied texture of what goes in his mouth. Extreme hunger makes it more likely that he'll just have a meltdown than ravenously devour everything in sight. It really is not as simple as stop pandering and let hunger take over.

Plain pasta, packet mash, beef jerky, frankfurters...
Outdoor shops will have packet meals. Most will be wet, but there might be deserts that might be suitable. They're much more accessible than when I did my DoE 20+ years ago.
Eat fresh/ heavier foods day 1 into day 2, and save the lighter foods for day 2-3.

3 of my DC have done D of E. They all did a meal plan in their groups, then agreed which menu items they would each buy, or had one responsible for breakfast, one for lunches, one snacks etc. The main thing is to get enough calories and protein whilst keeping the weight to a minimum. Only put in fresh food if it will be eaten on day 1. So, mine took a mixture of:
Cereal bars
Biscuits
Protein bars
Instant porridge
Ready brek sachets
Individually wrapped chocolate crepes, croissants, pain au chocolat
Wraps, rolls and squeezy spreads like cheese, chocolate spread, jam
Mint cake
Chocolate bars & sweets
Dried fruit
Super noodles
Dried mash
Packet rice, pasta, bean meals
Cured sausages/ veggie biltong- as snack & to flavour dishes
Small squeezy squash flavouring
Hot chocolate sachets & mini marshmallows - v popular!

Communication is an essential part of working as a group.

It would be great if he could suggest things they could all eat. Otherwise he needs to tell them upfront that he wants to prepare his own food, so count him out of their plans but allow some cooking gas for him.

There is no reason to tell the rest of the group his long list of can't eats. They're not his mum, or his personal chefs. He needs to offer solutions, not problems.