What ‘fill em up’ foods should you teach your son to make before he hits his teens?

[timeisnotaline]

Not exactly a taat… I have a growing list of easy and filling foods my currently 6yo ds needs to learn so he doesn’t starve to death as a teen and we don’t have to quit our jobs ti cook every few hours. Since he was 2 he’s regularly eaten more than me, and I distinctly recall baking a cake at about 19 and when I turned around the 16yo brother had eaten half of it. half. Not a few slices. Half. So, my list is:
mac and cheese, bonus if he adds veg
pizza dough
baked potato pizza (slice left over baked potato, spread with tomato paste, maybe ham, and cheese, bake.
toasted sandwiches
fried rice
marcellas Tomato pasta sauce
puttanesca
chili con carne
possibly no knead bread but I’ve not got around to trying it myself

Is leftover baked potato a thing that exists in any house containing a teenage boy?!

Early teen boy in our house makes a lot of fried egg on toast and egg fried rice.

Omelettes. Instant, cheap filler.

Oh spaghetti bolognese is a must. Of course can do a veggie one also. Both would do as baked potato toppings. All of my 4 sons are good cooks and my daughter also. I think they just hung about in the kitchen watching it all happen.

Batter to make pancakes or toad in the hole.
Bread & butter pudding.
Sausage casserole.
Egg fried rice.
Stir fry with noodles.

how could I have forgotten bolognese??? Omelettes a good shout.
good point re leftover baked potato, but if you buy a 5kg bag and put 20 in the oven you must get some for the next day??😁

Noodles are good fast foods. I can’t see sausages making it to the casserole stage tbh unless they drop down the favourite food lists from sitting squarely at number 1 as they have for the past few years.

Chilli and rice
black beans and rice

Not a recipe as such, but it's very useful to teach them how to use up leftovers. It reduces waste and stops the 'open fridge, look inside and declare there's nothing to eat'.

We mix up any leftover meat, vegetables that will soon turn, any half used bits of dairy like yoghurt, butter milk, sour cream, crème fraiche etc, any cheese, any half opened packets of sauce and mix it with an egg and some flour and sometimes breadcrumbs and then fry it as fritters.

Incredibly versatile, filling, and reducing food waste is a great thing to teach kids.

Protein, protein, protein. Eggs of any description except fried, tinned fish, chicken breast, nuts, milk, protein shakes. Those are the things they'll need to stop them starving as a teen or binging on huge quantities of carbs which won't keep them full. All the list is great but protein is what's going to make the most difference.

This is interesting. I tested out different protein powders recently and settled on one I like best (pea, no artificial sweeteners). Adding it to simple things like porridge absolutely transforms them into properly filling meals/snacks. They're expensive but I'm not sure if £ per gram of protein they're actually more expensive than say, meat bolognaise. Not that I'd have bolognaise for snack or breakfast!

I bought DS10 a kids cook book (DK Kid's complete cook book - I think). Has loads of recipes with easy to follow, pictured instructions and not many steps. Would definitely recommend.

@TheTeenageYears you sound like you have a lot of experience here 😁. On the protein front there is a reason I’m focusing on carbs veggies mince etc- eggs and milk yes but I’m not intending to budget for 5 proper meals a day with chicken and fish and protein powders and bags of nuts. You could easily spend $10 a day on that stuff for a teenager. I’m looking for hearty satisfying reasonably healthy options to keep him alive till dinner time, I’m not worried about calories or weight with active teens,i just don’t want them starving and want them self sufficient enough that the options aren’t they starve, I quit my job to cook, or they think fast food is essential for daily survival.

Although autocollante makes a fair point re £ per gram and protein powders, maybe if he masters porridge and will have a steaming bowl waiting for me in the morning I’ll fork out for some protein powder!

Lentil soup/any soup
Porridge/muesli
Eggs

Why would you teach your sons different cooking Than you teach your daughters?

DS is 18 he regulary makes;
Pancakes
Eggs (various)
Curries (variois)
Tuna nicoise salad
Stir frys
Pasta bake

As well as smoothies
Beans on toast
Jacket spuds etc.

He is off to Uni in October he won't starve.

Dd is 15 and prefers things such as;
Pasta pesto
Pot noodles (I know)
Endless coffee
Cupcakes.

I read this as not being sexist but because teen boys can EAT. My brother and male cousin ate about three times as much as my female cousin and I did, especially when they hit growth spurts. My DM and aunt (no connection between them due to divorces - lived in different countries and hated each other 😂) both complained about having to cook as though there were extra adults in the house and food shops being decimated in days.

Burritos/tacos/ fajitas
Pancakes
Fried rice, using leftover protein, veg, eggs (if they will eat them)

Pancakes
soup
Basic curry - the sweet potato, halloumi and chickpea one I use is a basic one pot lob everything in and ready in 30 mins.
cakes - lemon drizzle, apple muffins, no bake cheesecake.

Was endless soup in my house. There was always a big vat of it so that teenagers could help themselves. Used up any leftovers too.
Everyone learned to make an omelette.
The first actual meal was onions/garlic/celery/mushrooms with rice and tinned beans or chickpeas.
All very budget friendly, tasty, wholesome and kept them off the sweeties more or less.
All excellent cooks in adulthood so it worked well.

Yep experience in this area with DS who was constantly hungry from birth. It's not cheap but it's the most effective way to stop the desire to eat half a cake or half a loaf of bread as toast. A handful of unsalted nuts (Costco huge pots) is a quick solution to hunger as teenagers also tend to be pretty lazy. Opening and draining a can of tuna is also a very quick fix to hunger. Cooking 4 eggs takes a tiny bit more time and effort but still just about manageable for the average teen. If they are sporty they are likely to be aware of the benefits of protein over carbs and if weight is in anyway an issue carbs really aren't the way to go. A large bowl in the fridge of mixed beans/sweetcorn/peppers/tomatoes/avocado with some nuts thrown on the top would also be a quick and easy hunger fix. Timing of food also makes quite a difference. Dinner as soon as home from school if it's possible and top up later rather than staving off hunger until the evening. They are machines, they are growing, they need the right type of fuel . I didn't grow up around boys so it was quite an eye opener. As a female grown up I have very different nutrition needs to a teenage boy. I recognised that early on and think it served us well.

Quesadillas
Wrap pizzas

Do you have an air fryer?

I have 3 brothers and 2 sisters. My Dh has 3 brothers and one sister. Everyone was sporty and active. The boys, every one of them, were bottomless pits in the way the girls were not. I played a lot of sports, had 4 weetbix for breakfast and drank a litre of milk a day, but I have never in my life been able to eat the way the boys did- to just disappear half a full size cake (iced) just like that. Or 16 sausages. Or 500gm of pasta with sauce. And then be hungry!! There is absolutely nothing sexist about focussing this topic on boys, it’s just reality. My 6yo already eats so much, that’s why I’m thinking ahead to the teen years.
All of my children will learn to cook by the way, not just the boys.

Agreed! My 14 year old DS is quite adept at knocking up a pasta dish based on whatever he can find in the fridge. He'll use a tin of tuna or sardines for protein and then add whatever veg needs eating up, capers and olives if there are any etc.
His other go-to when he cooks for himself is scrambled eggs on toast. And a favourite snack is peanut butter on rice cakes washed down with a pint of Nesquik