Healthy meal and snack ideas for an ever hungry 12 year old

[Monr0e]

As a family I feel our diet is pretty rubbish at the moment. DH and I both work full time and I work shifts. As a result we are eating less healthy.

DS is often constipated and I feel eating better would help him as well as the rest of us.

So looking for healthy family meals as well as snacks he can help himself to. Thank you

My healthy go to in a hurry dish’s are fishy! A simple nicois with tuna steaks, stir fry with salmon and sweet chilli sauce, cod fillets cooked in foil with lemon juice and herbs, served with steamed veg.
Can you prep dishes at the weekend to reheat in the week, vegetable chilli is great for this, yo7 can pack in loads of veg and beans and serve with different accompaniments ( rice, jacket potato wraps) to mix things up a bit.
Roasted veg fritata is also quick and easy and great for packing in the veg.
For snacks, popcorn is really high in fibre so good to keep things moving, ditto roasted chickpeas. I also bake a savoury flapjack, which j# great for slow release carbs without the sugar.

What kind of meals do you all like?

Some meals we have are
Chicken drumsticks, potato wedges and veg from freezer like sweet corn and green beans.
Chicken and veg curry with rice
Vegetable stir fries
Shepherds pie
Chicken casserole
Lamb and veg stew
Pasta with tomato and veg sauce

Have fruit available for snacks.

Thank you, some lovely ideas. He loves sea food so the fish dishes would go down a treat. He also likes chilli, any particular recipe?

We eat pretty basic I think though I'd like to try more. A typical week might be
Spag bol
Fajitas
A roast at weekend, chicken or gammon
Dh is a rubbish cook so it's usually a freezer tea, Kiev, veg and potatoes, if I'm on a long day (he does all the ironing and hoovering so it evens out!)
I try and meal plan around my shifts but sometimes I'm too knackered to think ahead.

Healthy snack ideas are appreciated
We always have fruit in that he can help himself to but sometimes it's more a second meal in the evening he's after!

We often have a big batch of these frittata muffins in the freezer. They're great because we can just take out however many we want and quickly heat them up. realfood.tesco.com/recipes/green-frittata-muffins.html Large frozen balls of falafel work in the same way and they're good as a snack in themselves or can make a light meal with a wrap/pitta.
You could keep a stock of boiled eggs in the fridge, They last nearly all week. Easy for a snack or great in a quick kedgeree. realfood.tesco.com/recipes/quick-kedgeree-with-poached-eggs.html
These cornflake chicken nuggets are healthy, easy to make, can be frozen and make a good after school snack with a dip. realfood.tesco.com/recipes/cornflake-chicken-nuggets.html
These packets of Heinz Creationz are a good idea to have in the cupboard. They're filling and full of fibre. They could be had as a snack on toast or turned into a proper family meal with rice. www.ocado.com/webshop/product/Heinz-Creationz-Lentil-Curry/291194011 There's a whole range of them.

Spaghetti bolagnase is always a winner here , if you make the sauce from scratch can pack it full of veggies takes about 30 mins to be on the plate . I’m always knackered after work and swear by the slow cooker have something to eat as soon as we walk in otherwise I end up ramming crisp and rubbish cause tired and hungry

Does he like soup?
That can be a good snack and help with constipation. I often make it for my lunch then give it to dcs after school.
My kids love minestrone with mini pasta in it, tomato soup and leek and potato.

Wholemeal bread/ toast is probably the quickest of snacks and would help with the fibre. With soup as suggested above or a small tin of beans. DS1 loves it with a tin of mackerel (in olive oil but drained) spead on with some black pepper and tabasco sprinkled on. If he needs building up then peanut butter is good as a spread. If not, then crisp breads are good with squeezy cheese . Mine like rice cakes. Packets of ready cooked rice are easy for the microwave and would make an easy dinner for your DH :) Eggs are great and teach your DS to poach one properly and he can show his dad a thing or two. :) Perfect poached egg every time. Small deep pan of boiling salted water with a bit of vinegar added. Crack the eggs into a cup and pour into the pan while it's doing a rolling boil. Time for exactly 2 minutes and remove eggs with a slotted spoon. sprinkle with sea salt and pepper.

Some snack ideas: pitta/crudités with humous, homemade smoothies with frozen fruit, make and freeze breakfast type muffins (loads of ‘healthy’ recipes online), french toast, greek yogurt with frozen fruit and oats. Also make sure he’s drinking enough water as that can help with constipation as well as helping with feeling full.

Some great ideas, thank you

I've got a week off now so going to get on top of meal planning and plan a week of meals and top up on all your snack suggestions

He does like boiled eggs so will boil some up and pop them in the fridge and get some soup recipes

Thanks again

Eggs may make the constipation worse.

Try putting a bowl of grapes on the table after main course. And don’t say anything. See how long it take for them to disappear.

for chilli we just make our usuaul spag bol and then add some paprika cumin and chilli powder with some kidney beans.
mince and wedges are a winner.
roasted veg is a hit!sweet potatos or normal with skins left on for roughage.carrots.pepper.red onions.gardlic.sprinkle oil over and salt and pepper.can also mix it up with different seasoning.roast for a good half hour then check from there. this can then be a side dish.with fish or meat.cooking a chop of fish fillet on top towards end of cooking can be done too.you can have wwith jacket on toast with pasta.and it makes a great thing to have in tupperward in the fridge the kids love going into it.
tray bakes are miracle meals.look up tray bakes on good food.
roasted cauliflower and broccoli are great snacks.
mixed bean salad with lots of sweetcorn and a vinegrette dressing is a hit to keep in fridge.
chees and hame roll up wraps is a good snack.
maybe some seeded or wholemeal toast for evening if he hungry.or a bowl of branflakes.
if ur going to be busy the next day but want something cooked a great idea is to cook a chicken either with ur evening meal or aswell as.or any roast so that its there done.cover in foil and keep in fridge til the next day when you can either have it cold with salad/veg and jacket or warmed up for proper roast dishes to add to it. or wrip it up for other dishes like chicken in white sauce.or pies.or stir fry
cereals always a winning snack.
microwave pouches of rice. with frozen mixed veg stired through
one pot rice dishes are great.
there are some good oven cooked risotto recipes out there too now which mean you don't have to stand and stir for ages if you don't like this process.
chicken thighs are a hit in everything and make great one pots to just chuck it in with all else you fancy.if you start with a base of onion carrot and garlic you can never go wrong then.make astock sauce.white or tomato goes great with thighs.
fish parcels.basically placing anything on a layer of foil.add ur fish.wrap up into a parcel with enough room for steaming process cooks for ten in the oven.we do potato pepper and salmon with and without some chilli sauce.garlic and herb.stack of noodles underneath and spring onions.all sorts of variations.

Eggs don't cause constipation. Well not unless you eat an unnatural amount of them. Boiled eggs are a good idea. My teenagers like those krisproll things. Those are very fibre heavy. Drinking plenty as a pp said though is the key one, then as much fruit and veg as you can and opting for a high fibre option for bread products. Unripe bananas can cause constipation but ripe ones do the opposite.

Set help yourself snacks in our house are -

Dry Cheerios/chocolate weetabix
Breadsticks/crackers

Yoghurt
Toast
Apples/satsuma or any fruit
Ham/cheese/marmite sandwiches
Ice pops

Anything else they have to ask