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Teen boy!

72 replies

Mama1980 · 02/06/2021 15:46

Hi, please give me your recipes for filling up a unfillable teen boy. My ds1 is 13 and constantly hungry, he's stick thin, very active but underweight. Because he was a micro preemie he has yearly dr checks and this morning the dr basically said he's great but in the underweight category.....he eats me out of house and home! But he said it's nothing to worry about but some more calories would be good considering how active he is.
Typical day he will eat
Breakfast 2 weetabix, banana and seeds (he usually goes for a run about an hour later) smoothie
Whole grain toast and fruit when he gets back
Mid morning snack can be anything plantain chips are a current favourite.
Lunch usually something like a large couscous salad, eggs and cheese. Or three bean salad and tofu.
Afternoon fruit and yoghurt, often more toast.
Dinner two portions of whatever were eating. So tonight it's veggie bolognese, pasta with carrots and garlic bread. Sometimes he will have more fruit, sometimes biscuits and peanuts.
Evening he will have porridge, eggs and beans, crumpets.....something like that for supper.

Any ideas where he can squash in some more calories?
I only cook with full fat stuff, no reduced sugar etc I'm vegan but he isn't. He doesn't like fizzy drinks but does have water, fruit juice and milk.

OP posts:
AtleastitsnotMonday · 02/06/2021 17:41

Nuts, nut butters and cheese! Make sauces with cream and cheese, dress all veg and salads with oils or butter or roast veg. If serving raw veg serve with high cal dips, hummus, sour cream or guacamole. Cream can be added to porridge, custard, rice pudding, coffee, hot chocolate etc. Crumpets with butter then cheese. Toasted sandwiches buttered inside and out with cheese and meat fillings.
Pasta bakes etc top with a mix of cheese, chopped nuts and breadcrumbs. Regular pasta dishes served with grated cheese.
Serve meals with lots of sides to bulk them out, things like fajitas can be boosted massively with cheese, guacamole, sour cream and tortilla chips. Boost stir fries with spring rolls, prawn crackers etc.
It’s also worth really reading the label the differences two products that may appear similar can be huge. Even things like bread can vary by about 100 cal per slice.
Cheese and crackers can be a good snack.
Bagels with full fat cream cheese and avocado.

Badgertadger · 02/06/2021 17:46

Potatoes are your friend. I have ds14 who is similar. I cook 2kg of potatoes at a time and they can have as many as they want. They disappear.

Lunchbox I do loads of carbs and vegetables. The veg don't fill them up but the bread, rice, potatoes (!)do.

He's still thin. :-(

omgthepain · 02/06/2021 17:48

I'm guessing you must be veggie?
How about veggie curry's and rice, just make loads and have it in the fridge?

FawnDrench · 02/06/2021 18:43

Ice cream and peanut butter, Nutella whatever.
Home made milk shakes with cream
Potatoes as already mentioned- mashed, Dauphinoise, fried, new potatoes covered in butter and / or cheese, scalloped etc
Scones, cheese scones, savoury and sweet muffins.
Butter-based sauces.

NotAnotherPushyMum · 02/06/2021 18:48

Lots more carbs. Lots more protein. Lots of calorie dense foods. My ds for a number of reasons needs to eat at least 4000cal a day at the moment, and it’s a near impossible task.

LoveFall · 02/06/2021 21:29

Do you have the Annie's brand of boxed mac and cheese where you are? It is organic and quite high quality. My two boys ate tons of the less healthy variety when they were teens. They could demolish a whole box in one sitting.

covidshite · 02/06/2021 21:31

Mine used to eat peanut butter on toast, pate on toast, large protein shakes made with full fat milk, peanut butter, banana, protein powder, oats (he used to have the finely ground oats so not as lumpy!)

Triffid1 · 03/06/2021 12:23

I'd consider 2 weetabix and a banana too small a breakfast. DS has that and he's 10.

Agree re butters and other calorie dense food eg avocados. More carbs? My brother and I used to eat jacket potatoes pretty much every day as teenagers with cheese, on top of still eating three meals a day.

If he's not vegetarian, what about adding some meat as that can be more filling? Or do you not eat/cook meat at home?

Seeline · 03/06/2021 12:31

Does he take lunch to school?
Otherwise, how big are school portions - I always think they are rather small for growing kids.

Definitely needs more protein - not really familiar with veggie options, but that sounds low.

Is he very keen on exercise - going for a run an hour after breakfast - is that all before school?

BeastOfBODMAS · 03/06/2021 12:41

You/he could batch cook and then freeze a load of jacket potatoes so he can just pop in the microwave. Baked beans, cheese, tuna, bean or beef chilli as toppings.
I could eat unlimited quantities of leftover roast potatoes

A creamy coleslaw would be an easy addition to the lunch salads.

Nut butters with the toast - or pumpkin seed butter is delicious

Fruit crumbles might be a nice pudding/supper - easy to portion in batches and freeze. Desecrated coconut and wholemeal flour in the crumble for extra nutrition.

Homemade flapjack filled with nuts, dried fruit and seeds.

Avocados- Morrisons do massive nets for cheap but you have to wait a good while for them to ripen. Get him some Lao Gan Ma crispy chilli oil to go on top (of everything that stands still long enough)

coodawoodashooda · 03/06/2021 12:48

A bread maker.

Mama1980 · 03/06/2021 12:53

Hi thanks everyone some great ideas here. I've ordered some nut butters and he likes the idea of jacket potatoes bring ready.
To answer a couple of questions, he is home ed so no meals at school - Lunches are always huge - and he is a member of an athletics club and runs every other morning. He also dances a couple of times a week and pre covid would swim but that's not happening at the moment.
He isn't vegetarian, and has access to meat if he wants it, I'm happy to buy anything he wants, but he's not keen on the taste. He will sometimes have fish.

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Mama1980 · 03/06/2021 12:57

We bake bread everyday and I add seeds but oats in smoothies are a good idea.
Sorry I can't name check the poster who said their son needs 4000 calories a day, the dr said my son needs similar at the moment but it seems insane.
He has access to all the junk he wants, but he's very up on health and nutrition, doesn't have a sweet tooth at all. His own plan is to eat yet more avocados and have more porridge, which is good.

OP posts:
BunnyRuddington · 03/06/2021 13:18

Cheese scones seem to fill up mine teens. Well fir about half an hour anyway...

Seeline · 03/06/2021 13:23

If he is exercising that much, the really doesn't seem like enough food. Bulk up snacks, and perhaps more when he gets back from his run.

haba · 03/06/2021 13:40

Does he drink milk? Adding a glass or two a day would be good, whole milk is more filling.
Flapjack/granola slice with seed/dried fruit is good, keeps a while too.
Cheese and bacon muffins
Hummus (with crackers, veg sticks, or on toast)
Pate is a good call as liver pate has vitamin A in. Mackerel/tuna pate are in most supermarkets and taste v nice.

When my brother is training, he eats whole roast chickens mostly it seems... Hmm
That gets very pricey very quickly though!

Beans and lentils have protein and are filling- dhal is tasty, maybe with flatbreads?

Taoneusa · 03/06/2021 13:50

Change couscous salad to pasta salad, with plenty of olive oil. Wholewheat fusilli would be good. Add avocado for extra fat/calories.

Make a big weekly batch of roast potatoes and leave them in the fridge for snacks, ideal to dip into hummus / guacamole with added olive oil.
Eat an avocado a day, some pasta and/or roasties daily, and more oil = quite a lot more calories, in a healthy way.

My son gets throat inflammation when he eats peanut / nut butter regularly, so I’ve had to wean him off nuts. We have some vegan protein powder to stir into oats, and oat bakes. Oat tray bakes made with coconut oil and coconut cream go down well as snacks.

Triffid1 · 03/06/2021 13:56

Ooh, agree with muffins. Look for recipes that include oats or brain or use wholewheat flour and also ones that use natural sweeteners rather than sugar. Some also freeze well - we do carrot muffins that we keep in the freezer.

BeastOfBODMAS · 03/06/2021 15:18

As he doesn’t have a sweet tooth, can you get him into baking pies, quiches, pasties, tarts, cheese straws?
As he is health conscious, it could be a good experiment/project to develop a pastry recipe which is as nutritious as possible, using wholemeal, ground nuts, healthy fats.

UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme · 03/06/2021 15:26

I really want to say steak - he's eating and behaving like a fairly active adult vegetarian who knows they needs to watch their weight anyway.

More protein and free access to toast and peanut butter.

My 13 year old son eats a lot of bread and porridge - he seems to be mid growth spurt as after staying the same height over winter he's grown 6cm in the last four months and is currently 175cm with no sign of stopping, but he isn't underweight - mid healthy BMI now but was top end before he started growing this time- so I've never needed to feed him up.

AppleDumplin · 03/06/2021 15:32

Sympathies- my DS is like a bottomless pit in terms of food and eating. He has meals and absolutely loads of snacks eg

Scrambled/ poached egg on toast or bagel
Pitta filled with cheese, tuna Mayo etc
Omelette/ slices of frittata
Home made flapjack/ sponge cake etc so I can reduce the sugar
Pot noodles- ugh
Bananas
Full fat milkshakes made in the blender - fruit and milk
Pastries
Cheese, hummus and crackers
Weetabix with fruit
Greek yoghurt- ful fat with honey or fruit

Mama1980 · 03/06/2021 15:34

Muffins are a great idea thanks.....especially savoury ones. He has free access to the kitchen and is always cooking or eating but clearly needs to up the calorie content.
The full report form the dr says his bone density and muscle tone etc is outstandingly good, he just needs to up the weight a bit.
He has full fat milk, but you're right I will encourage more milkshakes. I don't buy low fat/low sugar anything.

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cookiecreampie · 03/06/2021 16:52

His diet sounds healthy but doesn't seem enough calories. Nothing wrong with a bit of stodge to feed a growing teen boy. Mine has pies, burgers and pizza in his diet alongside vegetables and more balanced meals.

BlueCowWonders · 03/06/2021 17:00

Friend's MiL said their fridge door was never closed when they had 3 teen boys Grin
Good ideas above, but what about the puds? Crumble and custard, cobbler and double cream, fruit pie and ice cream?

Mama1980 · 03/06/2021 17:17

I would love for him to eat more pudding but he just doesn't have a sweet tooth, never has done - he actively dislikes most cakes/doughnuts etc....which is a real nuisance.
We have plenty of takeaways but his favourite is sushi and we tend to make homemade pizzas etc.

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