Snacks for ravenous teens

[SpaDaysAreMyFave]

I have 2 teen boys (14 and 18) who are eating machines. Add on top of this; sport and working out down the gym, and it is a never ending conveyor belt of food.

It is not the meals I am struggling with. Their get their own breakfast (porridge/ egg and/or avocado on toast/ yoghurt and granola), lunch is at school or leftover dinner in the fridge, and one of us cooks dinner at night.

It is the snacks I can't get to grips with. They come into the kitchen and stare into the fridge, or open the cupboards and gaze and shout "there's nothing to eat". Or, when they get home from school they are ravenous and dinner isn't for a few hours.

I need snack ideas to cook/ bake or buy.

They eat a bit of fruit, but mainly whizz it up in a smoothie.

I just can't stand hearing that phrase one more time, "there's no food in this house".

Bagels and noodles seem to fill them up a bit. I also often make a big pot of soup to have with toasted cheese sandwiches. Aldi pizza and potato waffles. If I'm cooking a pasta dinner I make extra so that they can have it with pesto and cheese.
I know it sounds very carb-y but they have protein with their main meal and we always have eggs.
I do buy cereal bars and yogurts but they get eaten on the day I do the big shop, and then the next day I hear "there's nothing to eat in this house".

Yes Brandy, if I buy anything nice, or treat, they hoover it up instantly.
Yesterday I bought 3 tubs of ice cream, a rare treat, and they have all gone.

Soup in the slow cooker so they can help themselves. I make 'stem soup' which is the stems of broccoli and cauliflower. You know the bits you don't want on your plate.

You can get half baked crispy bread rolls that take about 4 mins in an airfryer. BTW if you don't have an air fryer then get one, lots of frozen food has airfryer instructions and cooking for 8-10 mins is bearable if you are hungry.

Cheese, the small pre packed ones.

Pickled things, eggs, onions, cucumber.

Poppadoms take seconds in a microwave and mango chutney is easy to make.

Things that go in a toaster (maybe with a toaster bag) so bread, crumpets, potato cakes, toasties.

I used to make loads of flapjacks,used to go down well.

Savoury muffins which I used to cook loads of and freeze 6 at a time .

Cheese and ham toasties,the toastie bags are good and easy to clean.

I have a eternally hungry 17yr old DS, I feel your pain.

The best thing I ever did was teach him to make houmous when he was about 13. Can of chickpeas, bit of tahini, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, all whizzed up in the food processor.

I have repurposed my bread bin as a snack bin, it has nuts in it, bombay mix, pork scratchings, mini cheddars.

I will also make popcorn as a snack, put some popcorn in a pyrex dish with a lid, you don't need much and then put on high for a couple of mins. It's cheap if you just buy the corn kernels and they can experiment with adding flavours.

Honestly, I’d just point them to the bread bin and toaster. Loads of stuff can be put in toast. If there’s nothing specific they’re asking for, they’ve got a choice - eat what’s there or go but something with their own money.
Am I too harsh? Maybe, but my house is not a hotel.

Is this in the air fryer?

What about just having a cupboard full of those breads you cook up. Although they only take 10 mins to cook up (we cook ours for much longer), they wont get through it so quickly in the way they might with ice cream or something because it takes effort. Plus its more filling, they can fill them up with ham/cheese/humous or whatever. Get loads of packs of meats or cheeses.

Easy filling snacks

Toast & butter

Oops sorry, that's in the microwave. But I don't see why you couldn't do it in the air fryer.
a quick google and yes you can.

https://thebigmansworld.com/air-fryer-popcorn/

Nuts, like pistachios or monkey nuts are good nutrition and last longer because you have to get the shells of first. Shelled brazils are filling and nutritious too. Lidl are very good for bags of not-extortionatley-priced nuts

Hard boiled eggs in the fridge, flapjacks. Mine eat cereal a lot, and toast.

I think they need protein. I keep meaning to roast a whole chicken on a Sunday and leave it shredded for them to pick at, fill wraps, pitta etc with

spanish omelette - you can buy them pre made in Sainsbury or M&S and sometimes in Aldi, ideal as a snack as heavy on the protein

nuts and fruit from Aldi or lidl

we have a popcorn machine so no need for oils and sprinkle with garlic salt after making

babybel

sardines in tomato sauce on toast

The problem with flapjacks is that they will send the blood sugar sky high due to the golden syrup or honey. This will then result in a very big crash not that long afterwards, then they'll crave more food. If you want to give them oats make some of the baked oats with peanut butter and some dark chocolate

• 2/3 cup unsweetened milk of choice
• 1/2 cup (heaping) rolled oats
• 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds or ground flaxmeal
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons natural peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• Pinch of salt

mix together in old jam jars or glass dishes - pop lid on and put in fridge - will keep in fridge for 3/4 days, so you can make 5 or 6. You can swap the milk for coffee instead and add frozen fruit - blueberries or strawberries. Drizzle dark chocolate over the top, swap the cocoa powder for cinnamon

Lots of suggested options are so expensive though!

We did:
Tins of sardines from Lidl / Aldi, on toast, though mine used to eat straight from the tin.

Wholemeal toast and peanut butter

Bagels and cream cheese (Lidl / Aldi or supermarket value range)

Cheese toasties (a small basic panini maker was a good investment)

Quesadilla: big tortillas sandwiched with cheese and anything g else to hand, dry fried in the frying pan

Baked beans on toast

The big packs of chicken drumsticks from Tesco, roasted en mass, frozen in packs of two, taken out to thaw in the morning

There were two threads on this a while back, and as a previous poster mentioned, the consensus of opinion was protein all the way - chicken, cheese, nuts etc.
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/food_and_recipes/4990458-teenager-small-meal-after-school-options?reply=132418442
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4980355-what-on-earth-do-teenagers-eat-after-school?page=1

I taught mine to make omelettes. He can then raid the fridge for whatever veg and meat is in there and add it in.

Bread and ham!!! Repeat, repeat. Drink tons of orange juice to combat constipation

Spanish omelettes. Kees in the fridge (though not for long with ravenous teens) has more protein than you can shake a stick at and you can also freeze them.

Agree it’s so expensive however I can see they genuinely need it at a certain age and then it slows down a bit.

As others have said I have a supply of:
eggs (loads and yes - v expensive)
peanut butter (added to banana in a smoothie)
crumpets
filled pasta from any supermarket and inexpensive jars of sauce
nuts from Aldi/lidl
cereal like wheat biscuits
protein yoghurt to add to porridge
tinned mackerel though it is eaten from the tin!

i was getting chicken to freeze and thaw however I found it wasn’t getting used as all of the above are quicker/faster. Mine can cook but the above is about quick snacks. My eldest does make pasta/mackerel/olives/peppers as a super quick snack.

They do also buy their own stuff but I like to keep a supply of the above in.

Yes DD2 (15) can make a good omelette and stir fry, egg fried rice and eggy bread.

DD1 (18) can make all sorts. Does very nice pasta dishes, American pancakes and recently taught herself to make sort of teriyaki chicken but with Quorn pieces instead (she's veggie).

Neither of them would starve but I do still get the we have no food complaint from time to time. But DD1 can also easily resolve the no food complaint as she can drive, and go to Sainsbury's herself.

Another yes for hard boiled eggs - can be kept in the fridge (with shell intact) for up to a week, then peeled and mashed/sliced for a sandwich/on toast or with salad etc.