After school (substantial) snack

[mnforadvice]

We have a day of the week when due to after
school club and then sports club we have about 40 mins from getting home from school to having to leave for sports club and I’m struggling with ideas of what to feed DSS9 in that time. He comes home starving so needs to be a bit more than just a snack but not a whole meal as we then eat dinner properly together once he is home from clubs 6.45/7ish. Any ideas? I’ve exhausted toast options (cheese/beans/scrambled eggs) or it’s something like pesto/tuna pasta which I can have cooked earlier on in the day.

What do you mean you've "exhausted" toast options? He doesn't need a different snack every day. Something on toast is surely fine a lot of the time. Or some fruit and yogurt, a bowl of cereal, etc. If he's had his lunch at school, and he's having his dinner later on, isn't toast, fruit/yogurt/cereal fine? Or if he's bored with toast, replace the toast with a jacket potato and just vary the toppings?

Dd rotates between pasta salad, cous cous or soup and a roll sort of a mini meal/small portion.
Ds is more likely to have several snacks so yoghurt, fruit, cheese and crackers, popcorn, dried fruit, rice cakes, sliced vegetables, mini sausage rolls, sandwich basically any combination of foods that take minimal effort.

Soup and bread, pasty or sandwiche? Thought you can't really exhaust toast options, especially for a once a week situation

You can't exhaust toast!
Anything can go on toast or in a toastie?

But pancakes, either premade or make batter and he can cook them. With sweet or savoury toppings? Like banana or ham and cheese?

Or microwave small portion of chilli, spag bol, casserole that's leftover from a dinner?

Just a roll with tuna mayo salad or some rice cakes with PB or both?

Porridge or tinned rice pudding with tinned fruit and seeds?

You can make cereal bars with oats, rice Krispies, raisins, dried fruit and nuts with sugar, butter and flour?

Thanks all. Yes that’s true, maybe im overthinking it, just sometimes it feels he has something on toast a lot if he’s had it at the weekend etc too. It’s a nice easy option just a bit boring I guess.

Flatbreads with cheese, bacon, ham, tomatoes etc.

Eggs.

Pizza - could use bagels, muffins, panini etc as an alternative.

My son loves a little picnic platter, some cheese, fruit, crackers, cooked meat etc.

Jacket potato in the microwave with cheese and/or tuna?

Soup and roll

Quick saucy noodles with soy sauce, peanut butter, garlic and mirin?

Omelette

Ready made falafel in a toasted pitta with raita and salad

We're all about the picky plate here for this kind of snack. It varies loads (I think that's why it's so popular), but something from each food group usually.

Things like:

Nuts
Cheese
Grapes and Mango
Cucumber and Carrots
Houmous
Breadtsicks

Or

Mini sausages
A wrap cut up into pieces
Satsuma
Pepper slices
Yoghurt
Popcorn

Or

Avocado bagel
Cheese
Melon
Dried Mango
Mini carrots
A few crisps

Potato wedges, sweet potato fries, potato waffles quick in air fryer if you have one

i wonder if something hot and ideally with protein would satisfy him better?
add cheese or beans to the above
milk based drink - shake or hot chocolate

cous cous takes 10 minutes stir in whatever you have in fridge e.g. chopped pepper, ham, cucumber

hummus with warm pitta. Peanut butter bagel with sliced banana. Peanut butter with sliced apple.

tuna melt toastie

Hummous.

I do wraps, cream cheese, cold chicken slices with grated cheese. A fave for my DCs.

Or-and I’m about to get myself banished from Mumsnet forever-we had a day like this and sometimes DS and used to not go home, but sit in the car and chat while he had a Happy Meal. We both remember those days with great fondness!

Bloody love a happy meal. DS now needs an adult sized though. Which is sad.

I m

Soup. I make it at least three times a week and have “portion” ice cube trays for it so we always have some in the freezer. They have soup and some toast between school and clubs and then dinner when they get home (which is about 9pm some nights)

I would go for cereal (shreddies or weetabix) or scotch pancakes/ crumpets with fruit and maybe a yoghurt. Peanut butter on toast is always a win! I had the same snack after school
throughout my childhood - peanut butter and jam sandwich!

Toasted bagel or crumpet or hot cross bun or brioche with jam and butter
Bowl of cereal with hot milk
Sweet potato hash brown with a fried egg
Oatcakes with cream cheese
Banana sandwich

Cold chicken legs that you've roasted earlier in the week with a bit of hummus maybe and some cucumber sticks

Banana
greek yoghurt/plain yoghurt and berries/seeds
cheese/wholegrain crackers
Boiled eggs on small slice toast

I buy loads of cheap snack things to fill them up before dinner.
Crumpets
Garlic bread baguette
Ramen noodles
50p mini pizza
Tinned rice pudding
They can have one of these and a fruit and a yogurt.

Isn't a substantial meal two scotch eggs?

Our vet is near the McDonalds. I used to take one of my cats to her chemo appointment and then buy her a fish finger happy meal. I ate the fries. She loved it.

Bless her.

Damn that missing laugh emoji!

Birds eye and Aldi potato waffles can go in the toaster, 1 or 2 of those with a fried egg on?
Cheese and ham/onion/veg omelette. I don’t like pre chopped frozen veg (keep finding bad bits) so i chop some peppers and onions and freeze them ready for omelettes and toasties

If you have an air fryer then fish fingers cook in less than 10 mins, or strips of chicken etc. In a wrap with lettuce, any sauce he likes etc.

A lettuce and fish finger wrap is one of my 6 yr olds favourite "quick tea before gymnastics"!

What about a small jacket potato? You could put it in the oven or an air fryer so it's ready when you get home, then there's all sorts of variety of toppings.

Omelettes or frittatas are another good, quick option.

A filling minestrone soup could work too, with some bread to dip or a small cheese toastie.