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.

Sandwich or wrap? A bowl of cereal? Some instant noodles?

Ready made 3 minute pasta (tortellini etc) filled with ham & cheese etc. you can use half a pack and freeze the other half (uncooked). Mine usually eat it without sauce, but they are often eating it in the car between activities

Thanks all! These are great, he’s not
long started these clubs so I haven’t had to do this before, as such.

@Ljuhahah I’d forgotten about that!

@GetOverTheEgothat is lovely

If it’s a high energy sport, I would be looking to get some good carbs in him so actually something on wholemeal toast is quite a good option. We also do things like marmite on a wholemeal bagel, a whole grain rice pouch with gravy and peas / sweetcorn, some wholewheat pasta with veg and a tiny bit of cheese. I would go easy on the protein though as before exercise you really want to give them mostly carbs and veg, and then a decent protein heavy supper afterwards.

I have two very sporty multi-event children here who train hard most evenings and was given that advice by a sports nutritionist (a friend who knows the boys well).

Of course if it’s endurance running he's doing then I would suggest no food for at least 2 hours beforehand, but other than that all our other sports training seem to be ok with eating up to 1 hour in advance (but no closer than that).

Other than toast, what about crumpets, muffins, bagels, hashbrowns etc for a change.

I already posted this recipe on another thread tonight, but these are SO flexible. You can add anything you like- any cheese, ham, bacon, fresh or semi dried tomato, basil, sweetcorn etc. They last a few days and a quick enough to be put in the oven when baking a roast or something else.
www.amummytoo.co.uk/filo-pastry-mini-quiches-great-for-kids-to-make-and-eat/en

Another option is frittata which is similar the recipe above but without the pastry. They can be frozen too and I've made it in a large, rectangular dish and cut into squares. It also can be made with just about any veg. I've also used left over Sunday roast veg with/without chicken or ham in them.

Toast, omelette, high protein muffins (or with quark) - they freeze well too and you can microwave one at a time

My daughter has a lot of food allergies so we have had to be creative. We make our own hummus with a tin of chick peas, tahini, olive oil and splash of water. We add garlic paste and paprika to ours.
We make veggie pastes too and use in a similar way to hummus - peas and broad beans are good with a rasher of bacon for daughter and a soft boiled egg or some feta for us. They can be used on toast or as a pasta sauce
Pizza toast - pizza toppings etc but on a round of toast instead of a pizza base
Quick cook pasta is your friend!
Avocado and eggs
We make quick cous cous and rice dishes utilising frozen veggie time - sliced mushrooms, spinach, peas, broad beans, sweet corn etc then season for flavour Add pulses or cheese for proteins. We use the gourmet kitchen sachets of mixed rices to turn it into a meal that can be cooked entirely in microwave in 5 minutes

My kids go-to is a jam sandwich - especially if they are off to do sports.
Not a daily snack because it tends to be white bread and is obviously sweet but they love it!

Crumpets
Cereal
Fruit
Veg and hummus

Or we used to sometimes do a split dinner, so either the carbs or the protein from the main meal and the rest later with everyone else, or a half portion of the main meal and the other half later.

Sometimes I would just have dinner ready for after school and then just have a snack at supper time.

Not a healthy option but my teen loves a Greggs steak bake or saus rolls done in the air fryer in the after school/before footie gap, quick, hot & easy, then has a healthy (ish) dinner on his return later in the eve.

Ham, pickle and cheese sandwich.

It's what my mum gave me every day after school. I am alive and well.

Cheese and crackers
Quiche
Fish finger sandwich
Sausage or bacon sandwich

When DS was younger and at Cubs/Scouts we had the same problem. Go To’s were simple small pasta dishes / corn on the cob / cheese toastie / jacket potato / sausage sandwich / soup and bagel. It’s not a competition though so don’t feel bad if you fancy grabbing some chicken nuggets at the drive through!

Blimey, mine were lucky to get a banana or flapjack, and a plain cheese sandwich!