Constantly hungry daughter

[Whatkatyforgottodo]

My daughter does a lot of sport and is constantly hungry. We have plenty of healthy snacks at home for her to fill up on but I’m struggling with what to give her for packed lunch. She usually takes a sandwich, crisps, a couple of pieces of fruit and some nuts. What else can I give her that will fill her up (and doesn’t involve too much prep for me!)

We use warrior protein bars and she also makes baked protein oats (we train 2-3 hrs a day)

Thanks so much everyone, there’s some really helpful ideas on here. She’s not a massive fan of yoghurts or eggs but does like muffins and I’ve given her those in the past. I’ll try to batch bake a load and freeze them for her to take. She sometimes takes a flask of hot pasta or curry in the winter but less in the summer. She used to like babybels but I stopped buying them as they’re so expensive, I’ll see if she’ll settle got a chunk of cheese instead… I might also try some sweet muffins as a pudding, can anyone recommend a recipe that freezes well? Thanks again!

I agree that bigger sandwiches might help! I’ll try that a couple of times a week. She’s at secondary school so no rules about nuts.

She loves pesto pasta so I’ll definitely do this once or twice a week. Eggs in the morning sound good but I’m not sure we have time. She sometimes has porridge in the winter but she’s not a massive fan.

Some great ideas. Will google some freezable loaf recipes or if you could link a good one that would be great ☺️

Double the sandwiches, huge slab of flapjack/ fruitcake, boiled eggs, chicken drumsticks, boiled new potatoes/ cold roast potatoes, chunks of cheese, frittata, pasta salad. Stuff with actual calories in.
Basically anything you would feed a hungry boy.

I’m super active, active job and marathon runner. For lunch I usually take a food flask, Lidl do some great packs of high protein beans that you put in the microwave, they are healthy and filling. Also boiled eggs, cheese, bananas, Greek yogurt …

Sandwich and crisps are the worst packed lunch you can give a kid. Great suggestions above. Pasta or rice salad with pesto, tomatoes, chicken, eggs, salmon, prawns, pees, zucchini (not all together!) … you can really put what you want, protein and veggies. Just ditch the crisps for an oat bar. Also if it has to be sandwich avoid the white cheap bread from supermarkets full of sugar and additives and choose a good whole grain bread not ultra processed

Agree with the additional sandwiches - and aim to make them quite filling with tuna/cheese/ham etc.

What me and my brother used to find and I'm finding with DS now as well is that snack things, nice though they are, don't have the same effect as "proper" food. So DS for example has protein bars but really, he has that to tide him over while he's cooking fish fingers or crumbed chicken breasts in the air fryer to have as a post school "snack" .

On that note, what about things like tuna pasta salad in a bowl - you can make in advance and just keep in the fridge (I like to keep dressing separate and add at last minute as it dries out otherwise).

Eggs in morning - we do very quick scrambled eggs a few times a week. It really doesn't take a lot of time and I feel it helps keep DS full and happy for much longer during the day.

Have you thought about providing a hot meal in a flask instead? I put all sorts of leftovers in my daughters flask as she doesn't much care for sandwiches. I cook all our meals a bit bigger so I have lunch portions for her like lasagna reheated in microwave and cut up, roast dinners, any pasta, noodles etc etc

I agree with the pp who mentioned that some of the suggestions are very expensive. I can't afford to give my kids chicken and salmon every day, nor branded foods like Babybel or some of the more expensive yogurts.
I give my hollow-legged children a lot of oats OP, especially overnight oats. They're really tasty and so easy to prepare the night before, and can be flavoured to her liking. Nut butters are a good flavouring because it's got good fat and protein.

Hard boiled eggs, smoked salmon, poached salmon, poached chicken, lentil patties, quiche, hummus with chopped veg and pitta bread, cold sausage, prawns, smoked mackerel, whisked feta and rye bread with avocado. Cheese, pickle and baguette, tuna pasta salad, high protein yoghurt, high protein almond cake, polenta slices with cheese or fruit, sweet potato salad, overnight oats with mixed fruit and nuts, flask of lentil soup, flask of curry with naan, Greek salad with stuffed vine leaves, figs with marscapone cheese.

Hi Katy, maybe try this- there are quite a few good ideas from the channel/charity-

My kids have been to a few different primaries and secondaries and all allow nuts

Muffins and flapjacks no matter where they're made, aren't healthy - they're desserts.
More protein and fruit in her lunchbox will sate her. Forget the crisps; they're not doing her any good or properly filling a ravenous hole in her stomach.

Make the sandwich with 3 slices of bread instead of 2

brilliant idea! A club sandwich. I'm gonna do this from now on.

More protein- nut butter to dip apples in, cheese cubes, boiled egg, chicken (even in goujon form if needed).

Despite what @Grammarninja says, flapjacks are a great option as part of a balanced diet. Oats, honey, dried fruit, butter are all great things!

Honey and butter are good for you? Pure sugar and pure fat are healthy options? Come on! I'm not saying not to eat them but you have to recognise they're both at the top of the food pyramid and should only be eaten in small amounts. They are definitely not 'healthy options'. They are treats.

Not sure what diet you follow, but in my books it's very healthy to consume honey (not pure sugar), and butter in certain amounts! Sorry you have such disordered eating that you see these foods as evil.

If I'm still hungry after an otherwise healthy & should-be-filling meal it's because I need to add a little more protein & a little fat, so a little cheese makes the world of difference.

Yoghurt could also help, and real butter in the sandwiches.

On the contrary, although things like honey & real butter should be eaten in moderation, its well recognised now that the last 20-40 years of dietary advice limiting these is wrong.

Indeed, it's believed that limiting foods like these to such a degree as they have been has been a big factor in the obesity crisis, because the 'healthy' alternatives are much worse for us.

I've never been on a diet in my life. I am, however, aware of what is good for a person and what is not. Honey is liquid sugar, look it up. Butter is solidified fat, look it up. I eat both but I know they are a treat and definitely not the answer to filling me up in a healthy way. God forbid I was eating them thinking they were a good meal.

@Grammarninja I know MN is having a particularly viper-ish month but you really don't need to be so rude to others

No one is saying a block of butter or a jar of honey is a meal. Butter and honey are healthy, there are no unhealthy foods, just unhealthy amounts. Your diet sounds restrictive and informed by dated advice.

I agree re also looking at breakfast. What does she have currently? I find if I have toast, or cereal like rice crispies or cornflakes, I am hungry a lot sooner than if I have weetabix or porridge.

overnight oats might be an option but I know not everyone likes them so best try it at the weekend first. I used to make double, have some for breakfast tben a pot for after my sandwich at lunch.