Do you cook your teens breakfast and lunch?

[Joyfullday]

Do you cook your teens breakfasts and lunches?

And what do they normally eat?

Do you keep snacks in the house? What sort?

Could you elaborate on why you're asking?

Just because I have been cooking their breakfast and lunch but think they should be doing it themselves; however they sometimes would prefer to go without it or don’t have enough time to do it or can’t bother. But I don’t like them go hungry as they are growing.

Also DC2 complained there wasn’t enough food at home; eg snacks or something easy to eat without going the effort of preparing something. So maybe I am not providing enough food.

Looking for ideas and opinions. Would like them to be more independent reg feeding themselves.

Two teenagers at home. Breakfast is cereal/ toast) crumpets. Lunch is a sandwich. If they want something hot they cook it themselves

Almost never their breakfast.

Lunch - it depends. Sometimes we will all sit down and eat lunch together and one person will make it (usually me, sometimes partner or one of the kids). Other times everyone just grabs their own.

Dinner we always eat together unless people are out. I cook most of the time, but sometimes my partner or one of the teens will. If adults are out at dinner one of the kids will cook for the three of them.

Hell no, in fact DS (16) has been cooking dinner for us since he was 11! He loves to cook. None of us would eat 3 cooked meals a day anyway and he’ll eat at the school canteen or go into town on school days but at the weekend he’ll usually make brunch for himself and then dinner for all of us. He doesn’t really eat a lot of snacks but sometimes brings himself sweets home from school or have a chocolate bar or a banana. I’m not really sure what we did to deserve him TBH!

No, we stopped as soon as they were old enough to sort themselves out. They are free to go without, that's their choice. DH and I have both always tended to do our own lunches too (usually sandwich/salad) and always our own breakfasts.

Mine (13 and 10) do their own breakfast which is usually cereal, toast or crumpets.

they also do their own lunch quite often in school holidays/ weekends. The teenager likes soup, beans on toast, hoops etc which is really easy to do and the 10 year old likes to make sandwiches or wraps with fruit, tomatoes, cucumber etc. I do their tea. I do need to start teaching them how to cook tea as they get older. Once they’re 14/15, I’d like them to be in charge of one family tea a week.

It depends. If I’m at home and eating at the same time as DD then of course I ask if she’d like something made too. Most of the time though we’re like passing ships due to work and college etc hours - the only time we really eat together is dinner. She’s a brilliant cook and really enjoys it so a lot of the time she’ll choose to make dinner for both of us. She regularly makes us lovely things like risotto, lasagna, caesar salad, fish tacos etc!

DD never really eats a big breakfast - she’ll grab a cereal bar on the way out the door or has overnight oats made up from the night before. Lunch is typically something quick and easy - sandwich/toastie/salad/beans on toast/scrambled eggs/soup/ramen noodles/simple pasta dish

Breakfast - never, Dc help themselves as we don’t all wake at the same time.

Lunch - I will ask if they want something if I’m making something anyway but generally they make their own, even DD 10 will go and make a fruit platter or sandwich for herself.

Snacks - I’ve tried to move away from crisps & chocolate as they don’t last 5 minutes but will buy as a treat on the weekend. Always have loads of fruit in & things like scotch eggs or sausage rolls.
rice cakes, crackers & nuts are always eaten.
I always have a loaf of bread & peanut butter/cheese for a slice of toast or a toastie.
usually have pot noodle type meals too as they’re easy for teens to make quickly if they can’t be bothered.
My eldest tends to lean towards eggs, will often make scrambled eggs or an omelette tortilla thing.

Thank you all. Some good ideas here.

Sounds like I am complicating my life; going a bit too healthy.

My tween and teen do their own breakfast and lunch when they are at home, we make school packed lunch for any days they are t having school dinners. My children definitely aren’t the sort to miss a meal though so I don’t have to worry about them not making anything!

We cook lunch and dinner and anything else they sort out themselves. My 19 year old sometimes has a clash with work so he makes himself something. But we make sure the freezer is stocked up with options.

Haven’t provided breakfast or lunch since youngest was 9. If I’m making myself something like scrambled eggs I offer to make for anyone who wants it, but then so do they if they’re making it. It’s good for them to have the skills to feed themselves. I always have pasta, granola, noodles, cheese, eggs, salad, bread like wraps or bagels, fruit and veg in. They have to ask if they want rubbish like chocolate bars, biscuits and crisps as it’s put away or it would all be eaten in one day. They eat when they’re hungry rather than whatever time we determine is breakfast time or lunch time and I also think this is healthier than eating for the sake of it. Rarely do they skip a meal. More often they skip the veg tbh but getting better as the get older. We do eat a proper hot meal all together at the table which I make in the evening. They also share the drying up on a rota of their own devising. I hope they’ll be well prepared for looking after themselves when they leave home.

When mine were teens, I usually made breakfast before school - toast, cereal, eggs and sometimes smoothies. Weekends, they would usually get themselves something when they eventually woke up! Unless they had sports in which case I would make them something while they got themselves ready. Lunches and snacks they would usually make themselves - there were usually leftovers in the fridge, eggs or wraps. I have 5 boys and they ate a LOT! So I would always have cold meats, cheese, tuna, tortilla wraps, salad, mayo etc so they could make themselves a snack. Also fruit, crisps etc

My dd2 (16) does her own breakfast/brunch which is usually egg on toast. Lunch is usually a chicken wrap made by me or her or pizza at college. I usually do dinner but if I'm out she'll make herself macaroni cheese or pasta & broccoli or something with baked potato & veg. At weekends she might have pancakes as i put lots of fruit with them as I'm forever trying to get her to eat more f&v. She's not a big snacker but she'll sometimes have a cake mid afternoon

Never make dc breakfast and will do lunch if they are here. Snack wise we have fruit, toast, bagels, eggs, noodles cheese etc and they can make extra if they want. Do buy cereal bars sometimes. Ds likes to cook so will make pasta or turkish eggs for lunch if hungry or heat up leftovers. He is super healthy so not into cake or biscuits really.

Mine do their own breakfasts during the week, but I'll usually cook waffles or pancakes at the weekend for us all.

I do their packed lunches, as I'm making mine anyway, and it doesn't take much longer to make 3 sandwiches than 1. We all eat lunch together at the weekend, so someone cooks then.

Snacks: they deal with themselves. Biscuits (homemade) , eggs (so many eggs!), sausage rolls, noodles are the most frequent.

Breakfast is never cooked in this house. Cereal or toast etc is as far as it goes and they have been doing that themselves since about 6 years old.

Youngest has school dinners but on weekends usually sorts himself out with a sandwich or similar.

Oldest is at work and we do cook his lunch the night before then he microwaves it at work. He has a very physical job so has chicken and rice most days. We just cook it whilst we are cooking tea. If we weren't already cooking be would do it himself though and he sorts himself out on weekends.

When mine were teenagers I only cooked the evening meal. Breakfast was usually cereal and/or toast which they served themselves.

For lunch they sometimes had school dinners or, quite often, a very quickly cobbled together packed lunch (which I often made while they finished getting ready for school in the morning).

Why are you making work for yourself by cooking so much? Nobody needs three cooked meals a day.

Lol, no! I never cook lunch and may cook pancakes for breakfast once in a blue moon. Dinner is the only regular hot meal in this house.

When they were teens, everyone just helped themselves to cereal for breakfast, though now they’re students they usually cook themselves something. Lunch we’d often offer to do the same for everyone (beans or eggs on toast, soup etc) and it would depend on whether we were all hungry at the same time.

Nope.

Breakfast is at breakfast club if at school, help yourself to cereal or toast on weekend, or cook yourself whatever or whatever.

Lunch is the same. Make your own sandwich or whatever.

Breakfast - no way. Each person sorts out their own or goes without.

Lunch - never cooked. I occasionally make a sandwich for a DC if they had a really difficult morning, but it's usually DIY.

Dinner - DH or I will cook for us each evening. DC16 will sometimes do something separate.

I do make sure there's always plenty of snacks in the fridge/larder for DC to help themselves to. They know that they need a balance between veg/protien/carb so will snack on something like pepper sticks & houmous as often as choosing something carby.

I have a 15,17 and 19 year old.
if I am cooking something for myself then yes i always offer everyone else too.
breakfast - i dont really eat so it is normally everybody for themselves - cereal toast etc
lunch - again depends on who is about etc

mine will do all sorts from noodles and dumplings to pasta or something beige in the airfryer. 15 year old DS likes to make a breakfast wrap - sausage, fried egg and hashbrown in a wrap. DD likes to make things like stir fry or sushi bowls with salmon.

snack wise there is always cereal, toast/bagels /crumpet type things, stuff in freezer to air fry and plenty of fruit, veg, dips, crisps etc

Thank you. Seems like I may need to add some things to the shopping list. Like crumpets, noodles, bagels, etc.

Noodles. is it instant noodles?

Soup: is it home made?