Need recipe ideas for teenager, especially snacks

LKArgh
LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
edited November 17 in Food and Nutrition
My daughter needs to lose a bit of weight, not a lot but something like 5-6 kilos. Her pediatrician also agrees. She is not obese, but she has been on the heavy side for a while, and it can no longer be attributed to a growth spurt.
She does exercise, training more is not realistically an option or the solution.
Her problem is snacking, which is basically carbs. I am NOT against carbs in any way, but snacking on things like bread, cookies or cereal is not the best nutrition and is also not filling, plus I see she is nibbling and nibbling and ends up eating a lot more than she should.
Her dr would ideally like to see more dairy and more vegetables, which she is not at all enthusiastic about. So I need ideas about getting more creative with snacks. Or with bigger portions of main meals, but more high volume, not high calories.
She eats fruit, but it is not her go to snack.
When it comes to vegetables, she mostly likes tomatoes, cucumber, spinach, eggplants, okra, fresh beans. I cannot see these foods turning into snacks, with the exception of cucumber which she is not enthusiastic about. Any creative ideas on recipes?
She usually drinks milk with breakfast. She likes cheese, but unfortunately basically fatty cheese (which is not helping in the calorie issue) plus she pairs it always with bread, which is the thing we are trying to replace. And it has to be white bread too unfortunately. She refuses lately to eat yoghurt in any form.

Any ideas?

Also banning all things that are treats for her (like bread, cookies etc) from the house is not an option, as (1) I do not believe in forbidding foods and (2) I have other kids who manage to eat these things in moderation.

Replies

  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    I am out of my depth. I suggest sparkteens.

    It sounds more like automatic/habitual eating than a problem on what she's picking. That eating can stem from boredom.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    Isn't sparkteens for teenagers, not for parents? I do not want her obsessing over her weight and eating.
  • jennypapage
    jennypapage Posts: 489 Member
    edited April 2017
    you could start by finding lower calorie alternatives to the things she likes. Like cheese. I can get gouda cheese with 85 cal. (or more) a slice ,and i can get another gouda cheese with 62 cal. a slice.Greek 0% yoghurt tastes the same as full fat to me. A bit of salt and pepper on top of cottage cheese to give it flavour and it makes a nice spread.
    There's nothing wrong with a tomato, egg, cucumber sandwich.Smoked salmon and cottage cheese are awesome together. You can use one slice of bread instead of two and fold it in half. You can use lettuce in place of the bread for some things. Grilled vegetables (like zuchini or carrots) with a touch of olive oil are awesome and could work as a snack.
    You could reduce the calories of the main meals too by adding more vegetables, for example, if making rice, add some peas in there, or carrots cut in little squares,or peppers. So many options.

    edit to add some more ideas. You said she likes milk, so for breakfast oatmeal with milk, berries and greek yoghurt mixed in(with a bit of a sweetener in there)can keep her full for hours.You can make that without the oatmeal in a "frozen yoghurt" style dessert.
  • Daddy78230
    Daddy78230 Posts: 125 Member
    How about switching the white bread out with whole grain bread?

    Cottage cheese, sugar free jello, string cheese sticks, raw unshelled nuts, boiled eggs are favorite snacks when my kids are with me everyother weekend. They tend to eat these things in limited supplies without me getting on them. I like unshelled nuts since they cant just mindlessly eat several handful of them.
  • katielauren2001
    katielauren2001 Posts: 171 Member
    Instead of bread I like to eat oatcakes (oat crackers) so hopefully they might be available where you are from.
    Also try making healthier 'cookies' with mashed bananas (preferably really ripe) and some oats (could also add some chocolate chips)
    Vegetable sticks served with a dip such as hummus, salsa, sour cream etc
    Homemade smoothies are a good way of getting fruit and vegetables into the diet

    You can also try to bulk out main meals with more vegetables, beans and pulses. You could try to get her involved in the process of cooking and making snacks, which may make her more willing to try new foods and experiment with different recipes.





  • __TMac__
    __TMac__ Posts: 1,669 Member
    Hope you get the answers you're looking for. I am curious about how you'll get her to eat what you want her to, while her preferred foods are still in the house. I understand you don't want to restrict, but I at the same time I'm not clear on how it'll work. It seems to me that you'll have to restrict her from eating what's in the house for everyone else, or restrict everyone else from having access to those things. Are you hoping to find foods she will spontaneously eat less of, while at the same time voluntarily not eating the things she likes?

    I have 3 kids -- 20, 13, and 11. All are at a healthy weight. I stock yogurt, cheese sticks, apple sauce, carrots, hummus, whole-grain crackers, apples, bananas, low-sugar cereal, sandwich stuff (whole-grain bread, turkey, cheese, no-sugar PB, etc.). None of it is so hyper-palatable that they eat much past their actual hunger cues. If I see that they're eating unreasonable amounts of anything, I reset expectations on serving sizes and, if needed, enforce it. I don't dictate when or what they can eat, but if I can see they're eating from boredom, I ask them to assess their true hunger and act accordingly. When they ask why we don't keep other food in the house, I explain that it's to make eating healthily easier for us. We want whole foods to be our normal fare, and treats to take their rightful place as "sometimes" foods. We have take-out and dessert on Fridays and scattered other times.

    Good luck to you and your daughter. :)
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    My teen might eat these for snacks:
    Cottage cheese
    Hard boiled eggs, deviled eggs
    String cheese
    Trail mix
    Fruit
    Lunchmeat

    Ideas:
    Hummus and vegetables
    Lettuce wraps
    Stuffed tomatoes or cucumber https://www.pinterest.com/explore/stuffed-cucumbers/
    Pickles
    Cottage cheese vegetable salad
    Apple with peanut butter
    Celery with peanut butter
    Bean burrito
    Edamame
    Roasted chickpeas
    Wasabi peas
    Roasted potato slices- white or sweet potato
    Pepperoni or summer sausage
    Beef jerky
    Fruit and yogurt popsicles

  • readytobeatfat54
    readytobeatfat54 Posts: 91 Member
    Please make sure to involve her, perhaps setting up an appointment to meet with a dietician where both you and she can go. This way she can learn and identify ways that you can work towards it. Make it a family thing: "we will all eat healthier". Also, data indicates that most young people drink their excess calories, so you might begin by cutting back on soda, juice, and milk in the family.

    I say this reflecting on my own childhood. My parents wanted me to lose weight but had no idea how to start. Their efforts, while well intentioned, only alienated me. My parents did not take me to a dietician, but I wish they had. I did eventually lose weight, but only after I spent hours-days-weeks reading anything I could find on health and realizing my childhood mistakes. Today we take much of what I learned for granted, but back then my parents only knew media hype. Anyway, make it about her, but involve the family. She will learn and everyone will benefit.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    edited April 2017
    Thank you all for the ideas. She is complaining about her weight, and has been for a while, and I think she wants to cooperate. I trust her to eat e.g. one biscuit or one piece of chocolate if I tell her so, and I am trying to help by buying such things in portions, or diving them into small portions as soon as I open the package or bake them.
    What I am struggling to replace is basically things she uses as "fillers", like bread or cereal. I can almost eliminate these by "forgetting" to buy for a while or just saying we should all be eating healthier snacks, but at the same time I want her to have something she likes eating.
    She does the same for her main meals, she tends to fill the plate with potatoes or pasta, and have less vegetables. I will tryto fix this by cooking things with a smaller starch/vegetable ratio, so she will not have a choice.
    I do not buy soda or juice, except when we are eating out, so like twice per month.
    Some of these ideas sound good, she might be interested and we can all use some variety.
  • jennypapage
    jennypapage Posts: 489 Member
    edited April 2017
    then definitely incorporate the veggies into the meal instead of cooking them apart. like the rice example i mentioned, you can also cook for example pasta with shrimp or tuna and some veggies and mix them together in one pot.this way you can't choose the quantity of veg.or fish in your dish. mince meat casserole dishes can take a lot of veggies in them.carrots,peppers, mushrooms, can bulk up dishes for low calories.also try cooking veggies in multiple ways and she what see likes best. i love roasting, but also steamed or boiled (depending on the vegetable).
  • readytobeatfat54
    readytobeatfat54 Posts: 91 Member
    Perhaps you could pose it to her that you want to be healthier, and therefore you want to cut back on cooking so many starches, and ask her help in coming up with cooking ideas? She may see through it, but at the same time it would engage her. If she pushes back that you shouldn't "penalize" the rest of the family, just say that if it's around you will eat it and therefore you need your goals to be a family thing. Clearly you are supporting her health goals, but this would essentially force it without actually doing so.
  • SunflowerDaisey
    SunflowerDaisey Posts: 54 Member
    Popcorn
    Cheese Sticks
    Frozen Grapes
    Maybe she would like yogurt frozen??
    https://asideofsweet.com/healthy-frozen-yogurt-dots/
    Hard Boiled Eggs
    Apples with Peanut Butter
    Soup
    Salads
    Get a container and put cut up cucumber, carrots, celery. It's really helpful for a quick snack. You could make one for fruit too like watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    If it's habit snacking, then just don't buy that crap (personally, I would have a hard time sticking to a healthy diet if tempting high-calorie junk food was always around..and odds are she'll opt for the junk over the other options if it's there especially if improving her diet wasn't her choice). Maybe keep some apples on hand -- if they really, really want a snack and higher calorie junk food isn't around, they'll eat that (or buy their own junk food which then really isn't your problem/control). Look at it as eating healthier for the whole family. Go out for the occasional treat instead/buy a very small quantity from the bulk bins occasionally (no one needs cookies/etc every day).

    Serve the food out onto plates in the kitchen instead of leaving the bowl of calorie dense starch on the table (or incorporate into the meal). Also- mashed potatoes can be diluted with cauliflower to get the calorie density down (may or may not want to do that depending on the caloric needs of the rest of the family..if all female, then a decent idea).
  • TARGET65K
    TARGET65K Posts: 150 Member
    edited April 2017
    aggelikik wrote: »
    Thank you all for the ideas. She is complaining about her weight, and has been for a while, and I think she wants to cooperate. I trust her to eat e.g. one biscuit or one piece of chocolate if I tell her so, .
    I always have a plate of food ready for my daughter when she arrives home from school, raw veg. red pepper, cucumber, carrot, cherry tomatoes, olives, sliced apple and one or two boiled eggs that should keep her at bay until dinner at 19.00.

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