After school snacks for starving/fussy teen

Eggs are always a good filling food which will give him plenty of protein. Scrambled on toast or poached, even hard boiled and spread on toast with a little mayo.
They always seem to have hollow eggs at that age!

That should read hollow legs!!

You obviously can't wait for Easter, Pam :)

Yes of course you can eat it - just check how many carbs it actually has.

No-carbing is quite impossible really - except if you eat nothing but meat, fish and eggs and fat. Far too boring for me.

Low carb for weightloss seems to work best at around 20g of carbs a day or below. I do more of a paleo diet and often go up to 50g of carbs - especially at the moment when we have ripe figs which go so nicely with prosciutto ...

LOL, well I dont know about that!

Thank you I appreciate your kind words... it is always difficult getting food advice, yes, I get that he is still a boy, like the rest if them - but I don't think kids can all lumped all into the same catagory.
I still think its important, as parents to support each other, whether its food, sleep whatever - its hard work!

If you have a slow cooker you can use it to prepare foods such as hot dogs or baked potatoes and to keep other prepared foods like rissoles, etc warm. Macaroni cheese, pancakes, sushi, crackers/veges and dips are some other ideas he may like. My kids particularly like one or two egg omelets with a sprinkling of cheese.

Uli and Buzzy, as you both obviously have such strong views about what not to feed children I would be extremely interested in your own suggestions regarding after school snacks that children would be interested in eating (I did note the smoothie ingredient suggestion from Uli but haven't been able to see any other ideas here, correct me if I am wrong). I am especially interested in ideas for children that may be used to having high carb afternoon snacks often. Thank you.

smileeah once you have trained the kids onto bread, muffins, bikkies and cereal since childhood it is very difficult to suddenly change that regime. Once kids learn that it is a "treat" to have birthdays at McDonalds or that it is a normal to eat bikkies and cakes and pasta dishes then a low carb diet is often not very interesting for them.

However I will list some snacks I have collected over the years from the net, including some of my personal favourites - maybe you can pick and chose from that depending on what you want to achieve.

- Cottage cheese with herbs or berries
- Meat patties topped with cheese and avocado
- Greek yogurt with LSA or berries
- Celery with tuna salad
- Hard boiled eggs
- Pickles and cheddar cheese
- Hummus on cucumber slices
- Celery with peanut butter
- Chicken drumsticks
- Tuna salad with mayonnaise and chopped boiled eggs, topped with avocado slices
- Nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds
- Scotch eggs
- Egg salad with mayonnaise - add additional ingredients, such as bacon, cheese, veges
- Vegetables dipped in hummus
- Peanut Butter Balls
- Cheese and salami sticks
- Scrambled eggs topped with fresh herbs and cheese or vegetables
- Bacon and eggs, tomato and mushrooms

There is heaps more of course but this list might give you some idea.

I just re-read that above: "ideas for children that may be used to having high carb afternoon snacks often" - do you mean you want to have ideas for high carb snacks? Then my above ideas are obviously not what you wanted.

I read smileeah's post to mean that she was interested in learning more about snacks that were not high carb, in an attempt to wean children away from their usual high carb snacks...in which case she will find a helpful list to choose from :)

You were right with your first interpretation thanks Uli. I was looking for 'healthier' ideas from you as I became frustrated reading your posts because you (and Buzzy) seemed to have a lot to say about what NOT to feed children but gave no indication of what you would feed them.
Your list is helpful and quite a few of the ideas would be well received, although not altogether quick and easy to make from scratch (drumsticks etc). :)
I tend to feed my children carbs for snacks as it is what satisfies them the most and to be honest is also easier as far as preparation and ideas go. I am not self inspiring when it comes to food so instead of searching the net daily for new ideas I tend to go for the tried and trued (often bread based) options more often than not.
I am glad you offered up some useful information here, it makes a difference.

That's not to say I am not from the 'everything in moderation' camp because I am really. But I am also aware that eating more food in its natural form is the ideal.

This is an excellent book and as the others have said it's not easy to switch kids from high carb foods which are very addictive to a lower carb diet.This lady suggests giving the kids the information in a way that helps them to take responsibility for their eating and therefore their moods.

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Sugar-Addicts-Meltdowns-Self-Esteem/dp/1400051649

smileeah I used to post a lot more recipes here, but since most people think that my diet is "unbalanced" I now only do so if asked.

I would also consider what the kids do after school. If they come home exhausted and do homework and sit at the computer/tv/video for the rest of the afternoon and evening then my low carb snacks above are probably what would help them to concentrate better because of the protein content.

If on the other hand they go for sports in the afternoon or a dance party then some more carbs would not be a problem, as they would use them up quick smart. Carbs are a much bigger problem if you have a sedentary lifestyle. If you work all day outside and physically (not on the ride-on mower) then the higher level of carbs is being used as you eat them.

If you choose to feed the kids more carbs then try and feed them starchy veges rather than grains. There has been plenty of research that grains are not very healthy for humans and that a lot of people have either allergic or inflammatory reactions to them.

So pumpkins, kumara, potatoes, yams, carrots, beetroot, squash etc are great choices for healthy carbs and they come with a load of vitamins and minerals too. They can all be made into chips too if you feel like it :)

Try asking in parenting too. You'll find many mothers with ideas. Some will still no doubt want to go off on a tangent - but you'll get some good ideas too. It'll help if you state first up that the child has aspergers and any ingrediants/flavors/textures that are "out" to begin with.

It does seem like a lot of effort to switch to (what seems to be) such a limited diet, not to mention a lot of research to determine what is ok to eat and what is not (and why). And I won't even ask where you get the inspiration that must be needed to not get bored with the choices.
How do you know the information you have about food choices is correct? For example, I realise more and more people are allergic to wheat now but I still would have thought grains would be one of the best food choices for humans based on what our ancestors ate (not that I have exactly studied the topic I will admit but I have read Clan of the Cave Bear ;) LOL) and that the allergy issue is related to some other factors of modern life.
I don't expect a full on reply here by the way as I may not have time to reply again myself, just airing a couple of thoughts...

First let me just say that Clan Of The Cave Bear is not the right book from which to learn about nutrition.

Second I'd like to add that uli and I eat the same way, more or less, and I too do not offer suggestions or recipes because they too, are always sneered at, at best and openly ridiculed at worst. Even if I post helpful information someone (no name needed) will call me rude because what I say doesn't fit in with her own preferred diet.

Third, I'd just like to say that our diets are so varied we never, ever can get bored. My own husband just loves the foods we eat every day. Today I had guests and the look of sheer delight at the meal I gave them for lunch was priceless. How can a diet rich in proteins, fats, vegetables and some fruits be considered boring? uli and I, as we do not have any problems with allergies, also eat grains. Like the characters in CotCBwhere grains were only eaten occasionally, whilst hunting and gathering other plants and nuts provided the main source of food, we only eat small quantities of it. And usually it is fermented, as in sour dough bread.

Sugar and grains actually limit variety IMO.

I quite believe you. As I said above, inspiration is my weakness.

Inspiration plus cost I think. It is expensive feeding young teenage males and I can well see that grain based food is cheap and cheerful. It also appears to be filling (actually it is only filling for a very short while, whilst protein and fats can keep one sated for much, much longer). I think any inspiration I might add may be seen as rather an expensive option because people think in terms of large, grain based servings, as opposed to the much smaller serving one would offer on the low carb suggestions.

I do have some favourite snack foods but some of them use ingredients that are unfamiliar to the usual kitchen such as coconut oil and cacao butter but I'll leave those out. The list will be reduced once again because the jeering I have received when I have mentioned my total favourite, easy, cheap and cheerful snack is just not worth the bother. And I'll have to delete another favourite because of the same effect its mention has on people. Apparently, it is fine when it comes with a certain meat but not on its own. So here goes:

Homemade mayonnaise - egg yolk, lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper.
Egg salad - Boiled eggs - quartered, chopped spring onion and finely diced bacon cooked to a crisp (1 or 2 rashers is sufficient). Mix with mayonnaise.

Chicken salad - Not terribly expensive at the moment. Cook a small one, cool and de-bone. Cook in such a way that you can save the stock and the fat the are released in the cooking process. Dice breast meat and other meat but keep the drums and thighs separate for separate snacks. Add whatever veges he likes (onion, finely diced celery, capsicum, raw mushrooms, fresh herbs, or whatever Mr Fussy will eat). Use the Mayonnaise as a dressing.

I buy whole mullet from our local fishmonger - he fishes the local harbour daily so it is always fresh. I bake this and make - you guessed - fish and mayonnaise salad. Smoked fish will serve the same purpose.

Any stocks you collect use in all sorts of things.

I grow a very prolific garden. If he were my child I'd teach him how to make a fresh vegetable Chinese stirfry using little scraps of leftover meats and the meat stocks you have saved. Don't know if that is an option in your place.

Chicken liver pate. A tub of livers costs $4.00 at the Mad Butcher. Cook and onion in a lot of butter, add in a rasher of bacon (diced) continue cooking at a low temp whilst you remove the connective tissue from the livers. Throw into the butter and onion, etc mix and cook. Season to taste. I usually add brandy but you can skip that. Cool. Blend. Put in bowl. Sprinkle fresh dill and paprika on top. Over with nearly set water, gelatine and salt or some chicken stock. Cool. Can be stuffed into a scooped out tomato (cheap at present) or spread liberally over a piece of toast.

Cottage cheese beaten with butter and put into a small covered bowl. Can be spread over toast, stuffed into a tomato or spooned straight into the mouth after mixing with diced, cooked beetroot, or whatever, takes his fancy.

Babaganouch. Hummus. Taramasalata. Grilled eggplant slices, cooled, spread with sour cream or cottage cheese and mint. Roll. Or spread with a salad.

Potato salad - made with mayonnaise. (not low carb but he is a teenager and balance is good). Risoni - A pasta salad mixed with a lot of diced vegetables. You can cook extra for dinner and use the leftovers the next day.

Mussels are not expensive foods yet.

I can make all these things easily. You can make enough of one thing to last several days.

However, everything depends on his tastes. Like you said. He is fussy.

Thank you for your ideas. I can't help but wonder what it is you decided not to share though lol
I am particularly interested in the coconut oil uses. If you would consider giving me some ideas on how to use this I would appreciate it as I don't like it straight off the spoon as some other people seem to but would like to have some regularly.

#1, what I do for my teen boys is I cook dinner enough to be able to freeze some portions. My boys like fried rice and noodles. With lots of vegies and lean meat in it, healthy, economical, easy and filling snack without a wait! :-) They have been enjoying after school sweetcorns as well. leave each in husk, just peel 1 or 2 layers if thick, and microwave 5-6 mins per corn. Beautiful. In summer, smoothies made of milk, banana, frozen berries (or freeze any canned fruit of your choice) and wizz! Nothing wrong with English muffins with baked beans on top with cheese.