Hunger games
How to keep teens filled up during the holidays
School holidays are here again, and many parents agree that feeding teens is often about quantity first. Then, push nutrition. Carly Gibbs speaks to families who say you can achieve both — and cheaply — by teaching adolescents how to cook.
BAKED BEANS are entering new territory in the halls of residence at Canterbury University. Chemical engineering student Rupert Carter, 18, loves “doctoring up” a can of cheap staple beans with red chilli and grated cheese.
In a nearby flat, big brother Monty, also an engineering student, and his five male flatmates love cooking a hearty slow-cooked pork shoulder in the crockpot. They freeze the pork and then use it to make three recipes: Asian noodles, Mexican tacos, and hamburgers with slaw. They can also make ragu pasta if they add a can of tomatoes.
The brothers’ parents are foodies Catherine Macloughlin and Hamish Carter, who own Tauranga cafe Oscar and Otto and its catering arm Hereford Kitchen.
Together, they have 50 years of hospitality experience, and their four children, including Aquinas College students Gabriella, 17, and Felix, 15, have worked alongside them in the business, acquiring skills that have upped their kitchen game.
For example, the ever-hungry teens are “big into noodles”, but not the twominute kind.
The siblings — all home for the April school and university holidays — love visiting Asian supermarkets for condiments to add to Hokkien or udon noodles, which Macloughlin suggests as a fun outing during the break.
“It’s like a little journey somewhere when you go into those Asian supermarkets. Our [children] love experimenting with different chillies.
Choosing a few little, different jars keeps it interesting.” They bulk up their noodles with protein, like tofu.
The youngest child, Felix, makes dumplings from wrappers bought at the supermarket. He fills them with pork or minced chicken, prawns, and tofu. Cooking: a ‘skill for life’
New Zealand registered dietitian Jess Moulds of Relish Nutrition endorses tweens and teens taking ownership of snacking so that only some meals fall under the parents’ default.
“The more that they can learn to cook simple, filling meals themselves, the better off everybody is going to be, and they’re good skills for life,” she says.
She gives the example of eggs on toast or omelettes, which are good protein sources and will keep them fuller for longer. If they only eat carbbased foods like toast with jam or honey, they will be hungry again an hour later.
Another idea is to make homemade pizzas with pita bread or wraps. Add chicken, ham, and vegetables. Teens can also opt for tuna, baked beans, toasted sandwiches, and pasta with a tablespoon of cream cheese mixed through it (as opposed to a white sauce). Add frozen corn or peas, leftover meat, and extra cheese.
She also suggests breakfast options for lunch or afternoon tea, such as porridge or Weet-bix with yoghurt and fruit.
For parents who think their child wouldn’t be motivated to cook, Moulds says it comes back to role-modelling and what is available in the pantry.
“As a parent, you are in charge of the ‘what’, and they are in charge of the ‘how much and when’. You provide what is available, and then they can choose from what’s there.” ‘They’re not always going to get fancy little packet food’
Sarah Smith is another mum who’s taught her children how to feed themselves.
The founder of the Facebook page and Youtube channel Cheaper Ways NZ says preparing a snack is a holiday “activity.” Her children, aged 14, 11, and 8, make wraps or tortillas with flour and lukewarm water.
“Mix it up, roll it out, a minute on each side in the frying pan, and they have a nice, warm wrap.”
They also enjoy making smoothies with fruit, yoghurt, peanut butter and pre-cooked porridge; banana ice cream — smoosh bananas with peanut butter and freeze; and tray-baked crumpets — a hybrid between a crumpet and an English muffin. She shares her recipes on her Youtube page.
“The kids have to know that they’re not always going to get the fancy little packets of stuff. They can’t just have free range of the pantry and expect there to still be food miraculously at the end of the week. But the mentality of seeing ingredients, as opposed to a big tub of flour and ‘we’ve got nothing to eat’, is quite important. It’s a good mindset for them to get into, especially when moving out of home.”
Mum Mary Carmichael likewise encourages from-scratch cooking. If everyone is home during the holidays, she serves cooked breakfast and their main protein meal between 1pm and 2pm.
“Like tea, but in the middle of the day,” she explains.
This satisfies her children — aged 17, 14, and 11 — until 6pm or 7pm, when they’ll have a meal like tortillas with beef, cheese, vegetables, relish, chutney, and a salad.
Apples and carrots are in the fridge if they want to snack until then, and they know how to make hummus.
The family also enjoy “fridge
The more that they can learn to cook simple, filling meals, the better off everybody is going to be, and they’re good skills for life.
— Jess Moulds
cleaning meals”. They hunt out everything that needs to be used up, no matter how small. They have been known to split one tomato between five people.
“Add all the little bits together, and you each end up with a delicious platter.”
Learning about food needs, wants
Cooking isn’t completely uncommon for adolescents, and social media, particularly Tiktok, is full of food inspiration. However, there’s room for improvement.
Rachel, whose last name we have agreed not to use, works in education. She has heard stories about teens who don’t know how to use a can opener. Many prefer the convenience of eating at “burger bars and the mall” and sipping ”$7 coffees with plant milk”.
The Whakata¯ne mum advocates buying grocery items with multiple uses and teaching kids how to use them. She gives the example of wraps.
“They can be pizza, tortilla chips [fried or baked], the pastry for sausage rolls, scrolls, a tortilla stack, or a toasted or raw wrap. You can get gluten-free, vegan, wholemeal, low-carb, or vegetable-based. As parents on a budget, you must be creative.”
Parenting Place content editor and presenter Ellie Gwilliam says parents should be honest about their grocery budget if they involve kids in writing shopping lists.
Learning about budgeting, meal planning, and the difference between needs and wants are valuable life lessons.
Tweens and teens may enjoy planning part of the week’s menu. Give them a budget for the meal, and they could look up the cost of ingredients beforehand.
“There are all sorts of home-learning there.”