how to keep a 15yo boy FOOD entertained.

plumbfir01

I have guardianship of my 15yo cousin and hes frankly getting tired of eating paleo with me and my wife. We try to keep it interesting for him but he wants other things i think.. i keep cereal and milk, pretzels and snacks at home but hes not voicing his opinion on what he wants so i have to try and find the balance and keep him happy. suggestions? I am 27 myself and know  how hard it is to be a teenager but never having kids to now having a 15yo is a big change for me. 

henapple

Lots of Mountain Dew.

Fred19Flintstone

Totino's Pizza Rolls.  Teenagers typically inhale those things!

fishlessman

have the 16 year old neighbor girl bring over a pizza, that should do it

Zmokin

ask him what he likes?  Tell him if he doesn't speak up, he gets what you decide.  My son who is 12 is not a picky eater, so he eats almost anything.  He loves broccoli & asparagus, virtually any seafood, he likes Italian, mexican, chinese, japanese, and Thai if it isn't too hot and doesn't have peanuts.

He won't touch peanut butter with a 10 foot pole.  he'll gobble down chicken wings if they aren't too hot, scarfs on most pizza, etc.

Little Steven

I have three in their twenties. They never liked anything as much as hanger steak. A couple of them nearly lost digits from grabbing it off the board while I was slicing.

DMW

+1 on pizza

matthethamm

If you have the wherewithal, teach the boy to cook.  That might open some doors for him later down the road.

Chris_Wang

Teriyaki chicken wings?

fence0407

IBC Root Beer, hotdogs, frozen pizza/pizza bites, eggo waffles, taquitos, and tater tots.

However, teaching him to cook healthier foods would be the ideal solution if you can. Never too young to get someone hooked on an egg 

Good luck!

plumbfir01

I got the kj jr to help him learn to cook instead of my large for times he wants to cook and I'm at the firehouse. He doesn't voice his opinion at all and we have to pry info out of him for likes/dislikes... He's definitely interested in grilling and it would make my wife happy that he can cook for them when I'm gone... Then again if he cleans the kitchens up and cooks, I may be out of a home

fence0407

Maybe get him a book or two on grilling? Or, see if there are any classes near by that he could go to?

RiverRatSkier

Give him some cash and drop him off at the grocery store.  Tell him dinner is his task tonight.

chainsaw19

Have 5 kids and every single one of them has diferent eating habits, meaning that I dont think there is a standard answer, but as stated above find out what he likes and that is your starting point.  I encourage all of our kids to try different things and I cook with that in mind, some are more open to it than others, but sometimes I am surprised which one steps up on different things.  I try to purchase a few of the junk items because I realize you cant cut it entirely, but keep lots of fresh fruits and veggies after a while you start to realize which are preferred.

GeorgeS

Teenage boys will eat damn near anything! If he ain't complaining he's probably good to go.

I'm not sure of the circumstances of
how he came to be in your custody but maybe there are some underlying issues there. Food and cooking may be a way for you to get to him if he is having issues and not talking.

Maybe take him on a shopping trip and see what he likes to eat. Do a little research and cook with him. Might get him to open up a bit if he needs to talk.

ShadowNick

Before I divorced myself from the crossfit cult, I did the Paleo thing for a while.  As much as I like meat, hated it.  Had to make allowances for grass-fed butter at least.  If you can incorporate that into the family Paleo/Primal diet, recipe options for cooks increase exponentially and might be able to introduce a bit more variety.
(Also, butter is a requirement for proper buffalo sauce, which I refuse to go without for extended periods of time )

plumbfir01

@ShadowNick   I eat more primal then paleo.. I eat grassfed butters and cheeses but thats the most of it. I am thinking I will let him go to store with money and pick out dinner for two nights... i like that idea...he may come back with ramen noodles for 3 and pocket the change ( at least thats what i would do at that age lol)

henapple

Kudos for being a stand up guy.

Eggcelsior

Not food, but the key to any teenage boy's heart.

Nudie magazine day!

TUTTLE871

Buy him a old car. Reason why I say that is when I was 16 I lived with my dad and my dad worked 30 on 30 off overseas and would leave alone for a month to take care of myself. Before everybody gets there panties in a wad my mom did live 1/2 mile away and I was not a bad kid at all and my dad trusted me.

Well my dad used to leave me about $500 bucks a month so I could eat out and what nots. Well I had a 67 Camaro in high school and I loved working on it and making it faster everyday. The job I had was being a sacker at a grocery store and it paid like 3.50 an hour so it took a lot of work to get the new clutch I wanted or other go fast parts. One day I looked at the grill in the yard that my dad used everyday when he was home and said to myself I'm taking that money he is giving me for going out to eat and buying groceries, and saving the rest. I read every cookbook we had and started experimenting and cooking and eating leftovers.

Here's the funny part about 8 months later my dad and I are out driving around in my car and he asks to drive it, he notices its extremely a lot faster and the motors rpms were going a lot higher. He asked me what I did and I told him the basics of everything, he asked how much I was working and where did I get the money. I confessed of what I had done and he said "son I should be pissed off at you right now but damn that was smart"

Afterwards he stopped giving me as much money. But that's what turned me onto cooking and enjoying the whole aspect about it.

henapple

Someone made a magazine of the Salado girls?

Little Steven

The basis for eggwidows.com. I gotta go. The Voice is on. >:P

PNWFoodie

Please, please don't go the "processed food" crap route. Find out one or two real foods you know he likes, make sure he has something he likes at every meal, and start expanding his palate. As long as I know I've included one food my kids like at each meal, I know they won't go hungry. I have a "two bite" rule...they must take two bites of everything, but they can have as much of anything offered as their tummy wants. This was, I know they will be fed, but they will also be expanding their palates. When they don't particularly care for something, I treat it as no big deal. I usually just say something like "That's okay. You haven't had that much experience with it. Perhaps you'll like it when you're older." After all, our tastebuds do change with experience.... I love the idea of making him king of his domain on the kj jr. Give him a food budget, advice if he wants it, and give him the green light to create. Magic just might happen....:)

RiverRatSkier

If you don't have a well stocked pantry, you may need to check his inventory after shopping and make a quick trip to pick up other things you think he may need as well.  Your choice to mention the extra trip or not, but I would probably just toss the extra items in the cupboard/pantry without his knowledge and hope he figures it out.  Be available for questions, but let him run with his plan.  You may need to order a pizza, but he will learn something, and hopefully you will learn more about him at the same time.

Should help with finding out what he likes and build some self esteem and independence. 

michigan_jason

"Give a man a fish, he eats for a day, teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime."

Just remember you can lead a horse to water....

Don't force him to cook, make it fun, if he shows interest, I think there is nothing better. I am 29 and my 4 year old is always by my wife or myself while we are cooking. He loves to help. It is great interaction and development.

gdenby

Before you became the guardian, do you know what his eating habits were? Or would not eat. By the time I reached my teens, my Mom knew that I would not tolerate boiled cabbage or anything w. green peppers. (She tried sneaking some pureed into a spaghetti sauce, and finally quite trying when a few minutes later I puked while running down the hall to the bathroom.) My wife never tolerated lima beans, and a good friend wouldn't swallow a pea.

I know that sometimes staying with my aunts and uncles, all of whom cooked fairly well, the food was usually disappointing, just 'cause it didn't taste like Mom's.

The main eating restriction I had at home was sweets. Oatmeal cookies and prune cake for snacks was OK, but when I was out of the house, the small amount of money I had from chores, good grades, etc tended to go to ice cream cups and doughnuts. I was probably almost 18 before I started thinking about "eating healthy." You may have to accept what he likes to eat, you think is garbage.

JethroVA

For my picky eater kids, we often did meals that they could tailor. Baked potato with choices of toppings (cheddar, sour cream, green onions, bacon bits), ditto hot dog bar using high quality dogs and buns, chili, onions, etc. Taco bar, etc. Make your own pizza night. Teenagers love to pick and choose their toppings. I also suggest shopping together to pick out said items.

JethroVA

Oh, and +1 participatory cooking. my kids tended to more readily eat things they'd helped cook. If you give him a choice of helping to cook or clean up, he may choose cooking. And one more thing, cut out recipes with pictures and have everyone vote on whether it should be attempted or not.

plumbfir01

Yeah I have finally started to get his selections. He has always spent time with me but I get the feeling he doesnt want to be a pain in the butt. He is just going with the flow. Thanks for the help and advice guys its all very helpful

ShadowNick

michigan_jason said:

"Give a man a fish, he eats for a day, teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime."

Just remember you can lead a horse to water....

Don't force him to cook, make it fun, if he shows interest, I think there is nothing better. I am 29 and my 4 year old is always by my wife or myself while we are cooking. He loves to help. It is great interaction and development.

Miked125

Eggcelsior said:

Not food, but the key to any teenage boy's heart. Nudie magazine day!

+1, you wont see him for days and he wont care what he eats.