Today’s blog is brought to you by Karen Humphrey. Karen is the author of two very well known Canadian food blogs “Notes from the Cookie Jar” and “Chasing Tomatoes”.

“The Imp has officially eaten three times as much lamb, potatoes and corn as I have this evening”, my friend Alexis tweeted, “If he keeps this up, we won’t be able to afford lamb in his teenage years. Lentils for all my friends!”

Feeding teenagers, or rather keeping them fed, is a challenge. Perpetually hungry teens can clean out your fridge faster that you can re-fill it, which can cost a small fortune these days.  Besides that, there’s the lure of fast food, so how do you make sure that they are eating healthy as well? 

When Kevin has friends over, I notice that they like food that is fast, requires minimal cooking, and tastes good.  If you make sure that your fridge and pantry is stocked with food that meets these requirements, you should be able to keep them happy and keep them away from too much fast food, which will keep you happy.  So, where to start?

The slow cooker and freezer is your friend

A sure fire way to make sure that you serve enough food for an economical price is to make use of your slow cooker and deep freeze. The slow cooker ensures you aren’t chained to your stove for hours at a time, and the freezer allows you to make large quantities of soup, chili, or stew and freeze them in single serving containers.   My teenager loves this, because on a Saturday night when he’s hungry all he has to do is choose something to eat from the fridge and heat it up. Make sure to label everything so nothing gets lost in the fridge, and it will all be there waiting when hunger strikes!

Keep vital ingredients close at hand

The teens that I cook with once a week never fail to amaze me with their kitchen talents. With the right ingredients in the house, they are adept at creating all kinds of tasty treats on their own. Some quick and painless ingredients to keep around are:

English Muffin pizzas

• English muffins, pitas, or naan bread
• mozzarella
• pizza sauce
• various vegetables
• meat of your choice

Burritos

• tortillas
• cheese
• salsa
• pinto beans (these can be quickly made into home made re-fried beans and taste so much better!)
• various vegetables

Quick Pasta Tosses

• pasta
• pesto sauce
• spaghetti sauce
• cheese
• various veggies

Supplement these with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. I find that teens tend to go for the ones that are easy to eat and require little prep.

Teach Basic Skills

If you can lure your teen into the kitchen to help you cook, it benefits both of you. Firstly, they learn life skills that they will use when they move out and live on their own. Secondly, they will then be able to create their own snacks, which frees you up!  It is important to teach kids this age food safety around raw meats and clean up, knife skills, how to follow a basic recipe, and measuring. They may not become the next great chef, but a basic understanding of how things work is your goal. As an added incentive, it’s always a good idea to let them decide what they want to cook and you be there as a support person to answer questions, demonstrate technique, and help clean up. If you aren’t a cook, learn together! If your teen is eager, you can even assign them a once-a-week cooking day, where they make a dish for the whole family.

Some of the best conversations that I have had with kids have been while we’ve been working together in the kitchen. You may find that while your teenager doesn’t talk much about things most of the time, there’s something about all that chopping, stirring, and clean up that can be relaxing and generate a lot of conversation. In the end, it’s about more than just food, really.

You feed their soul, too.