Feeding sporty teenage boys on a budget!

My GC love Island Brown Chicken Stew (with peas, black beans, rice). Very filling and inexpensive.

Yorkshire puddings! Eggy bread ! Prepare cheese muffins as snacks in advance ... buy reduced meat and freeze!

See BBCs eat well spend less - in shepherds pie remove half the meat and add red lentils instead! they need a while to cook and then they become a thick gravy.
yummy ..

I feed a hungry, sporty sixteen year old most weekends as DD is having to work which involves a fair bit of travel.

He's not a fussy eater but is on a gluten free diet so it's GF pasta, potatoes in any form, fish, cheese (which he loves)chicken and the usual burgers, sausages etc.

Thankfully he has passed through the anti vegetable stage and was even tucking into braised fennel last weekend.

I agree about feeding them what you eat. So long as there is plenty of bulk they'll be happy.

Only double up on quantities!

Feed them what you eat. You don't have to buy into some sort of "sports" fad.

I am very surprised to read that HildaW

Fresh Australian fruit and vegetables abound wherever I have been in the countryside - not so noticeable in the larger cities. Roadside stops selling beautiful locally grown fruit and veg, markets abound with local produce, supermarkets full of home-grown produce!

I love to be able to stop and buy fresh fruit, veg and salads if they are not growing in DD's veg garden. Many people out of cities, if not farming, have their own life-style plots and keep hens and grow their own fruit and veg. Most people seem to do that even on a small plot.

I don't know where these people you mention live but it doesn't sound like any 'out of the city areas'I have visited or any people I have met on a cruise.

I have a son who is very sporty/did a sports science degree/played for all the hockey/ football teams both locally and at uni. His/his friends' favourite at our house when they were teenagers was Mum's Pizza. I used to make home made bread dough, which I spread out and allowed to rise in a large, well oiled rectangular tin before covering it with canned chopped tomatoes and herbs and lots of grated Cheddar cheese. If the budget would stand it I might add tinned tuna, chopped peppers and/or mushrooms or thin slices of chorizo sausage.

When his sister got married I put together a proper recipe book for her of 3 generations worth of favourite recipes. He insisted this was included as my' signature dish' !

On a cruise last year we were fascinated to learn that a lot of Australians find good quality fresh vegetables difficult to find once out of the main cities. We were told that most of what is grown goes for freezing. So perhaps lots of freshly prepared salads and vegetables will go down well. Must admit home-made beef burgers, made with decent quality minced beef are good fillers for active boys.....its a lot of good quality protein! Lob them in a bun with a fried egg and you will be very popular!

I'm sure your DD and SIL will enjoy food shopping just to see what is different here and the difference in the prices.
The price of food in Australia has gone up a lot over a very few years and it seems relatively cheap in the UK now, whereas it was the other way round not that many years ago.

Your DD and SIL are the best ones to guide you, you'll just need enough for the first few days or week (probably twice as much as you think you'll need though).

Pizzas /beef burgers and chips are most growing lads favourites.Never known these to be refused.Make them yourself and you will save pounds.

They'll be used to Asian food, which must be quite widespread in Australia, but perhaps not so much curries. So they will love curries.

Hope you all have a wonderful time and make lots of great memories.
My youngest DS is in his 20s, very fit and sporty and he doesn't eat many carbs so you may find it difficult filling them up on them. He does eat loads of eggs, at least 4 a day, fish, chicken, veg and salad stuff - and has 4 meals a day! Oh and peanut butter seems very popular even though I think it's the work of the devil. He also drinks lots of water and for a soft drink is happy with a hi-juice cordial with still or sparkling water.
Just ask your DD for ideas of what they enjoy, I'm sure she'll understand that it's very different from just feeding you and your DH - and I think your veg plot will really come into it's own.
Enjoy and try not to worry too much

My DD and family are in oz and her girls wouldn't eat our usual meals of Mince, sausages steak etc as weather is so hot there meals seem to be a lot lighter rather than heavy comfort food. There's always plenty of salad on there plates and bowls of fruit for afters as it's in abundance in oz, mangos melons pineapple etc.Pasta dishes will go down well and pasta is good for energy.Maybe google some oz recipes to give you an idea.Have lovely time with them. I'm going to visit mine in oz this Christmas.

How exciting to have a visit on the horizon. I hope you all have a wonderful time and remember all those photo opportunities.

Just a thought - if you haven't got one, could you borrow from a friend for the duration a big 6 litre slow cooker? That would be a boon with meal prep and would allow you to get it going in the morning and leave it be. My own kids love these. I have often used a handful of porridge oats too in a chicken or meat casserole, they add bulk and a bit of thickening. Chicken, onions, any veg, stock and then oats, ending with a big dollop of Philadelphia is great too. Also sausage casserole is fab - I fry off the sausages to give them a head start then just add as much veg as you have and lots of passata or tinned chopped tomatoes - a bit of chorizo for oomph and some black olives too - all this can be eaten with baguettes on the side. I'd love to hear from you afterwards how it's all gone. I bet you'll be wide-eyed at what the lads can consume! How about printing off some easy recipes too? (I'm thinking one pot dishes) and providing them with a box with the ingredients and leave them in the kitchen with strict instructions that you don't want a war zone. Good luck and I admire your daughter managing 4 teen boys, she must be very proud of their sportiness!

Just reminded me of the time my teenage daughter and her friend went to Scotland to stay with the friends grandparents. The old folk were not used to feeding teenage girls. They would open a tin of soup for lunch, and share it between four! The girls were famished and used their spending money to buy food.

As they're Australian, better pick up a jar of Vegemite! Marmite won't do it for them.

Some tips from when I had lots of teenagers visiting
- bulk out meals with large bowls of pasta, rice or potatoes - keep any leftovers to make salads etc
- meals like bolognese, chilli, stew, pasta bake and curry etc can be bulked out with seasonal veg
- use cheaper veg as the basis of salads - grated carrots and homemade coleslaw are very filling.
- use cheaper cuts of meat - slow cook beef or roast chicken drumsticks or thighs
- Get the kids picking and helping prepare home produced veg - my brother used to take my kids to the allotment and then they made spicy parsnip soup for lunch
- Omelettes can be cheap and a "Spanish omelette" can use up leftover cooked veg and meat
- you can often get good deals on frozen pizza - less expensive than the pricy premium fresh pizzas
- perhaps have a bbq with sausage and/or burgers with lots of bread ad salads made with your own veg

Have simple filling breakfasts
- some simple value cereals (cornflakes, rice crispies, weetabix etc) and toast with jam or marmite. Put a carton of value juice in a jug. If they like porridge then this is a cheap and filling breakfast.
- "treat" breakfasts could be pancakes, eggy bread or eggs on toast

You could also keep costs down by getting them to help make some packed lunches for days out- some sandwich stuff, juice cartons and perhaps a multipack or crisps or funsize chocolate

All the young Aussies I know are big meat eaters!

Pulled pork with brioche buns, wedges & coleslaw
Slow-cooked lamb shoulder with couscous
Chicken & chorizo tray bake
Meatballs & pasta

Susie511.....this is all reminding me of the conversation I had with my sister a few years ago....she suddenly realised she was underfeeding the two boys....they were growing upwards and needing longer trousers yet the waistbands seemed too loose. They were sports mad and needed so much more food than their elder sister. That's when my sister got into homemade bread and bulking everything out with twice as many root vegetables and very thick gravy! Oh, and proper puddings with custard!

Think I am going to have to change our bread buying habit - one loaf usually keeps DH and me going for nearly a week! I will certainly try and stock the freezer with some ready-made main dishes, and have masses of pasta, rice etc on standby! Lots of really good ideas so thank you everyone.

Or offering a thick homemade soup as a starter with good bread......half full before the Mains!

I misread your heading as "feeding spotty teenagers on a budget"

Pasta, Potatoes, Rice, Veg, Puddings, Beans, Lentils.