Take a ride to Whole Foods. They have a great book selection of books for healthy cooking. I’m sure you will find one that’s age appropriate.

I wonder about giving him a wok and a stir fry cook book. If he will cook for just him and his sister, he might like a smaller wok.

Sheilajoyce, that's a very interesting idea! I never would have thought about that. I know their new house has a gas stove. It's a family of 4, but the parents have variable work hours so they don't always all eat together. Anything that would be good for the kids would work for the parents, in moderate portions. Traditional wok cooking has lots of meats and vegetables, which would be perfect. Perhaps some concern about scorched fats, but he won't be cooking on dragon's breath. Also good in that I don't think the mom woks, so it could be something that's really his. She's a good enough cook to be able to help him as needed even without wok expertise. Plus, the best woks are supposed to be the hand hammered carbon steel ones that cost very little, so I could outfit him with a bamboo steamer, cooking chopsticks and all the other tools, and still have some money for a good book and maybe a video. I'll check it out for sure!

IC, I like the wooden platter idea too, and will look at that book.

Ricky, thanks for the suggestion. I have looked at the books at Whole Foods and they're more oriented to older people's health needs, or vegans, rather than youth athletes. I'll check again, however. They many have something new in for the holidays.

you know, I've had my better homes cookbook for years, and while I like many of the recipes, I really like having pages of blank pages in the back to add newly found recipes... and the 90s cookbooks are inexpensive

better homes cookbook

I'm just wondering if a subscription to one of the meal prep services would be welcome?

Thanks, Dave! I really don't think the Better Homes cookbook is right for this kid, and his mom probably has a copy, but a cool binder with recipe pages and sheet protectors might work great! I never would have thought of that, even though I use them in my own kitchen.

Carol, I'm not sure how you mean? Perhaps I explained it poorly? The kid wants to get into serious cooking, but the mom is a good cook and does make healthy meals, though not necessarily programmed to performance athletes. It's only recently that the kids have become competitive so she's on a learning curve there. I'm just looking for gifts that suit the current interests, especially when he can learn about what he should eat, as an athlete, while he's learning to make it. Some pushy-auntie part of my psyche thinks it's the kids who should know what they need to eat, since they're the ones spending half their lives in the water. :)

Kids are not that interested in healthy cooking or boring recipe cook books.

Let them watch Master Chef Junior episodes. That will get them excited into cooking. Eventually they will on their own develop interests in healthy cooking and fancy recipes.

dcarch

Sorry I wasn't clear. I was thinking of Blue Apron, et al. & I meant might this boy enjoy something like that? There might be one easy enough for a kid with some experience.

https://urbantastebud.com/best-full-meal-subscription-boxes/

Maybe a subscription to something like cooking light? Low fat, but tasty recipes and some nutrition info to boot! The Mom might enjoy it also!

I have found ways to make things like cream of anything soup with about 1/4 the calories and fat than the canned stuff. I'm also sensitive to salt, so I try to stay away from the processed stuff as much as possible. This mag is mostly scratch cooking. Some difficult, but most quite easy.

Oh. Carol, you're right that he might like it, but he can prep his own food. He doesn't need easy.

Nancyjane, that's an interesting notion. I'll take a look at it. Kids like getting mail. :) OTOH, these kids need fat. Not big vats of cheese, but they do need more fat than sedentary adults. I'll definitely check it out.

Dcarch, "kids" might not be interested, but this one is. He's a bright kid and doesn't need to have the world dumbed down for him, and doesn't need to watch kids on TV to know what he wants to do. He already knows cooking basics and wants to learn to make meals that are appropriate for him as a competitive athlete. He's also starting a growth spurt, so I'm guessing he's always hungry. :)

Different coaches for different sports follow different eating recommendations. My squash playing grandson had a coach who believed in lots of carbs. Now his college coach believes in high protein/lower carbs. I think he’s gotten to thin (he’s always been a slender boy), and should add some carbs or something with higher calories. He works out vigorously for 2 hours 6 days a week. You’ve never seen such muscles as he has in his arms and legs!

See if you can find what diet his swim coach wants him eating before anymore cook books.

Surely at 12 he needs a proper balanced diet and not one simply related to sports. He's a growing lad.

classes or cooking camp?

Two cookbooks that seem targeted to athletes. They are Australian so there might be some unfamiliar ingredients.

Here's one from the U.S.

Thanks, Fun2BHere! I'll check them out.

Sonni1, great notion if his free time weren't all taken up by swim.

Anglophilia, many thanks for the perspective and insight into what's coming. Islay is quite right that he doesn't need a special diet at his age. Just one that's more meat and vegetables, less cheese and sweets, than your average kid or cookbook. The fitness cookbooks might be good for that. I'll give them a close look.

I talked to the mom about this today, armed with suggestions from you all. She seemed to like the idea of the wok, and talked it out. In the end, we decided together that the boy isn't quite ready for it. It came up without prompting that she already gets Cooking Light.

I'm leaning toward books and maybe some specialty tools.

a spaetzle maker?

ROTFL!!