Are my dinners rubbish?

Because true martyrdom can only be activated when you spend hours in front of a stove.

I don’t know the size of your kitchen so I couldn’t comment
Some are fresh ( veg rack, garden, fruit bowl )
Some tinned ( cupboard )
Some jars ( once opened they go in the fridge, ie stuff preserved in vinegar )
Some frozen ( freezer )

but if there’s no space in your kitchen for lots of different food then I’d mix it up each time you shop for variety

So could we say:
garlic
onion
olive
dark chocolate?
wheat?
corn
tomato ketchup
pesto ( has basil)
pepper
chilli

Thats ten before you even start on fruit and veg.

Lots of perfect people on this thread. Sounds perfectly reasonable to me. As long as you’ve no concerns regarding over/underweight then your meals sound varied and realistic to general life and healthy

Think up any 30 plant foods

Job done

Been there 😬🤣

Or turn out wrong… if you’re moi!

Yep I’m with you - can’t think of anything worse than spending hours faffing over a meal that will be gone in ten minutes.

I love quick and easy.

My aunt has this notion that more processes somehow equals a “ better” meal. “More fool she” I think. It just takes up time.

How could I forget 🤣

No - we genuinely don’t have all those things in stock all the time. I have zero interest in cooking (and DH is the same) so our meals are quick, easy and what can be thrown together with as little cooking as possible.

Today’s tea was flatbread with goats cheese, sun dried tomatoes and olives. No cooking involved and ready in three minutes.

I just don’t care all that much about food and I think many people are the same. Add in autism and sensory issues on top and I just eat what I know I can tolerate.

Well dont you know everyone has to be some sort of kitchen maestro.

What’s wrong with lots of quick and easy meals?

They sound nice but nowhere near filling enough for my DC! Plus up the fruit and veg.

The thing is, nobody is saying that eating 30 plants a week is a bad thing.

Just that it’s not something that should be used to beat people over the head with, or to make them feel guilty about.

There are lots of reasons why people can’t eat a hugely varied diet - time, money, knowledge, storage, equipment, allergies, disabilities, illnesses - far too many posters on here are too quick to berate without trying to understand the bigger picture.

@DrPrunesqualerwe genuinely don’t have space to store all of those things at once. We do a weekly online shop and that’s it 🤷‍♀️

In terms of worrying though, it’s actually much easier than five a day.

Oh you’re right.

I think it’s not too tricky then. It’s counting the things like garlic and black olives that makes it easier - things that wouldn’t normally be a portion.

Yes but no comparison for the change if they ate 10 a week, or 50 a week.

As I and others have said, of course its better if you can do this, but lets not make people have yet another thing to worry about and feel they're not up to par on.

And its easy to lose track of what you have had in any case, Ive just remembered more ingredients from last nights meal, the list is ever growing.

And its 30 a week by the way, not a day, so your lasagne is a 3rd of your weekly total.

I'm pretty sure there was a Michael mosley TV show where they took a family, did stool testing of their gut microbiome, then did several weeks where they tried to eat 30 different plant foods each week, then redid the stool tests and basically showed their gut biomes were loads loads healthier and much more diverse in terms of healthy bacteria.

It’s got in my head after this thread - like a tune that won’t go.

But I just made lasagne this evening and it was my normal recipe because I bought the ingredients before reading this thread.

Count was onions, garlic, aubergine, courgette, mushrooms, black olives, a lot of tomatoes and some asparagus on the side. Strawberries and raspberries for dessert. So I guess that’s 10 in one meal. If you had a similar lunch you could probably get close. It seems much easier if you can count tiny amounts - so sultanas and dried apricots with breakfast muesli.

Agree.
However I was amazed that my cousin ( mid 50s) with her four daughters never buys or eats veg and rarely fruit. Unless they are in a curry or pasta sauce.

Not surprisingly she has many health issues.

If your family are happy and eating it then that is the main thing!
I often do a roast on Sunday and then any leftover meat would be the base of a stir fry (with lots of veg - maybe a prepared bag for ease) on Monday.
The pesto pasta would be another way to perhaps use up leftover roast chicken with some broccoli (you could cook extra on Sunday so it's a quick assembly).
Bolognese or chilli I grate in a courgette and finely chop mushrooms. They're unnoticeable once they cook down and make the mince go further.
Pizza and salad was a favourite when DC were younger also piri piri chicken thighs, good quality sausages or burgers (no buns) with sweet potato jackets or wedges and salad.
When we holiday in France, self catering, salad and new potatoes accompany most meals. Vegetables do not seem so readily available unless they're grown locally.
Don't worry about potatoes and rice if that's what DC wants. We were surprised on holiday in Portugal that chips AND rice was a regular offering in restaurants!