Are my dinners rubbish?

Its not impossible to have cumin and cherries as a 3 course meal, you asked 'was it a ready meal'

Im not annoyed at all, Im incredulous really that this tiresome nonsense gets trotted out, it will be the same as the 10k steps, its an arbitrary thing

I said I had 34 different plants, I didnt 'point score' them, I know how it works, I do actually, god forgive me, have the book about it, thats how I know about it, for interest only, I dont subscribe to the necessity of it

Yes I made it all myself, yes its interesting, yes it was tasty. But somewhat meaningless in terms of what we are talking about and that was my point

And I forgot the rice. Another plant, so 35.

Looks too healthy for me my kids would never 🙈 good on u

It could easily have been a ready meal. Lots of 'posh' ready meals have loads of spices etc. How would it be impossible to have cumin and cherries as part of a 3 course meal?
I was asking if you made it yourself as it sounded very interesting.

You sound annoyed but clearly you don't know how it works or you'd not have added up each herb and spice to come to 34. It comes to nothing like that if you value them as 1/4 each.

You might think it's nonsense but it's been researched at a very high scientific level, across the world, in conjunction with treatments for serious diseases, where a healthy gut has shown a better outcome. My BIL was advised to do that when he was undergoing treatment.

Why would it be a wind up, whats a wind up about it.

I set out the ingredients that were in my meal last night. You think all that combination is in a 'ready meal'? Really? Cumin and cherries for example or cucumber and blackcurrants?

I said very clearly it was a 3 course dinner. It included lots of components.

This is how I would normally eat, I would 'reach the target' most days, let alone a week. 30 different things, whether the stupid point system makes it to 30 or not.

My point is, I know about the 30 plants a week thing, I know how it works you dont have to foodsplain to me, but its fairly meaningless, ascribing a point here or half a point there to something as insignificant as a cuppa. Its a thing made up to sell books, information and give the middle classes something to mither over.

I actually make my son the PPPP meal once a week. It’s just pesto pasta with prawns and peas. Once pasta is almost cooked I add cooked frozen prawns and frozen peas to the boiling pasta and add the pesto once everything is drained. Maybe your little one would like this and it honestly doesn’t take much more effort. X

Honestly it must be so exhausting to be so righteous all the time mustn’t it?

Well you're clearly not on MN or wedded to it or you'd not be posting sarcy posts like this!

But we have to remember how wedded MN is to the main meal of the day which has to be in the evening, perfectly balanced and contain all the day's nutritional needs.

It's not allowed to eat 'meal' foods for lunch or breakfast, when only porridge or fruit and soup or salad respectively is allowed. Or possibly a sandwich but only if it's wholemeal bread and you don't have cake or crisps too because that would stray into 'too big' for lunch, no wonder there's an obesity crisis.

@Sowhatbigdeal Where do you live? It's relevant for several reasons.

The first is seasonal availability - markets brimming with fresh produce for instance.

The second is cultural norms and if you're from the UK , making 'UK type meals' rather than a diet of the country you're in now.

The third, as you say, is the climate and if it's hot then salads tend to be eaten more in Mediterranean countries.

The other issue is the availability of 'fast food' and how much the country eats.

Your weekly menu sounds very westernised but not as varied as somewhere like Spain France, etc or the Far East.

Your weekday meals look a bit dull to me to be honest, the sort of thing I'd make for a quick lunch.

Sounds fine to me. The only thing I would say is frozen veg is your friend. I always have a large variety of frozen veg in and it's just easy to add to a meal.

It's not always 1.5 times.
Some advice says 0.8gms, others say 1gm/kg body weight.

I'm not sure if this is a wind-up post @soupyspoon or if you're being serious.

Assuming you're serious....the way it works is....

The spices and herbs count as 1/4 or 1/2 of a 'unit' (30 in total over a week). You'd need about 1/2 teaspoon to count it as a 1/4 of 1 unit.

So your 9 herbs and spices (if I've tallied correctly) would only count as around 2 to 3.

Each spice or herb has a unique composition which adds to the diversity of your gut microbiome.

I don't know what you ate for your dinner but it certainly sounds interesting mix. Too many different herbs and spices for me there, but each to their own.

Was this a bought ready meal or something you made yourself? All sounds very interesting.

Obviously, use common sense.

It IS possible to do it. We did it for 6 months, religiously, for an experiment. my BIL was advised to do it for strong medical reasons by consultants.

I am not saying UK is better. Neither are good but for differing reasons.
The UK issue is different to the cultures with double carbs, low protein and low veg. Although the “western” is now creeping into other cultures and is wreaking another layer of health problems.

Sorry, not following. I was responding to the point about many cultures having two starches with the meals or as their main meals. Many of these cultures are very very unhealthy and there are major health concerns about the population- the one I am most familiar with is the Indian culture and their diet.

There’s more than enough protein there
There really isn't. You are supposed to eat 1.5 x your weight in grams of protein daily - you don't get that amount from eating a couple of eggs and a piece of salmon in one WEEK. The body also does not absorb plant proteins very well, so it's dumb to count on your proteins from plant foods.

I think your menus sound lovely. And I think about 90% of children I know have pasta/pesto for dinner at least once a week. It's easy to make, most kids love it so it's perfect for playdates!

I wouldn't do potatoes and rice in the same meal or use a jar of sauce. And a takeaway once a week is a lot. Other than that I wouldn't call it rubbish

Given the UK is one of the least healthy nations and we have demonised carbs (and I say that as someone who really does need to eat low starches) Im not sure we hold up well in comparison to most, even those who practice the heinous 'double carb'

There’s more than enough protein there. And more than enough vegetables. Potatoes do count. And what a shame that your children wouldn’t eat salad as salad was an absolute staple for every single meal we had growing up.

OP: the meals sound absolutely fine. I would never post meal plans on Mumsnet as some posters cannot wait to stick the boot in.

How much feta per portion? You’d have to eat more feta than most people generally would for it to be the main protein component of a meal.

Also, I’m not sure how we were supposed to know what was in your salads? If you say ‘feta and red onion salad’ for example, we’re going to assume it contains those two things and some leaves.

MN isn’t very reflective of the UK food habits at all (at least going by this thread) so to be honest having potatoes and rice along with your chicken is really not an issue at all.

I wouldn't say they are rubbish meals, but

1. There's barely any protein in most of them, to keep you full
2. Some of the meals I would consider incomplete, or lunch, rather than a proper dinner
3. They are a bit dull, and seem very "thrown together because I can't be bothered"

Also, I think if you are going to make something as suuuper simple and quick as pasta with pesto, the least you can do is to spend 5 minutes making your own pesto...

In the end of the day, it's food, it's fine. You could definitely eat worse. But I would feel the same as your husband. But then again, if you both work and pay the bills, nothing is stopping HIM from cooking more interesting meals...

Also lots of pesto is made with olive oil which is actually quite nutritious. Good pesto is rich in vitamin E.