Are my dinners rubbish?

Its not odd to only eat salad stuff in summer a) because we should be eating seasonally b) OP might be like some of us who dont like cold food in the winter

There's nothing wrong with your dinners but Monday to Wednesday seem like student meals or lunches to me. Presumably you don't have this every week.

We have a takeaway every Friday as well. Either a spicy chicken and rice type thing (like Nando's but not actually Nando's) or a stone baked pizza. Can't see that either is much worse than if we made them ourselves - which we also do.

Or saag aloo
with rice

So you don't live in the UK?

Where do you live?

Unless I've missed it this is the first mention of not being in the UK, and also how you eat other meats/fish with salads.

Apologies for missing the salmon and saying no fish.

They sound very similar to our standard weekly meals. Kids all at various activities in multiple directions Tuesday to Thursday evenings, so we do a lot of pasta with salad, jacket potatoes, noodles with various protein/veg, eggs of some sort on those days. Other days are more involved, like tomorrow and Monday we are having a pork chilli verde that takes me 3 bloody hours to make but it’s delicious.

And I couldn’t figure out what sort of pasta to have for Thursday, and now I think it will be pesto. 😂

Been told they are

@Sowhatbigdeal Who told you? Your partner? Another parent? Your own parents?

It's really hard to get any context for this. Your meals sound basic and perhaps lacking in variety IF you repeat the same dishes every week.

The menu here needs context of what else your 7 year old eats- breakfast, snacks, fruit, veg, dairy, etc.

It's not clear if when you say you're working if you start work at 6pm or come home at 6pm. If you start at 6pm, you will have time during the day to prepare something unless you work shifts and sleep during the day.

I see no one here knows the joy of having roast potatoes and saffron rice together, it’s so good.

Do you want to eat 80g of oregano in one shot 🤣🤣🤣

But I thought herbs and spices counted too?

Onions = 1

My kids love this too....add frozen peas/sweetcorn & bacon bits. Grated cheese on top. Just as quick but more nutritious.
Whatever I can add veg to I do.

Can I come to your house for my tea please? It sounds yum. Next time you go shopping, look at the crap other people are pushing around in their trollies. Mumsnet is not a good place to survey what's "normal" or "typical" or "rubbish".

I'm just about to order our weekly takeaway so if anyone could tell me the best Indian order to make sure I get a few of my 30 plants a week in I'd be very grateful. How many are in an onion bhaji?

Depends on the jobs you do. If you are sitting at a desk all day then they aren't too bad but if one of you has a physical job then i really think you need to bulk them up because they all sound like suppers to me after you have eaten a cooked lunch. My Husband would be eating the contents of the fridge all evening if dinner was a red onion salad.

One mug in total
So fill the mug up with the various grains
Trust me this is plenty for 6 adults

If you don’t have time to fry the onions and garlic I sometimes cheat and just add a knob of butter for richness and some garlic salt. This is one of those recipes you can play about with to suit.

Are you reading the same thread as me?

Meant to add, along with cherry tomatoes, toasted pine nuts are also lovely with pasta and pesto and provide some protein.

I can't believe the number of people on this thread who are trying to shame @Sowhatbigdeal for having a child who eats salad 😂

That grain salad sounds yummy 😋
Would that be one mug each of rice, barley and cracked wheat, or all combined into one mug?

Makes sense for athletes who need protein to build serious muscle, not so much for the rest of us!

Sounds fairly normal. Sometimes when you’re working you just have to do what works. If I was making this is how I would do it:

Monday: I wouldn’t do rice and potatoes, just one or the other, and I would serve this with veggie sausages or I’d put lentils in the salad for protein.

Tuesday: pesto pasta is a perfectly acceptable quick dinner but I’d add a protein source. Chickpeas for me (I don’t eat meat) but if you do then chicken - you can buy ready cooked so less time/effort.

weds/thurs: fine. What’s in your salad? I’d go for darker leaves like spinach to up the nutrition, maybe broccoli and green beans with the salmon?

Friday: fine

Saturday: takeaway can be whatever you make of it really. I wouldn’t personally have it every week but everyone is different.

Sunday: probably fine. What do you have on a roast? If it’s all crackling, paxo and yorkshires it’s not exactly like having chicken and tonnes of veg.

we’re all doing our best, and I hope you take that in the spirit of “here’s some simple changes to up the nutrition” rather than “your food is bad” it’s not, it’s fine and normal x

Protein bars and shakes are one end of the spectrum but historically good nutrition has been poorly understood and proteins have been costly or difficult to come by so there has been little protein in diets. Protein can’t be stored in the body and so daily intake is needed.

I said YANBU because it looks like basic meals to me, just fine, and you later said you add vegetables and fruits and so on.

But there's not much context given here so I don't know what you're after.

Not good in what way? Not delicious enough? Or are you asking if they have a good amount of nutritional value? (Please ignore the posts that say you need more animal products. You do not).

Also, who said your dinners aren't good? If it's your child or someone else who actually eats them, why not talk to them about what they'd like better? And along with that, be sure to make them help prepare the dinners.

If the complainant is someone who doesn't eat your dinners, please either tell them to shut up or find something to put them down for in return or both! Overly critical, non-supportive people are to be avoided, in my opinion. :)