Are my dinners rubbish?

The 30 plant foods thing sounds daunting but it includes things like herbs, spices, olive oil, pulses, etc. so once you've made your chilli, a spag bol, etc with herbs and spices it's not hard to reach.

I'd add green beans and /or broccoli to your pasta pesto but otherwise I think your meals sound fine and much more healthy than some of the options people have listed above.

Can you list the 30 plant foods per week we should be eating please?

For those who think they can do better can you share a weeks example menu please and the age of your children?
If it was just me I would do better but my teenager is not interested in my healthy meals (although having now written it out I don't think it is that bad). I'll go first anyway
This week's menu is
Sunday - BBQ - sausage in bricoche bun, burger in brioche bun with mozzarella cheese slice. BBQ courgette, corn on the cob and mini peppers.
Monday- mozzrella and pesto pizza (frozen) with added red onion, sweetcorn and green olives. Salad of mixed leaves, tomatoes, cucumber, celery and sweetcorn.
Tuesday- thai green curry (using a jar of paste and coconut milk) with chicken, onion, mushrooms, courgette and broad beans. served with rice (and DS really wants prawn crackers but I would prefer not to add these).
Wednesday- sausage carbonara with pasta, cream, eggs, cheddar and parmesan cheese, onion, mushroom, peas and courgette
Thursday- pasta, prawns, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, parmesan, sweet chilli sauce
Friday- BBQ again - lamb kebabs, burgers, corn on the cob, courgette. maybe salad.
Saturday- chicken strips, oven chips , baby corn, green beans.
Sunday- nachos, mince, black beans, cheese, sweetcorn, tomatoes, sour cream, avocado and green salad with cucumber

you know they're completely different fats right? OF COURSE Pesto is 51% fat, it is literally olive oil and nuts! Fat isn't bad, it's essential!

For those who think they can do better can you share a weeks example menu please and the age of your children?
If it was just me I would do better but my teenager is not interested in my healthy meals (although having now written it out I don't think it is that bad). I'll go first anyway
This week's menu is
Sunday - BBQ - sausage in bricoche bun, burger in brioche bun with mozzarella cheese slice. BBQ courgette, corn on the cob and mini peppers.
Monday- mozzrella and pesto pizza (frozen) with added red onion, sweetcorn and green olives. Salad of mixed leaves, tomatoes, cucumber, celery and sweetcorn.
Tuesday- thai green curry (using a jar of paste and coconut milk) with chicken, onion, mushrooms, courgette and broad beans. served with rice (and DS really wants prawn crackers but I would prefer not to add these).
Wednesday- sausage carbonara with pasta, cream, eggs, cheddar and parmesan cheese, onion, mushroom, peas and courgette
Thursday- pasta, prawns, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, parmesan, sweet chilli sauce
Friday- BBQ again - lamb kebabs, burgers, corn on the cob, courgette. maybe salad.
Saturday- chicken strips, oven chips , baby corn, green beans.
Sunday- nachos, mince, black beans, cheese, sweetcorn, tomatoes, sour cream, avocado and green salad with cucumber

If she had listed more meat it would be all....."too much meat!! Don't you know colon cancer is at an all time high in under 50s!!! You need to drop the meat and eat more vegan meals. Why do you hate your own dc 😩"
You can't win with the all knowing perfect posters.

Is it the sound of your meals that have been deemed rubbish or the actual meals? On paper the meals sound fine but you may be making a pig's ear of them. I have a friend who, I would say , can't cook. Their meals sound fine, too, but it's the blandest food ever. Lasagne where they just add a tin of tomatoes to mince with a stock cube and no other seasoning. They just can't be bothered to cook well.

For those who think they can do better can you share a weeks example menu please and the age of your children?
If it was just me I would do better but my teenager is not interested in my healthy meals (although having now written it out I don't think it is that bad). I'll go first anyway
This week's menu is
Sunday - BBQ - sausage in bricoche bun, burger in brioche bun with mozzarella cheese slice. BBQ courgette, corn on the cob and mini peppers.
Monday- mozzrella and pesto pizza (frozen) with added red onion, sweetcorn and green olives. Salad of mixed leaves, tomatoes, cucumber, celery and sweetcorn.
Tuesday- thai green curry (using a jar of paste and coconut milk) with chicken, onion, mushrooms, courgette and broad beans. served with rice (and DS really wants prawn crackers but I would prefer not to add these).
Wednesday- sausage carbonara with pasta, cream, eggs, cheddar and parmesan cheese, onion, mushroom, peas and courgette
Thursday- pasta, prawns, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, parmesan, sweet chilli sauce
Friday- BBQ again - lamb kebabs, burgers, corn on the cob, courgette. maybe salad.
Saturday- chicken strips, oven chips , baby corn, green beans.
Sunday- nachos, mince, black beans, cheese, sweetcorn, tomatoes, sour cream, avocado and green salad with cucumber

you know they're completely different fats right? OF COURSE Pesto is 51% fat, it is literally olive oil and nuts! Fat isn't bad, it's essential!

I think 3 are ok. Not impressed with the rest and if this is repeated every week, I’d say boring. So many meals can be made in 20/30 minutes and it seems very restricted. And yes, I worked 15 hour days split shifts and did all the cooking before anyone jumps on me and had 3 kids with an OH who refused to do women’s work. Which included child care

Crikey. Even a chocolate bar is about 30-40% fat. 51%!!!

It’s not necessarily bad for you per se but there is not much in it. It’s essentially a teaspoon-tablespoon of pesto per child’s portion - 100g contains 5g of protein so per meal it is less than 1g of protein.
Again, not much in the way of vitamins, fibre etc in that spoonful. Most shop bought pesto doesn’t contain olive oil so the fat in it is not even healthy. Maybe high in salt.

Why isn’t it a nutritious meal?

Sorry image attached now

Just a random google search but the below states pesto pasta is a good source of protein and it isn't the worst thing a child could eat by a long way. Even though they are growing a 7 year old needs less protein than peri/menopausal women (or teenage boys hitting the gym 🙄)

You clearly haven’t read the rest of my posts. I have stated more than once that I think OP’s meal plans look perfectly fine to me and that the 7 year old may be getting protein from other sources thoughout the day.
I am not anti pesto pasta at all. However, it doesn’t surprise me at all that many think it is a nutritious meal.

I genuinely can’t believe there are people referring to pesto pasta as “nutritionally deplete”.

If she had listed more meat it would be all....."too much meat!! Don't you know colon cancer is at an all time high in under 50s!!! You need to drop the meat and eat more vegan meals. Why do you hate your own dc 😩"
You can't win with the all knowing perfect posters.

If she had listed more meat it would be all....."too much meat!! Don't you know colon cancer is at an all time high in under 50s!!! You need to drop the meat and eat more vegan meals. Why do you hate your own dc 😩"
You can't win with the all knowing perfect posters.

But it’s not being presented as a daily meal - as you say, it’s one meal out of 21, not including snacks and drinks.

I get a bit sick of MN slamming perfectly normal family dinners because they’ve decided that it lacks X or Y. Not every single meal has to be perfectly balanced and nutritionally complete.