AIBU to tire of moral superiority around meals?

I absolutely do not think that anyone should be judged for how they feed their families. People do what they can with what they have. Having said that, we do try to cook from scratch as much as possible. I almost never use frozen food, and literally my whole family cooks to a certain degree. We do this because we love eating good, delicious food, and in my opinion frozen, ready made meals are not.

Btw, cooking should not be only a woman's job. A man and all the kids, should be involved as well.

I think if women/mothers have the time to spend cooking nutritious meals and enjoy doing it, that’s a beautiful thing.

Just the women and mothers?

What about the men and fathers?

I don't judge what other people do, each to their own, everyone has different pressures and budgets.

But for me food is a really big deal. I grew up on a lot of processed food and I really struggled as a young adult with my diet, my weight, health and body image. My childhood diet wasn't the only factor but it really didn't help. I try to make sure most food we eat is homemade (obviously they have crisps, haribo, ice cream, McDs now and then) but food is what I prioritise.

I don't think this is moral superiority it's just people doing their best, like 99.9% of parents are. 'Best' is just different from one person to the next depending what your life looks like.

Only ultra processed. There's nothing wrong with semi processed food like yogurt, cheese , pasta etc.

I get a veg box and make homemade stuff. I also sometimes chuck a ready meal in. Perfection is the enemy of good.

There's a massive middle ground between preparing every meal from scratch with organic food and eating takeaways all the time.

I am not averse to the odd takeaway and my kid eats junk food sometimes (more than I'd like). But let's be honest, feeding children a balanced diet which includes fresh ingredients and some vegetables is pretty important.

Also honestly I work full time, often 9 plus hours a day and I usually manage to make at least one meal from scratch. It's not that hard to make sure there is one home-cooked meal a day which involves some vegetables.

I agree, but breasts are less fatty and better for cholesterol. But yes, chicken thighs, pierced, daubed with garlic, salt, black pepper, a sprinkle of paprika and the juice of a lemon and left in the fridge overnight before 45 minutes in a hot oven to come out crispyand delish. Served with cous couse with lemon, mint, coriander, feta and a mixed salad.

Ideally I'd love to feed my oldest DC lots of veg, fruit etc, but his additional needs means he won't eat the majority of foods mentioned on this thread. He's a bit better now he's a teen but still won't eat just anything put down to him

I don’t make comments to others and wouldn’t say we eating the healthiest meals as i do often stick quorn nuggets/fish fingers in air fryer or grab a pizza from aldi on way home but do try to make homemade nutritious food for my children.

I work long days and have little help with my 4yr old but i batch cook and portion it up and stick it in outside freezer and then only need to defrost and warm up. Soups, pasta sauces, shepherds pie, filling for tacos etc Plus always have fruit to eat/blend into smoothies. I find it’s better financially to batch cook and also want them growing up with meals based around fruit/veg/beans/pulses etc Each to their own but your child not going to thrive if living on food which barely provides any nutrition

Why is it always chicken breasts, when thighs are cheaper, tastier, and a lot less dry?

A diet consisting mainly of ready meals, UPFs and takeaways should never be normalised and I say that as someone who grew up in this type of household.

Homemade, nutritious food is vital especially for growing kids. It’s really not complicated to rustle up meals from scratch but food education is so lacking in this country.

Good fresh food doesn't have to be massively time-consuming though. It doesn't take long to make a vegetable frittata or a mixed bean chilli. Tonight I roasted a load of veg (aubergine, courgettes, peppers, red onions) and we had it with crumbled feta, couscous, salad, pittas, olives and tzatziki. Took about 25 mins to prepare & cook.

I don't think the odd takeaway is a problem but I do think feeding growing children nutritous food is a big part of being a parent, just like making sure they're clean and get enough sleep 🤷‍♀️

I think feeding your children nutritious food, of the best quality you can afford, is really really important in terms of their health. I don’t think regularly eating fast food/beige food/ready meals should be normalised.

Agree… what goes into their bodies is pretty bloody important. Especially because it’s really not that hard to not feed them crap. Like homemade macaroni cheese and a big bowl of frozen peas takes about 20 mins start to finish and is surely better than a frozen meal?

Also don’t buy the statement about spending quality time. Kids can and should be doing jobs in the kitchen so they don’t grow up to be adults who can’t feed themselves or their families healthy food. Our DC are generally desperate to be given big helper jobs in the kitchen.

I enjoy cooking when I have time and we choose to not eat a lot of processed food or fast food due to health reasons (history of bowel cancer in parents on both sides) and cost. We eat a lot of fish, veg and fruit, tinned beans and pulses. I don't judge anyone for their choices, just as I wouldn't expect anyone to judge me for mine.
DCs now at uni/just graduated, when they're home our meals are generally cooked from scratch (ish) every night. Stuff like pasta, tacos, grilled chicken and salad, roast dinners, poke bowls. Maybe once every couple of months we have an Indian takeaway. DCs do have some fast food but that's their choice as young adults.

Eat as healthy as you can with the resources you have, be that money, time, energy.

So long as your DC are not overweight or malnourished why worry what others say?

Part of being a good parent is feeding your children well. Giving them utter crap and upf’s under the guise of ‘spending more time together’, is in fact, laziness.

Edited to add - I’m not talking making your own pasta and yogurt levels of feeding well. Just normal.

You can still do quick meals with some healthy additions like a side salad or some veggies

Nothing wrong with quick meals, plenty of fresh food is quick but ready meals and more processed foods should be very limited in our diets, they simply are bad for us. If you need to feed your family fast just chop up potatoes toss in oil and bung in the oven or airfryer, meanwhile cut carrots into batons and broccoli into florets and microwave in a microwave steamer (fine to opt for frozen vegetables, they can have higher nutritional value!) and pan fry fish, chicken or whatever you like, not in breadcrumbs, the raw stuff. This is cheaper than buying microwave meals and far cheaper than takeaway food.

another quick idea if you wfh especially is to throw a whole chicken in to roast and serve with salad and couscous

Why does ot matter what others think i feed my child thr wsu I want what others think is irrelevant so maybe people should start parenting and get on with it and stop parenting by social media or wherever else people are feeling judged by

We are the parents so need to act like it

Simple fresh good is quick and easy.

Salmon steaks
Chicken breasts
Steaks
Stir fry
Plain white fish
Turkey steaks

New potatoes
Cous cous
Rice
Pasta

Salads
Vegetables
Roasted veg

Good olive oil
Lemon juice
Fresh herbs

Putting together a healthy meal needn't be time consuming or expensive but you need to know what you're doing. I'd be in favour of free or low cost cooking classes that teach the basics and pressure on supermarkets for better deals on healthy food.

This.

I feel a lot of sympathy for parents who are working and have little time. However a child's diet is very important and we have a big problem with obesity. In fact, in some areas, Drs are seeing children who are both obese and have malnutrition.

Putting together a healthy meal needn't be time consuming or expensive but you need to know what you're doing. I'd be in favour of free or low cost cooking classes that teach the basics and pressure on supermarkets for better deals on healthy food.

Well, I guess there’s a lot of concerns at the mo around UHPFs so that’s probably where a lot of it is coming from.

Where are you seeing these comments? I can’t imagine commenting on the dinners of anyone I know unless they were feeding the family ready meals every other day or something like that.