What do you have with an omelette?

[TheMessyCleaner]

I work in a mental health hospital and we're trying to come up with a healthy eating plan. We've put omelette on there, but disagree about whether there needs to be carbs on the side of the dish. I say no. I've never had an omelette with chips or mash or potatoes! Just a crisp salad.
What do you think?

I always have an omelette with half a tin of chopped tomatoes (with an oxo in). Just gorgeous

Runner beans or french beans for me. Need some green in there!

What do the patients think, OP? Do they have any input?

Salad and maybe some coleslaw

I just put loads of vegetables, cheese and maybe some bacon in it so its a meal on its own. Definitely has to have mushrooms and tomatoes in it.

Oh you get the best cheese omelette and chips in France. My mouth is watering. DH makes a brilliant omelette but I just have it with salad and maybe from baguette.

That’s my dinner sorter!

Just salad here

I have it with chips and salad but just salad on it’s own would be fine too. It can be a meal on its own.

chips and salad or beans

I often make cheese omelette(making it tonight!)
Chips and salad for me, broccoli,carrots and sweetcorn for my toddler-on a good day she'll have a bite of each!!

Omelette and toast? What madness is this! You learn something new every day! Like others I always add potato to the actual omelette anyway. Along with mushrooms, bacon, tomato’s, spring onion and a generous handful of cheese. Probably not the most healthy way to do it. If it’s a plainish omelette then yes I’d be disappointed with just a salad on the side and I’m not even a big eater.

If you work on a MH unit, is it the meds that are making people overweight? If so, I understand trying to reduce their weight but it seems a bit of an unfair punishment for something that really isn’t their fault! It also would make a difference to me if you’re talking about lunch or dinner. An omelette and salad as a light lunch is ok but I would expect something a bit more filling at dinner.

Just salad

I would serve with a salad or perhaps oven baked tomatoes.

I have a little cafe. We do them as a breakfast option with hash browns and beans or for lunch with fries or salad.

Thing is though, the OP is providing meals in a mental health hospital. You will have people there with mixed appetites and varied wishes & needs. The last thing anyone needs while aiming for recovery is to be fed lettuce leaves when they fancy a jacket potato, or have their sense of autonomy possibly compromised by feeling they are being fed like a toddler.

And mineral and vitamin content is vital.

Omelette and toast? What madness is this!

Oh, it's heaven, honestly, with the butter and the warm eggy omelette… Even better if it's got tomatoes in. Slightly overdone toast, butter and warm tomato juice is the BEST.

I’m going to have to try it now, the next time I have an omelette!

You won't regret it

@AutumnCrow we're not providing meals, we're meal planning for those who are going to be discharged and have to feed themselves healthy food whilst on benefits. Lots have been homeless or addicts previously so don't have much experience of cooking.

@OP, ok that's quite different. So, low cost to buy, low cost to cook, easy to store and prepare, and be filling.

What meal of the day is the omelette for?

Tbh I think a tin of value beans and / or tomatoes would be good enough for someone learning the ropes at first. The Universal Credit 'food allowance' is incredibly meagre - it's actually really crap. There's no way to manage without cheap carbs. This has been accepted since DHSS days. When challenged to produce a weekly menu, a lot of sliced white bread and margarine was involved.

It's a bit like the food bank discussions - what is practical, easy, reasonably healthy and easy to store and cook if you have £1 left of electricity? Often yes, it is beans on toast.

I always have bread and butter with an omelette, the bread has to be white and very fresh. In a restaurant I would probably have chips, never salad.

Salad unfortunately isn't that easy to store and its not particularly cheap. So much gets wasted.

Or are you thinking more of a salad vegetables thing, e.g. onions, mushrooms and peppers, to bulk out the omelette and that can be fried in the same pan before the eggs go in?

But peppers are getting quite expensive unless you bulk buy, and I guess these meal plans are for single people.

Frozen vegetables are pretty good I find - onions, green beans, sweet corn, mushrooms, peppers - but again, that depends on being able to run a bit of freezer space.

Diarrhoea

IBS?