Healthy meals, break it down for me please!

[Venismer]

Just DH and I at home. We want to eat healthier, I'm thinking more protein, more vegetables. Less junk. We're never going to be perfect eaters so while we would prefer to eat less processed food we aren't going to cut it out completely.
If you eat like this most of the time can you give me examples of what you're eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Here’s an idea for a lunch that I have in the week. I roast a couple of sweet potatoes and peppers, carrots and then have it ready in the fridge where it usually lasts at least a couple of days.

I’ll have this with some grilled chicken or maybe a tin of sardines or some eggs a bit of greens I like broccoli or watercress. Add a bit of avocado and some toasted pumpkin and sesame seeds.

it’s delicious, filling healthy and keeps me going all afternoon.

does that sort of thing appeal?

Well I don't know that we're perfect either but some ideas for you, nothing very exciting or revolutionary but reasonably low effort. You can also ask chat gpt giving it constraints around what you like and how much calories/protein/fibre you want in each meal and how much prep time and it's pretty good at making you a meal plan accordingly.

Breakfasts

Overnight oats
Eggs on toast
Beans on toast
Greek yoghurt with berries or banana
Pancakes

Lunches

Homemade soup
Salad (proverbial MN massive salad with your choice of cheese/nuts/meat/tuna as a protein, some grains as carb and lots of different vegs not just boring salad leaves e.g. roasted peppers and courgettes, olives, gherkins)
Dinner leftovers
Sandwich with cheese/tuna (avoid heavily processed meats)
Omelette
Any item from breakfast menu

Dinners (we're veggie so make veggie versions of these using beans/pulses/lentils or tofu or nut roast in place of the meat)

Stir fry or rice bowls
Chilli
Pasta with homemade sauce e.g. bolognese
Roast dinner / meat n 2 veg
Shepherds/cottage pie
Burgers
Stews
Curry
Fajitas/burritos
Tray bake or one pot dish from a tray-based/one pot recipe book e.g. the green roasting tin.

Greek yogurt and fruit, or cheese and crackers or nuts/seeds/dried fruit mix, dark chocolate for snacks/afters.

I find not drinking or reducing alcohol intake plus minimizing the amount of processed and junk food in the house a huge help as (a) having even a very small amount of alcohol enormously reduces my inclination to make good choices and (b) if it's there I'll tend to eat it regardless of if I'm actually hungry/ enjoying it or not. I do still indulge from time to time but try and keep it to outside the house as much as possible.

The things that take longer to cook from the dinners list I will save time by batch cooking several portions in one go and freezing, usually at the weekend so mid week dinners can just be reheating the main element and preparing some carb/veg to go alongside.

Good luck!

I also think that psychologically it's a lot easier to start doing a new thing/make a new habit than to stop an old one. So rather than trying to stop having all processed foods if you are used to having them regularly, I would start trying to add in healthier unprocessed options to what you already have. So for e.g. rather than saying no ice-cream after dinner, or no chicken nuggets as your main dinner item, say you can still have the ice-cream/nuggets but you will also have at least 1 portion of veg with dinner and some fruit afterwards. Then gradually add in more veg, maybe replace your carb with a whole grain version or make your main element of dinner homemade or less processed. You'll probably find over time you naturally need and want the processed food or treats less and less as you'll be fuller and more satisfied after your meals if you're adding lots of fibre and protein but it's much easier doing it that way than making the foods you're used to off-limits and taboo as that will probably make you crave it more...

You’ve had some great ideas by pp.

Breakfast for me is always overnight oats. I just find them quick and easy to make and you can switch up the flavours. I usually make 3 days at a time.

Lunches tend to be bagels, salads or things like scrambled eggs on toast. I often chop up sweet potatoes and chicken and air fry them then add them to salads/bagels throughout the week. Bagels are usually things like egg salad, chicken, cheese salad etc.

Dinners - I always make double then have it a that night and again two days later. Saves cooking every night! Usually make things like curry, rigatoni, chicken orzo, bolognese, fish pie etc. I found lots of high protein meals off IG.

Thanks for the helpful suggestions. Meal planning and prep has felt so tedious recently, I definitely need to throw some new ideas in.

Read up on UPF'S. Basically if you buy stuff from the supermarket and the ingredients list is long/ contains stuff you don't recognise as the usual things you would normally have in your kitchen cupboards it's a upf and you should probably not eat if very often if ever. So breakfast of oats, Avi/ poached egg/ banana/ nut butter on toast ( fresh non upd bread) or natural yoghurt/ fruit. Lunches of salads with protein and homemade dressing, or homemade soups, and dinners made from scratch. Balanced meals for tea portion control and try and do a variety of veg/ mostly veg, beans or white meat, red meat/ fish once or twice a week.

I love threads like these too. My diet is terrible. I find because we are so busy and my kids are so picky we tend to eat more beige food than I’d care to admit to. I used to make lovely stir fry’s and simple, meat and two veg dinners but I have fallen into terrible habits and I’m now over weight because of it ☹️

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Buy fresh ingredients, you really can’t go too wrong then! Ideally switch to wholemeal pasta and brown rice as they keep you fuller for longer.

Main meals I do include tray bakes (eg chicken, new potatoes, Mediterranean veg sprinkle with Cajun seasoning and a drizzle of oil then bake for 45 minutes, drizzle a little honey and bake for 5 mins more, serve with a green salad. Stews, casseroles, curry from scratch especially dal and pickled veg, chilli. I do pasta around once a fortnight and tend to opt for chicken, tomato, basil and courgette or pancetta, spinach and lemon for instance rather than a heavy bolognaise as I like the latter too much!

Now weather is warming I do a lot of salad with new potatoes or salad with freshly made croutons then add chops, chicken or whatever. Use you imagination and leftovers of course. A favourite is brown rice (I make a rice cooker full and freeze in batches rather than those sachets) chopped coriander, oregano, spring onion, roasted peppers (I use jarred), chopped cherry tomatoes then toss through feta and pomegranate seeds. Serve with lamb chops and drizzled plain yogurt

I eat healthily & here’s some examples of things I eat:

breakfast - porridge with berries & unsweetened peanut butter
Greek yoghurt with stewed berries & flaked almonds
Mushroom, spinach & cheese omelette
boiled eggs with avocado on wholemeal seeded toast & cherry tomatoes
home made granola
home made Bircher muesli

lunch & dinner - oven roast Mediterranean vegetables with hummus, or Greek yoghurt & hot sauce, or chicken, or salmon (olive oil & herbs)
bolognaise sauce on courgettes, or broccoli or cauliflower
A traybake with butternut squash, chorizo, chickpeas, mixed peppers, red onion, sun dried tomatoes & spinach

I do a meal plan for the week & batch cook where possible. This is a lot easier now it’s just me & DS4 home for meals. When cooking for a family of 6, it all got eaten straight away!