To think that we don't actually need to eat "a hot meal" every day?

[Machli]

Dd and I both prefer cold food, salads, fruit, sandwiches. Most days dd eats 8 plus portions of fruit and veg a day. I am not so well nourished .

It seems that many don't feel it's a proper meal unless its a big cooked, hot one. I quite often see "kids need a hot meal" or "I always make sure there's one hot meal a day, cooked from scratch" on here.

A lot of food that needs to be cooked, pasta, rice etc hold minimal nutrients and usually cooking processes destroy or diminish nutrients also. Understand that meat and fish need to be cooked to make it safe and palatable to eat, but I just don't understand why it's so necessary to provide a hot meal daily.

What is the reasoning behind The Hot Meal?

[Francagoestohollywood]

I am italian, we tend to have a hot meal in the evenings (and the children also have it at lunch, as we don't do packet lunches here).
We have cold meals usually during the weekend, and more often in the summer, when it's hot.

[olibeansmummy]

Try telling that to my nearly 4 year old! His rules are: there must be one hot and one cold meal per day. The hot meal is called tea and the cold meal is called lunch, regardless of when they are eaten. So, for example, if we go out for lunch, he's had his 'tea' so must have 'lunch' for tea or he won't have had any lunch. Also, breakfast must consist of cereal. Once, when we ran out of milk, he had banana and yoghurt for breakfast (didn't want toast) and told nursery that he hadn't had any breakfast. He meant he hadn't had any cereal, but made us look like terrible parents!

[Laquitar]

No i don't think the Italians cook every night. In the Med we usually have cooked meal at lunch and then we have left overs or cheese and salami and olives and fruit, unless eating out. I used to find it bizzare having a cooked hot meal in the evening wheni first came here.

[StealthOfficialCrispTester]

I'm also not pretending to like cold food. I genuinely like a nice unhealthy salad more than I like a "meat and two veg" type dinner.

[StealthOfficialCrispTester]

lots of people seem very rigid about meals. I have food I like and food I don't like (much more than the food I like ). But the time of day or month of year does not really affect whether I can eat it or not. I suspect that is why I've spent my whole life overweight - I suspect the rigid fried breakfast/snack/sandwich lunch/fruit snack/proper dinner people are all lean and healthy.

[StealthOfficialCrispTester]

Us "cold meal" people are not all on a diet or health kick (wel I am but that's incidental). I've pointed out many times that a sandwich may involve protein, carbs and vegetables and be as calorific as a "proper dinner" and yet somehow it doesn't count.

[digerd]

At lunch-time I had chicken with blackbean sauce, rice , courgettes and sweet peppers.
Now, I'm about to eat a spaghetti bolognaise < which was a toss-up between piri piri chicken and roast potatoes with bacon pieces>.

[Jayne266]

Yanbu I know exactly what you mean I get it from my family but they mean meat and veg.

[WilsonFrickett]

Tell you what, sandwiches, dips, crisps, olives and other snacky things are often more cals and fat than lean (hot ) protein and a couple of spuds. And the 'graze' aspect of eating like that means you can eat more than you need to.

[digerd]

I cannot eat cold food, except perhaps when weather is boiling hot and humid .
I can eat a sandwich, but with a hot soup and love a hot toasted sandwich, when out shopping.
At home I need 2 hot cooked meals a day and have done since a teenager.

A cold meal snack at lunch-time makes me feel sick.

[Kungfutea]

YANBU - doesn't matter if the food is hot or cold, it's what's in it!!!

My husband has even weirder rules.

A hot meal is a ''heavy' meal, regardless of contents.

A cold meal is a 'light' meal, regardless of contents.

One can only eat one hot meal a day but a hot meal must be had or one has not eaten all day (!)

If I offer him a hot meal for supper, even if it's something light, he'll refuse if he had a hot meal for lunch on the grounds that it's 'heavy' because it's hot but have no problem packing away far more calories on his cold meal which is 'light'.

It's totally bizarre.

[Mintyy]

Roffle at the idea that all hot meals involve potatoes and gravy.

[loofet]

Wow, surprised how many people don't have a hot meal every night tbh! Never heard of it before but I must admit I quite like the idea of not cooking every night.

To me, lunch is cold unless its soup or curry and dinner is always hot, just always known it that way.

[pigletmania]

Sorry spag Bol

[pigletmania]

No we don't need a hot meal every day but it sure feels nice. Salad vs slag Bol or a nice curry, the spag bol and curry wins hands down

[Bonsoir]

I find a proper hot home cooked meal with my family around the table more satisfying than other sorts of food, and therefore tend to eat less and more healthily.

[secretscwirrels]

I like breadsticks and olives and dips and naice ham, but not as my main meal.
I feel deprived if my evening meal is a glorified snack. We all enjoy food in this family and by the way, none of us is overweight. DS1 says he loves to know what's for dinner so he can look forward to it.
My mother always fusses about not being hungry when it's hot. I am never not hungry.

[motherinferior]

You need an Indian Mother, the sort that comes home after a hard day's work and gets a proper meal together. Or if you can't lay your hands on one of those, I expect an Italian or French one will do.

[motherinferior]

Nah, it's a Brit thing to eat sandwiches . And to go on about how it's too hot for hot food. Forriners like their food.

[HeathRobinson]

Chunderella - I used to eat raw rhubarb sticks with a bit of sugar in a saucer as a treat when I was a kid. Lovely!

[MrsHoarder]

We have hot diners because I find them easier to make a large satisfying meal if its hot. Salads and bits and pieces don't sound as satisfying to me.

But the real hot meal thing is a measure of poverty. Its checking that a family has the resources and knowledge to get a satisfying family meal together. You obviously do, but far too many families don't.

[StealthOfficialCrispTester]

XMas yes you need to cook it but it doesn't need to be eaten hot! This is not about a raw food diet. Cooked ham in a sandwich is "cold"

[Laquitar]

I could live on bread, cheese, olives and cold meat for half year. In the winter i like my curry twice a week.

We usually go in the middle way. We have too often jacked potatoes, hot potato and tuna or cheese plus salad. That's cheap and quickthe best of both worlds! Is this 'hot dinner'?