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?

We don't need a hot meal every day. In fact we don't even need to eat every day. I'm a recent, since Feb, convert to the 5:2 way.

My kids love a picnic tea. This will be tuna sandwiches or wraps, carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes if we have them in, and some crisps thrown on a plate. If I've been to M&S there may even be a sausage roll thrown in.

I do like making soup in winter though.

BP I do 5:2 as well. I find soup really filling when fasting.

As others have said I think it's cultural really. It is certainly cheaper if more labour intensive to produce a hot meal with minimal ingredients. Really nice cold food costs £££ IME. For example I do minestrone soup for 4 - 2 rashers of bacon, 2 carrots, 1 large potato, an onion, 1can of tomatoes, handful of lentils and a handful of macaroni. Total cost maybe £3. It's filling and delicious, difficult to fill 4 bellies with cold food for that.

Think it also depends on how physical / active the family are. I cycle 10 miles a day when working and have quite an active job. Dcs do an hour of sport most nights (and play out a fair bit too) I can't see a lovely salad doing the trick somehow. Funnily enough DH drives to work and sits at a desk, he is frequently taken out to lunch by clients/takes clients out, he would probably be happy enough with a posh salad at supper time !

YANBU. People need to eat nutritious food. It doesn't matter if it's hot or cold.

We eat a mixture but a bit like lequeen. When we eat hot its not what my parents class as 'proper'

Something like:
Mon- grilled fish, steamed pre prepped veg
Tues- pasta/potatoe salad, with salad
Wed - omelette
Thurs- steak and veg
Fri- Grilled chicken and salad
Sat - breads/ cheeses/ ham/ olives etc
Sun- eat out

We both work, home around 7pm, with two toddlers to feed and bed. We no time or can be bothered to start a casserole at 7pm, which is ready about midnight!

This reminds me of a doorstep conversation my DH had with his ex about what their son ate when he was staying with us. Son liked sandwiches, healthy ones with tuna and salad, cheese and salad, fruit available to eat, everyone was happy. Ex told DH she was concerned that her son wasn't getting a "proper dinner" when he was with us. She told him that he should get something hot, like fish fingers and chips, or nuggets and chips, maybe pizza and chips...

The phrase "proper dinner" has found it's way into common use in our house now.
Him: I think I'll just have some soup tonight.
Me: But you can't, it's not a "proper dinner"...

I use "Hot" to mean the evening meal. A dinner prepared from scratch that is more substantial that the other meals of the day. I prepare a "hot" meal every day so that I know that they have had at least one decent home prepared meal with proper ingredients to counteract the crap that the older ones especially sneak in during the day!

It is generally hot as our favourite meals are things like lasagne, casserole etc but it can often be cold too!

Cold food is fine but it limits your range, as many vegetables need to be cooked or are much tastier that way! Also you need to cook most protein, don't you, and who wants to eat bread for every meal?

I read raw plantain is bad for you-there is a starch in it that can cause you problems if not cooked properly.

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'?

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"

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Sorry spag Bol

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.

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

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.

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.

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.