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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

you can't possibly call a meal junk food if it had all of your 5 a day!

425 replies

bonded · 01/11/2014 09:36

So a few weeks ago we had a play date that went well. Friend just what's capped me asking for advice for a meal tonight. I said recently that this went down well and is super healthy:

Baked beans, one of your 5 a day
Fish fingers, good source of ohmega and protein
Frozen sweet corn and peas, frozen has more nutrients.

Pudding frozen bananas whipped up into ice cream with a little chcoclate sauce and chopped dates.

Said friend called meal a bit to junky. I thought it was really healthy...

OP posts:
Camolips · 01/11/2014 10:14

MsV, that's the good thing about the 5:2 diet, it's just calorie counting.

LaurieFairyCake · 01/11/2014 10:15

Unless you're following a low carb diet no one in the universe has to worry about carbs in peas and sweetcorn

That meal is healthy, it's likely healthier than 50% of the daily meals served in Britain

What it isn't is home made from scratch where the ingredients are controlled for optimum health - the vast majority of the population don't eat for optimum health though.

Only on Mumsnet do we constantly talk about how to make food healthier/better - the rest of the world is just eaten their take away and shoving in a vitamin pill (maybe)

Preciousbane · 01/11/2014 10:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BuggerLumpsAnnoyed · 01/11/2014 10:21

Meals like this are fine once in a while but a heavily processed meal such as this can't be described as super healthy. Its the whole problem with the way food is marketed. People see "one of your 5 a day" and "no added sugar" and think "great" without taking into account the other rubbish stuff thats gone into. Can take a while to get your head around it.

IHaveBrilloHair · 01/11/2014 10:21

It's absolutely fine, MN is really weird about food.

bakingaddict · 01/11/2014 10:25

If it was me doing a meal for a group of kids i'd make home made chicken nuggets/gougons replace the beans and give some potato wedges instead and i'd keep the frozen peas and sweetcorn. I'd leave some mayo and tomato sauce out for the kids to help themselves too. I think your friend had an issue because nothing about the meal was home-made so implying it was a bit 'junky'.

Pudding is fine

peasandlove · 01/11/2014 10:25

I wouldn't call that anywhere near healthy but we all have our own ideas obviously.

DurhamDurham · 01/11/2014 10:29

There is nothing wrong with that meal at all.its hardly an economy ready meal full of chemicals and crap is it?
All meals could be healthier but really, do we all only eat to be healthy? It is important, very important, but we also eat for social reasons and to actually enjoy what we are eating.
And not EVERYTHING has to be cooked from scratch, how many mums have time for that?
My mum cooked most things from scratch, she was at home all day everyday and that's what she choose to do. Since my girls were very young I have worked and have used fish fingers, beans etc to make meal times easier to manage.
My girls are grown up now and they both turned out fine, despite that fact that they sometimes had a meal slightly higher is salt and sugar than is recommended on Mumsnet.

bakingtins · 01/11/2014 10:32

I don't think it's super healthy but it's not junk either, and it is likely to be eaten by most kids, which any worthy combination of lentils, mungbeans and spinach wouldn't be. I'd class that as 3 of 5-a-day (beans, peas/sweet corn, banana) as I doubt there'd be enough dates to be a portion, and they are adding lots of sugar to a dessert that already has banana and chocolate, and I wouldn't think the children would be served/eat enough frozen veg to be 2 portions.

can't believe that frozen veg are now apparently the devil's work Confused

TheMaddHugger · 01/11/2014 10:34

I am a Low carb er no way would i eat that. Toooooooooooo much Sugar.

if I want baked Beans i get a tin of canoli beans in water. drain, rinse well. Add one tin of canned chopped tomatoes. season. heat up.

buy some fresh fish. debone, slice into fingers. dust with spices as wanted. grill or fry.

TheMaddHugger · 01/11/2014 10:36

ps I have no idea how the GB eat.

I am Australian.

and yes, as a low carb'er peas and corn are Off the list

Stupidhead · 01/11/2014 10:36

DP is type 1 diabetic and we always had this argument over sweetcorn. He says the carb count is low so I'd go with that.

MrTumblesBavarianFanbase · 01/11/2014 10:39

I think there's nothing wrong with serving what you did, but you set yourself up for a fall by describing it as "Super healthy". Its a very ordinary quick "kid food" meal, and you put it on a bit of a pedestal with that introduction :o

That said your friend was not being very friendly to dismiss a meal you had said you thought was "Super healthy" as "junky", even if that was her opinion...

BogStandardOldWoman · 01/11/2014 10:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Bigleap · 01/11/2014 10:40

I have no idea of the science but I've always wondered if sweetcorn even counts as food! On the basis that it comes out in exactly the same form as it goes in, does the body take anything from it?!

ApocalypseThen · 01/11/2014 10:46

In any event, this meal is part of a daily intake, not the total of nutrition for the day. If your friend has kept to her elevated standards for her child's other meals, I'm sure a couple of fish fingers won't do him a bit of harm.

In any event, I think it's fine. Covers a reasonable spread of bases, most will eat it, I'd be grateful if you served this to mine.

MrTumblesBavarianFanbase · 01/11/2014 10:47

TheMadd that is beans in tomato sauce but is absolutely nothing like what a child (or adult) accustomed to baked beans would be expecting, and I'd lay bets that visiting children over for tea would be rather non plusses - obviously children brought up with home made beans in tomato sauce would probably eat them - this is food to serve other people's kids who are over for tea... (I am a Brit living abroad and baked beans are a taste of home comfort item - the home made beans would not hit the spot, even if they are healthier). We had to make baked beans from scratch in home economics at school and they were roundly dismissed as disgusting :o

andmyunpopularopionis · 01/11/2014 10:56

You could make a' super healthy' meal... That none of the kids will eat or you can give them what you fed them. Personally I give them pizza. Playdates are not the childs only source of food. What you gave them was fine. Better than fine. It had banana ice cream. Smile

fatlazymummy · 01/11/2014 11:06

bigleap of course sweet corn counts as food. It's actually a staple food for many people around the world. And mine comes out differently, but then I chew my food properly.
This meal is fine.

TheMaddHugger · 01/11/2014 11:13

MrTumblesBavarianFanbase Sat 01-Nov-14 10:47:05
TheMadd that is beans in tomato sauce but is absolutely nothing like what a child (or adult) accustomed to baked beans would be expecting, and I'd lay bets that visiting children over for tea would be rather non plusses - obviously children brought up with home made beans in tomato sauce would probably eat them - this is food to serve other people's kids who are over for tea... (I am a Brit living abroad and baked beans are a taste of home comfort item - the home made beans would not hit the spot, even if they are healthier). We had to make baked beans from scratch in home economics at school and they were roundly dismissed as disgusting grin

yes, That true, I will agree with that. and I will admit to occasionally eating the tinner Heinz baked beans, they taste wayyyy better. I think its all the salt and sugar lol yummmm salt and sugar Grin

WhizzFucker · 01/11/2014 11:26

Of course its fine but no way is it super healthy because: nothing fresh; too much salt; too much sugar; based mainly on processed foods.

I'm not being mumsnet-weird about food as I'd eat it and feed kids this.

Calling a meal super-healthy is something else though isn't it.

Original poster
bonded · 01/11/2014 11:27

Less than a third of it was processed! Low sugar salt beans were used!

OP posts:
Panzee · 01/11/2014 11:32

Competitive foodery on MN is nearly as much fun as the wedding threads.

WhizzFucker · 01/11/2014 11:34

Right then, we're all wrong and what an amazingly super-healthy meal OP, well done.

carlsonrichards · 01/11/2014 11:36

Isn't it hilarious, Panzee? Never ceases to make me laugh.

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