Is this an adequate meal?

[Zarabell]

I'm talking in relation to portion size. I know it's technically not a healthy meal but I'm literally thinking size.

Family of 4, an 18 month old, 8 year old, dh and me.

Fish fingers, 3 for dh and 2 each for the rest of us.

Cheese and potato pie made with 5 medium to large potatoes.

1 tin of beans between us.

Of course the toddler had slightly less mash and beans than everyone else.

Fruit and yoghurt for pudding.

What do you think?

I'd be gutted with a meal of fishfingers. The only way to eat fishfingers as an adult is:
A) guiltily scraped off the kids dinner plates when clearing up
B) in a sandwich with butter and tartare sauce. Drool.

Jacket with beans and a side salad makes sense. Mexican food containing beans served with salad makes sense. Fish fingers with beans and then salad and/ or veg on the side sounds revolting. I refuse to believe that people really eat like that. Nothing wrong with carbs, especially for growing children. 2 year olds are not Victoria Beckham and should not be living on steamed fish and steamed veg.

It seems ok to me.
I would have just had the cheesy mash with beans though (maybe half another tin and some tinned tomatoes). That is a complete meal to me. I don't get the point of adding a few fish fingers on. How would that fill you up?

Handbagcrab- my kids love steamed veg so they are provided with every meal. All sporty active types.

That's the problem with asking a question like this.

Nobody in my house would eat beans and veg together. That isn't the right combination. Everyone like mash and fish fingers just they wanted more. Nobody was gutted at eating fish fingers.

I added cheese for the first time in like a year to make it nice a tasty for my toddler who is ill.

Personally I'm quite happy with the meal I was just querying the amount of food.

We must be real light weights, the last time I bought fish and chips (from the fantatic chipie on Tadcaster Road in York) it was HUGE, and easily fed our family of 4.

This thread makes me feel such a glutton, my first thought on reading the OP was that I could probably manage everyone's portions by myself but anything less than half would be too meagre

I just can't imagine ever eating the same volume as our 5 and 8 year old's. I. It was more the post before if the kids are hungry of cause they can have more but it seemed like zarabell was saying a blanket rule of mother and child the same father gets more

If you like it, that's fine.
I would only serve chips with fish fingers. As to portion sizes, 2 for little kids, up to 5 for an adult. Add some peas for a complete dinner.

Dailyfail1 you do know that cheesy mash is a really good source of vitamins and carbs and protein (cheese)? Potatoes aren't Satan!
These are children the OP is feeding, not only adults. Yes, you don't want cheese laden food all the time but as a portion with potato, it's fine. It contains milk and yes, some fat but growing but growing kids need some fats.

Everyone's kids on here are sporty active types who love their veg. Doesn't mean it goes with fish fingers and beans!

When I'm dieting I adapt slightly as it wouldn't be appropriate to feed ds what I as an adult on a diet would eat. So either I'd have a smaller portion or swap something e.g some plain mash for me and cheesy mash for everyone else. It's hard to guesstimate calories at first which is why I'd recommend something like my fitness pal so you can see how much is in the meals you make for your dh.

Oh gosh petal no, there's no blanket rule. It's not like that at all! If the kids are hungry they get fed.

The thing is, ds1 wouldn't moan about 2 fish fingers, but because dh complains ds joins in.

Trouble is dh keeps encouraging the dc to eat more. Dh does bacon sandwiches on Sunday mornings, me and ds have 2 slices of bread, 2 pieces of bacon and an egg each, ds might have a sausage too, but dh keeps coaxing him to have another sandwich.

I must be doing something right though because ds1 is in perfect proportion and healthy as can be.

Thanks, I do use mfp when I'm trying to lose a bit of weight.

Ds eats more anyway because he has snacks, with dh I'm not sure because he often goes for McDonald's or bacon sandwiches at work.

Oh OP I was only messing. I would bloody love that meal. On Mumsnet you often get the food puritans who claim to just eat beans and steamed veg BOAK. Portion... I don't know. I struggle with portion control but I'd say there doesn't sound enough beans.

Your portions sound fine to me, OP. That is the amount of food I would be looking at, assuming your son has a 'normal' appetite. It sounds odd that your husband is encouraging your son to eat more. Does he think boys should be big and chunky or something?
My eldest boy was a big lad and loved his food, he was always borderline overweight. Unfortunately he is overweight as an adult.
If I had the time back I would probably give him smaller portions so he would see that as normal. I think you're doing the right thing.

HandybagCrab

I said it the salad, green veg with fish fingers - I also said we don't eat fish fingers (I can't)... So if we had "fish fingers" it would actually be slightly floured fresh fish - and to be honest that goes fine with salad, potatoes, beans, or greens. It really makes no difference. It tastes lush.

No one would bat an eyelid if we were talking about serving fish and chips with a side salad, peas, beans etc. It's really no different.

hmmm, not for us, we wouldn't actually eat fish fingers as a dinner as adults, we do see them as kiddy food, but love them in a sandwich for lunch.

My 8 and 2 year old would have 3 and 2 fish fingers respectively.

and i'd only serve veg to the baked beans refusers (DH and DS) and it'd be in a bowl, dd2 might wade into it as she's a veg fan.

DS, not voluntarily, but it'd be put on his plate and he'd be expected to eat some of it..

I do LOVE a salad with a jacket with cheese and beans though. Hubba hubba.

I initially thought you meant this was lunch and dinner for the whole day. Then I thought you meant like a proper cheese and onion pie, with pastry and cheese, onion and potato within it and thought what a bloody odd meal.

In view of clarification, I think the size of the meal was sufficient because it is heavy on the stodge. I ate 5 fish fingers for dinner the other night but all that accompanied it was a massive plate of salad and some coleslaw.

I'd have fish fingers and veg but not fish fingers beans and veg.

Sometimes we have fish finger chips and peas, it all depends.

Floured fresh fish is not fishfingers. Battered fish and chips made from potato do not go with salad, they go with peas, mushy or otherwise.

If your dh is eating bacon butties and maccie ds maybe he should be having salad with his fishfingers at home as no one would want to eat that and then it's calorie free! :)

Fishfingers are not enough for you or dh, unless that's all you want. My 4 year old ds will eat 2!

Ds had curry for his lunch at school yesterday before the fish fingers. I had eggs and toast for my lunch.

Dh wouldn't be impressed with salad unless it was on a burger haha.

I would watch your DH trying to get the DC to eat more than they want. I think one of the most important things children can learn is to stop eating when they've had enough rather than feeling they have to clear the plate.
Is he looking for a "partner in crime" so he has an excuse to eat more too?