AIBU - Egg or beans on toast + veg is sometimes okay for dinner

[Eltonjohnssyrup]

I'm having an argument with DH. We are really skint at the moment and a couple of times recently I have given the children (and me) beans & sausages from a tin on toast or scrambled egg on toast with a side of green beans or brocolli. They have fruit and yogurt to follow. This is normally at the end of the week before payday. And the children like it.

He's really against this and says it's not a proper dinner and doesn't like me doing it. He won't eat it himself and always makes himself something different, which is fine as he does a very physical job, but for me and the children I think it's okay occasionally. AIBU?

Maybe once a week my dc have a quick tea which is something in toast and no side of veg!! Your dh is an arse!!

If he thinks they should have something else then he should buy it and cook it.

Yanbu

Protein, carbs and veg. Sounds fine by me.

If he thinks they should have something else then he should buy it and cook it.

This!

Yanbu

Well it's bad because it's a lot of sugar OP and processed meat is really not good for anyone but on here, a lot of people will say it's fine.

Instead of buying yogurt which again isn't that good for you unless it's the Greek kind without added sugar,

You'd be better off making a good vegetable soup or a veggie bolognaise with pasta.

Lentils are great too....curry powder and garlic can make even potatoes and some other veg taste lovely.

When you've got more money, buy some spices/lentils/split peas or soup mix.

Another good meal on the cheap is baked potato with something.

It's fine! Eggs and beans are protein, toast is carbs and veg is ... veg! The only thing not ok is the tinned sausages in with the beans

Seems perfectly healthy to me. A decent of carbs protein and fat plus two of their 5 a day. Unless your kids are teenagers they probably don't need a bigger meal.

You sure his problem isn't that he has to make his own dinner?

Loved tinned sausage and beans! YANBU - it's absolutely fine. If DH wants them to have something different leave the food shopping and budgeting to him!

It's absolutely fine. We are super-busy, often in the late afternoons or early evenings. There is just no time to do a full meal.

CheapSausagesAndSpam - I'm guessing by your post that you never eat what your user name suggests?!

Seriously, though. The food threads on mn ALWAYS end up making people think that they shouldn't be feeding their kids easy meals once in a while- it's not every day, for goodness sake! And I don't know about you, op, but my kids wouldn't touch curried lentil stuff with a barge pole (unfortunately).

I think it’s fine (apart from Bluurgh at the tinned sausages)
Me and toddler DS regularly have cheesy beans on toast followed by yoghurt for lunch.

You could alternate with jacket potatoes (also cheap) beans and veg for dinner, that might feel more like a ‘proper dinner’ if you all want to have the same thing,

Not sure why scrambled eggs aren’t a proper dinner in your DHs mind though, frittata is, Spanish omelette is etc...

Broccoli with beans on toast?!

What? that's absolutely fine. I like to make little fried potatoes (cut potato in small cubes, boil for just two minutes, then fry in a bit of oil with some Italian herbs and garlic. Always a hit with the kids). I serve that with baked beans and broccoli or whatever veg I have left. Our local coop has started selling misshaped potatoes and they are dirt cheap, it really keeps us going at the end of the week. It's also worth going to the supermarket or local minimarket to see what's nearly out of date and getting that for dinner once a week.

Veg with beans on toast????? Urgh!

But egg & beans on toast as a quick evening meal isthe food of the gods.

It's perfectly acceptable as I say that as someone who is a qualified social worker. The children are being fed. It's not every meal. Your DP needs to think of other budget meals for him if he refuses it and cook it.

Baked beans count as a portion of veg! Green veg with beans sounds horrid but there’s nothing wrong with that meal in principle! If your husband doesn’t like it then he can make dinner for everyone can’t he?

Sounds fine to me! Especially if it takes the pressure off financially.

My dd has a cooked school dinner every day and a proper meal every night, but one evening a week, when she has an after school club, we do dinners like this. Last week she had a sausage sandwich with chopped cucumber and fruit and yoghurt for afters. She loves it!

Tomatoes and mushrooms go with egg and beans It's fine once in a while.

Disclaimer: green veg twice a day is the sort of thing I used to stress about

It's fine- although we have cheese instead of tinned sausages, as I personally think it's a bit more nutritious.

We've started having few more cheap and easy meals ourselves. Food prices are going up every week it seems, and the odd egg, chips and beans helps keep the shopping costs down.

What craziness is this? OF COURSE it's ok! It's a regular meal here.

I also do tinned tomato soup with cheese on toast quite regularly. And jacket potatoes with beans and cheese. And pizza (shop-bought) with veg sticks. And a 'picnic tea' of sandwiches with veg sticks and hummus. All meals have the correct balance of carb/fat/protein + a few veg on the side (usually veg sticks in our case).

What he is expecting them to eat? A full cooked roast every night? A lovingly home-made curry or casserole? I knock out a couple of these a week + a spag bol or something like that, but really a few nights off a heavy meat supper is a good thing, not a a bad thing!

Agree with others though - I'd personally lose the tinned sausages.

Of course it's a 'proper dinner'. What's his objection - that there isn't a great big lump of meat in it?

Please don't fall into the trap of feeding you and the children cheap food so that he can fill up on the expensive stuff. If you have a limited amount of meat, make it into a casserole with lots of vegetables and pulses for everyone.

There's nothing wrong at all with beans and/or egg on toast once in a while. But I wouldn't bother with the brocolli and green beans - save those for something that goes together - they'd be nice in a macaroni cheese, which is also fairly cheap and I expect to be on your DH's 'not proper food' list, even though it is quite calorific and filling.

Well it's bad because it's a lot of sugar OP and processed meat is really not good for anyone but on here, a lot of people will say it's fine

That's just bollocks. Its not a lot of sugar in the scheme of things at all, and the stuff about processed meat is badly reported and misunderstood.

I and everyone I know was raised on beans on toast and the kind of food people sneer about on here. Never did any of us any harm. In fact its now that everything is reduced sugar this and reduced fat that that the kids are all getting obese and diabetes. Everyone talks about kale and quinoa but they are less healthy than those of us raised on beans and turkey drummers.

It's fine OP, its food. Nothing even slightly wrong with it.

CheapSausagesAndSpam

Your options are not really cheap when you factor in the cost of cooking them. Also tins can be left in the cupboard without going off.

OP

I'm with you, I semi often have boiled egg and toast for tea.