To not understand the unwritten rule of not having 2 hot meals a day?

[Justanothernamechange2]

Seeing it more and more that people cant have hot food twice a day.. cant possibly have spag bol for dinner because they had soup for lunch etc. It was a recent debate in my workplace so wondered how the jury of MN feel.

Surely its more about portions than temperature?

Id happily eat hot food for every meal - lunch is just typically smaller than my evening meal or vice versa sometimes at weekends...

Whatever the reason for the restraint, maybe it did actually keep them slimmer. Of course not if you're just toasting a cheese sandwich, but if one meal is noticeably lighter than the other. Instead of what I might do which is have a Chinese lunch special and then have a normal dinner at home because my DH has cooked it = 2 large meals.

It does seem to be a thing! I know a lot of parents who say their child has had a hot lunch at school so will need something like sandwiches or salad for dinner so they don't have hot food twice?! weird

Sometimes, on a work day, I have 3 hot meals

Neville, you've nailed it. That way round really works for me now that I've stopped having a big unnecessary supper.

@LovelyMess - I always had a hot school lunch and then a hot supper in theory. In practice as a fussy child, I'd often have nothing or a bread roll & fruit for lunch and then have a small snack when I got home and then supper at 6:30-7pm. At boarding school I would skip breakfast and often only pick at my supper, making lunch (which had a better budget per plate as the day pupils ate it, too) my main meal of the day. Occasionally had this the other way round depending on what got served but pretty much one good meal a day. So very much took my hot meal when I could get it!

@graphista I remember reading a telegraph article a couple of years ago re Scottish obesity. The Scottish author was saying that it's not so much that what they eat is unhealthy - more "hearty", but that people haven't reconsidered serving sizes or input/output despite the decline in people doing physical jobs & requiring and being able to burn off big hearty meals. I certainly ate well in Scotland. Staying in a house with no heating just outside Edinburgh in January- I fucking shivered off everything O ate so I ate everything

Wouldn't surprise me if that were the case (obesity due to still eating as if we're doing 12 hours hard labour at work). Much is made of the supposed "fact" that "everything" we eat is fried yet if you look properly at traditional scots food little of it is fried, it's mostly baked or boiled! Soups, stews, haggis, neeps, oatcakes, porridge, shortbread,

Graphista that reminded me of my favourite passages in books growing up: long descriptions of lovely food.

I’ve never heard this either. Wherever possible I always have a hot lunch and tea even in summer. It’s hard to eat a balanced meal if you’re eating something like a sandwich

Yes I love books where food is related to events or characters. I'm a big fan of Sue grafton's alphabet books (RIP sue) and Kinsey has certain foods that are peculiar to the character (peanut butter and pickle sandwiches anyone?) plus there's a pub she goes to that the landlady Rosie, also does food, this is where Kinsey eats more substantially than usual (she's no cook!) being given hearty Hungarian dishes.

Also in Marian Keyes Walsh family novels food items occasionally feature as signs of Irish hospitality (or lack thereof).

Ninoo - cold doesn't have to mean sandwich or something equally basic though, there are quite hearty salads, quiche, cold eaten pies, cold noodles, pasta, sushi...

I find it hilarious that people need to cook a hot meal at all every day. What makes a hot meal healthier than a cold meal? My mum friends insist on a hot meal for their kids and I just can't fathom why.

@Chutneyorchids

A hot meal on a cold day is a must, but outside of that I just make whatever we fancy eating that day!

^I find it hilarious that people need to cook a hot meal at all every day. What makes a hot meal healthier than a cold meal? My mum friends insist on a hot meal for their kids and I just can't fathom why.6

9 pages later and you still can't fathom why people prefer a hot meal?
People who prefer hot meals do not necessarily think its healthier, I certainly don't, its just a preference.

I certainly prefer hot food over cold. Loathe salads although a small side salad with a steak is acceptable. It's certainly nothing to do with healthy (or not healthy) eating.

The point of having hot (cooked) food is that some foods become more easily digestible after cooking. It's also safer. You can eat uncooked meat and fish, but it's way safer to eat them cooked. Raw vegetables and fruit are good for vitamins, but they are harder to digest.