Are my dinners rubbish?

[Sowhatbigdeal]

Been told they are

Here’s an example of an average week, more or less:

Monday (I work at 6, so do something simple)

Feta & red onion salad with new potatoes & rice

Tuesday

Pasta with jar pesto (working today)

Wednesday

Dh to do omlette/eggs on toast with salad (working today)

Thursday

Salmon, salad, new potatoes

Friday

Homemade chilli with rice, nachos & dips

Saturday

Takeaway

Sunday

Roast dinner/homemade lasagne

Are they?

They sound nice to me… maybe whoever is moaning can cook their own dinners from now on??

Are they healthy/nutritious enough for a child

They sound like normal meals a busy person makes. We end up with omelettes or soup or jacket potatoes quite a lot because we both work and have kids, gym classes etc. My freezer is teeny so can't really batch cook very much

Yes, I'd love to make "proper dinners" every day but it isn't always possible

Maybe not enough veg? More salad / veg on the side and friot for pudding maybe

I think I’d try to up the vegetables/fruits if you can.

Sounds lovely to me. New potatoes and rice is an odd combination though, you don’t need double carbs. Unless you’re cooking a curry that has potatoes in it. Fine for a child I think.

What goes in the salad on Monday? If it’s just those four ingredients it’s needs more veg and protein. Pasta and a jar of pesto - you can cook a healthy sauce in the time it takes the pasta to boil, (though any excuse for pesto ), take away every week is a bit much, but the other four days look perfectly tasty and balanced so what’s not to love.

A takeaway every week seems a bit much & not a great habit to get them into, apart from that it seems fine. what sort of things do they have for lunch?

Monday and Wednesday seem like light lunches to me rather than dinners but then I am two stone overweight so...

i think they sound good OP. If it helps, I pick 3/4 main dishes and bulk cook them. They all go in the fridge in Tupperware normally last Monday to Friday and I don’t have to cook again all week. (Includes 3 small dc). It’s a life saver x

Fruit available after dinner
In winter I do vegetables like carrots, broccoli, cauliflower etc, just changed to salads etc, not sure what else I could add?

How old is the child?
Is that the main meal of the day?

More vegetables with a salad though? It already contains-lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, red pepper, carrots, potatoes

Fruits eaten throughout the day

Missed it was for a child. Age? Do they have a big balanced meal at lunchtime - in which case something lighter for tea is fine. Check protein and fruit/veg content though, maybe low depending on what else child eats in the day.

Yes I add some rice as Dd asks for it, wouldn’t normally serve both

Who isn't happy?

Can you reduce the takeaway to once a month and on the other Saturdays do a healthier equivalent? (Home made pizza better than take-out; make fajitas; get the bits and pieces to put burgers together at home with loads of fresh salad rather than getting McDonald’s, etc)

Without seeing the meals it's hard to know. You aren't describing much veg nor fruit/ nuts/ seeds. And sometimes you seem to add carbs to carbs (rice with potatoes!?!?). It also sounds very bland. If the "pasta with jar pesto" also has a pan full of veg lightly fried in olive oil plus nuts, or seeds, or tofu, or meat - then great. If it's literally pasta with pesto then you missed all the important nutrients.

It wasn’t clear what your salad contained - I’m not sure lettuce adds anything tbh unless they eat masses of it. How much pepper, tomato etc and do they eat it? One small slice of pepper for a 12 year old is pretty negligible. Half a pepper for a 4 year old is great though.

Dc is 7

Friday or Saturday usually takeaway or eat out, not necessarily unhealthy, not McDonald’s every week etc

It looks healthier than 80% of the population eat.

They sound nice to me and if there's fruit available then great. Maybe ask them what they'd like, see if it's practical with your working hours and meet somewhere in the middle?

No just pasta with pesto sauce, Dc loves it, is this bad

Sounds okay abit bland for me but tbh theres nothing on your list i would eat apart from the takeaway depending on what it was.
Op your doing your best thats all that counts.
I will add im a fussy eater i have my reasons.

Can't get over so many people thinking a takeaway once a week is too often. We sometimes have three two 🙈