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?

Exactly!!! This is why its such a load of rubbish. I forgot to say I dont feel well today so have eaten nothing but some dates, drank tea and coffee. So theres 3 plants right there!!!! Big wow

I’m sympathetic op to the idea that cooking lots of meal components in the evening can be tiring.

I think your carbs and proteins seem fine on the whole. Could you give them berries with their breakfast and another piece of fruit when they come home plus some chopped raw veg with hummus or similar? Together with the salads that’s getting plenty into them without having to complicate the meals themselves. One of our Dc likes avocado or tomatoes or banana on toast for breakfast, which is another way of getting an extra portion in early in the day.

Your dinners sound absolutely fine and better than a lot of people's I'm sure. I chuck frozen green beans or peas in with the pesto, but conscious that kids may prefer veg separately or be fussy about having it in there at all - I see from your posts they have fruit so nobody is going to get scurvy. Maybe a bit more protein if it's just pasta, like chicken or yoghurt, but again, one night a week is fine. The key thing is that there's variety. Whoever has said they're rubbish needs to get some serious perspective.

Or massaman curry with rice :)

There is protein in the pasta and pesto (pine nuts) & lots of vitamin K in basil. For kids at that age, about one third of their diet should be fat. Could maybe increase fibre levels by using pasta. But it’s really not a bad meal for an active, growing child

There are plenty of cultures around the world that serve two different starches with their meals or as a meal. Only here do we seem to have a problem with it.

Wholewheat pasta that is :)

I add a handful of frozen spinach into green pesto pasta… my 2 year old can’t find it when it’s all mixed in and doesn’t need any additional cooking effort

To the posters suggesting fruit. Please cease and desist. My Dh has had to resuscitate me twice now. Fruit is laden with sugar. Educate yourselves. You didn't even specify it should be home grown organic . Why don't you just suggest op sprinkles some cocaine over her children's dinner while she's at it 🙄

Op you neglect to mention what you have to drink with your god awful dinners. Unless there's a massive drip feed coming, I assume it's organic cucumber infused moon water? Which does in fact count towards your 311 plants a day.

Not all of them successfully healthwise

Well it is derived from a plant so it ticks a box. Cocaine all round!

Also lots of pesto is made with olive oil which is actually quite nutritious. Good pesto is rich in vitamin E.

I wouldn't say they are rubbish meals, but

1. There's barely any protein in most of them, to keep you full
2. Some of the meals I would consider incomplete, or lunch, rather than a proper dinner
3. They are a bit dull, and seem very "thrown together because I can't be bothered"

Also, I think if you are going to make something as suuuper simple and quick as pasta with pesto, the least you can do is to spend 5 minutes making your own pesto...

In the end of the day, it's food, it's fine. You could definitely eat worse. But I would feel the same as your husband. But then again, if you both work and pay the bills, nothing is stopping HIM from cooking more interesting meals...

MN isn’t very reflective of the UK food habits at all (at least going by this thread) so to be honest having potatoes and rice along with your chicken is really not an issue at all.

How much feta per portion? You’d have to eat more feta than most people generally would for it to be the main protein component of a meal.

Also, I’m not sure how we were supposed to know what was in your salads? If you say ‘feta and red onion salad’ for example, we’re going to assume it contains those two things and some leaves.

There’s more than enough protein there. And more than enough vegetables. Potatoes do count. And what a shame that your children wouldn’t eat salad as salad was an absolute staple for every single meal we had growing up.

OP: the meals sound absolutely fine. I would never post meal plans on Mumsnet as some posters cannot wait to stick the boot in.

Given the UK is one of the least healthy nations and we have demonised carbs (and I say that as someone who really does need to eat low starches) Im not sure we hold up well in comparison to most, even those who practice the heinous 'double carb'

I wouldn't do potatoes and rice in the same meal or use a jar of sauce. And a takeaway once a week is a lot. Other than that I wouldn't call it rubbish

I think your menus sound lovely. And I think about 90% of children I know have pasta/pesto for dinner at least once a week. It's easy to make, most kids love it so it's perfect for playdates!

There’s more than enough protein there
There really isn't. You are supposed to eat 1.5 x your weight in grams of protein daily - you don't get that amount from eating a couple of eggs and a piece of salmon in one WEEK. The body also does not absorb plant proteins very well, so it's dumb to count on your proteins from plant foods.

Sorry, not following. I was responding to the point about many cultures having two starches with the meals or as their main meals. Many of these cultures are very very unhealthy and there are major health concerns about the population- the one I am most familiar with is the Indian culture and their diet.

I am not saying UK is better. Neither are good but for differing reasons.
The UK issue is different to the cultures with double carbs, low protein and low veg. Although the “western” is now creeping into other cultures and is wreaking another layer of health problems.

I'm not sure if this is a wind-up post @soupyspoon or if you're being serious.

Assuming you're serious....the way it works is....

The spices and herbs count as 1/4 or 1/2 of a 'unit' (30 in total over a week). You'd need about 1/2 teaspoon to count it as a 1/4 of 1 unit.

So your 9 herbs and spices (if I've tallied correctly) would only count as around 2 to 3.

Each spice or herb has a unique composition which adds to the diversity of your gut microbiome.

I don't know what you ate for your dinner but it certainly sounds interesting mix. Too many different herbs and spices for me there, but each to their own.

Was this a bought ready meal or something you made yourself? All sounds very interesting.

Obviously, use common sense.

It IS possible to do it. We did it for 6 months, religiously, for an experiment. my BIL was advised to do it for strong medical reasons by consultants.

It's not always 1.5 times.
Some advice says 0.8gms, others say 1gm/kg body weight.

Sounds fine to me. The only thing I would say is frozen veg is your friend. I always have a large variety of frozen veg in and it's just easy to add to a meal.