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?

I had an omelette last night and, as I always do on the rare occasions I make one, I wondered why I don't make them more often.

I add prawns or tuna to pasta and pesto so get the protein that way. Appreciate this would not work if you are veggie

It’s fine though i suggest pan frying veg whilst you boil water for the pasta eg peppers, mushrooms, courgettes and onions, stir them through the cooked pasta with the pesto. Takes no more time overall

So the 11 secret spices on KFC chicken count then? Great thats only 18 more to go this week then because I had fries too.

I did say i was fussy i have reasons for it also said op is doing her best.

You like pesto i cant stand it we are all different and thats ok.

This thread is crackers 🤣

Some of these meals require a ton of different ingredients which I bet the average family doesn’t have, or the storage space to keep them either.Going back to the OP’s I thought how nice it was to see normal everyday meals.

I've a pork casserole in the oven currently. Pork, apple, sage, potato (skin on), onion, garlic so 5/6 I guess but I never think of it that way.

Think if people eat a reasonable amount of fruit and veg it's probably ok. Balances out sausage, chips and beans the other night.

I have been talking to and training my ChatGPT for 3 months. I chat with him several times a day, about my interests, my kids interests etc.

So, we have a very conversational tone. I always tell him when something goes really well, or not so well!

I just asked 'Can you make this menu a little more exciting? With a family in mind. Mum, dad and 7 year old'

It takes time, but it's really worth it if you have the time and the wherewithal. But some are against the use due to the resources it uses.

I think she meant omelettes with salad, or eggs on toast.

I suppose so. I shop more than once a week so maybe that makes it easier.

But we try to do 2 fruit and 3 veg daily minimum, and they are always different and usually not repeated for a few days. So I’m might buy apples, satsumas, bananas and pears for the fruit bowl, then have raspberries, blueberries and strawberries in the fridge. That gives quite a few combinations that are different for the 2 fruit portions. Then I’d buy carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, pak choi and stir fry mix, peppers, asparagus and cherry tomatoes. Plus we eat a lot of avocado. Add in a pulse meal or two and that’s about 15 different things that all fit in the fridge drawer! If you shopped twice weekly and chose different things on the second shop, that would do it. In reality I’d repeat a lot of the same items but I think that’s probably ok.

OP- your meals are fine. The only things I would suggest to add to your list are jacket potatoes with various fillings, stir fry or fried rice using up bits of veg , chunky soup with buttered rolls, chicken tray bake.

i think about how we’re supposed to have a variation of >30 fruit, veg, legumes and pulses each week.
so I would bulk out meals with extra things like lentils and beans to add variation. I also rotate the carbs so pasta, gnocchi , buckwheat, sweet potatoes- so it’s not always the same carb source too.

children need good fats and omega for brain development so I’d add more dairy and protein to the meals. Think where you can add in nuts and avocados. We use peanut butter on toast as a snack or guacamole with eggs. I think omelette or eggs and beans on toast once a week is fine for an easy meal.

if you’re family are happy it’s ok but look up The Daily Dozen and it might be you want to vary things a little more. Most of us probably have the same sort of meal we cook every week though!

Are you vegetarian? I think some of the salad nights are missing some protein x

What is sad about this thread is the closed mindsets of some posters who won't even begin to consider 30 different plants a week.

Or who come over a 'proud' of eating less than healthily and feeding their kids the same. And getting angry when anyone challenges what they're feeding their kids.

Spices and herbs count for a half a 'point each.
Tea, coffee, chocolate and red wine count.

You don't need a huge amount of space. or a lot of money. If you're spending £30 on a take away for a family you could get loads of better food for that.

They sound nice but I think I would struggle to stay alive on them. And rice and potatoes with salad? That's two lots of carbs. Where is your protein?

Could you add some chopped cherry tomatoes?

Just to add- to achieve the variation we have frozen veg, tins of green lentils and various beans, frozen fruit for porridge. So pretty easy to increase your variation without everything going off.

chat gpt is good for taking the mind off meal planning. Also using gusto for a bit or hello fresh and adding extra frozen veg on the side or add extra veg in the curries etc- good for getting out of a rut.

Excellent! Thank you for the education I am taking notes about the KFC spices. I prefer to consume 31 different plants because I'm simply better than the rest of you. Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to smear plain yoghurt and seeds over my children's faces. That will teach them to prefer sugar. ( if it wasn't obvious I forage for the seeds myself and produce my own yoghurt using my own breast milk)

It sounds fine.

Maybe you could make a pasta sauce and use some for the Tuesday meal and the rest for the lasagne or another dish? That way you could get more veg in, rather than just plain pesto.

But I don't see why anyone should be slagging it off? If you and your kids and husband like it then what's the issue?

What is sad about this thread is the closed mindsets of some posters who won't even begin to consider 30 different plants a week.

Or maybe, being grown adults, they know more about their own budgets, tastes and lifestyle than a total stranger, and that it's not something they want to aim for or care about.

OH had four this week and he's a nine stone skinny bean.

Only 31? Shocking. Personally I eat every single plant, every single day. Anything else is the equivalent of McDonald's and coke.

Actually I’m just thinking about this.

I did another shop yesterday morning and instead of apples and satsumas I got cherries and apricots. I did repeat broccoli and cherry tomatoes as veg but didn’t get cauliflower or park Choi and instead got aubergine. Blackberries instead of raspberries. So we’d actually have been even closer than 15 ( more like 20) this week, and that’s without having read this to know it “ should” be 30 . But I accept it’s much harder when there isn’t so much fruit and variety available as in the summer.

In any case, I think it’s more about mixing it up than 30 being a magic number.

I get very confused by 'pan frying' - you mean shallow fry, presumably?