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?

Oh yeah and mushrooms. I think you’d be surprised if you take notice.

We do a Tuesday and a Friday shop and that probably helps.

What are people on, looks good to me@ surely this is healthier than your average kid's diet. Takeaway once a week is frequent but it if they're actually eating the mix of salad and a healthy weight I think that's fine

I agree op that many Dc wouldn’t eat that well. I just think you need to increase the veg - though I don’t know what they have at lunch and breakfast.

I wouldn’t like them. But that’s probably why I’m fat.

@Sharptonguedwoman iceburg lettuce, snippets of green onion with a slice of tomato is hardly a vitamin powerhouse. If “salad” is to be the vegetable aspect of the meal it needs to be full of a variety of veggies and herbs.

Every so often there is a post that is beautiful in its candid straightforwardness! 😂

3 of those 7 are proper meals (Thursday, Friday and Sunday if the lasagne has lots of vege in it/with it). If that’s average every week yeah the rest isn’t great. Especially a weekly takeaway. I’ve never met anyone who has a weekly takeaway but I’ve heard of it here on mumsnet!

This thread is the height of MN batshittery around food.

What bit is batshit though?

A meal of pesto pasta won’t do any harm. But five or six fruit or veg a day isn’t batshit: that’s only two at most per meal. The problem is we’ve only seen one meal of ops list which often has one veg tops. But if they had a banana and an orange juice when they came home from school ( which is hardly batshit), that changes things. Juice isn’t ideal but does count as fruit.

Lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes etc have nutrients, antioxidants and fibre. I have lots of other things in my salads (chickpeas, beetroot, carrot, pepper etc) but any salad vegetables are good for you. Obviously variety is the key.

People talking about how salad doesn't contain vegetables
People saying that a child not liking plain yoghurt means they're too reliant on junk food.
Saying that a weekly menu that includes salmon, salad, vegetables, roast dinner, eggs, pasta and rice is unhealthy.

I’ve never understood why people think pasta with jarred pesto is a meal on its own

because it's delicious and if you served something else with it you'd have less room for pasta with pesto

Well, exactly

I'd personally add cheese and maybe sundried tomatoes, but on it's own it's great - one of my favourite student staples!

In fairness salad can be really healthy or it can be a few leaves drenched in dressing.

I agree that “ normal “ children eat yoghurt that has flavouring. It isn’t the best but it’s not the end of the world. Our school serves it as a pudding.

The salmon and eggs are, as you say, good nutritious foods. There aren’t masses of veg listed, but we just don’t know what op’s salads look like. My mum’s look like a raid on a greengrocer: you can cram a lot in a salad. But a few lettuce leaves and some bean based nacho topping isn’t loads of veg if that’s what it is each week.

Perhaps add chicken to the pasta w pesto?

Why is everyone assuming takeaway is unhealthy? We rely on deliveroo on weekends but it's not fish&chips/nugges/fries.

Nothing wrong with pesto and pasta. I always put parmesan on and sometimes garlic bread. I hate pesto on anything other than pasta. We probably eat it once a month or less.

I make pesto and pasta with chicken, pine nuts and spinach (bit of cream). It’s delicious.

Obviously a typo, I'm multitasking here as I forage, graze and ferment. I meant 311. McDon-al-ds? Haven't heard of it. Sounds ghastly.

Other than sushi (which even then isn’t a proper serving of vegetables unless you order a side of wakame) I can’t think of a single thing available on deliveroo where we live that would be as healthy / balanced / low in salt as a home cooked meal. And anything super healthy that’s a takeaway - maybe a chicken salad no dressing from a local restaurant - I’d be wondering why on earth you wouldn’t just chuck it together yourself ? Or even picking up some “gastro pub” prepped meal deals for £15 from M&S would be cheaper and healthier

I'm not clutching my pearls at the takeaway it’s the fact that its weekly (both the cost and nutrition)

Who has told you that your meals are rubbish and what qualifications do they have in nutrition that is making you listen to them?

If it’s your DC who are complaining, then I’d agree with them. Nowhere near enough potatoes and beige food in there for my taste. But there’s a reason children don’t get given meal plans as part of their chores.

Is it the sound of your meals that have been deemed rubbish or the actual meals? On paper the meals sound fine but you may be making a pig's ear of them. I have a friend who, I would say , can't cook. Their meals sound fine, too, but it's the blandest food ever. Lasagne where they just add a tin of tomatoes to mince with a stock cube and no other seasoning. They just can't be bothered to cook well.

you can add peas and carrots or other veg. And some parmesan cheese?

It may not be nuggets and fries but it’s not going to be healthy in comparison to home-cooked food.