AIBU to ask for your opinions re feeding my children

[laydeestardust]

And is what I'm feeding them unreasonable??

Please be as frank with me as you like-I promise not to flounce!

A friend told me she thinks what I feed my kids is crap-ie too processed , not enough of it made from scratch,not often organic, (although she let me off that one because of the cost!)

I said I think it's ok in the context of having 4 kids aged between 17 and 5, a busy full time job, tiny freezer, no dishwasher(!) etc etc, and the kids all seem healthy enough etc My initial response was to reject what she said...but now I'm pondering and wondered what the Mumsnet Jury would make of it!

We eat;
Breakfasts.
cereals (ie rice krispies, oatabix minis) breads, toast and jam etc

lunches
all take a packed lunch-rolls, wraps etc with quorn slices/cheese/tuna mayo etc with salad +fruit/veg/ and a treat ie biscuit/cake/yogurt/dried fruit

dinners
jackets with beans, cheese, tuna etc, small potatoes,roast/mashed potatoes, pasta (dried not fresh)rice with veg
quorn mince/pieces/fillets
fish/veg fingers/boil in the bag fish in sauce (one DC adores this, her gran introduced her to it!)
omlettes with tuna for the two fish eaters,cheese for the rest of us who are veggie
falafel + salad
casseroles-ie with quorn sausages
Very Very Occasional nut roasts/lentil slices if I have a spare day
all served with lots of fresh or frozen veg and salad
fruit juice

Does this seem ok or have I seriously lost the plot?I can see I rely heavily on Quorn-which is mainly what my friend means by over reliance on processed food, I do try to make marvellous lentil roast type things but I find it takes me an entire Sunday or something, and the kitchen looks like the Somme.

Be Honest with me-I can take it [gulp]

Looks great to me
tell your friend to butt out

It all looks good and fine, but too much Quorn. So if this is mainly what your friend means, and you can see that you rely heavily on it, then perhaps you could have a serious re-think about some alternatives to quorn?

I think this sounds healthy - can't see much processed in there, lots of fish and veg - what's her problem?! Quorn is really healthy isn't it? She is BU and needs to mind her own business!

God, I think you're doing brilliantly - what does she expect - you to kidnap Jamie Oliver and take him home to cook for you?!

(For the record: I am full time SAHM with newborn and toddler, DH is veggie, I am not, so am fully aware of the temptation to overly rely on protein replacements like Bocca Burgers, etc, but come on! we're all only human )

Seems similar to what we eat. I do eat a lot of quorn too becuase its difficult to find an alternative for casserolles and fajita wraps.

Aside from the quorn (I have a personal hatred for the stuff as it makes me sick as a dog) it looks absolutely fine!

Do you all eat plenty of veg/fruit??

What is wrong with Quorn? (I dont use it and insead use dead cooked animals but curious)...

I dont see a problem with it, then again its quite similar to the food I provide lol, dont see the problem with the quorn either to be honest, I use it loads

Sounds like a normal, healthy diet for a busy family. Your friend has toomuch time on her hands!

doesn't look too bad to me.

If your friend is that bothered by what you eat, she has the option of starting to cook for you.

Or she could just mind her own business.

Perhaps she's been reading the mumsnet what's for dinner threads where everyone lies is eating Seared sea bass with finely sliced garlic, ginger, chilli and spring onions & soy sauce or Chorizo stew or carribean chicken salad or Pasta arabiata or homemade chicken goujons with parmesan ...

I thought you were going to list pizzas, ready meals, turkey twirlers etc! It looks pretty good to me. I was raised on findus crispy pancakes and copious amounts of chips so that looks unbelievably healthy.

I think exercise is equally important and I was on the go all the time as a child. Do your children get plenty of exercise as well?

Dried not fresh pasta?!

Quite frankly, you should be making your own.

i think its okay doesnt really seem something to feel too guilty about, not as if you are feeding them frozen pizza every day, there is a lot of salad, vegetables and stuff like jacket potato and omelettes are healthy nutricious dinner, just cos they are quick to make doesnt mean there is anything wrong with them, i think its fine. if you feel theres too much quorn maybe reduce it but it might be okay to just have a couple of times per week anyway, doesnt sound that you eat it daily?

Sloany - I don't know exactly, I can't digest whatever kind of protein it is, and if I eat too much I am quite ill. (not the only one either, as I discovered via MN)]

OP - sorry for hijack

I only feel uneasy about Quorn because I tend to believe the scare stories about highly processed food. So I avoid aspartame and margarine and I wouldn't eat quorn either, or only very rarely. But I have a far from exemplary diet.

this sort of article is the reason for my suspicions about quorn.

Boil in the bag fish regularly appears at our dinner table.

Frankly, I think it looks perfectly normal. DO you know what sort of things your friend serves for tea?!

Thanks everyone,I feel much reassured!
In answer to peoples' questions, we do eat loads of fruit and veg, kids all do lots of sports , me and DH rather less, so quite healthy in that respect.Thanks for the link about Quorn too. I will try to be a bit less reliant on it.

My friend and her family do eat an incredibly healthy diet ie lots of pulses, beans,seeds, raw foods sometimes , makes all her own bread, as in ALL THE TIME not just as an activity with the kids lol only buys fresh pasta -but I note that she doesn't actually make it hee hee!

Feeding her child and DH is a bit of a full time occupation for her.She doesn't work outside the home and her DC who's 14 apparently doesn't ever even eat a chip when his friends go to the chippy after school...or maybe he tells her porkies

What is wrong with quorn?? I'm a meat lover but often buy it as an alternative differs taste etc.

God it sounds great and balanced maybe your friends actually secretly [envy}

Jeez, what kind of friend says things like that to you? Talk about judging you! You're a human being, ffs, trying to do the best for your family without running yourself into the ground.

I would have to wonder what her motivation was for saying such a thing... selfless concern for your DC's dietary health? Or, just perhaps, a need to bolster her own flagging faith in her own labour-intensive approach to food and/or self-esteem?

Fwiw, your family's diet sounds fine to me. Your friend should keep her unhelpful opinions to herself.

laydee I have a 'friend' like that, too .

Seriously, if I hear ONE MORE FRIGGIN' WORD out of her about the dangers of non-wholewheat-pasta I'm going to brain her with a lentil...

I bet her son heads for the chippy when ever he's out of her sight... I can't imagine a 14 yr old who wouldn't fancy SOME junk food!

Your family's diet is pretty much identical to my family. Lots of simple, sensible food.. pasta, jacket potatoes and salad etc etc. Fish is good....
I have four children and work and frankly haven't time to faff about doing a Jamie Oliver but my children (now teens) are all slim, fit, haven't succumbed to scurvy or rickets.....

(how my DS1, aged 17 hasn't mind I don't know.. his diet is pretty awful.. I make him eat fruit in front of me just to ensure he HAS eaten some each day.. he would live off cereal and pizza given a chance..)

I think your 'friend' is being anything but, to be honest, and needs to wind her neck in... or start baking for you!!

What you're feeding them is fine - your friend has too much time on her hands. Her teenagers defo eat crap away from home, they just don't tell her

Appreciate all the comments everyone!Hooray, one less thing to feel guilty about

I do suspect her DC eats a bit, er, differently when he's out of the house, in fact I've had reports from my own DC who's 15 of sightings of her DC at the chippy stuffing chips along with the rest of them.....I'd so love to tell her but I wouldn't because I couldn't be that mean, also would hate to get her lad into her seriously bad books!