Hmmmm. Is our diet too processed?

[chezchaos]

Just put this week's delivery away and it looks a bit too processed. I try to make healthy meals but working 3 days with two young LOs I don't have much time. DH works full-time and doesn't cook. We're veggie and do get an organic veg box and make all our own bread and use butter instead of margarine.

I think it's our dinners that mainly concern me as our breakfasts and lunches don't look too bad. We probably eat a bit too much quorn. This week we're having:

Breakfasts: porridge and sugar free jam on weekdays, quorn bacon, eggs and mushrooms at the weekend.

Lunches: hummus and grated carrot wraps/home-made lentil and veg soup/quorn ham and piccalilli sarnies/home-made egg mayo sarnies/babybel/ yoghurts/fresh fruit/ bough cookies

Dinners: home-made quorn, cheese and leek pies (pastry bought) with frozen croquettes and peas
Ready-filled pasta with jarred sauce and garlic bread with frozen veg
Ready-made pizza with frozen chips and beans or frozen veg
Toad-in-the hole with bought veggie sausages, mash, broccoli and carrots
Rice noodles with various veg and quorn pieces
Omelette, sauteed potatoes, fresh veg

Looking at the whole picture I'm less concerned, but any suggestions for alternative, healthy quick options would be appreciated.

batch cook and freeze your own pasta sauce?

I'd be concerned about the amount of salt in the processed food tbh - jars sauces/potato products/pizza all have a high amount of sauce in them. Filled pasta probably does as well but if you cut out the other premade stuff you could probably afford to have that once a week (as is a lot harder to make than the other stuff).

Batch cooking pasta sauce would be good. Make your own pizza dough and freeze, get it out the night before you want it. If you freeze some of the pasta sauce in ice cube trays you have portions of about the right size for pizza.

You can batch make and freeze potato dishes - even mashed potato.

jacket potatoes with ratoutille (you can do roasted veg and then mix it with some of the pasta sauce) are easy.

Veg curry can be premade and served with rice

bean chilli with rice is easy to either batch cook or stick in a slow cooker all day.

have a high amount of salt not sauce.

Red lentil dahl & rice is pretty quick to make & nice (do-able in about 1/2 an hour), either eat with salad, or add spinach (or leaf beet if you get it in your veg box) to the dahl while its cooking.

Great suggestions, thanks :)

Sugar free jam - is that sweetener free?

home-made quorn, cheese and leek pies (pastry bought) with frozen croquettes and peas - I'd boil some potatoes rather than using frozen croquettes
Ready-filled pasta with jarred sauce and garlic bread with frozen veg - bulk cook tomato sauce - drop the garlic bread, carbs with carbs is not needed- try another veg or a salad instead
Ready-made pizza with frozen chips and beans or frozen veg this meal you are having bread with potatoes and beans - 3 starchy foods! Try pizza with salad, green veg - something acidic would cut through the cheese of the pizza and taste better. And I'd make the pizza base - use canned tomatoes or passatta for the sauce.
Toad-in-the hole with bought veggie sausages, mash, broccoli and carrots - again you are doubling up on carbs - mash with toad choose one or the other
Rice noodles with various veg and quorn pieces - fine
Omelette, sauteed potatoes, fresh veg fine

Frozen veg are a great stand by, I'd introduce some mild curries, bean stews, rissottos - pea risotto can be made in 20 mins, some fresh tomato & veg sauces are quick, chinese style rice stir fries, paella. Have a look at the BBC Good Food website for ideas.

Thanks Betty, great ideas, yes the jam is pure fruit, we don't eat sweeteners.

I make pizza dough on the timer on the bread machine and then roll out to make a cheese and tomato pizza with mixed herbs sprinkled on top when I get home from work - I make two pizza from the one dough and we share the first whilst the second is cooking - often there is pizza left over for lunch the next day.

I made a bean soup today and plan to make a batch of dahl and add cauliflower and new potato (as they are in the fridge) - both will go in the fridge to eat the days I work.

you use a lot of meat substitutes and I wonder why. We are 5 day a week veggies (for health reasons not because we are against eating meat IYSWIM) and hardly ever use meat substitutes. Pasta dishes, risottos, couscous based meals etc are all quite easy and quick. I also use things like mushrooms and Halloumi cheese to provide a "meaty" textured bit to the meal. It sounds to me that you are reluctant to give up "meat"????

Homebyyhesea we're veggie for ethical reasons, and eat a l of cheese so quorn and similar products add variety to our diet. I would like to cut down though, so need to use more lentils and pulses I think.

*a lot

I suppose I'm just intrigued as to why "proper" veggies want to eat products designed to look and taste like meat.

Have you got Hugh F-W's Veg cookbook? I also subscribe to a couple of veggie magazines which are great for everyday ideas. Quiche of various descriptions are a real staple too - and it freezes so well and you can heat up individual slices from frozen so a great standby if you are stuck for time - just slam a couple of slices in the oven, rustle up a salad or some veg and there you go!

I did a great bean burrito the other day - fry off an onion and a pepper for a bit, add a tin of chilli beans. fill 4 wraps with the mixture with a bit of grated cheese and put the rolled up wraps in a dish so they are quite squashed in together. Dollop some sour cream on top of the rolled up wraps, sprinkle with more grated cheese and bake in the oven till bubbling. Easy to double up if you are cooking for 4.

I would say you don't do too bad - considering you are both out at work. It is tough to fit it all in.

I am a SAHM now, but my LO is 14 so in theory have loads of spare time for cooking. However I am lazy.

Yesterday afternoon, however, I spent a couple of hours batchcooking for the week. I was making a cottage pie for dinner anyway. When that was prepped I ended up with sufficient to make two separate portions and froze them for later on. I also made a vegetable and kidney bean curry, and a big pan of ratatouille. I haven't yet frozen them, they are just in the fridge as I need to portion them up further before freezing.

I like the tip about making pizza dough in advance and freezing it. Homemade pizza is just sooo much nicer than shop bought stuff - and minus all the sugar/salt/preservatives.. It doesn't take long to roll it out and top it with some (previously made and frozen) tomato sauce and veggies/cheese/whatever you like. I think I will try it - as the hardest part about making pizza is the time it takes to prove the dough etc. Oh, and I rate using part wholemeal flour and part white flour - it gives a great flavour.

More fab ideas thanks :)

Homebythesea we like the taste of meat but don't want to kill animals - Quorn is lovely stuff but I do need to buy less.

I'd replace the jam in porridge for fresh fruit.

Macaroni peas instead of the filled pasta? Its very yummy, Im not a veggie but its my favourite veggie dish!

chezchaos Have you tried Marinated Tofu? Try adding Beans & pulses to your diet - chickpeas are a great place to start...or puy lentils.

"I suppose I'm just intrigued as to why "proper" veggies want to eat products designed to look and taste like meat"

maybe because we like how they taste.

It doesn't look that bad to me and if it varies week upon week it probably balances out.

Try stewed or grated apple or plum on the porridge instead of jam (although I wouldn't stress about eating jam at all personally), and freezing some homemade pasta sauce.

Dinners: home-made quorn, cheese and leek pies (pastry bought) with frozen croquettes and peas - I'd boil real spuds or do potato wedges. Not a lot more effort really.
Ready-filled pasta with jarred sauce and garlic bread with frozen veg
Ready-made pizza with frozen chips and beans or frozen veg Again, I'd do real potato chips or wedges or even forego them as you've got pizza dough for carbs. Chuck more veg on the pizza.
Toad-in-the hole with bought veggie sausages, mash, broccoli and carrots
Rice noodles with various veg and quorn pieces
Omelette, sauteed potatoes, fresh veg

I honestly don't think that looks too bad. You use a lot of frozen veg but at least you eat veg! Ready made sauces can be high in salt and sugar but you aren't eating it every night. I wouldn't stress about it.

I don't understand why vegetarians want products that look like meat. I would get a book like Rose Elliot's Vegetarian meals in Minutes- you seem to be ignoring pulses and nuts completely.