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What do you consider to be a proper supper?


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On a good day, some kind of protein source, veggie, and, ideally, a starch all made from scratch.

 

On a not so good day, easy, quick, filling, and relatively healthy.

 

On a rotten day, I don't care as long as they go to bed with full bellies. These are the days of Chinese or grocery store deli takeout, quick breakfast for dinners, or nachos/quesadillas.

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Proper for company, or acceptable to consume? :001_smile:

 

For my family, supper is usually a meat with several vegetable sides. Lately, there is often a fruit or sweet for dessert. For company, we usually add in bread, and a fancier dessert.

 

After a long day, especially if I've had a large, late lunch, I want something light. If I'm really tired, and dh is gone, I'd accept a bowl of cereal. But I'd never call that proper. :lol:

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Proper for company, or acceptable to consume? :001_smile:

 

 

It doesn't necessarily have to be what you'd serve guests, but could include that, I suppose. I'm interested in what others' ideas of "proper" constitute, so I'd like to leave the definition of "proper" as open as possible. :001_smile:

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I can vary greatly here,

 

Sometimes it includes a meat, starch and veggie, such as steak with a potato of some kind and steamed broccoli with milk or water.

Other days it can simply be tacos and by that I mean a shell with meat and any toppings a person likes such as lettuce, tomato, cheese and sour cream. We don't generally have a side of any kind with this meal. If we have a pasta such as spaghetti or lasagna the only side is garlic bread, maybe a salad.

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On a good day, some kind of protein source, veggie, and, ideally, a starch all made from scratch.

 

On a not so good day, easy, quick, filling, and relatively healthy.

 

On a rotten day, I don't care as long as they go to bed with full bellies. These are the days of Chinese or grocery store deli takeout, quick breakfast for dinners, or nachos/quesadillas.

 

This.

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Last year we started having at least one meal a week that was primarily raw food. I love just assembling the meal and not actually 'cooking' anything on those nights. I generally do that the night after I have grocery shopped during the day, so everything is very fresh.

We may have guacamole with carrots, celery, tomatoes and cucumbers to dip. Salad of some sort, plus fruit for dessert. Non-raw protein: cheese and crackers.

Another night we might have a small side of cocktail shrimp, with large salad and fruit.

I really never thought my DH would go for this, as he tends to be pretty 'meat and potato' but he loves it. DS was already a good vegetable eater, but this has stretched his horizons.

 

Otherwise, we have whatever I feel like cooking. Some meals are better than others. :lol:

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We keep it simple and don't do many sides. Dinner is often just a hearty soup and something to drink. Or a one dish meal that combines a protein and vegetables like chicken roasted with kale and potatoes, pot roast cooked with vegetables, etc.

 

Other times it's a main dish plus one side: roast chicken and green beans. Grilled salmon and asparagus. Stir fry plus rice. It's rate that we have more than one side dish with a dinner.

 

There's almost always fruit for dessert, usually fresh but occasionally canned.

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Protein and a veggie mostly, sometimes also a carb like potatoes, corn, or rice but not too often. My dh eats plenty of carbs through out the day (the only person in the household who eats processed food) so I don't like too many carbs in our dinner. Everything I make is from scratch.

 

I also try to keep our dinners generally small as I think it's healthier to have a bigger lunch than dinner.

 

Oh and we do 2-3 meatless meals a week because I personally feel better the less meat I eat, plus we only buy local organic meat and even though we buy in bulk it's still really pricey.

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It's the "proper" that gets me. My upbringing would dictate meat and potatoes. My laziness makes me lean to a meal that is not considered breakfast and requires some cooking. I'll go with that, with the proviso that protein and vegetables are incorporated in some way.

Edited by nmoira
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I usually go for a main dish and two sides. The main dishes are usually a protein and then the sides I try to make vegetables but sometimes we have a starch like rice. Sometimes we will do a soup and something to go with it like either a grilled cheese, cheese quesadilla, cornbread, rolls, something. I don't generally make breads with other dinners. Sometimes we will have a big salad with protein and other veggies or some cheese on top. Or a casserole that has most everything in it we will just eat that, sometimes with a side salad. Same with spaghetti or a pasta dish, the side is usually a green salad. Oh, or breakfast for dinner, they love that, too. Basically I try to get some protein and some veggies in everyone. :) If that happens, I'm good.

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Sufficient calories, including protein, carb, and at least a token fruit or vegetable.

 

There is a very broad range for my family. From a cold picnic to reheated leftovers to some of the "least worst" fast food options. Occasionally we even have a hot, freshly-cooked meal.

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I aim for 2 veggies, a fruit, a protein, and a starch. What this usually looks like at our house is green salad, a cooked veggie, fresh seasonal fruit, rice or potatoes (I can't have wheat, but a couple times a week I don't do a starch for me and the rest of the family has rolls/bread/pasta), and meat or fish. I make a lot of side dishes each week that will fit in with multiple main courses, and those go on the table every night until they are gone -- things like pasta salad, potato salad, spicy black beans, tomato and cucumber salad, baked beans, coleslaw, etc. I also keep fruit bowls stocked, both on the sideboard and in the fridge, and everyone can grab any extra fruit they want at dinnertime (or anytime). I always have a dessert available after dinner, usually homemade cookies, pie, cake, or cobbler, and I make coffee or tea to go with it. In cooler weather I switch to a couple nights a week of soups or stews, and those are accompanied by homemade breadsticks, baked potatoes, green salad, and fresh fruit. The kids drink milk with supper, DH and I have water, unsweetened iced tea, or wine/beer.

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I think dh and I usually eat a proper supper (although we call it dinner ;)). Last weeks meals were: Lemon sole with rice and veggies, chicken with potatoes and veggie, homemade lasagna with mushrooms, squash, chicken, and ground beef in it, pork loin with potatoes and veggies, and leftovers. We usually eat fish once or twice a week, chicken once a week, pork once a week, pasta twice a week (this is the easiest to sneak veggies into the kids), take-out (pizza) once a month or so, and leftovers once or twice a week.

 

Dd will eat a white meat turkey hotdog, pizza or pasta mostly with a side of raw carrots. Ds will eat the same minus the hot dog and carrots. We sneak the veggies into whatever we can for them.

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I generally make one-dish meals, with minimal sides. Tonight we had veggie/chicken stir fry over brown rice, tomorrow we'll have Audrey's white lasagna (thanks, by the way!), Monday we're having bean and cheese enchiladas and sliced veggies. I have been planning out our week's meals to help the budget--and it works! Yippee!--and I plan so that supper includes some veggies, some protein source, and usually a complex carb; these are usually combined into one main dish, with salads being an exception. :001_smile:

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