From the time that I was a little boy and as I grew older and attended school, I was taught that a healthy meal is one that contains all classes of food, thus regarded as a balanced diet.
We were taught to incorporate all the meal classes whether we were doing little by eating eggs(for protein) or taking it a notch higher by eating a whole chicken.
I remember that growing up, my mum was strict with this rule, for us the kids . Then, we just ate the regular meals that an average home did, and yet we ate right.
These days, we have a number of new recipes coming up online from online cooks, and they have somewhat put forth and influenced the notion that a healthy meal is one with lots of drama going on. A healthy meal now equates to many proteins and seasonings. That's why as basic as an instant Noodles is rarely found prepared online to just look 'instant' cause these people go as far as prepping veggies and proteins and all of that for something that should otherwise be a quick or as the name implies, an instant fix meal. So now, we think of quality meals as those ones made with a long list of expensive ingredients. Anything less doesn't qualify in the books.
However, except you do, I don't see the complication in all that cause truth be told, not many people can afford to feed that way daily just as those online cooks prescribe. Besides, there are still a number of people out there who make healthy meals for cheap amounts.
I'm one of those who argue that healthy meals don't have to be expensive. In my opinion, even unhealthy meals tend to be more expensive. If we made the comparisons between packaged/processed foods or takeout and fresh foods, we may all come to the agreement that the benefits to health and to our pockets lie with the latter.
Most of the basic ingredients to make a balanced meal can be sourced from our local markets. Getting this stuff ourselves implies that we would only go for fresh items, and having to prep and cook it ourselves ensures hygiene, nutrition as well as better portion than we can get from restaurants.
With cooking at home with fresh sourced ingredients and planning meals , although it takes time, we stand to gain more. Cause, a fancy looking meal doesn't equate a healthy meal.
I hope thar this was interesting to read. Thanks for coming around.