Do you buy ready made meals.

mariaalice

Maybe it is an age thing or maybe not as my daughter aged 32 agrees with me: why would anyone buy a lasanga kit or the like? I never give much though to the fact that we cook almost everything from scratch but even if you look at what is for sale in supermarkets there must be a large amount of people who buy ready made pies ect for their dinner.

Keane2baMused

On occasion I do. However I never give ready meals to my kids. It's more for my OH who can't cook to save his life so he likes to have one or two in the fridge/ freezer for such an emergency when I'm not around

You can get some that aren't so bad. The traffic light system is great for checking salt/ sugar / fat contents.

SEPT 23 1989

my wife buys them when she is going away and i have to fend for myself

JustShon

I find cooking for just myself feels lonely and depressing so I use ready meals to shorten the whole experience.

jam_mac_jam

I eat soup that is ready made. That would be about it. I can see why you would, they save a lot of time. I just don't really like them. I had to laugh at the facebook comments this morning, you would think people were beating their children by eating ready meals, oh the horror, the laziness.

ems_12

Time mainly; why spend an hour + making something that you can make in half the time? (I buy lots of jars, premade sauces etc. I don't buy as much ready made/microwave "meals" as they just taste awful; a ready made carbonara is not comparable to home made. I suppose this is the case with ALL foods but there's a point at which I consider the ready made additions "worth it" in comparison to time taken for home made).

mariaalice

JustShon wrote: »

I find cooking for just myself feels lonely and depressing so I use ready meals to shorten the whole experience.

Both of mine can cook but one would be more interested in cooking than the other, her attitude is... all that effort and it will be gone in a few minutes, but they are both in to eating healthy.

Boom_Bap

I buy the ready made lasagnes in Lidl, handy to keep in the freezer along with a garlic bread for a night when there is little time to prepare food.

I actually had a Mac N' Cheese ready meal thing last night that I picked up out of curiosity. It was lovely, but I'll make it with some bacon bits next time.

mariaalice

jam_mac_jam wrote: »

I eat soup that is ready made. That would be about it. I can see why you would, they save a lot of time. I just don't really like them. I had to laugh at the facebook comments this morning, you would think people were beating their children by eating ready meals, oh the horror, the laziness.

People can get a bit Nazi about it alight you have to have balance, however habits of a life time do start in childhood.

discus

For the past few years I'ved cooked breakfast, lunch (lived near work) and dinner for one every day. I can't stand how anyone would eat a ready meal ahead of even the most plain home-cooked meal.

RikkFlair

I treat myself to the Tesco tomato and mozzarella pasta bake once a week.

yellowlabrador

I wouldn't knock ready meals. I buy them every weekend for a friend who lives on his own and who has Alzheimers. He doesn't have a home help those days and I get the chill cabinet lasagnes and cottage pies for him. He can still feel independent and pop them in a microwave, and best of all in his eyes' they are not expensive and tasty.

jester77

I had one of those lasagnes once, nasty wouldn't half describe it.

But I now only ever cook. It is really not hard to throw together a spaghetti aioli or pesto if you are pressed for time.

Discodog

I eat 5 per week. I live alone & I love the speed & convenience. Thanks to Tesco & M&S there are some really nice meals out there.

I will be home later than usual tonight & my beef in a chianti sauce with roast potatoes will be ready in 6 mins.

humberklog

Occasionally buy my dinner from the deli counter in Fallon and Byrne or if I'm getting some handy meal in a packet from a supermarket (about once a month) I'll go for the very basic brand such as Frey Bentos pie, carrols lasagne or cheap chicken Kiev's. Kinda comfort food for me.

I find Finest ranges or "Artisan style" ready meals to be utter nonsense.

Malari

I get the M&S "dine-in" specials a couple of times a year as a treat, but they all seem to be loaded with saturated fat! I'm not a big ingredient checker, and I have no problem with having an unhealthy meal once in a while, but when the first thing that draws your eye is the big red "FAT" label it makes you think twice I suppose. :pac:

I never buy jars of sauces or kits though. I do nearly all the cooking in our house and it's all from scratch. Even if I'm making a meal for myself, part of the enjoyment is the actual cooking, so I don't mind if it takes much longer to cook than eat.

Chickarooney

Won't buy jars of sauce. Won't buy "kits". I cook food from scratch. I do buy curry paste and fresh pesto. Though I'm well capable of making both, it's just much more expensive to do so so I check the ingredients and don't buy crap.

Things that come in tins are chickpeas, coconut milk, kidney beans, tomatoes.

Frozen food consists of peas and spinach and berries. And cornettos, obviously.

Pac1Man

Processed food full of salt? Nah!

Speedwell

I'd never buy a kit normally. On occasion my husband has had a craving for duck and he's bought one of those things with the pancakes and roasted duck in it, and those are not too bad. We might buy a jar of curry sauce, but we never leave well enough alone and we always doctor it up till its mother wouldn't recognize it. I'm a serious foodie and he's a chef in training, though. We are always conscious that there are people who would burn a pot of boiling water, bless them, or who have physical or cognitive limitations, and they need to eat too.

Chijj

yellowlabrador wrote: »

I wouldn't knock ready meals. I buy them every weekend for a friend who lives on his own and who has Alzheimers. He doesn't have a home help those days and I get the chill cabinet lasagnes and cottage pies for him. He can still feel independent and pop them in a microwave, and best of all in his eyes' they are not expensive and tasty.

Posts like this give me faith in humanity, fair play, he has a good friend in you.

miezekatze

I buy the ones from M&S sometimes. They are tasty and sometimes I'm just too tired after work to cook properly. I wouldn't want to eat them every day though.

Speedwell

Pac1Man wrote: »

Processed food full of salt? Nah!

Oh, don't be absurd. Miso, pickles, natural cheese, salt cod, bacon.

KikiDee

Depending on what shift I'm on in work, sometimes I would buy them and eat them. It all comes down to how busy I am. I think someone said it in an earlier post, but cooking for one is not always ideal so they're handy to have. There's a little deli near me that does them homemade so you know exactly what you're getting and they're healthy enough. Guess I'm lucky enough on that count.

Chickarooney

Funny thing is, if you eat extreeeemely healthily and no processed foods, you're probably not getting enough salt in your diet!

"I've been healthy all week. Need chips so I don't die of saltlessness."

Pac1Man

Speedwell wrote: »

Oh, don't be absurd. Miso, pickles, natural cheese, salt cod, bacon.

Do you mean there is salt in those too? You're not forced to eat those though, or any other food with a high salt content.

What is miso?

Chickarooney

Pac1Man wrote: »

Do you mean there is salt in those too? You're not forced to eat those though, or any other food with a high salt content.

What is miso?

Miso hungry.

Malari

Chickarooney wrote: »

Funny thing is, if you eat extreeeemely healthily and no processed foods, you're probably not getting enough salt in your diet!

"I've been healthy all week. Need chips so I don't die of saltlessness."

I think most people cooking whole foods would be adding salt though. Every recipe says "season to taste" so there is salt in most food, you just control the amount.

Speedwell

Pac1Man wrote: »

Do you mean there is salt in those too? You're not forced to eat those though, or any other food with a high salt content.

What is miso?

Nobody's talking about forcing anyone to eat anything. But my cooking would not be the same if I couldn't use a wide range of ingredients, many of which are highly processed, high-salt foods.

Miso is essentially the mash that ferments to produce tamari soy sauce, is a very tasty condiment in its own right, and is the basis for a lot of savory Japanese cuisine.

Mesrine65

Pac1Man wrote: »

Processed food full of salt? Nah!

How healthy do you want to be when you die?

Chickarooney

Malari wrote: »

I think most people cooking whole foods would be adding salt though. Every recipe says "season to taste" so there is salt in most food, you just control the amount.

Yep but you can still not get enough. "To taste" might be much less for some.

Particularly if you do a lot of exercise.

I've suffered with low blood pressure most of my life "eat more salt" is the cure.

Last year I got quite unwell due to low sodium levels from eating so clean and training a lot. "eat more salt" was the cure.

And I'm a very good cook, so my food is far from bland! I use a lot of spices in cooking, so a lot salt isn't always necessary.

GLaDOS

Very rarely use ready made meals or sauces from jars. Healthier and (usually) tastier to make from scratch. Obviously time is an issue but with a bit of planning I cook quick stuff during the week and more lengthier stuff in bulk at the weekend and freeze. Slow cooker is fantastic as well.