Home made ready meals

kboss2010

Depends what you mean by "bad for you". They're full of salt, sugar and fat and the "healthy" ones tend to replace that unholy trinity with artificial sweeteners and flavourings.

I lived on them for years when I was a teenager (mum worked full time and had a long term illness so she never had the energy to cook after working 12 hour days and neither of us could cook to save our lives!). After I gave myself food poisoning trying to "toast" bread with Billy Bear ham on it I decided to learn to cook for one.

Now I can't even look at microwave ready meals without feeling a bit funny however I use my microwave to cook anything from poached eggs to rice to cake! If it takes longer than 20 minutes I don't make it, I'm too impatient lol.

My point is you don't need to resort to stuff in plastic trays to eat quickly and easily. It's all about finding the shortcuts and quick recipes that work for you. Personally I found that my wok is my best friend when it comes to quick meals.

sixtiesgal_2

Thanks for all your helpful replies. I do have a slow cooker (mentioned in another thread) and so far am not happy with it (the veg doesn't taste right, too overcooked). I have tried batch cooking and freezing before but didn't carry on with it because I am wary of reheating meats like chicken (is it OK to do this?) I know quick food can be made now with pre-prepared fresh veg and using the microwave etc, I need to get into a routine and stick with it, I know the ready meals aren't doing me much good as my stomach feels bloated a lot of the time. Is it safe to reheat chicken? I am always wary of this.

Linda32

Hi,


Yes it is safe to re-heat chicken. The rule of thumb with re-heating both chicken and other meat is. You cook raw meat/chicken once, freeze, defrost, I do this over night in the fridge, then re-heat cooked meat once


Do you see? only do it once and you will be fine. I promise. There is no risk what so ever in doing this.


I re-heat chicken and indeed turkey (we have some left over :rotfl: ) in made up bisto in oven at gas mark 6 for 30 minutes by which time its bubbling hot.


I do the same with chicken in jar curry sauce, sorry I know its a jar but for the life of me curries are one thing I can't make. They smell lovely but taste of nothing. Same as some people can't make pastry.


If however you can make curries you can add some cooked chicken to your own method.


Another idea if you are worried about re heating chicken is you can eat the cold cooked chicken as part of a salad, we do this in the summer. Pasta salad perhaps or jacket spud topping with mayo and sweetcorn.

Sorry for all that waffle. I'll answer what you asked now :rotfl:No I don't think they are bad for you as someone else said. Its food at the end of the day. Not eating one would be worse. Some of the cheaper ones do taste rather salty after you have made your own food, I will admit. Maybe the more expensive ones taste nicer but I've never tried them.


There is another way of looking at it is if you go out to work then someone is paying you to work for them. It would be cheaper for them to do it themselves but they need extra help. So you are only paying someone else in turn to make your dinner for you in the form of a ready meal.

bugslet

I detest cooking and usually my food tastes rubbish, though if I cook for others it comes out alright * confused*, but really it's down to hating every single second spent in the kitchen.

I'm not under super budgetary constraints, so I buy ready meals and the more expensive ones from M&S. Looking at the ingredients, the amount of preservatives etc is actually pretty low and there are indicators on the front as to fat/salt/carb/sugar content. I do eat fruit and salads and porridge type stuff.

What I've found is that if I buy ingredients with the intention of cooking, I get in and just can't face the idea of cooking, so I end up poppping out to the local shop and getting a pizza, thereby wasting money on uneaten food and making unhealthier choices due to the limited range. So it's easier for me to buy something ready made and the better end of the market I find are tasty.

It's not time related, I do have time most nights if I'm not going out.
I wish I didn't detest cooking and could batch cook, but I do and that's that.

Am I now barred from the OS board for sacrilege:D

[Deleted User]

Probably not 'bad' for you but very bad for your purse I think. I can make about 8 shepards pies including the topping for around £3.00 odd so thats around just under 40p per portion which I think is pretty good.Its made without chemicals,salt etc and I know exactly what I have put in it.I can make curries,lasagnes,stews,chillies for roughly about 50p per portion so a day cooking is well worth the effort.I don't work as I have been retired for 18 years but I still have a very busy life as I look after four of my DGS full-time before and after school so often don't get home until 6.30 at night.I don't particularly want to start cooking then so a ready meal from my freezer ( I normally put it ready in the fridge to defrost first thing in the morning )with some steamed veg is ideal and a 'proper' meal.The dishes I use are usually the plastic take-awy type boxes that you get from a Poundland store or I even have a stash of small brown dishes bought over the years from bootsales for pennies that are oven safe and if I have made a stew or casserole I will portion it up into these dishes and top with mash potato's and when cold freeze.Instant dinner chucked into the oven when I get home and a couple of green steamed veg to go with it and I can have a hearty meal in 15 minutes thats cost me a fraction of a 'pinging' meal.
Frozen meals that you make yourself are better in that they are cheaper,less full of additives and once frozen are in suspended state until defrosted.Why should your home made chicken be worse for you than something made maybe months ago in a factory miles away and 'flash frozen' ??

terra_ferma

For several years I used to eat ready meals all the time, being frozen breaded chicken fillets, quorn fillets, lasagna etc.
Then to save money and eat better I started cooking properly, it took ages to get used to it. To start with I had to re-learn things I hadn't done for years, even peeling a potato takes much longer if you only do it once every 6 months lol...
Now I can whip up a meal very quickly, chopping, knowing how long you can leave your pot unattended, estimating quantities etc, it all takes practice and to start with I was getting very stressed about the time it was taking for me to cook every day.
I love doing it and experimenting, and if I'm in a hurry/not in the mood I can just chuck a few bits in the pot and make a soup or stew with hardly any work...

However I don't like ready made meal any longer, anything that has been processed feels and tastes strange, and my tummy can tell the difference.

And don't forget that even when you cook from 'scratch' if you start using sauce mixes, stock cubes, stuffing etc with lots of flavourings/colourings etc you are no better off, you are basically just chucking a spoonful of nasty chemicals in it that is supposed to make it taste better.....
Oxo cube is a pet hate of mine, there's so much rubbish in them, including MSG.... (and Bisto are no better).
Eg beef cubes:

Wheat Flour, Salt, Yeast Extract, Maize Starch, Flavour Enhancers (Monosodium Glutamate, Disodium Guanylate), Colour (Ammonia Caramel), Beef Fat, Flavourings, Dried Beef Bonestock, Sugar, Lactic Acid.

(I used to buy natural/organic cubes, but stopped once the taste buds got used to the natural taste of foods as I no longer needed lots of salt and additives)

suki1964

I cant abide ready meals anymore

Im single most of the time ( hubby works away) and I also hate cooking for just one. I walked around Tesco today and ended up buying a loaf of bread, packet of pittas, leeks eggs and a couple of tins of fish

I kept getting seduced by the ready meal aisle, but I knew if I eat one, I will be dying of thirst all night and feel bloated and sick, with a severe dose of heartburn thrown in for good measure

Id rather now just make soups and have say like a poached egg or sardines on toast or something as quick and easy to prepare

I do now and then do a days batch cooking to get some variation. I enjoy a curry so batch cook the sauce, freeze in bags and add the meat, fish or veg to it when ready to eat

Its not just ready meals I can no longer stomach, its most processed foods nowdays. We fancied a pizza the other week as a quick meal after a long day out - OMG I was in agony all night and I think I could have drunk the Nile dry I was that thirsty

babyshoes

You can tell from your own body's reaction that they are not especially good for you. Exactly how bad they are is a matter for debate as we've seen on this thread. It's compounded by the differing qualities available - top of the range ones are *probably* better than the cheap ones, but still likely to be high in salt/sugar/fat or artificial substitutes. It may be worth using an app like 'my fitness pal' or similar for a week when eating your regular diet of ready meals - it counts up calories, fat, salt, sugar etc in your diet. You will soon see if your salt etc is higher than recommended. I suspect it will be!

Like many things in life, moderation and variety are your friends. Instant meals won't cause you to drop down dead instantly, but in the long term they are likely to have an effect on your health, so it is worth persevering with learning meals that are just as quick and will cut down on your salt and sugar intake.

Our version of a quick and easy meal is chops (or sausages) plus potato and veg. We grill or griddle the chops, microwave a potato (or even frozen mash) and microwave some fresh veg (frozen is fine if you don't mind the odd texture that some of them get.) Serve with some appropriate sauce - jar sauce is fine if you don't go nuts! Easy, simple and tasty meal, in only slightly more minutes than it takes to nuke an instant meal. Soups are also a very easy meal, and would probably work well in your slow cooker. Some veg based soups like butternut or carrot and coriander are delicious and don't need meat, so no concerns about the texture. They freeze beautifully for later meals.

I also do the thing of making extra and freezing the time consuming parts of a meal, such as bolognese/pasta sauce, stews etc. Freeze it in portion sizes and it can be microwaved from frozen, as long as you do so carefully and stir it often to make sure it is properly hot all the way through. All you really need to cook on the night is the starchy part of the meal such as pasta or rice, which is quick and easy.

That said, I don't eschew instant meals entirely - they do have their place as an occasional easy lunch or cba supper, but not often.

Good luck, and don't give up. If you find you can only cut down your instant meals without cutting them out completely, you will still be making a difference to your health in the future! Good luck!

terra_ferma

suki1964 wrote: »

I knew if I eat one, I will be dying of thirst all night and feel bloated and sick, with a severe dose of heartburn thrown in for good measure

Same here. My OH has a thing for Dominos pizza, and when I give in (very rarely) I get very thirsty too (but I often have a bloated stomach, can't blame that on the pizza..).
Same when we go to restaurants, we had to stop eating our favourite dim sum because se get very thirsty, maybe it's the MSG.

lostinrates

sixtiesgal wrote: »

Thanks for all your helpful replies. I do have a slow cooker (mentioned in another thread) and so far am not happy with it (the veg doesn't taste right, too overcooked). I have tried batch cooking and freezing before but didn't carry on with it because I am wary of reheating meats like chicken (is it OK to do this?) I know quick food can be made now with pre-prepared fresh veg and using the microwave etc, I need to get into a routine and stick with it, I know the ready meals aren't doing me much good as my stomach feels bloated a lot of the time. Is it safe to reheat chicken? I am always wary of this.

When I worked I didn't have a slow cooker, and I really don't like mine now.

I did however cook from scratch and had a few meals I could cook after work without even thinking about it for those days where you need mindless cooking (even people who love to cook have those days).


My repertoire of 'mindless' meals included

1. pan fried salmon with (usually black or red) rice and whatever veg we had, often raw tomatoes. I'd pan fry the salmon on one side, while getting the rice started. turn and seal the other side, stick a lid on the pan and turn it off. Then had enough time for a shower and change before rice was ready.

2. Oven baked white fish with new potatoes and onions and tomatoes and olives. Everything plonked in a tray, in the oven. Cook in bath, When cook adaquate ly soaked and new potatoes cooked, serve.


3. Pasta, pasta pasta. When you get in later and need to eat, can be on table within ten mins. As fast as some readyi meals.