Is there anything wrong with buying frozen meat and veg?

astonsmummy

Hi
I got a new freezer the other day and i went to iceland to stock up, I like to cook from scratch alot but find buying lots of meat quite expensive, anyways i bought some frozen mince and frozen chicken fillets, as well as lots of frozen veg - i love veg but if i buy it fresh i always seem to not use it as things crop up, i dont end up coking it so it goes wasted.
I'm feelng a bit non OS now though, is this bad!

Headintheclouds_3

Hi! I tend to mix and match with veg - some fresh in season and some (usually things like peas, sweetcorn and sprouts) frozen. I tend to eat the fresh first and if I run out have the frozen on standby.

Nothing beats a fresh butternut squash but there's nothing worse than a sad, wilting aubergine crying to be thrown in the bin...so you'll have to judge for yourself!

Eels100

astonsmummy wrote:

I'm feelng a bit non OS now though, is this bad!

I don't think so. I am wary of frozen meat, because sometimes although you get more for your money it's not very good quality. I'm sure if you shop around you'll find things that suit you though. Hand on heart, butcher's meat works out as cheap as supermarket anyway, and you don't get gallons of water coming out of it when it cooks!

As far as veg goes, from a health point of view frozen veg is pretty much as good as fresh - it's an easy way to get another portion of veg into your meals for the day. Also, mixed frozen veg is fab for bulking out soups and stews. It means you can get out-of-season veg all year round and without paying the earth. And anyway, if you were throwing out fresh veg, buying frozen is certainly more moneysaving! :money:

susiesaver

Apparently frozen veg can be as good for us if not better than fresh. Frozen veg that has been picked and frozen quickly retains its vitamins. This can be better than veg which may have been languishing in the fridge for several days.

Bossyboots

I rarely use fresh veg. I buy things like courgettes, cabbage and butternut squash fresh but cauliflower, broccoli, peas, sweetcorn, beans and sprouts (except at Christmas) are all bought frozen. This gives me a plentiful supply of edible, tasty veg, rather than the rather sad looking, bitter items that end up languishing in the fridge by the end of the week. When good sprouts and carrots are in the shops I will buy those and freeze them myself.

I do tend to buy my joints of meat at the butcher because they do taste better, but I also buy frozen meat although I have to say, not from Iceland. I have never found the quality or flavour of their meat to be particularly good.

astonsmummy

Well as of next week i'll be going to the meat market to get my meat as it is very cheap, 2 joints of beef for £5 the other day!

researcher

If you have the money and the space in the freezer buying meat in bulk is very economical. Even very expensive organic meat can become affordable. For example a 10kg Pedigree Organic Beef box containing a selection of roasts, steaks, diced and mince is £75 - thats c£3.40 lb - which is brilliant value and the meat is superb.

Local butchers will have deals on whole/half/quarter lambs, and you always get the meat butchered and ready for freezing. The prices are usually very much cheaper and the quality it excellent.

FRUGALPIE_2

Aston's mummy - I'm with you on this. I have a massive chest freezer and stock it up regularly with frozen meat and veg. This saves me ime as I work all day and money as I was forever throwing fresh stuff away....

However, a butcher about 6 miles away from us does top deals on meat and I use him on occasional months as well, so get the best of both worlds.

Frugalpie
xx

FRUGALPIE_2

One other thing though.....

I find farmfoods cheaper and better than iceland most of the time.....

black-saturn

Yuk I hate Farmfoods. It conjures up pictures of lovely fresh food and lean meat and creamy milk but when you get there it's all e numbers and ready meals.

wendym

Isn't the name Farmfoods a brilliant piece of marketing?!