Easy cook meals / ready meals on budget

islandhoppa

Hi


I have been ill for several weeks and am about to go into hospital for an operation. This means I will be out of action in the kitchen for about a week. I am doing an online shop today and so need to get in food which is easy to cook - DH not very good at cooking and we have 2 children to feed.


So I thought about stocking up on ready meals but they do seem expensive and not sure I'd be able to fit enough in the freezer to see us through. If I get in fresh stuff even to just bung in slow cooker I know what will happen, DH will end up getting takeaways every night and we can't afford that and the fresh stuff will end up getting wasted.


Thinking of frozen pies / kievs etc that he can just bung in oven. Any better ideas?

[Deleted User]

Hi ISLANDHOPPA hope all goes well with your operation and recovery afterwards.

Would DH be able to manage cooking pasta and rice? If so you could make up and freeze pasta sauce, chilli, bolognese sauce and pop it in the freezer in portions big enough to do a meal for however many of you that need feeding that day. Label them clearly as to how many each one will serve. If you got a big pack of Baking Potatoes you could cook them all at the same time and when they are cooled, bag them up in a sealable bag and they'll keep very well for a week in the fridge and reheat in the microwave with whatever toppings you like. I always have in cheese and baked beans so that's what we usually have. Things that have a long fridge date like salami and pate are always useful in sandwiches or on toast and packs of ready made pancakes and fruit yoghurts will store in the fridge for a week too. All of these will be quicker for your OH to put together than a trip to the takeaway, hope that's some help, Lyn xxx.

islandhoppa

Hi, thanks for the suggestions, the baking potatoes are a good idea, I will make sure we have plenty in and will order extra tins of beans and tuna.


As for the cooking for the freezer, unfortunately I'm just not up to it, I did have some frozen batches of HM curry, chilli etc but these have all been used up during my illness with no hope of me being well enough to replace before my op.


Just thought, for the pate I could order some of those part baked baguettes they keep for quite a while and only need bunging in oven, think he'll be able to manage that!

Cisco001

I am not a fan of ready meal. I found them usually too much fat or salt. They are not heathly option to me...

Easy cooking meal would be better, at least you would have some control of what putting in...

FairyPrincessk

What about a few pre-made sauces/pre chopped veg? I'm thinking the bags of stir fry veg, some of the straight to wok noodles and a sauce. You can add chicken/tofu/quorn pieces for protein.

Eggs are another easy option--omelettes, fried egg and oven chips etc.

Another might be soup and cheese on toast/sandwiches. It could be tines or perhaps the pots of pre-made. A friend of mine buys and freezes these--some are quite exotic such as thai flavoured but they also have the bog standards.

Pasta and sauce might also be good.

Obviously you know your OH best, but might it be easier for him if you bought the stuff and put a plan in place? maybe print out a calandar for the fridge, write out a meal for each evening and get the stuff for it. You could also do a bit of stock control this way--longer lasting stuff could be eaten later with fresher stuff used up first. My OH suddenly wants a takeaway more if there isn't an easy plan in place! I'd also put in a few really easy treat meals like pizza as back up. Oven pizza may not be that cheap but its cheaper than a takeaway!

beluga

You could get some frozen veg - you can get all sorts, including 'steam fresh' bags that just need chucking in the microwave. Bags of frozen flavoured rice or microwave rice would be easy. You can buy chicken breasts that can be cooked from frozen. I'd also stock up on some jars / cans of sauces to liven things up, as well as baking potatoes, oven chips, baked beans / tinned veg. My DH can't cok, but even he can manage these things, as well as omlettes (tinned potatoes actually go alright in a fritatta / Spanish type omelette, you could throw in some frozen peppers / mushrooms / whatever veg you have, maybe a handful of bacon / ham / chorizo? I'd also freeze loads of grated cheese, it can make a baked potato or beans on toast a bit more appetising

*zippy*

For easy carbs I would buy microwave rice, frozen jacket potatoes, chilled mash to freeze, oven chips/potatoes wedges/waffles and quick cook pasta

Plus then frozen veg, pasta sauce, curry sauce, baked beans, cheese, ready cooked roast chicken slices, sandwich stuff, sausage/burgers/fish fingers to go in rolls, ready made pie, ready made quiche, pizza etc.

A few ready meals for a week or so is not going to hurt them, let them have a fun week of stuff you wouldn't usually buy and concentrate on looking after yourself.

Best wishes for your operation and hope you have a speedy recovery x

Honeythief

Easy freezer meals? We love things like curry+rice (cook both in advance and dish up into plastic tubs, freeze, then reheat in microwave), pies, lasagne, macaroni cheese, and twice-baked potatoes.

For that last, twice-baked potatoes are just baked potatoes. Bake them, scrape out the inside and mix with cheese, onion, cream cheese, salt and pepper, and whatever you like, and put the mix back into the skins. Wrap in cling film and freeze. Reheat at about 150c for half an hour or so, until piping hot inside. They are great with something like baked beans and fish fingers.

LittleMrsThrifty

Sometimes ready meals and freezer items are all that you can manage. This sounds like one of those occasions.

If you are worried about freezer space, could you arrange a delivery for now and another for a few days later? You can often get £1 deliveries if you opt for mid-week or late in the evening.

Pizza is another good option which should be easy enough for your OH.

islandhoppa

Thanks for all the suggestions, just finishing up order now and have gone with a few ready meals for emergencies, baking potatoes plus a few different toppings (cheese, tuna, beans), sandwich stuff and tinned soup, frozen pies, pizzas and breaded chicken, and some instant noodle type snack pots for quick hot lunches if they're bored of sandwiches.


Not the healthiest but one week won't harm us. Also liked the idea of splitting into 2 deliveries and as delivery just £1 this works for me


Thanks again everyone

DigForVictory

Call your children's school(s) and ask the secretaries if they know anyone who does home cooking for folks? Or if any of the catering folk would assist in this domestic emergency? (Ahem, cash in hand, but practicalities before principles this week.)

They have a frightening range of contacts & should be able to suggest several names & phone numbers. There is the mild risk that a child's robustly expressed aversion to cabbage will become public knowledge, but on the whole it's worth a punt.

School may also offer breakfast clubs - depends on your views about cereal & other distractions as well as how it fits into family life, but for a single week may be just so many mouths & so much less washing up!

Bright young things are finishing A levels & beginning to eye expensive alternatives to study - a modest sum per hour as "a mother's help" (again cash in hand) may well get you a fascinating range of young helpers - every tried Thai curry cooked by a Thai? Here's your chance. If you have a reasonably sensible teen who you rely on as a babysitter, ask if they'd put an advert up for you?

If nothing else, it'll spare your OH the washing up, which depending on his exisiting domestic skillset, may extend the family lifespan & speed your recovery....

My son has a special relationship with sausage & spaghetti in a tin. I wouldn't suggest Every evening meal is each indivual's preferred tin, but in his case, I think he'd cooperate. What do you like? Have you got ample supplies (a) laid in, (b) spares concealed under the mattress? All this being ill & getting better needs rewards for pills, exercises, enduring a unexpectedly-far-too-long shower etc - plan that order cannily...

Finally, if Himself has assorted delivery places on speed-dial, teach your children to insist on being allowed to pick their own pizza toppings. The point out that actually ASDA works out cheaper & faster given the waiting. (If another supermarket doesn't offer the same facility nearer by.)