Convenience foods you love... mse of course!

melanzana

Well, I have been thinking....

Why buy a bunch of carrotts, scrub them, slice them and all the rest, when a can of same in water costs about 20p?

Why not use a tin of new potatoes now and then?

Why not use tinned chick peas, kidney beans, borlotti beans and so on, of all sorts, instead of soaking and boiling them for ages to make sure you won't die if you don't?

Why not use frozen veg? if steamed it is great. no washing, peeling, chopping etc.

Anyway, my point is, that sometimes, it is more economical and easier on time to use things that have already been prepared for us!

I know I do.

When you factor in the cost of preparing and cooking certain items, it is a no brainer to use certain convenience foods.

I cook most meals from scratch and batch cook to beat the band. But I just love the above for convenience, and I save money and time aswell!

What do you think?

moments_of_sanity

Ready rolled pastry, had far too many disasters to even bother trying to make the different sorts. Not particularly cheap but saves me lots of stress and time (not to mention the wastage in having to throw away pastry that has gone horribly wrong)

heuchera

I must admit I buy pizza bases because my own bread dough doesn't taste as good, and takes a lot longer to make.

blueneleh

I buy the 'lazy garlic'. Very lazy i know but I can't stand my hands smelling for ages after i've chopped it myself and a jar lasts ages!

danih

Fresh Pasta from the shop!

With home made pasta sauce from freezer 9 times out of 10.

Def more expensive then the dried, but so handy and so nice.

melanzana

Gosh there are some things mentioned that haven't even thought of. Although the lazy garlic is a must!

I am adding to my list, thanks!

MandM90

Can't agree on tinned pots or carrots. I don't like the taste and the carrots are usually softer than I like myself!

I do keep tinned beans (when on offer) for convenience. When I run out of hummus I don't want to wait a day to soak chickpeas! I also keep frozen cubes of ginger in the freezer as they are so much cheaper than fresh and the rest of the root usually gets left to rot as we use it infrequently.

Peas and spinach are always bought frozen too.

Fluff15

I love frozen veg - I live alone and saves so much wastage.

Don't think I've ever bought dried beans! Always use the canned ones. I buy the value packs and cook in bulk, then freeze, so they work out pretty economical too.

Never made my own thai curry pastes, always buy the Thai Taste ones - never have the time or the money to buy all the ingredients from scratch. One packet lasts me three curries.

melanzana

MandM90 wrote: »

Can't agree on tinned pots or carrots. I don't like the taste and the carrots are usually softer than I like myself!

I do keep tinned beans (when on offer) for convenience. When I run out of hummus I don't want to wait a day to soak chickpeas! I also keep frozen cubes of ginger in the freezer as they are so much cheaper than fresh and the rest of the root usually gets left to rot as we use it infrequently.

Peas and spinach are always bought frozen too.

Yes, of course the tinned carrotts are softer. But some like em like that!

Anyway, I just chop them up and use them in the batch cooked spag bol, or put them in a dish in the oven with butter and cracked pepper. So easy, and so nice.

Tinned potatoes are fine if you rinse them thoroughly, and reheat gently, then into a dish with butter, salt and parsley and YUM. They are also great for making potato salad, as they keep their shape.

With all tinned goods a thorough rinse and drain before using is a good idea.

calicocat

The only tinned veg I like is corn, and the only frozen I like is peas. I like fresh veg, but will have a couple of bags of frozen in for the winter for emergencies.

I buy pastry now though as cba making it usually, buy pasta as don't seem any good at making it.

PasturesNew

Lidl's pouches of microwave rice, serves 2, cost 24p when they have an Asian weekend. Stock up and just buy the main course of a takeaway and nuke my own rice.