TV Dinners: Aye or Nay?

[Scheherazade]

Do you keep a selection of ready made (frozen or otherwise) meals in your fridge?

Or is it something unthinkable for you?

Please share your views in detail :D

[LitNetIsGreat]

I have not eaten a frozen ready meal since I was about 16/17 and knew no better. We don't even have a microwave in our house. There is nothing wrong with knocking up something quick like beans on toast (Branston beans) or an omelette, sandwiches, something like that, but frozen ready meals? Never! Out of the question!

[Emil Miller]

As one who eats very little and therefore tends to snack, I have never kept frozen ready made meals in the refrigerator. Currently, there is a piece of fish for grilling, some mushrooms to go with a grilled Quorn escalope which I am about to prepare, some pâté, a pack of sliced Edam cheese and some French cheese also. I have nothing against frozen foods but I can't be bothered to unfreeze them prior to cooking.
Much more pertinent than the above, I shall be eating the escalope and mushrooms accompanied by a bottle of Fat Bastard 2012 red wine from my local store. Only the finest will do when it comes to the juice of the grape.

[MystyrMystyry]

Not me. I've seen the packets and they look bland and frankly disgusting - though it could have something to do with the inability to smell them.

In the fruit and vegetable department the fresh aroma is everywhere, consequence: I buy more than I need. In the freezers are these sterile cryogenics. Frozen peas, chips, carrots - yuck. Pizzas with manufactured meat (whatever that is - unfortunately I do know what it is!) and dim sims.

The most frozen thing in my freezer is icecream, followed by meats, homemade pasta sauces and curries (for emergencies) and flavoured iceblocks.

So no, no tv dinners off the shelf, not even a fish finger nor chicken nugget (especially not since one poisoned me last year - but that was a chance purchase)

[kiki1982]

None for us either, I'm afraid... We don't have a microwave oven anymore either. The only thing we did use it for was defrosting meat anyway and that was sh*te by the end.

We do have ready-made stuff in the freezer but that consists of left over pasta sauce and brased red cabbage or something. It's not something we would be seen buying in the shop. :gnorsi:

[LitNetIsGreat]

I shall be eating the escalope and mushrooms accompanied by a bottle of Fat Bastard 2012 red wine from my local store. Only the finest will do when it comes to the juice of the grape.

Ah I'm not a connoisseur, but I'm pretty sure the 2012 is a vintage year for the Fat Bastard - the red at least, the white I've heard not so.

I'm currently enjoying a glass of French red from the Tesco - I'm celebrating the upcoming cessation of bodily infection.

I'm glad to see fellow disgust of frozen ready meals. I feel like I'm not amongst philistines for a change.

[Paulclem]

Frozen, dried, reheated. Slap it on a plate and I'll grab a slice of bread.

Did you ever see those Xmas Pot Noodles I bought for the kids last year? They were like the beef ones but with a stuffing overlay.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Did you ever see those Xmas Pot Noodles I bought for the kids last year? They were like the beef ones but with a stuffing overlay.

No, but that sounds fantastic.

[Paulclem]

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=968&pictureid=8996

You can use the festive foil lid as a tree decoration.

[Lokasenna]

Not for me, I prefer to cook. I usually make up my own 'ready meals' - when I cook I usually make enough for several meals, so the remainder goes in the fridge/freezer for later consumption.

But even if I have nothing in the freezer, and it's been a long and hectic day so I don't feel like cooking, then something like a fry-up is still an easy and quick meal to prepare.

[Helga]

I am all for easy cooking but not that easy, I never buy this stuff and I don't have a microwave oven. I sometimes make a big plate of lasagna or something like that and put in the freezer for an easy dinner later on but it's always homemade.

[tonywalt]

Damn, I misread the question. Yes, I do eat them in certain situations (definately airplane food qualifies as a 'tv dinner') as I travel quite alot now.

They are blah, but so is air travel these days.

[YesNo]

We have frozen lasagna, pizza, tacos, veggie burgers among other things in the freezer. I consider those "TV dinners", but perhaps people are referring to these plates of food that contain single servings of meat, potatoes and a vegetable that are wrapped in plastic. I haven't seen these in years (decades?). Maybe they are still around.

You do have to cook these things in either a microwave or an oven. The lasagna takes the longest.

We also occasionally have ice cream bars in the freezer, which is probably not a dinner, but is ready made frozen food. They are better left uncooked.

[Paulclem]

In the supermarkets I go to they're called "Ready Meals". They have a dinner for 1 or 2 in them, and some of them look pretty good.

The Old Auntie orders them from a company that supplies frozen ready meals to old folks who can't get about, or who can no longer stand to do cooking etc. She says they are very good, but also tries different ones from Marks and Spencers.

I'd certainly eat them, but you can probably guess that I'd eat most things bar the meat. They do look as though they've improved though. I was looking at a pasta one with a sauce and cheese today for 2. It looked really nice.

It's worth remembering that it's fine to be picky whilst you're mobile and independant, but there may well come a time when ready meals will be the hot food you eat. Hopefully not for a long long time yet.

[KCurtis]

Oh this reminds me of the ready meals my husband and I got at Paddington station when we stayed a block from there. They were GOOD!! We had a tiny kitchen with a microwave, and that's how we ate many of our dinners, which consisted of Indian chicken dinners and pasta dinners. I loved that little store- so efficient- much more efficiently run than our stores over here. And everyone was so polite. I want to go back!!!! I love ready meals in Britain.

[RJbibliophil]

I don't suppose frozen peas count?

[JuniperWoolf]

Cheap food, yes please. I have a problem eating the meat sometimes, although I prefer not to eat any meat that wasn't killed by someone I know. I'm spoiled in that way.

[KCurtis]

Cheap food, yes please. I have a problem eating the meat sometimes, although I prefer not to eat any meat that wasn't killed by someone I know. I'm spoiled in that way.

That would be an ideal situation for me, as I do eat meat. Having the beef and chicken come from someone who I know humanely killed the animal would be much better.

[TheFifthElement]

Sometimes. I generally prefer home cooked food, but my husband does most of the cooking and he does a bit of a blend. So we will sometimes have fish fingers (which I love - fish finger butties with red sauce. Yummee) and frozen burgers but not much else in frozen foods, and sometimes we'll get one of those ready meal curry takeaway thingies from Tesco which have a couple of curries and rice and naan and onion bhaji, but we don't have those very often. Actually since we moved house 8 years ago, we don't often have takeaway either, though we've developed a mean range of home takeaway food - I do pizza (including home made base), my hubby does an excellent chicken fried rice, and I make a decent curry but to do it properly can take a lot of time unless you make a bit batch of curry sauce base and freeze it all. I'm not that organised for all that.

[Scheherazade]

I understand why many are against the idea of frozen meals as I share their concerns; however, there are extreme situations that I end up opting for a quick and easy dinner. I usually plan the meals weekly and shop accordingly in advance and I do enjoy cooking (and do so regularly) but sometimes I simply could not manage so there are always couple of frozen emergency packages ready in my freezer.

Truth be told, I don't see why frozen meals are worse than beans-on-toast or take aways. Some of those meals are rather wholesome. They are not my first choice but I'd prefer them to fish and chips.

I also tend to freeze pasta sauces and ground beef to defrost on lazy days and would like to hear other ideas... Which reminds me: Papaya had given me an excellent recipe for a chicken dish which could also be frozen and I lost it. :-/

[LitNetIsGreat]

In the supermarkets I go to they're called "Ready Meals". They have a dinner for 1 or 2 in them, and some of them look pretty good.

The Old Auntie orders them from a company that supplies frozen ready meals to old folks who can't get about, or who can no longer stand to do cooking etc. She says they are very good, but also tries different ones from Marks and Spencers.

I'd certainly eat them, but you can probably guess that I'd eat most things bar the meat. They do look as though they've improved though. I was looking at a pasta one with a sauce and cheese today for 2. It looked really nice.

It's worth remembering that it's fine to be picky whilst you're mobile and independant, but there may well come a time when ready meals will be the hot food you eat. Hopefully not for a long long time yet.

Does someone come over and cook (heat up) those ready meals for the old folks then or do they just come through the post? I don't really see the difference with such ready meals over something you could get for much cheaper in the supermarkets. Is it just a case of this company being a sort of 'middle man' ready meal dealer if they don't come over?

I still can't see why someone couldn't stick a potato in the oven or heat up some beans though. Can't be any harder than operating a microwave with the ready meals, if they don't come over that is (and if they do why can't they cook?).


I don't suppose frozen peas count?

Definitely not, there's nothing wrong with frozen veg, in fact the odds are they contain more nutrients than fresh veg if it's not that fresh. Some veg can lose up to half of its goodness within an hour or two, as is commonly known.

A good general rule of thumb when it comes to packet food is to look at the list of ingredients. If it contains more than 50, 000, avoid. Same with bread, if you happen to be one of those heathens who by branded sliced bread take a look at the ingredients right now and then compare them with what should be in bread: flour, water, yeast and salt. It's not even the ingredients in heathen bread that's the issue though, it's in the way it's processed which erodes both taste and nutrients. Cavemen ate better. No offense.


Truth be told, I don't see why frozen meals are worse than beans-on-toast or take aways. Some of those meals are rather wholesome. They are not my first choice but I'd prefer them to fish and chips.

Have you taken the 50, 000 test?

True take aways can be bad, fattening, but at least they are freshly prepared and are fine on rare occasions. Personally I only eat fish and chips on the coast which is once or twice a year.

[MarkBastable]

I have a problem eating the meat sometimes, although I prefer not to eat any meat that wasn't killed by someone I know.

That sentence is a lot more fun to read if you skip 'killed by'.

[MystyrMystyry]

Definitely not, there's nothing wrong with frozen veg, in fact the odds are they contain more nutrients than fresh veg if it's not that fresh. Some veg can lose up to half of its goodness within an hour or two, as is commonly known.

Are you suggesting the pickers are towing a vat of liquid nitrogen amongst the vines so that the second they're picked they're dropped in and deep frozen?

This is the actual argument against - you don't know how many days they've been sitting around the factory floor before they've been dipped, and for the privilege of this 'convenience', a little overpricing.

1 grocers potato: 20 cents, 1 pack of frozen chips (containing about two potatoes): 3 bucks 50 (give or take). It's a rip off industry which along with frankenstein food should be boycotted back to hell.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Definitely not, there's nothing wrong with frozen veg, in fact the odds are they contain more nutrients than fresh veg if it's not that fresh. Some veg can lose up to half of its goodness within an hour or two, as is commonly known.

Are you suggesting the pickers are towing a vat of liquid nitrogen amongst the vines so that the second they're picked they're dropped in and deep frozen?

This is the actual argument against - you don't know how many days they've been sitting around the factory floor before they've been dipped, and for the privilege of this 'convenience', a little overpricing.

1 grocers potato: 20 cents, 1 pack of frozen chips (containing about two potatoes): 3 bucks 50 (give or take). It's a rip off industry which along with frankenstein food should be boycotted back to hell.

Not if you buy frozen peas that are frozen within 1-2 hours of being picked. That way they retain all their nutrients. I thought this was common knowledge. Many of the top nutritionists recommend frozen peas above fresh peas because the pea is one veg that quickly loses nutrition. Yes better to pick them from the garden and serve them immediately if you are lucky enough to grow them (my small pea crop failed this year), just one minute in boiling water, but other than that on this occasion, frozen is better than fresh if it is over 2-3 hours old.

I agree with your last point.

Edit: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1255606/Why-frozen-vegetables-fresher-fresh.html
Daily mail article on the subject.

[Paulclem]

Does someone come over and cook (heat up) those ready meals for the old folks then or do they just come through the post? I don't really see the difference with such ready meals over something you could get for much cheaper in the supermarkets. Is it just a case of this company being a sort of 'middle man' ready meal dealer if they don't come over?

I still can't see why someone couldn't stick a potato in the oven or heat up some beans though. Can't be any harder than operating a microwave with the ready meals, if they don't come over that is (and if they do why can't they cook?).



The meals are delivered weekly by a friendly delivery person who will pop it into the freezer for them. They make, pack and deliver.

It's true that the supermarkets are cheaper, but the old Auntie - who's 89, (though she claims to be 84), has difficulty walking now and so can't get out to the supermarket with my wife much. My wife still picks up frozen meals for her - usually from Marks. The extra cost is no problem for the Auntie - the conveniance compensates and she spends very little on much else. She likes them, and that's the main thing.

Until the last couple of years she used to cook, but her hands are weaker and she can't hold a knife to peel. We've recently got her an easier microwave to use, as bending down to the oven is now a problem for her. The microwave is at least on an easy level.

She remains a private person with just a cleaner coming twice a week, and us doing the shopping for her. The ready meals, which she chooses herself, help her to retain a bit of independance, as all she has to do is pop them in for a few minutes. All things considered, she's doing well.

It looks like we'll be living until our 90s/100s with improved health etc. I wonder if we'll be as independant, or whether those extra years will be stuck in a bed like Charlie Bucket's Grandparents. (We often threaten the Mother in Law with this and take great glee in selecting "suitable" people to share the big Bucket family bed).

[Emil Miller]

Not if you buy frozen peas that are frozen within 1-2 hours of being picked. That way they retain all their nutrients. I thought this was common knowledge. Many of the top nutritionists recommend frozen peas above fresh peas because the pea is one veg that quickly loses nutrition. Yes better to pick them from the garden and serve them immediately if you are lucky enough to grow them (my small pea crop failed this year), just one minute in boiling water, but other than that on this occasion, frozen is better than fresh if it is over 2-3 hours old.

I agree with your last point.

Edit: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1255606/Why-frozen-vegetables-fresher-fresh.html
Daily mail article on the subject.

What amazes me is why anyone born north of Watford would quote the Daily Mail.

[Paulclem]

Have you seen this in the news today? Apart from the spin on veggies and meat, it's an interesting development. Cultured meat. It's coming your way soon in a bun.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17113214

[MystyrMystyry]

Interesting that that study was commissioned by gasp Birdseye who at last glimpse were the originators of the snapfrozen procedure. Must be scared of falling marketshare - any publicity etc, probably a paid advertorial thingy...

It's a crock!

Frankenstein meat is a horror - I think I'll wait until they adopt Douglas Adams idea of breeding an animal who sincerely wants to be eaten.


[Edit: sorry, my sympathies for your pea crop Neely]

[LitNetIsGreat]

What amazes me is why anyone born north of Watford would quote the Daily Mail.

Yes yuck, it was the first thing that came up.


Interesting that that study was commissioned by gasp Birdseye who at last glimpse were the originators of the snapfrozen procedure. Must be scared of falling marketshare - any publicity etc, probably a paid advertorial thingy...

It's a crock!



Look, I'm not making this up. Why would veg that is 2/3 weeks old have more nutrientional value than somehthing which has been quickly frozen within two hours, thereby retaining freshness? Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, Jamie Oliver and stacks of other people have said the same thing, I've read this over and over again. What part of this can't you understand? Not all veg loses its value so quickly true, root veg is quite good at retaining value in particular, but certain veg does. Fact.

[Paulclem]

Frankenstein meat is a horror - I think I'll wait until they adopt Douglas Adams idea of breeding an animal who sincerely wants to be eaten.


[Edit: sorry, my sympathies for your pea crop Neely]

Saves a lot of trouble. I bet the cheaper meat will be replaced by this pseudo-meat. In the future it will feature on the snobbery thread as richer purists will disdain tank meat whilst poorer people will think it's ok. I'd give it 10 years to get established.

[LitNetIsGreat]

The meals are delivered weekly by a friendly delivery person who will pop it into the freezer for them. They make, pack and deliver.

It's true that the supermarkets are cheaper, but the old Auntie - who's 89, (though she claims to be 84), has difficulty walking now and so can't get out to the supermarket with my wife much. My wife still picks up frozen meals for her - usually from Marks. The extra cost is no problem for the Auntie - the conveniance compensates and she spends very little on much else. She likes them, and that's the main thing.

Until the last couple of years she used to cook, but her hands are weaker and she can't hold a knife to peel. We've recently got her an easier microwave to use, as bending down to the oven is now a problem for her. The microwave is at least on an easy level.

She remains a private person with just a cleaner coming twice a week, and us doing the shopping for her. The ready meals, which she chooses herself, help her to retain a bit of independance, as all she has to do is pop them in for a few minutes. All things considered, she's doing well.

It looks like we'll be living until our 90s/100s with improved health etc. I wonder if we'll be as independant, or whether those extra years will be stuck in a bed like Charlie Bucket's Grandparents. (We often threaten the Mother in Law with this and take great glee in selecting "suitable" people to share the big Bucket family bed).

I see. I used to think that those meals on wheels thing were a good idea, company and food together.


Have you seen this in the news today? Apart from the spin on veggies and meat, it's an interesting development. Cultured meat. It's coming your way soon in a bun.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17113214

Oh yes I've read about those, it's been on the cards for a while, but it won't be coming to a bun my way too soon. Interestingly I thought a Guardian poll, I think it was the Guardian, might have been the Telegraph, registered 70/30% in favour of it. I thought it would be the other way around.

[Paulclem]

I see. I used to think that those meals on wheels thing were a good idea, company and food together.



Oh yes I've read about those, it's been on the cars for a while, but it won't be coming to a bun my way too soon. Interestingly I thought a Guardian poll, I think it was the Guardian, might have been the Telegraph, registered 70/30% in favour of it. I thought it would be the other way around.

Yes - the meals on wheels are expensive though.

From a veggie point of view I don't have a problem with it. It depends why you're a veggie. If it's a morality reason, then this would solve the problem of animal suffering and food choice.

[MarkBastable]

Frankenstein meat is a horror - I think I'll wait until they adopt Douglas Adams idea of breeding an animal who sincerely wants to be eaten.



Given that we don't tend to ask the animals we eat now, it's a bit presumptuous of you to assume that they don't sincerely want to be eaten. I've always worked on the principle that that's fifty-fifty, so the chances are that each alternate hamburger is delighted.

[MystyrMystyry]

Totally presumptuous on my part.

See I figure that if a beast didn't want to be dinner if would let itself go and devolve into the miserable wretchedness of it's ancestors before cultivation brought them up to the healthy prime state they now find themselves in.

That, or jump the fence and join the circus.

[KCurtis]

Given that we don't tend to ask the animals we eat now, it's a bit presumptuous of you to assume that they don't sincerely want to be eaten. I've always worked on the principle that that's fifty-fifty, so the chances are that each alternate hamburger is delighted.
:rofl: This is funny.

This whole thread is becoming hilarious.
Or am I again laughing :rofl: about something that is not that funny to others?

[BookBeauty]

I voted 'Nay', because even though I would be willing to make my own pre-made healthy meals to put in the freezer, I'm generally too lazy.

And if it's the TV dinners from the store, I wouldn't be willing to buy those, at least not since I became serious about fitness and health. They're simply inferior to real food. Vegetables, fruit, and lean proteins.

I like my broccoli, spinach, carrot, berries, all blended up in the blender and cooked with oats, adding an egg for a custard consistency. Spiced with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, vanilla, and lemon juice. After it's cooked is the best part. Then I drizzle it with tahini (sesame seed butter, similar to peanut butter, much more drizzleable.). I get strange looks from people in the vicinity of my cooking.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Momma tried to feign a home cooked meal by removing the frozen bricks and dropp’n em on plates and then toss’n em in the oven.
I came to this realization one day when I happened to hear the clinking sound produced by the plopping of petrified portions on porcelain plates.

Further evidence was presented in the form of shredded Swanson’s aluminum TV dinner pans scattered across the back yard.
It turned out that my father was tossing the empty pans out, leaving them to the mercy of Sam the German Sheppard and Max the Dachshund to fight over the savory licken’s.


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Tvdinner.jpg


A TV dinner is not complete without a TV tray. Five TV trays formed a semi circle around the old Zenith sort uh like circling the wagons against the Comanche’s.
We’d fire up the old Zenith complete with bamboo remote control and catch Marshal Dillon, Festus, Doc Adams and oh..oh..ohhhhh, that Miss Kitty!
(Amanda Blake – come back to me darlin, I miss you sorely!)


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/Amanda_Blake_Kitty_Gunsmoke_1966.JPG/481px-Amanda_Blake_Kitty_Gunsmoke_1966.JPG


We’d all have a good laugh at the banter between ole Doc and Festus, while chewin the cud on gristly Salisbury steak, but it was Miss Kitty with her glowing red locks that had me salivat’n mor ‘n than the synthetic red goo that bound the Swanson polymerized cherry cobbler together.


Festus describes how he “parted the waters”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8363Z3V0Es

Today; I really don’t care how the food is prepared as long it stays down.

.

[Veho]

Frozen ready meals are pretty nasty but the fresh ones that you find in fridges in Tesco and such aren't too shabby really.

[Paulclem]

Festus describes how he “parted the waters”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8363Z3V0Es

Today; I really don’t care how the food is prepared as long it stays down.

.

Funny clip.

I'm of a similar mind though my wife cooks well.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Frozen ready meals are pretty nasty but the fresh ones that you find in fridges in Tesco and such aren't too shabby really.

Yes these are a good alternative to frozen ready meals, I was going to add this point and then forgot.

[TheFifthElement]

Frozen ready meals are pretty nasty but the fresh ones that you find in fridges in Tesco and such aren't too shabby really.

Really? What's the difference?

Frozen Bird's Eye meal ingredients list:

Chicken Tikka Masala (56%),Cooked Rice (44%) ,Chicken Tikka Masala: Water, Cooked Tikka Marinated Chicken Breast (18%) (Chicken (96%), Spices, Rice Bran Oil, Vinegar, Water, Garlic, Mungbeans, Salt, Mango, Natural Colour (Paprika Extract), Herbs, Lime Juice Powder, Sugar, Mustard, Concentrated Lime Juice), Onion (12%), Yogurt (9%), Tomato Purée (7%), Tomatoes (6%), Skimmed Milk Powder, Sugar, Vegetable Oil, Coriander Leaves, Garlic Purée, Cream (1%), Spices, Concentrated Lemon Juice, Salt, Red Chillies, Herbs, Cornflour, Ginger Purée ,Cooked Rice: Water, Rice, Turmeric
http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=253934398

Fresh Tesco ready meal ingredients list:


Marinated Chicken (29%), Single Cream (29%) ,Onion ,Tomato Purée ,Vegetable Oil ,Sugar ,Garlic Purée ,Cornflour ,Ginger Purée ,Spices ,Green Chilli Purée ,Salt ,Coriander ,Turmeric Powder ,Chilli Powder ,Paprika ,Lemon Oil ,Bay Leaf ,TempText2. ,Marinated Chicken contains ,Chicken Breast ,Water ,Tomato Purée ,Yogurt ,Ginger Purée ,Garlic Purée ,Vegetable Oil ,Cornflour ,Salt ,Green Chilli Purée ,Spices ,Chilli Powder ,Paprika Extract ,Turmeric Powder ,Basil.
http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=263404523

No 'nasties' in there, or 'unnatural' ingredients. Probably the worst part about both is the question of whether it is chicken breast or reformed chicken, but I think they have to tell you if it's reformed. It doesn't say so in either.

I wonder if there's still simply a lot of uninformed prejudice around these kinds of meals. Freezing is merely a method of preservation - sure there can be some nasty ones but there are some nasty fresh foods around (sausages anyone?). Most people when they shop don't really check the ingredients before deciding if something is 'trash' or otherwise.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Some frozen ready meals have got better over the last five years or so in terms of ingredients, it seems, no doubt due to people becoming better informed so companies can't quite get away with what they used to throw out there. It's not good for profits. However frozen Vs fresh in terms of taste is just not a contest. Frozen can never beat something freshly prepared. Oven Vs microwave also makes a big difference. I just wouldn't eat the Bird's Eye meal outright, not a chance.

In terms of Indian food, I don't make it myself because you just can't get close to what you can get when you go out for an Indian meal, so I'd much rather eat out and do it properly or not at all.

The fresh ready meals are better but I personally wouldn't bother with those either, because they are just adding value by putting things together for you, but they are a better alternative to frozen in terms of taste. Say 6.5/10 Vs 3/10?

The chicken in the fresh meal there is not reformed chicken but will conform to Tesco's lowest animal welfare standards, which is abysmally shocking, but it is not reformed. The chicken in the Bird's Eye meal will likewise have abysmally shocking welfare as standard, but will likewise not be reformed chicken. However, there is more chance that the chicken in the Bird's Eye meal being of worse quality and could even be from outside of the EU or some corner of it (where the welfare standards are lower than abysmally shocking).

Another type of fresh ready meal which is what I was originally referring to, similar to the first just put together food for the lazy, but an improvement in taste over the frozen.

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=268236846

I could make a better Hunter's chicken meal myself though in the same time - it's hardly Master Chef, but they are acceptable at least and I have had them on occasion or versions like them.

[TheFifthElement]

Some frozen ready meals have got better over the last five years or so in terms of ingredients, it seems, no doubt due to people becoming better informed so companies can't quite get away with what they used to throw out there. It's not good for profits. However frozen Vs fresh in terms of taste is just not a contest. Frozen can never beat something freshly prepared. Oven Vs microwave also makes a big difference. I just wouldn't eat the Bird's Eye meal outright, not a chance.


Don't get me wrong Neely, I'm not an advocate of ready meals, I just think people should be making an informed choice rather than a choice based on assumptions. My preference is always to cook things from scratch primarily, as I have kidney disease, because I'm concerned about levels of salt and I like to have a degree of control over that. But if a person is choosing a fresh ready meal vs a frozen ready meal vs buying the cheap chicken and putting it with a Homepride sauce and calling it cooking, the frozen meal isn't always the worst option. Those premade sauces are loaded with massively excessive amounts of salt (as are many restaurant meals, not just takeaways) which is a direct contributory factor in raising blood pressure levels. Tinned soup similarly can have high salt levels and whilst I generally prefer to make homemade soup (it's easy, and tastier) there are times when the tinned variety can't be beaten for convenience.

But I think the level of food awareness, particularly in the UK, is quite appauling. One should never assume that a restaurant prepared meal is better for you that a frozen ready meal, on the basis that you simply don't know what goes in it and having watched a bit of Rick Stein here and there his, and many other chefs', idea of what is a 'small' amount of salt is quite possibly my annual consumption. On the same token, one shouldn't assume that a fish & chip takeaway is automatically bad for you. Some awareness of how it is prepared and cooked is always beneficial and you can't (perhaps with the exception of my mother who seemed incapable of ever cooking fish through) beat home made.

In terms of Indian food, I don't make it myself because you just can't get close to what you can get when you go out for an Indian meal, so I'd much rather eat out and do it properly or not at all.
Ah, let me let you in to a little secret. What you need is a recipe which gives you the base curry sauce and the rest is easy. Again, requires massive, massive amounts of salt (I never use the amounts of salt recommended) so bear that in mind next time you go for a restaurant or takeaway curry, but actually once you made the sauce it really is hellishly easy to make a restaurant quality (or better) curry at home. And the sauce can be frozen, so you can make a big batch and then defrost to make curry on demand. Bliss :D

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Curry-Secret-Indian-Restaurant-Meals/dp/0716021919/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330332169&sr=8-1

[JuniperWoolf]

That would be an ideal situation for me, as I do eat meat. Having the beef and chicken come from someone who I know humanely killed the animal would be much better.

The meat is better, I know what it ate and it's nice and lean from trudging through the underbrush, and it's probably lived a more... "fulfilling" life than a beef cow, but it's not always very humane. We try to shoot them under the front limb so that it goes right into the heart, but that's not always how it goes down. My brother once shot a whitetail in the front limb and had to track it for hours before it finally bled to death. Sometimes you hit the belly or the throat, that's always a bit of a horror show and I know it'd be quite disturbing for someone who isn't used to it.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Ah, let me let you in to a little secret. What you need is a recipe which gives you the base curry sauce and the rest is easy. Again, requires massive, massive amounts of salt (I never use the amounts of salt recommended) so bear that in mind next time you go for a restaurant or takeaway curry, but actually once you made the sauce it really is hellishly easy to make a restaurant quality (or better) curry at home. And the sauce can be frozen, so you can make a big batch and then defrost to make curry on demand. Bliss

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Curry-Secret...0332169&sr=8-1

Thanks for the tip on the book, it looks pretty good indeed. The only drawback is that Mrs Neely hates the smell of Indian food (?) so going out for a meal with my brother and co usually kills more than one bird at a time. Also, am I the only one who likes the music in Indian restaurants (for the first 30 min at least)? I can't hear that sort of music without wanting to wolf down an Indian meal with extreme gusto. I love the nann breads too. I can't get enough of those. The last time I went out I ordered two for myself and got a right funny look.

I take the point about the salt in some restaurant food, but I only eat out on average once a week or every two weeks anyway, so nothing excessive, though when I do go out I make the most of it.

[DocHeart]

I like TV dinners. They make me feel that someone out there still cares about the hermit who can't be arsed enough to look after himself.

[MarkBastable]

Thanks for the tip on the book, it looks pretty good indeed. The only drawback is that Mrs Neely hates the smell of Indian food...

She what?

Listen, mate, obviously you feel a certain loyalty, and that really reflects well on you. But - come on - it's not too late to get shot of her, surely? You're still a young man and you could yet have a chance at happiness.

[LitNetIsGreat]

She what?

Listen, mate, obviously you feel a certain loyalty, and that really reflects well on you. But - come on - it's not too late to get shot of her, surely? You're still a young man and you could yet have a chance at happiness.

Yes I know, I know, but who would iron my socks?

[MarkBastable]

Yes I know, I know, but who would iron my socks?

Just specify that in the ad. "....must adore the aroma of vindaloo and enjoy ironing socks." Believe me, there's hundreds of them out there. You'll be swatting them away with a peshwari nan.

[BienvenuJDC]

Making a simple meal is very easy for me. Why eat something that tastes....TERRIBLE?

[qimissung]

I voted 'aye' and was surprised, after reading-or at least glancing at-all four pages, that so many people did vote 'aye.' I have been known -or rather I am known for-feeding my family chicken nuggets at least twice a mont, also frozen fish. I've done frozen lasagna-Wal-Mart's brand was actually very, very good (really Sam's Club, but same difference).

I usually ate them for lunch, but lately I've been getting a sandwich from 7-11. I'm sure the quality is better and that it's better for me. :D

I don't really like to cook. On the other hand I really do like decent or even good food. What's a person to do? I still haven't figured that out.

[kasie]

.....It's worth remembering that it's fine to be picky whilst you're mobile and independant, but there may well come a time when ready meals will be the hot food you eat. Hopefully not for a long long time yet.

Thanks for pointing this out, Paul. I've been glad of the odd Ready Meal over the past few weeks when I haven't been up to trips to the shops or standing at the cooker for any length of time and have tired of eggs/baked potatoes/salad. The quality varies, however - like everything else, you get what you pay for (and, whisper it, sometimes M&S isn't the best).

Ordinarily, I like to cook for myself and when I'm really organised and planning ahead, I do batch cooking, casseroles, bolognese or neapolitan sauce, soups, and freeze them in single portions. Then all I have to do is remember to take it out in time to allow it to defrost before adding whatever it takes to make a meal. Can someone explain to me why casseroles in particular are so much tastier for a spell in the freezer? In my present efforts to clear my freezer ready for The Move, I came across a couple of portions Of Beef in Guinness that I'd forgotten about, probably because I wasn't that keen on it when it was freshly cooked: this time round, it was delicious, rich and flavoursome. Or maybe I was just hungry this time.....

[Emil Miller]

Yes I know, I know, but who would iron my socks?

You've got Mrs N. ironing your socks ? This must surely be a breach of the Human Rights Act. She doesn't peel grapes for you while you relax in a silk dressing gown, sipping Champagne and listening to Noël Coward by any chance?

[BienvenuJDC]

You've got Mrs N. ironing your socks ? This must surely be a breach of the Human Rights Act. She doesn't peel grapes for you while you relax in a silk dressing gown, sipping Champagne and listening to Noël Coward by any chance?

I'd have to say that notion is outrageous. The best part of the grape is the skin.

[Paulclem]

Thanks for pointing this out, Paul. I've been glad of the odd Ready Meal over the past few weeks when I haven't been up to trips to the shops or standing at the cooker for any length of time and have tired of eggs/baked potatoes/salad. The quality varies, however - like everything else, you get what you pay for (and, whisper it, sometimes M&S isn't the best).

Ordinarily, I like to cook for myself and when I'm really organised and planning ahead, I do batch cooking, casseroles, bolognese or neapolitan sauce, soups, and freeze them in single portions. Then all I have to do is remember to take it out in time to allow it to defrost before adding whatever it takes to make a meal. Can someone explain to me why casseroles in particular are so much tastier for a spell in the freezer? In my present efforts to clear my freezer ready for The Move, I came across a couple of portions Of Beef in Guinness that I'd forgotten about, probably because I wasn't that keen on it when it was freshly cooked: this time round, it was delicious, rich and flavoursome. Or maybe I was just hungry this time.....

I find the same with curries. In my opinion, it has had time to "rot down" a little and disseminate the flavours. I don't want to put anyone off... :biggrinjester:

[Scheherazade]

I'd have to say that notion is outrageous. The best part of the grape is the skin.I suspect that is what's happening, anyhow. Mrs N has the grapes while Neely gets the skins.

[Darcy88]

TV dinners should appeal to me because I spend half my time sharing an apartment with my brother and he is so abjectly undemostic the kitchen is in a constant state of messiness and filth and so I abstain from ever using it. Here I subsist on only fresh fruit, humous and trail mix. But the way I was raised you don't ever purchase food items in a package or with ingrediants you don't know. Most TV dinner come in colorful packaging and feature a host of unknown ingredients. It seems they stick salt and msg in everything, not to mention sugar, corn syrup and who knows what hormones and gentically modified organisms. They also seem to cost more than basic food stuffs. If I want something tasty I'll put in the effort to cook or the money to dine out, otherwise I eat purely to fuel my body and brain.

[LitNetIsGreat]

You've got Mrs N. ironing your socks ? This must surely be a breach of the Human Rights Act. She doesn't peel grapes for you while you relax in a silk dressing gown, sipping Champagne and listening to Noël Coward by any chance?

Yes I must get myself a silk dressing gown. I knew there was something missing in my life, these PJs aren't very good.

[KCurtis]

The meat is better, I know what it ate and it's nice and lean from trudging through the underbrush, and it's probably lived a more... "fulfilling" life than a beef cow, but it's not always very humane. We try to shoot them under the front limb so that it goes right into the heart, but that's not always how it goes down. My brother once shot a whitetail :bawling:in the front limb and had to track it for hours before it finally bled to death. Sometimes you hit the belly or the throat, that's always a bit of a horror show and I know it'd be quite disturbing for someone who isn't used to it.
:bawling: :cryin:
I guess I'll just go and buy my meat and not think about it. :frown5:


Yes I know, I know, but who would iron my socks?

Who in their right mind would iron socks?

[LitNetIsGreat]

Who in their right mind would iron socks?

I'm quite particular about my socks.

[Varenne Rodin]

I never eat TV dinners because I very much enjoy my own cooking and the amazing fresh produce I get from local California farmers. I've also never eaten at Olive Garden because I heard from an employee that all of their foods are in plastic bag packages on shelves, they have no expiration dates, and they microwave the "food" as soon as it is ordered, even the bread. The "authentic" Italian restaurant employs no chefs.

[LadyLuck]

For myself, never. I simply can't stand frozen dinners, and even if I could... well I can't eat them. They all make me sick as I'm on a strict gluten free diet. Not to loose weight or anything, but because I'm suspected of having either a major gluten intolerance or celiac. Either way, I don't really keep them around. I did pick up a selection of breakfast ones (Pancakes or french toast and sausage) for my little ones, but this is a treat they get maybe twice a year. They like them so when they go on a deep sale I'll buy them maybe 4-5 each. When they are gone, that's typically all they get till the time they go on sale in 6 months or a year again. Mostly I just like my own food better anyway, so it isn't any hardship.

[KCurtis]

I'm quite particular about my socks.
I guess you are!!:lol: I am too actually, I only wear black socks.

[Darcy88]

I guess you are!!:lol: I am too actually, I only wear black socks.

I can't stand black socks. Only white or grey or striped. Black just feels weird to me. I've heard others say the same.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Yes I know what you mean. I have to wear black socks during the day because of work but I can't wait to get home to put some white socks on. White socks are just just more relaxing. Even better is the summer time socks off sessions, can't wait for those. I'm also a fan of under pants. I change those two/three times a day.

[Paulclem]

Blue....I usually wear blue, though I'll wear any coloured socks as no socks is worse than any sock colour. Also, my wife says I have offensively gnarled feet, so any sock is good for her too. But, given a choice, blue.


Yes I know what you mean. I have to wear black socks during the day because of work but I can't wait to get home to put some white socks on. White socks are just just more relaxing. Even better is the summer time socks off sessions, can't wait for those. I'm also a fan of under pants. I change those two/three times a day.

I can see you not needing that peshwari naan so much mate. :lol:

[Scheherazade]

I'm also a fan of under pants. I change those two/three times a day.I think we have officially ventured into the TMI-zone!

Thank you for turning an important and educational discussion on frozen food into a debate on Neely's socks and underpants...

:p

[LitNetIsGreat]

I can see you not needing that peshwari naan so much mate.

Ha, yes. I always have plain naans though, two of them!


I think we have officially ventured into the TMI-zone!

Thank you for turning an important and educational discussion on frozen food into a debate on Neely's socks and underpants...

:p

I know, I don't know how the conversation has gone from so low to so high. I can't tell you the joy I get from a crammed drawer full of pants and socks. I hate having to put up with the dregs of the drawers. Mrs Neely gets a well deserved yellow card if those situations creep in too much!

Anyway, come on you nay voters!!

[Paulclem]

Poor Mrs Neely - i did perceive over the ether, with my etheric conversation detection capabilities, an exchange that led me to believe that I had tuned into that benighted soul...

...here are your newly ironed socks dear...

What about my pants? I must have freshly laundered pants. Oscar would never have risen from his reading chair without having fresh pants. And fetch me my favourite belgian beer in my pewter mug will you woman.

Woman is it now? It was wench yesterday.

Yes well, the ironing is of a superlative quality. Oh, and can I have a couple of naans too. I feel lucky tonight...

And then it all faded out.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Poor Mrs Neely - i did perceive over the ether, with my etheric conversation detection capabilities, an exchange that led me to believe that I had tuned into that benighted soul...

...here are your newly ironed socks dear...

What about my pants? I must have freshly laundered pants. Oscar would never have risen from his reading chair without having fresh pants. And fetch me my favourite belgian beer in my pewter mug will you woman.

Woman is it now? It was wench yesterday.

Yes well, the ironing is of a superlative quality. Oh, and can I have a couple of naans too. I feel lucky tonight...

And then it all faded out.

:lol: Fantastic.

I'm on my second pair already today and I haven't even had my bath yet! Happy days. Lost at tennis though.