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Best supplier of ready meals.

(94 Posts)
Thoro Thu 29-Dec-22 17:28:22

After a truly awful year of health problems for my husband (dementia) and myself (aortic dissection with emergency open heart surgery) I’m now living on my own with very little appetite and no desire to cook.
I’ve been buying supermarket ready meals but wonder if the nutritional content is better in the online meals you can buy (such as Wiltshire farm) over supermarket ones. Does anyone have any thoughts? Thank you

MawtheMerrier Thu 29-Dec-22 17:36:10

Cook! (That’s their name, not a suggestion!)
Wiltshire, Parsley box etc are pretty grim - a bit like Meals on Wheels, only not freshly cooked.

BladeAnnie Thu 29-Dec-22 17:43:02

My mum is the most difficult person to please - really awkward and fussy about food. I sent for a Wiltshire Farm brochure for her and she's found so many things she likes. They offer things in small portions for small appetites too. It's free delivery and they will even bring it in and put it away for you. The customer service seems to be excellent too. Definitely give them a try 👍

BladeAnnie Thu 29-Dec-22 17:49:26

Just like to add my DD2 is a microbiologist at a company who test foods on behalf of all the big names. She wouldn't touch a ready meal or prepared sandwich filler so I did wonder what her response would be when I told her what granny had started having. And her response - actually they are probably the only one she would consider eating. So that was good enough for me

Septimia Thu 29-Dec-22 18:19:03

I bought Wiltshire Farm meals for my FiL when he became unable to cook for himself. We did try one or two of them and thought them a bit flavourless.

I buy some Parsley Box meals to take away in the motorcaravan so that I don't have to spend time cooking. Without a microwave I have to choose ones that cook on the hob or, at a pinch, in the oven. Some are better than others. The advantage of them in the motorcaravan is that they don't need to be kept in a freezer. Their slow-cooked beef and dauphinoise potatoes made a good Christmas lunch (we'd already had a proper Christmas dinner with the family).

Why not just try a few and see what you think? You don't have to buy more if you don't like them!

mumofmadboys Thu 29-Dec-22 18:23:13

My mum enjoyed Wiltshire Farm Foods and their service was wonderful.

Redrobin51 Thu 29-Dec-22 18:29:39

Neither my health or my husbands is good and he has quite a poor appetite. When we are going through a bad patch we order Wiltshire food meals. The service is excellent and the delivery people extremely pleasant and kind. Some meals we liked some we didn't so we have made a nite of what is what. As others have said they do mini meals and they also do sweets and soups. Some are best done in the oven and others in the microwave.

Thoro Thu 29-Dec-22 19:29:24

Thank you so much everyone- will give WF a go. I have had cook meals before but found them quite rich.

volver Thu 29-Dec-22 19:33:43

Sorry I've come late to this but here's another vote for Wiltshire. I used them for my dad when he became unable to cook for himself. Can't recommend them highly enough - both the food and the service.

Hope it works out for you Thoro. flowers

DaisyAlice Thu 29-Dec-22 19:59:20

WF were certainly brilliant for customer service and the friendly man who delivered the meals always stopped for a quick chat, which I think my mum looked forward to more than the meals.

OnwardandUpward Thu 29-Dec-22 20:02:00

M&S are meant to be really nice if you fancy a treat. WF are ok. I know folk who love the choice and friendly driver.

Hellogirl1 Thu 29-Dec-22 22:41:37

My daughter likes Oakhouse foods.

annsixty Thu 29-Dec-22 22:49:24

I used to like Cook meals which I could buy from a local garden centre.
However recently I have not found them good or value for money.
One of my recent buys was a risotto, it was about two tablespoons full when cooked and cost £4:75.
Very poor, I think they have lost their edge and won’t buy again any time soon.
M&S are also small but tasty and good.

Pixieboots Fri 30-Dec-22 18:47:39

My mum, in her late 80s enjoys the Wiltshire farm foods mini meals as her appetite has reduced with age. Great service as others have said too. Also lots of choice including veggie.

MissAdventure Fri 30-Dec-22 18:51:58

I have had some parsley box meals, and some Wiltshire.
All perfectly edible, I'd say, even though I was really against the idea.

Surprisingly, I also found the portion sizes reasonable, too.

MissAdventure Fri 30-Dec-22 18:53:19

There is also Oakhouse, who also deliver shopping, which you can order from them.

Blondiescot Fri 30-Dec-22 18:55:37

My inlaws are really fussy and have never ever bought ready meals, but they've been getting the Wiltshire ones through our local 'meals on wheels' service and they were surprisingly impressed by them.

MissAdventure Fri 30-Dec-22 18:58:18

Their customer service is excellent.
I've had veggie options, but I have a stew and dumplings and a couple of others still to go, when I'm not feeling so well.

BrightandBreezy Fri 30-Dec-22 19:32:31

My mum, aged 91, likes Marks and Spencer ready meals. Her tastes are quite traditional so she sticks to things like cottage pie, sausage and mash, salmon ready meal and fish and chips. Some of the meals come in both a standard size and a mini meal version. She often chooses the mini meals these days

Thoro Fri 30-Dec-22 19:38:37

Thanks again - have ordered from WF so will see how that goes!

Esmay Fri 30-Dec-22 19:41:53

I've tried lots of ready meals and the ones from M and S are the nicest .

I was discussing ready meals with friends yesterday and we all agreed on M and S .

Mollygo Fri 30-Dec-22 19:57:27

Tried Wiltshire Farm foods once and never again. To be fair, when I complained and sent them pictures of what had actually arrived, they offered me a refund.

Floradora9 Fri 30-Dec-22 21:54:42

annsixty

I used to like Cook meals which I could buy from a local garden centre.
However recently I have not found them good or value for money.
One of my recent buys was a risotto, it was about two tablespoons full when cooked and cost £4:75.
Very poor, I think they have lost their edge and won’t buy again any time soon.
M&S are also small but tasty and good.

I bought a range of Cook meals and felt they were expensive and not very good. We liked the fish pie but it cost £10 I think . Used to like Charlie Bigham's from Tesco but getting expensive for not much goodness.

Sarah74 Fri 30-Dec-22 22:07:41

I had a hip replacement a few years ago and wasn’t able to do much in the kitchen for a while. Ordered Cook meals then, and found them very tasty. However not cheap! And I think they may be tasty as they have a lot of salt or wine in them!
My MIL lived on the mini instant meals for one from M and S for her last few years. She liked her independence and they were easy to cook. I occasionally ate with her and they were fine.
Apart from this thread, I haven’t heard very good reports of Wiltshire Foods or Parsley Box.

Pixieboots Fri 30-Dec-22 22:35:47

My mum would agree that M&S have the nicest ready meals but they don't deliver in her area and nearest M&S doesn't have the variety as its a small store. Wiltshire FF offer 3 delivery days a week in her area. WFF are a great standby to have in the freezer as she also cooks from scratch.