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Food

Ready meals

(92 Posts)
grannyactivist Tue 19-Nov-19 09:51:11

I have been ill for many weeks (now on the mend) and initially had no appetite. Then my lovely husband, aka The Wonderful Man, who works away during the week, began batch cooking at the weekend and leaving meals for me. Finally, as he was spending too much time cooking, he began to buy me ready meals.

So I've now ranked them in order of preference:
M&S (yummy)
Cook (frozen and delivered by courier - delicious)
Charlie Bingham (from Waitrose, very good)
Waitrose own brand (good)
Lidl/Co-Op (it was a tie - both decent enough)
Waitrose 'value' (no, no, no - not value if they're not nice)

I'm almost ready to start cooking again, but now that I know how good some of these meals are I'll have no hesitation in buying them occasionally rather than our standard take-away of fish and chips.

But now of course I'm wondering what I've missed. Are there favourite ready meals that you buy and, if so, what are they?

jogginggirl Tue 19-Nov-19 22:16:56

Keeper1 I used Wiltshire Farm Foods for my mum - they were surprisingly good! When she could no longer manage whole foods we changed to ‘soft’ foods. That way we ensured she still ate each and every day. The delivery and support we received from the local Wiltshire team was second to none! The delivery man was lovely and used to pop the food into mum’s freezer ❤️

Gonegirl Tue 19-Nov-19 22:28:03

I found Wiltshire Farm Foods to be very much "old people's" food.

grannyactivist Wed 20-Nov-19 00:14:00

The 'Cook' range is lovely and I'm a great fan of their ethics, worth taking a look: www.cookfood.net/info/bcorp/

annsixty Wed 20-Nov-19 05:23:06

I have just checked the Cook range (can’t sleep) and I am so thankful that I can still have the health and energy to cook most days .
They are so expensive to me.
They have their uses obviously in times of illness, very busy lives etc but for regular and long term use I think they are very expensive for people who need to watch the pennies.
I hope you are soon better Grannyactivist and back to looking after yourself.

mumofmadboys Wed 20-Nov-19 07:22:55

My mum had Wiltshire farm foods. She was blind and could manage to microwave them. The delivery men were very helpful and cheerful. My mum enjoyed the meals. Plenty of choice from a catalogue.

Riverwalk Wed 20-Nov-19 07:43:53

I know someone who relies on deliveries of Cook products - she's very pleased with the food and the service.

I suppose they would be relatively expensive if you relied solely on them for each meal but I don't think many people would do that.

As they're delivered frozen and recommended to be microwaved you are saving on fuel, time, shopping, and no wastage. I've tasted a few and they are really quite tasty.

Carenza123 Wed 20-Nov-19 07:46:47

I saw a range of Gino D’Campo meals at Iceland and picked a seafood one, mussels and peppers in a spicy sauce. Only £3. It was delicious! Plenty for two. Heat the mussels and sauce for 7 minutes, stir in some pre cooked pasta and voila! I would like to try the meatballs next.

Riverwalk Wed 20-Nov-19 07:57:18

I agree that Wiltshire Farm food looks 'old people' - sloppy easily digestible mush (haven't tasted them) in comparison to Cook which are 'gourmet' in appearance and quality.

Cook isn't aimed at the older market so they have a wider variety of interesting food.

jogginggirl Wed 20-Nov-19 08:10:00

Gonegirl My mum was old ??

Gonegirl Wed 20-Nov-19 10:35:32

Yes, exactly joggingirl. Wiltshire FF are perfect for really old people, but not sure I would recommend them for anyone on here. smile

Gonegirl Wed 20-Nov-19 10:36:38

One thing about Wiltshire FF though is that they do not have all the sometimes indigestible spices in them.

annsixty Wed 20-Nov-19 10:43:11

I am reminded that a few weeks ago I visited a newly opened The Range near us and they have a small Iceland in it.
I bought an individual Fish Pie and it was quite nice.
I may look at other ready meals from them to keep in as an emergency.
I know they do lots of Indian meals but I don’t eat them as I don’t like spices at all.

Granarchist Wed 20-Nov-19 11:00:43

My daughter had Pieminister pies for her (winter) wedding - it was genius - WFF were brilliant with my mother and the delivery people were fantastic - my mother had been a excellent cook in her day and had no complaints at all.

Whitewavemark2 Wed 20-Nov-19 11:07:45

I’ve decided to have a ready meal today, as I was out very early with the dog (still dark), been helping DH with putting up a new shower, now going to mums to sort her out and also feeling a bit jaded even now.
So make life easy I say?

Gonegirl Wed 20-Nov-19 11:09:04

Great idea Granarchist!

Whitewavemark2 Wed 20-Nov-19 11:10:52

I started to have Cook delivered to have something ready throughout the summer after walking all day or whatever.

I’m not desperately keen, a couple of things are not bad, like their chicken korma, but overall I think I prefer Marks.

Babs758 Wed 20-Nov-19 11:29:12

Moo pies, Binghams are excellent and also M &S curries although I usually add more chili.

When eating out at an Indian I often take half my food home and freeze it for eating with a few weeks. I am losing weight slowly and this helps!

25Avalon Wed 20-Nov-19 11:30:34

We love the Cook range. It is excellent quality with good ingredients and well worth keeping in the freezer for those occasions you don't feel like cooking. Their Coq au Vin is as good as any restaurant if you fancy having a special meal in and although it may seem expensive for a ready meal is cheaper than eating out.
Glad to hear you are feeling better.

pamdixon Wed 20-Nov-19 11:33:40

Charlie Bingham fish pie really good -though not cheap.
I'm addicted to Sainsbury's cottage pie - in the low calorie range. I lived off it when I had broken my arm and couldn't cook. You just bung it in the microwave. Its really tasty.

Margs Wed 20-Nov-19 11:42:50

Holland's Potato & Meat Pies closely followed by M&S ready meals. But I can't touch ready meals purveyed by a certain supermarket (owned by WallMart I believe) because their ready stuff is just tasteless mush.

ReadyMeals Wed 20-Nov-19 12:38:00

Did you start this thread specially for me? We have ready meals 5 times a week, I cook on Sunday and we have a Deliveroo on Saturday. The other days my husband can often be late from work so during the week I have one ready meal that I fancy, because I like to eat early, and chooses one from the fridge or freezer when he gets back. Typical are those meal tubs like Bol and freezer meals like curry and rice or pasta bake.

Yehbutnobut Wed 20-Nov-19 12:56:42

Quite happy to buy good quality ReadyMeals and supplement them with extra veg.

aonk Wed 20-Nov-19 13:13:23

We have an occasional ready meal when short of time. I generally prefer the ones from M and S. We’re not keen on takeaways but often have a ready meal instead on a Saturday. I really recommend chicken tikka masala from Sainsbury’s. Much tastier than M and S. We buy the pilau rice, naan bread and sweet potato bhajis to accompany it. Easy to heat up. I do it in the oven. Delicious!

grannygranby Wed 20-Nov-19 13:30:24

the waitrose own Tofu Red Thai is really delish. always running out. One day perhaps the ubiquitous chicken won't be used for everything and we can end some of the cruelty.

DanniRae Wed 20-Nov-19 13:51:43

I love WeightWatcher's "Lemon and Chicken Rissotto" and Linda McCartney's Mince 'Beef' pies.
We also enjoy M&S chicken fillets in breadcrumbs - there are lots of different flavours.