Parsley Box meals.

If Mick enjoys them, who am I to criticise, but I would worry about any diet (using the term for general eating) which was mostly composed of long life/convenience meals. As we get older a lot of people start to lose their appetite and it is more important than ever to keep up our intake of fresh fruit and vegetables for minerals, vitamins and fibre.
So it is a balance isn’t it? In his latter years (dying at 88) my father had really lost interest in food and was happy with a sandwich which he took a long time to eat. I worried about that (living 400 miles away I could put stuff in his freezer when I visited which I would find on the next visit that he hadn’t touched, despite being quite able to use the microwave)
I decided that a sandwich eaten was better than a healthy home cooked meal still in the freezer!
For those who enjoy or rely on prepared meals, however, I would recommend Cook! for the most “home cooked” quality of any other ready meals. They are frozen but can be reheated from frozen and are not packed full of additives to give them extra flavour - it is good enough. Some supermarkets such as Budgen stock them and I think they also deliver.

My mum preferred oakhouse out of the two, and they also sell all the basics of everything else; teabags, loo rolls, sweets, cake, etc.

I thought I would give Parsley Box a try, but was disappointed so haven’t used again. One of the packets was damaged - the “cellophane” or whatever it was covered in had come open so didn’t feel safe to eat it. I rang them and they did refund me. The first meal of their’s which I ate was something like a chicken dish with awful-looking grey sludgy mashed potatoes. It looked most off-putting, but think it tasted ok. This was at the start of lockdown last year, so I can’t remember exactly which meals we ordered, but I know I ended up throwing the last meal in the bin even before cooking it - I just didn’t fancy it! My partner, who doesn’t live with me, orders a lot from Wiltshire Farm Foods and he is usually pleased with the dishes. I also tried Oakhouse Foods - think they were a bit dearer and quite pleasant, but I tend now to either make my own (simple) meals for when I am with my chap or buy ready meals in with my on-line food deliveries (Tesco, Asda, etc).

Other people may like the Parsley Box meals, but then we are all different with our own different tastes.

I use puy lentils instead of mince for me, and his lordship knows (without ever having tasted them!) that he hates them.

I would like to second the "smaller plate idea". I'm currently using up my Mother's old dinner service. Instead of the bigger plates I have switched to the smaller ones. Now a modest portion of whatever looks like a "plateful". Another tactic I use is to have a bowl of HM soup (which is mainly liquid) to fill me up before the small main course.

I handled a dozen or so donated meat meals on Thursday at the food bank where I volunteer .
Unfortunately 2 of the packs didn’t have a Best Before Date on them and they had to be thrown away. I thought that was quite poor to be honest and would have been cross if I had bought them.

My initial thought when I saw them was how small they were.

I'd better get some mince (I don't eat it)

That should help you to lose weight (if you need to!). Buy food you don't like

???

Oh sorry MissA... not much help then unless your boy likes it.

It's not looking good for parsleybox.

I'd better get some mince (I don't eat it)

I understand the problems with portion control. I have more or less overcome it by thinking it through before I cook.

To begin with, if like me you love casseroles and stews, add at least 1lb of veg (other than onions) to the stew for every pound of meat. Add tinned lentils to mince. Once cooked I use a soup ladle to measure portions. I ladle equals one portion. The rest gets immediately portion measured into plastic containers and lidded and then frozen. Weigh potatos, rice, pasta before cooking. You will soon get your eye in for what a portion of 4 ozs of potatoes, or 2 oz of pasta or 1 1/2 oz rice looks like, but check by weighing at least once a month. Plate meals up before you eat, rather than have bowls of food on the table.

Obviously, I still have my lapses, but thinking portion control ahead of eating has enabled me to keep my weight steady for 6 years after losing a couple of stone on the 5:2 diet.

Slimming World have a range of frozen meals available from Iceland. I have no idea what they are like.

Humbertbear

My mother really didn’t like Parsely Box. In fact, after the first two meals she asked me to remove them from her freezer.

One of the main benefits for me is that they do not have to be kept in the freezer so I don't know if being kept in a freezer would affect the taste or not.

Parsley Box meals get a thumbs down from me: bland and look very unappealing on the plate.

Shysal how about using a smaller plate. A full plate deceives the eye and dies help. Good luck.

MissA cooking up a pound of mince with onions ,tinned tomato, mushrooms and whatever you like is quick and can easily be divided up into those small lidded plastic containers or one of those zip bags and frozen. It can be defrosted and eaten with pasta, rice or mash as a shepherds pie. Yum. Mince is versatile.

MayBee M&S does a delivery service through Ocado. I only drink the coffee they sell in jars at a fiver each but last time I also added eg their £12 meal for two which gave me a bottle of wine also.

Their web site is so comprehensive I almost lose the will to live as it is so long and comprehensive. I found it difficult finding items I wanted and I know their shelves very well!

I was thinking about buying the curry boxes from Parsley Box and as others have said I could buy the small bottles of wine for cooking. £19 is the amount to order for free delivery. If ordered eg early on a Monday it arrives on a Tuesday which is excellent service.

I don’t know about Parsley , but a friend who lives alone sometimes buys m and s ready meals which she says are delicious. She is the first to admit she will eat anything, so that needs to be taken into consideration but calories/ fat etc are shown which would help when cutting back.
Iceland do some nice ready dishes which are recommended by slimming world and they deliver free if you spend a minimal amount.

I know quite a lot of people who enjoy the weightwatchers meals for that reason.

Because you have to add your own veg anyway we started buying tins of stewing steak or casseroles from the supermarket and added our own veg. It did make me re discover instant mash, though. I must say Parsley Box customer service is very good, though and they are delivered very quickly. The little bottles of wine they sell come in handy for sauce making. I do wish M&S did a delivery service, though. When my weight crept up a few years ago I started buying their ready meals. Sometimes it’s helpful, when your weight has crept up, to not have to think about food between meals.

Sorry Shysal
I have nothing to say that is in the slightest bit helpful!

My mother really didn’t like Parsely Box. In fact, after the first two meals she asked me to remove them from her freezer.

All this talk of batch cooking is falling on deaf ears here.
I can think of few things worse..

Poor Shysal she started a thread to exchange reviews of Parsley Box meals, instead she's getting advice on nutrition and how to cook!

X post with MamaCaz

I type slowly

I was just about to suggest something similar to Hetty58.
By just controlling the amount you put on your plate to eat, put similar amounts in freezable containers immediately and never have seconds just to finish something up.

Many people do try to lose weight in January but, imo, it's the worst time. It's cold, wet, miserable and there are often leftovers from Christmas hanging around.
February is a good time. I will start in February (I really will).

My OH took up one of Parsley Box's offers in order to try their meals.
He was not impressed -not only were they much too small for him, but he found them tasteless too. (What can I say, he's used to my excellent cooking! ?)

Personally, I think that being so small could make them counter productive as regards portion control, unless on a very strict diet, as they are likely to leave you feeling hungry immediately.

If you have the time, inclination and the freezer space, you might do better to start cooking in bulk and freezing foods in what you consider to be 'sensible' portion sizes?