Do you use frozen food?

[HaggardMumofToddler]

I feel like we’re so busy all the time at the moment, I work part time and DH works away a lot. Very demanding 18 month old. Getting meals ready can sometimes feel like a struggle.

It’s one of those things I said I wouldn’t do as a parent, we generally try to eat well but recently DD does have fish fingers, waffles and peas on occasion.

What’s your go to frozen food when you just can’t be bothered to cook? What can I just stick in the oven that will still be relatively healthy?

I know I could batch cook of course. But I’m awful at remembering to defrost stuff!

I have two freezers

Contents include:
Desserts
Leftover Indian takeaway
Meat - purchased fresh and frozen at home
Also any leftover from a Sunday roast goes into the freezer for use another day.

Veg
Chips
Potato waffles
Bagels
Prawns
Salmon
Cod
Sausages
Bolognese
Chilli
Fish fingers
Turkey dinosaurs
Fish cakes
Breaded fish
Breadcrumbs

Pesto comes out of a jar here so instant!

And no mess if needing an easy quick meal.

Pesto is fine if you like it/no allergies.

Frozen food isn’t necessarily unhealthy in fact frozen veg is often better than fresh. What’s with all the guilt?? Unless you’re talking about frozen junk food but you didn’t say that op.

The op is talking about fish fingers and waffles which is fine for a toddler.

Frozen mash, oven chips and baked potatoes are a god send.

We couldn't survive without frozen veg! 6 adults in the house, working all different hours.. the chest freezer is full of broccoli, spinach, peas, sprouts, med veg, and frozen chicken which can be thrown in with al of the above. And frozen fruit for smoothies.
We also keep a few ready meals so that the type 1 diabetic can come in from a late nursing shift and shove some food in quickly!

DS1 also loves fishfingers so we always have those in. Yeah he's 26...

Fish pie is definitely my go to bulk cook freeZe meal.

Healthy-ish and can just freeze loads

Dusted sole fillets from Aldi. Also frozen plain cod. I make a butterbean and tomato stew with plenty of smoked paprika and just put the frozen cod on the top- cooks in 20 minutes

100% chicken breast nugget wrap with salad and cucumber. Or fish fingers with homemade chips and some kind of five-a-day. I don’t buy oven chips and try to avoid freezer crap but youngest is vegetarian and I worry about getting protein in her so I find myself more reliant on it than I used to be.

I tend not to buy much frozen food, but when I make anything I do extra portions and freeze. This means when I'm busy I've got frozen pasta sauces, curries etc to fall back on.

We usually have a pie from frozen per week. Also the kids have chicken nuggets occasionally. I bought a bag of oven chips last week too.

We rarely eat frozen /processed food but once in a while? It's fine

Iceland do a range with 2 chicken breasts in a foil tray in various flavours they cook from frozen and are only £3 hardly junk food but very fast and tasty - we've loved the whole breast chicken kiev, peri peri chicken, tandori and nacho topped.

Our quick frozen tea is the frozen fish fillets you buy in bags. I stick them in a foil parcel with butter greeb beans and garlic. Boil baby potatoes and whatever veg i have. Im not above a fish finger or turkey dinosaur but my son wasnt brought up on them like i was in the 80s so doesn't actually eat anything with breadcrumbs as he doesnt like the texture.

Fish fingers
Chicken Nuggets
Pizza
Happy Faces
Chips
Burgers
Frozen Veg

My kids are having 'Orange Tea' right now!! Fishfingers, sweetcorn (both from the freezer) sweet potato fries and beans.

Also in my freezer is spinach, butternut squash, peas and fishcakes.

I've found that frozen salmon fillets do not work (the ones you buy to cook from frozen, fresh ones that you freeze are fine!)

Waitrose frozen stuff is great. Lots of nice fish dishes, pies and buttered greens.

A huge IKEA Ziploc bag full of Mediterranean veg is a go to winner here. Buy fresh, then chop and freeze on baking tray on some greaseproof. When frozen, transfer to big bag. Instant easy "shove in oven" roast vegetables with quick drizzle of oil and some herbs.
Batch cooked food in there (Bolognese, chilli, fish pies, tomato pasta sauce)
Fresh meat, portioned up into bags/tubs ready to use.
Diced onions, peppers, and a bag of frozen mushrooms for risottos
Herbs and spices in bags bought at supermarket.
Waffles
Fish fingers

My freezer has bread, chips, veg, chicken nuggets and fish fingers. I buy a lot of fresh meat which goes in freezer and then defrost in fridge. Also make up a Bolognese sauce at the weekend to use later in the week when time is tight (after swimming). Also have tub of ice cream year round and in the summer loads of lolly ices.

Frozen veg is a must for me; it’s always there, doesn’t go off, it’s already chopped and we barely waste any

Of course yes. Plus frozen fruit and veggies retain more vitamins than chilled. Less waste too.

Frozen peas and ice cream in our freezer. Sometimes I put in extras of what I have cooked and then throw away 6 months later. I don't like the taste of frozen stuff tbh.

Frozen chips and peas, fishfingers and fishcakes. I also store quorn and meat - chicken breasts and chops.

I don't cook from frozen that often though. Once every two weeks maybe. I find defrosting annoying.

Just to say to OP that I agree with others that I don't understand why ou see frozen as bad. A frozen ready meal isn't bad because it's frozen, but because it's a ready meal.

Fish fingers etc aren't actually bad in themselves, especially if cooked in oven rather than fried. They become bad when they're served with huge portion of chips and no veg. Also your OP suggests you see peas as bad which I don't understand. They're my go to when I need quick freshness with a few vitamins on a plate.

I also cook extra portions of whatever and freeze in oven proof containers (usually tinfoil) as I can take them out, stick them in the oven and turn it on. And whatever is in there cooks beautifully. We had a previously made cauliflower cheese yesterday with frozen peas and sausages. I suspect the (fresh) sausages were probably the worst thing on the plate! We also freeze portions of stew, pasta sauces, lasagna (meat and vegetarian), mash etc. All of which make life a bit easier when we're in a hurry.

Also if you'r cooking for your little one specifically, check out children specific ready meals that can be frozen and then microwaved from frozen. There used to be one (probably still exists) called Little Dish which DS loved but I know there are a few and I think most supermarkets do their own version. Just double check the nutritional content and ingredients. I sometimes would add a handful of fresh/frozen chopped vegetables to make it go further and up the veggie content but it was brilliantly useful for after nursery when I needed to give him something substantial fast and he loved it.

Oh, and YY to chopped onions. I don't use them every time but they are a godsend when in a hurry. I also like to have frozen spinach as I can make great spinach and pea sop from almost entirely frozen ingredients (needs to add a bit of yoghurt at the end) and it can be tossed into risottos/sauces etc. I love the idea of mixed veg fo the slow cooker so going to try that too.