to be shocked by the way this family eats?

[lotney]

A friend told me about a woman she knows who has 3 year old twins and a 2 year old. Her husband works away for long periods of time. She doesn't cook while he's away - the children eat freezer food like fish fingers, chicken nuggets etc and she has ready meals. When he's home he cooks, but when he's away they just eat things from the oven for convenience.

I can't begin to imagine what life is like with 3 under 3 but surely preparing fresh food at least occasionally is important for nutrition and learning about food? I find it really odd and a bit sad.

Noddy - are you sure? Frozen veg are frozen immediately while 'fresh' have to be packed, transported and stored, losing vitamin content all the time. By all means use fresh broccoli if you prefer it, but I'd be surprised if it has more vitamins than frozen.

"Like I say, most of us work out a way of producing nice food quickly and straightforwardly. But that includes covering the days when you've got in from work and you need to produce a meal and you're tired and you have a wodge of more writing to do in the evening and quite frankly you cannot be arsed. The Not Being Arsed wars with the wish for a Nice Meal. A compromise is reached."

Of course, and we don't do any differently. We eat pizza and filled pasta etc, but my questions were for the posters who claim to exist exclusively on ready meals and convenience food.

And tantrums, I don't bake my own bread or make my own pasta either (though I'm thinking about it ;) ) but really, if you find it difficult to chop broccoli, I must confess I'm baffled.

Hecuba, just because lots of other people do something it doesn't mean it isn't silly. And I doubt very much ready meals and frozen food are cheaper than cooking it yourself.

OP I feed my kids fish fingers and supermarket sausages. I did once try making stew but the little sods wouldn't eat it (it wasn't that bad either, I ate it and gave them peanut butter sandwiches and pom bears). Do you want my address so you can phone social services?

Just so you know, too, pasta with tomatoes isn't really any more nutritious or morally virtuous than fish fingers (at least for the under 5s who need fat in their diets, I guess for an adult it's probably better but I'm not cooking two different meals ffs so fish fingers for me too- can't afford readymeals, the bastard capitalists keeping me down).

(And beta-carotene IS a vitamin, btw.)

I didn't say it was difficult, I said I work all day and at 6:30pm, with an 8 year old DS to get to bed by 8pm, I find it much easier to open a bag of broccoli rather than pissing about cutting it up myself as I also need to listen to DS read, check older DCs homework, make the packed lunches, make sure uniform/ work clothes are ready....obviously I should be dedicating my evening to chopping veg rather than doing all the above??

Sadly though I am not superwoman, nine of my children are neglected or malnourished so I very much like my way if doing things.

Evidently you do things differently, I'm very happy for you.

(looks on eBay for a "loves to cook DH..doesn't find one:( any one have a used one I can borrow??)

And by the way Marianne I am baffled also, baffled that you are so bothered by frozen broccoli.

I confess to Gregg's sausage rolls and fruit shoots as well, I bet that really baffles you

Should be none of my children obviously, not nine!!!!

tantrums - have you ever chopped broccoli? I can reveal to you that you do not in fact need to dedicate your evening to chopping it as it takes 30 seconds max to chop it?

Sorry, but that is just too ridiculous!

Coming late to this thread. But I have to say this..

Frozen broccoli decried as convenience food.

Only on mumsnet!

Sadly though I am not superwoman, nine of my children are neglected or malnourished

YABU OP, but fair play to you for being graceful

Ooh, I win because I make my own bread. With a breadmaker.

Nah, abrakebabra, the general consencus is that I'm santimonious for thinking that families should be able to cook their own meals on a regular basis and not eat ready meals only.

a breadmaker motherinferior? A breadmaker? You've got a nerve, showing your face round here. And I suppose you don't even culture your own yeast, do you, you slattern? You get it from the packet, don't you?

You make me sick.

I don't eat ready meals, I can't afford them I have already said that. I do use frozen veg. My comment about difficulty of chopping was about chopping one handed because you are holding a baby. Do you honestly think it is silly to chose cheaper veg over not feeding my DC.. You would rather I starved my dd?

I am a decent cook but now thanks to redundancy can no longer afford the ingredients. Does it make me stupid? Since employers appear to regard me as unemployable I guess it does. Does it mean my dds deserve to starve? Does it fuck!

Qyi

frozen food does not equal ready meals!

Again Marianne you choose not to read what I am saying but exaggerate the part that you don't like.

Clearly I did not say that chopping broccoli took all evening, maybe I will say this is simpler terms this time to avoid misunderstandings

I am very busy.
It is quicker and easier to take a bag of broccoli from the freezer and put it in boiling water.
It takes around 10 seconds.
I like to do that rather than chop it.
I do not feel this makes me the devil incarnate as you obviously do.
I am sure that you are superwoman who chops, cooks, never does takeaways even though you are also incredibly busy.
I hope that brings you joy.
I do not care.
I like my way.

Ok now?

I have frozen veg. We have frozen broccoli in the freezer. That's because we don't eat brocolli that often but I force some onto the kid's plates as every available opportunity.

Also, don't you find Marianne, that when you buy brocolli fresh you're paying for a huge bit of stalk that you don't actually eat? So you chop off the florets and throw the biggest, heaviest, most expensive bit into the green bin? Maybe you have something very resourceful to do with a broccoli stalk, but me, not so much....

YABU.

On the basis that you don't know this woman but are slagging her off on hearsay alone...get a life

HD that comment made me laugh and I've now woke my son

Hecuba, I appreciate your life is challenging, but it just sounds improbable that you have to eat frozen veg or whatever because you are always holding a baby with one hand. And as was pointed out, the frozen veg isn't really any cheaper.

When mine were babies I carried them in a sling while doing housework, but you say yours won't go in one...

I think that you may be a little misguided in thinking that you cannot afford the ingredients to cook. What do you feed your family then if not ready meals - only frozen veg? My DH makes big pan of bean and sausage stew that is very cheap, or his various pasta sauces, or his minestrone soup, or the mushroom risotto. We don't eat venison and truffles, just normal food!

Again Marianne you choose not to read what I am saying but exaggerate the part that you don't like.

Clearly I did not say that chopping broccoli took all evening, maybe I will say this is simpler terms this time to avoid misunderstandings

I am very busy.
It is quicker and easier to take a bag of broccoli from the freezer and put it in boiling water.
It takes around 10 seconds.
I like to do that rather than chop it.
I do not feel this makes me the devil incarnate as you obviously do.
I am sure that you are superwoman who chops, cooks, never does takeaways even though you are also incredibly busy.
I hope that brings you joy.
I do not care.
I like my way.

Ok now?