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.

Marianne- you don't cook and yet feel qualified to dish out advice to people on far more reduced budgets than you? Nice.

FWIW- with frozen veg it isn't necessarily about cost all the time, although it does represent far better value. It is about having nutritious food readily available when fresh stuff will spoil far far quicker.

Oh its marianne I don't have home insurance again.

YOU HAVEN'T ANSWEREDS THE STALK QUESTION MARIANN!!! WHY SHOULD I PAY FOR THE STALK BY WEIGHT, WHEN IT DOESN'T GET EATEN, WHEN I CAN BUY JUST THE EDIBLE STUFF FRESH???

Of course frozen is cheaper! Have you ever been to a supermarket?

Oh, I just had a quick picked to the last posts, and about the frozen vegetables (broccoli included), I used to think that fresh is better for my child, but somebody opened my eyes to the fact that many of those frozen veggies actually are better that the ones purchased in the fresh section of supermarkets, because they are frozen within hours of being harvested, while the fresh one have been picked days ago. So it is not any bad to cook frozen vegetables for our children

Mind you, no-one eats my pickled green tomatoes except me.

oh dear, I'm pissed and ranting in caps.

Sorry.

But you can buy just the edible stuff when you buy it FROZEN. I don't want to pay a quid for a broccoli stalk, most of which will be chucked.

And I'm sure that mariannes DH makes a delightful snack with the broccoli stalk.

at tantrums. My DH works in pensions, anyone need advice?

My 3 yr old would like to move in with this freezer cooking family.

Anyway frozen brocli is cheaper.

I AM the freezer cooking family :)
Although dd (14) makes a lovely macaroni cheese and ds1 does tuna bake or jacket potatoes with chilli.

Remind me never ever to leave the house again! I missed all the good bts FWIW the BBQ chicken we were meant to have today (made with frozen chicken breasts, tommy sauce and BBQ sauce) is now going to be frozen and had another day. We are just in an hour or so, kids had a hot dog at the beach and they have just had a ham roll and a packet of crisps. I think social work should just come now :).

Tomorrow there is after school activities on so i Think it will be waffles, fish fingers and baked beans for tea.

Misssnnersly it was more than called for. If someone calls me silly for doing whatever I can to get them nutrition and frozen veg does have nutritional value. When that self same poster calls me stupid and suggests I starve my dds I'll defend my dds to the hilt.

SS are going to have a busy day to tomorrow!
We have ds2 parents evening, dinner will be fish and chips.

it probably goes in the pasta sauce blended

when i was on maternity leave with my first I would use the stalks (celery, broccoli etc) in soups. I would make every dish from scratch etc etc. I had one very easy going child.

Now I have 2 and work part time and a husband who works crazy hours. I'm lucky to have the time but do my best! The freezer is invaluable. I wonder if it is acceptable to make your own meals and freeze them?

I can't even begin to imagine how it would be with 3 under 3!

(on a general note - it is better to buy frozen than end up freezing fresh because you haven't used it quickly enough)

And it is better to buy frozen fish - to get it back to shore in good condition the fish has to be preserved - if you buy it 'fresh' it has basically been defrosted.

I have actually chopped broccoli, have chopped most fruit and veg at some point. If I ever get a job I will again as I love cooking.

Are tinned veg allowed? I eat tinned peas.

You WILL get a job, but in the meantime take no notice of Ill informed advice from people who don't even do what they are telling you to do (if that makes sense)

No tinned fruit, veg, no frozen food, nothing that is not chopped by your own DHs 2 hands with baby in sling.

I have to ask Marianne you say you eat broccoli most days, what about variety? Are you not worried about oxalic acid overload? More variety of veg would solve that.

Crikey. It's all gone a bit Pete Tong.

Own up. Who brought frozen broccoli into this?

Who cares, so long as children are being fed then what does it matter.

I spend hours cooking my family's meals so my kids can push it around their plates and make eww noises. Do I want a medal for it? No.
Let people do what they want to do, and spend a bit more time doing something worthwhile than judging.

Frozen veg is frozen and treated at picking meaning more nutrients want fresher without being frozen, needs to come out the garden.

Also frozen cooks quicker again holding more nutrients.

If you were only interested in the inherit goodness of food you'd only use frozen.

Another interesting fact. I was involved in the production of one of Birdseyes Pea testing machine thingies. All the rejected pods got sent to the supermarkets as fresh peas for the perfect Mums to peel themselves. Via packing and several distribution warehouses. The nicest ones got frozen.