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.

More unfair than the other posts about frozen food always being exorbitantly priced? Or the sneering at people on low budgets?

One has the right to make simplistic time-saving analyses for personal use, in view of their personal time constraints, but they don't have to assume their assessment is the Only Way and freezer food is Bad For You.

Frankly, don't you think it's says something pretty bad about humanity, that instead of appreciating advances in technology which mean we can easily preserve food, and checking a simple ingredient list (which are a lot easier to read than 20 years ago), people just dismiss the whole fecking aisle?

Dismissing frozen broccoli, because it's in the same aisle as frozen spatula with breadcrumbs (or whatever the new hatefood is) is blinkered. And I really can't abide snobbishness about "well, I just buy fresh broccolli every day". Which exists, believe it or not.

Well said Jessie when judging you must first consider what choice that person is making. For some people that choice is buy frozen veg or don't feed the DC.. Personally I know which choice I would judge in that situation.

Who dismissed frozen broccoli or whatever?

There used to be an advert from NHS Scotland about healthy eating which said 'Frozen veg is just as good as fresh'. I think I may contact them and tell them Marianne thinks they're stupid

Must admit that I do a bit of both options!

And I only have a 21 month old and a nearly 6 year old.

Like today we are having roast chicken, roast potatoes, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, stuffing and Yorkshire puddings with gravy.

Tomorrow I will probably end up doing fish fingers and chips. I do normally add baked beans or some frozen mixed veg with it though .

Most of my meals are made fresh but I always have chicken nuggets, fish fingers etc in the freezer so I can chuck together if need be.

My ex sister in law used to give her children mostly smash, fried chips, chicken nuggets etc. They have always been fine and healthy she just wasn't much of a cook!

So YABU

Every person who dismissed "frozen food". I note you were careful to specify "frozen main meals" up there, but generally, people are not so careful.

Incidentally, as I like to point out in Real Life,there's also environmental costs to consider. I wonder which is worse for the environment. Frozen veg, or out-of-season fresh veg with food miles every day...

I have four children, youngest is 8 weeks so is on milk, however, my other children have been fed on processed food since they weaned onto solids. I would like to add that none of them are overweight, spotty, have grown extra limbs or eyes and are all very bright, alert children.

I am more than capable of cooking lovely meals from scratch, I fact I would love to more often, financially I cannot.

Unfortunately, contrary to what some people think, I am actually cheaper to feed my family for a fortnight from Iceland, than buying fresh meat and veg from the supermarket. I have roughly around £100 budget a month to feed my family, it's processed cheap food al the way for me.

Also, on the times that I do splash out and buy fresh ingredients and cook from scratch, it is incredibly difficult with a Velcro baby...cooking on the hob, while a baby attached to your hip, a 3 year old who if left other own devices will display her toddler art all over my walls and older two who are at the " get out ifmy face before i tear it off stage" is incredibly difficult. Waffles, nuggets/sausages/fish fingers all banged in the oven, timer on for 20 mons and beans in micro...job done. So shoot me :)

And sometimes while my hair has fallen from my bauble, the house is in absolute chaos and the kids look homeless, will put a ready meal in the micro for DH :)

Oh god the tops apologies...

Aaaaaaarrrrghhhhh typos! Bloody iPad!

jessie, You can have him, he's currently nearly finished a half marathon in the pouring rain! It's takeaway for us tonight after the hooligans are in bed!
I admit I am a convert to frozen veg, fresh stuff never seems to keep well either and now at least we can have a mix, rather than all the beans as they will be dead by the morning. Now, if anyone can help me with steaming the damn stuff so it doesn't go too soggy, I'd be vair happy!

I cook lovely fresh food for myself. Unfortunately DS won't eat it. So either I make him what he will eat or he won't eat. He gets offered all kinds of food and he won't eat it. He panics now about going to afterschool club because they put food he is scared off in front of him. Shall I send him to you Marianne for a couple of weeks? Perhaps you can get his weight/height balance down even further than it already is?

I'm going to dismiss frozen broccoli, I haven't purchased any since dropped a bag on my foot and it fucking hurt!!!!!

So yes if you see me in the frozen veg aisle limping, it's probably not from rickets.

Lotney, I'm glad you did this thread.....at least now when your judgy friend starts gossiping again you know you don't have to feel guilty for cutting the odd corner or buying what fits in your budget

.....and I want a fish finger sandwich on white bread with cheap red sauce please,

Ooh, I could murder one of those fish finger sarnies too but he ate all the fish fingers!

Microwave? Really? How long for

This thread has given me a random craving for the Arctic Roll and Findus Crispy Pancakes of my yoof.

I bought some crispy pancakes the other week Chateauneuf, they are soooooo not how I remember, they have lost some of that crispiness that made them special IYSWIM?

I do not see the problem with fish fingers. At all. Yes, they have slightly charming alarming bread crumb coating. This is fine. They are often made of sustainable fish - either pollock or MSC-accredited salmon (and yes I do worry about this stuff quite a lot, acksherly) - and go gloriously well with tomato ketchup and frozen peas

I am, btw, a health journalist

Second what MI just said. I am also a health journalist.

Crispy pancakes are tiny now and dont have much filling. They were much better when my dad used to give me them for my tea with instant mash (not smash as I didnt like that) when I was at school.

Best frozen vegetable product ever has to be shared by frozen sweetcorn and frozen butternut squash. I don't care about your nominees. You're all wrong.

I've tried cooking those from fresh, and I never will again. So there!

Frozen grilled veg also a life-saver. A harrassed WOHP can produce couscous v quickly with its help. With dry-fried hallumi (which for some reason manages not to be a Convenience Food even though it is squeaky). Thus managing a meal of really quite significant poncery in record time.