"Serves 2" - Does it Fuck.

[MarmiteMakesMeHappy]

Or are me and DH pigs? possibly, yes

About once a week, we have a 'ready meal'. Usually a 'naice' Waitrose/M&S/Charlie Binham type thing - so a Beef Sroganoff, Moussaka type thing.

There's never enough.

I am not sure if it's because we don't do 'starters' and 'pudding' on a Tuesday night, or stuff our faces with bread and olives first, but we are always left feeling a bit hungry and a bit ashamed that we want more.

Even when DD, 11 and I shared a Waitrose meal for 2 the other week, we weren't quite full so maybe I'm the pig

I have come to the conclusion that they probably do serve two, IF YOU'RE A HAMSTER.

Or is it just us?

Serves 2, no chance, but if you check the calories most come in about 500 a serving so I guess it depends what else you eat in the day, personally breakfast is never more than 200 cals, lunch around 350 and the remaining calories left for dinner as I rearely snack and only drink water through the day.
Dh has an active job and needs over 2500 cals to maintain weight. So we each need over 1000 at dinner. Generally have a main plus carbs plus veg and possibly pudding too.

I am convinced that shops choose the size of a 'serving' to be on the smaller side so that it looks like they are healthier because they have fewer cals/carbs/whatever per 'serving'. Like the reason some of the confectioners have chosen to make their bars smaller to make sure they come in under 200 cals.

And of course, if there's less food in a 'serving' then it saves them money.

And we are the ones left thinking it's us and our portion size expectations are unreasonable.

Bulk it out with bread and/or salad or enjoy a pudding. It's the only way. :)

They serve two perfectly well, if you have veg with them. There's anything from 5-800 calories in them.

How are people affording these Charlie Bingham meals? My husband and I were taking the piss out of them in Tesco cheap fridge the other night. They were reduced to 4 quid!!! For bloody macaroni cheese!!! Which reckoned to serve 2 but should probably say one 2 year old!

I could make macaroni cheese for the street for 4 quid!

I've never heard of Charlie Bingham

I'm gonna try a Charlie Bingham now!

We obviously hate rice in this house as a pouch usually does all 4 of us...my shopping might be cheaper if we ate less meat and more rice!

Serves 2 at 600 calories each... No it fucking doesn't when one of you needs 1000 calories at dinner time!

Lol - the CB cottage? shepherds? pie is rather small for two - but if you bulk it out with veg or salad its ok, I mean your not going to get stuffed on it.

Is there any way to alert the CB press people to this thread? any twitter experts?

This has really tickled me!

DH and I whinge about this all the time. He reckons it's upselling (ie forcing you to buy their other food to bulk it out).

Regarding portion sizes generally, we started getting Gousto boxes recently (they're like Hello Fresh but cheaper). At first we were horrified by how tiny the raw portions looked when they were delivered but actually, after putting it all together, the meals are very tasty and filling.

1kg of spuds plus however many grams 10tbsp of rice is would definitely serve 6-8 here, Chardonnay

M&S are doing an Indian Takeaway Deal at the moment and the main meal is designed for two, yet only just managed to feed my 15 year old DS.

Is that the one with 2 mains and 2 sides, sally? That's a lot of salt, if nothing else.

I was horrified to hear that a friend of mine gets a 9" pizza and shared it between her DP and DM - DP gets half, DM gets a 1/3 of the other half and friend eats what's left, and they feel full that's a complete meal for them.

I would demolish the whole thing in one go

We have one of those rice pouches each AND a couple of pitta bread if we have a chilli.

We aim for about 1000-1500 Cals for our dinners.

I am about to start buying cook meals but am putting it off as it will be about £30 per night as we will need the feeds 4 for just the 2 of us, then there's fil and the puddings and cream/custard too plus what the dc eat. It's a lot of food.

I was going to try the CB ones but have been put off by this thread.

OK it's Charlie BIGHAM not Bingham!

Now that's cleared up, whoever upthread said it was so they could keep their calories per portion down was spot on.

We are healthy size/weight/appetite and do exercise and eat normal amounts. We only buy ready meals once a month, maybe twice at a push.

But NO WAY would I ever buy a Charlie Bigham's one - because they are so bloody tiny.

What's the point? I'm not going to be won over by packaging (which they do very well).

Look instead at where their meat comes from... Is it British? Free-range?

And, more to the point, is there enough? For that reason alone, I'd never buy a CB ready meal again.

Stay 9"??? Surely not?! My 7 year old could eat a 9" pizza to himself, plus garlic bread, and he's underweight!

I'm safe with potatoes and rice, but I'm not sharing pizza. All mine!

9" pizza between all them people. I get a pizza that size plus large salad and a dessert then I still have a few squares of dark chocolate before bed

We find the other way. I bought a serves 2 meal deal from the local takeaway, and a potion of chips.
Added 2 sausages and that did for dinner for me, dh and all 3 dc (age 15, 12 and 9).

I'm another one lured to the thread to whinge about Charlie Bigham.

In our house, it's 1.5 portions. Which is bad enough for a "meal for two", but when they retail at £7 each at Waitrose, with half the "meal" being a basic carb that costs 20p to produce... no way. If they've been reduced twice and are a meal we particularly like, I might buy them. Otherwise it's a waste.

I think the Charlie Bigham meals are massive portions! And I am a right fatty

That's what I'm currently consuming per day, MrsKoala! Even when I reach my goal weight, unless I manage an unusual amount of walking (not much other exercise I can do, safely), I'm going to need to stick to 1800kcal per day to maintain my weight.

Witchend a takeaway meal deal is a f=different beast form a supermarket ready meal.

Last 2 person takeaway we got fed me , Dh and teen DS (who can all pack it away) with leftovers for lunch the next day - it was obscene. And we eat a whole chicken for a meal, not eek it into 3 full meals like some manage.

I think the CB macaroni cheese is the most disgusting thing I've ever eaten and I love macaroni cheese! And for science I'm a fatarse

Very rarely buy ready meals because by the time I buy enough for everyone it's cheaper to get a takeaway.

I'm always tempted, but then it put them back because they seem too much expensive.
I only ever buy dhal because I'm the only one who eats it and you can't really cook dhal for one.