To ask the most useless "convenience" food you've ever purchased

[EveryDayIsADuvetDay]

I recently added oven chips to an online shop, not realising they weren't pre-coated with oil.
Given that I prefer skin-on fries why do they always cost more? I'd effectively bought a bag of expensive sliced up potato.
On the plus side, it has made me realise that buying oven chips is a total waste of time, particularly as I have very limited freezer space.
What's the daftest "convenience" food have you purchased before realising it's a total waste of money?

Frozen fruit - generally squished and tasteless

@ToastAndBlueberies

Frozen fruit - generally squished and tasteless

Nah - frozen blueberries, cherries, currants and berries are all good. No prep and no waste. I have then every day with natural yoghurt.

Frozen spinach is brilliant for adding to cooking so for use in curries and ricotta mixes for cannelloni and lasagne. It tastes fine in all these . I've found drying it works quite well as week. Just add the dried spinach to a curry/ mix and it rehydrates and tastes fine

I've found frozen mixed berries to be very handy this year. They are a bit different to fresh but defrosted I spoon them with the juice that comes off onto sponge and top with cream or yoghurt and it's a dessert the kids like that at least has a shot of fruit in.

Now I'd tried them a few years ago and didn't take to them as a straight replacement for fresh.

I love frozen berries for making smoothies, ice lollies and putting in porridge. Generally cheaper than the fresh stuff and doesn’t go off. Frozen spinach is great for curries. My kids like frozen broccoli and it’s so useful when I’m doing a quick dinner for them.
Frozen nuggets, oven chips, frozen broccoli. Yes I could bread my own chicken and peel and cook potatoes, but then it wouldn’t be a quick and easy dinner.

Same with the pouches of rice, my DH likes to take them to work as they only have a microwave.

Chopped up fruit and veg always looks manky and stale - I feel sorry for anyone who has to rely on these

Frozen strawberries are great in pink gin and lemonade though!

Ready made omelette

M&S pre-sliced and prepared oranges are outrageous at £3.50 a tub which feeds two. But they are lovely for pud with some of M&S caramel sauce drizzled over! We are not otherwise too extravagant.
(I hate peeling oranges, it's all that pith!)

Never bought - but I’ve seen pre made jacket potato...? Why oh why and who on Earth needs to buy that?! Just stick a spud in the oven!

I have arthritis in my hands and I find peeling oranges difficult. I can't peel potatoes any more. So all the things I used to think 'who buys that?' Like ready made mash, oven chips and chopped up fruit, it's now me who buys it.

I didn’t buy it, but saw a peeled orange in a plastic tub when I lived in the states. Ridiculous.

@ufucoffee I hadn’t seen your post when I posted mine. It hadn’t crossed my mind that a ready-peeled orange might actually be useful if it was tough to use your hands. I take it back!

Never bought but ready made jacket potatoes

Also frozen carrots are vile
I once bought a frozen mixed veg with carrots

Lots of references to frozen oven chips, as if you must then use a fryer when you can cut, boil, drain, add oil or goose fat, season, shake about in the saucepan & then tip onto a baking tray in oven for 20 minutes 🤷‍♀️
Yeah frozen oven chips are pointless

Frozen berries are great for adding to porridge

Frozen mushrooms are grim

@WhatAreWordsWorth

I bought some ready-sliced frozen peppers once and they were vile. So watery and tasteless.

I must say though, frozen ready chopped onions are the best thing since sliced bread. I will never peel and chop an onion again.

I thought the same until introduced to tinned onions in our village shop. They are pre-sauteed in olive oil. Genius.

Premade cake mixes always turn out perfect. Every time. Betty Crocker does rock.

Frozen stir fry mix. Mush.

@Dee1975

Never bought - but I’ve seen pre made jacket potato...? Why oh why and who on Earth needs to buy that?! Just stick a spud in the oven!

Don't knock it till you've tried it.

Lots of references to frozen oven chips, as if you must then use a fryer when you can cut, boil, drain, add oil or goose fat, season, shake about in the saucepan & then tip onto a baking tray in oven for 20 minutes

^

One. Sec. Cut. Boil. Drain. Add oil. Then cook again. That's easier than opening a bag and dumping on a tray?

@NowWhatUsernameShallIHave

Never bought but ready made jacket potatoes

Also frozen carrots are vile
I once bought a frozen mixed veg with carrots

Frozen carrots are indeed vile but they are brilliant if you have a soup maker. You tip the frozen carrots in with herbs, seasoning or whatever and 20 minutes later have delicious homemade soup. I do a curried carrot and butternut squash soup made out of frozen veg. Its delicious

I really dont like the taste of oven chips. They seem so dry and tasteless. Didnt stop me raising 3 kids on them mind you! ( Disclaimer, they did eat other things too!)

That's okay @Fwaltz they only make sense when you need them. I wouldn't buy otherwise.