to consider living on ready meals from now on

[crochetmonkey74]

I HATE cooking and hate food shopping as well- last night as I popped into M and S for a food hall browse I pondered the idea of living on their ready meals from now on- does anyone do this? Do you get sick of it? Is it really expensive?

I live alone so no one else to consider meal plan wise- are there other shortcuts that are as easy but maybe a little more healthy/ frugal?

We eat a lot of ready meals. We all like different things and Ds aged 9 has autism and is really restrictive about what he will eat so I often end up cooking 4 different meals otherwise. I do always add fresh veg with whatever we have. They’re not all as unhealthy as they used to be. I avoid any that have tons of salt or saturated fat in them.

What about all the plastic waste you’d generate? Not really planet friendly….mind you it seems to be getting harder to buy fresh food without a ton of plastic…

@0None0

No. That level of processed food is a short cut to obesity and heart disease and an early grave

Not so. My sister has been living on them for years - she is single, and when diagnosed with diabetes 2 she didn't know how to cook to lose weight and control her condition. She picked a few dishes that she likes, and she can read the fat/ carb levels on the packet. She has lost the weight she needed to lose and remains free of any diabetes symptoms. For her it is the opposite of what you predict here.

I eat plenty of ready meals, or I did when I lived in the UK and they were affordable.
Rubbish to say that they automatically make you fat. In fact, it can be much easier to watch your weight with them because you know how many calories you're taking in.
However, it's not the only way to eat without cooking, you can also make fresh food in the microwave pretty quickly, buy packs of microwave veg etc., have salad from a bag, soup from a packet or tin. I hardly ever cook, but I don't have ready meals every day either.

@theemmadilemma

Have you considered Hello Fresh? I know you have to still cook it, but they're generally not complicated.

It takes away the need to go shopping for food, you get to choose and try new things with out spending a fortune on a spice you might use once, it's reduced food and packaging wastage while we've been trying it.

"I know you have to still cook it, but they're generally not complicated.

It takes away the need to go shopping for food,"

But her problem is with cooking, more than shopping.

@0None0

No. That level of processed food is a short cut to obesity and heart disease and an early grave

This.

They can be nice (the expensive ‘luxury’ ones) on rare occasions. However they are packed with chemicals and salt.

To be healthy you need to cook fresh.

Meal subscriptions are increasingly popular these days... you can probably get healthier stuff of a better variety delivered to your door, although will be pricey I imagine.

I also live alone and I can cook, but I hate it with all my being. I enjoy shopping for fresh and varied ingredients but they don’t magically turn themselves into a meal when I get home, sadly.

Personally I find ready meals are slightly more expensive, and I end up getting bored after a few weeks. Not to mention the salt and additives in them.

My recommendation would be to invest in lots of Tupperware. Learn how to do 2-3 basic, easy and quick meals that you can make 6-8 portions of, and freeze most of them. I still hate it but force myself to do it because that’s what I can afford. I spend one afternoon every 2 weeks cooking, and then I follow an approximate plan that consists of:

• 4 home-cooked (main) meals a week - 2 of each of whatever I have in the freezer (so I need to make 8 portions every fortnight).
• 2 ‘easy’ non-cooking meals - tortilla chips with sauces, jacket potato, I had rice cakes with cream cheese and some aubergine salsa last night. Things that don’t need preparing, other than turning on the oven. During winter these can also be frozen ‘beige’ food or €2 pizzas, in which case I try to up my home cooked meals.

1-2 ready meals or meals out a week. Local restaurant makes excellent food, healthy and fresh, for €7-8. It’s another ‘home-cooked meal’ but I don’t put any effort into preparing it.

Personally I wouldn't due to expense and they aren't really that good for you.

What about 1 day a month batch cooking and freezing individual dinners. You could freeze them in bags to save space or just individual tubs.

Or what about just making yourself quick meals like an omelette or stir fry etc.

Also I highly recommend buying a slow cooker. To me it's the best thing ever invented. Just bung everything in during the morning and it's all ready by dinner time.

@BarbaraofSeville

Some of the M&S ones are literally something like salmon, new potatoes and green veg in a plastic tray.

Pick mostly that kind and not things like macaroni cheese and I don't see the problem.

They also do the stir fry deal, which does 2 meals and you get a bag of ready prepped stir fry veg, chicken, prawns etc, noodles and a sauce. Again, totally fine and takes no effort and a few minutes to prepare.

Of course you can eat more cheaply, but not by a huge amount if you're cooking for one, especially if you can look out for the reduced ones or special offers.

Perhaps the kind mentioned here are not so bad, I don't know, but ready meals in general are not made from ingredients as you and I know them. The ingredients are already processed in various ways before they get to the factory where the ready meals are produced, which makes ready meals ultra processed food.

From the ages of about 18-35, living in London, I lived on a combination of restaurant meals and M&S ready meals. Learned to cook - and got quite into it - after that. But I'm single and childfree. Not sure how it would work for a larger family - quite an expensive choice, I'd think.

I'd do this in a heartbeat - either M&S or something like Cook (who've just brought out a new healthier-looking single portion range). When I worked in the City I used to bulk-buy the M&S 3 for £7 meals for the week on my way in on Monday, and just bring in some chopped veg to eat with eat. Did similar when I was intermittent fasting, because it's so easy to measure your calorie intake on them.

Of you want to try ready meals for a bit then I'd go for a company that is slightly healthier. Mindful Chef is good, I get their soups and smoothies for when I'm really busy.

TBH my ideal would be some sort of daily tiffin service. But they don't exist at the scale and price point they do in India, in south London (surprisingly! ).

I enjoy cooking but with 2 autistic boys with their own restricted diets, something has to give so I do scatter a few ready meals through the week for me and dh. I always add extra veg or salad, though, eg some broccoli with a Chinese meal or cauliflower with a curry.

You can also make your life a bit easier with some batch cooking, so you always have portions of soup, bolognese or chilli or whatever in the freezer.

I'm afraid it wouldn't be healthy OP, but I feel your pain.

I sometimes look wistfully at the giant bags of dry dog biscuits and wish I could just serve up five bowls of the bastard three times a day. Bliss

Ah the evil chemicals. Do people not realise everything is made up of chemicals?

I have recently become very apathetic towards cooking. Part of a general CBA attitude towards my own welfare. I am tempted to do similar. It's better than living off takeaways. Which is what I'm doing currently.

YANBU.

Not all ready meals are full of chemicals, salt and additives and like a PP said, it can actually be easier to track your calories and fat intake as everything is right there on the packaging and portioned up for you.

I can't stand cooking, especially when the weather is as warm as it is now. Our kitchen is tiny and it's just a massive faff

The ingredients are already processed in various ways before they get to the factory where the ready meals are produced, which makes ready meals ultra processed food

I don't understand comments like this. What are you imagining when you write it?

From an M&S chilli, so not even 'salmon and veg' that I gave as an example

www.ocado.com/products/m-s-balanced-for-you-chilli-rice-bowl-509845011, the ingredients are:

Beef (27%), Cooked Rice Mix (17%) (Long Grain Rice, Water, Wild Rice, Sunflower Oil), Tomatoes, Water, Red Kidney Beans (9%), Tomato Purée, Onions, Red Peppers, Cornflour, Ground Spices (Cumin, Coriander, Paprika, Smoked Paprika, Black Pepper), Honey, Rapeseed Oil, Garlic Purée, Coriander, Salt, Chipotle Chillies, White Wine Vinegar, Oregano, Brown Sugar, Balsamic Vinegar, Sunflower Oil, Sugar, Acidity Regulator: Acetic Acid (which is just vinegar, before we go off on 'chemicals' so nothing you wouldn't find in your own kitchen and it has 318 calories, 7 g fat and 1.4 g salt, so less than a quarter of the recommended limit.

Is that really so high in calories, chemicals, fat and salt?

I’ve done it before - it does get boring.
Right now am getting a green chef delivery. There’s still a bit of meal prep but I don’t have to really think too much

I don’t see how microwaving a meal saves much time, a simple stir fry can be chucked in a wok and cooked in the same time? Cooking fish is also super fast and much better than processed meals.

Not everything is made up of chemicals 😐

Yeesh, I wouldn't. Nutrition is not only about calories, fat, salt etc but other micronutrients and vitamins. Ready meals are processed slop that have much of the nutritional value taken out. In particular I think ready meals don't have much fibre.

You can eat simply without doing lots of cooking - easy egg-based dishes, simple pasta, salad etc. It doesn't have to be slaving over a hot stove.

I’ve been living off ready meals for two months, it’s easy portion control and calorie counting. I love the fact I don’t need to think about cooking (apart from the kids dinner) I’ve lost 1 and a half stone. I couldn’t do it long term but haven’t stuggled.

@Crowsaregreat

Yeesh, I wouldn't. Nutrition is not only about calories, fat, salt etc but other micronutrients and vitamins. Ready meals are processed slop that have much of the nutritional value taken out. In particular I think ready meals don't have much fibre.

You can eat simply without doing lots of cooking - easy egg-based dishes, simple pasta, salad etc. It doesn't have to be slaving over a hot stove.

Why do people think ready meals are totally void of any nutrition whatsoever? I see it repeated on here all the time but nobody ever seems to have any evidence to back it up.

My elderly father largely lives on them as well as things like frozen fish and chips . He does say though after a while they all taste the same .