Do you eat ready meals regularly?

[RedRosette2023]

Following from another thread - I heard a statistic the other day that said up to 90% of people regularly consume ready meals. As in, in a plastic container and from the microwave or oven.

I sense that MN is quite middle class so likely not representative of the whole of the country. But I was surprised by that statistic.

I genuinely can’t remember the last time I ate a ready meal. I occasionally gave eldest DC an Ella tray when they were weaning, a meal I could keep in my changing bag and have handy in case we were out over tea time. My youngest refused any pouches etc so he has never had one. He’s always just eaten what we’ve eaten and taught me baby food is totally unnecessary, albeit convenient at times.

I am coeliac so it’s possible my habits have been formed due to necessity - I would struggle to pick up a ready meal I can eat with ease. M&S do some and I think GF ones slightly more available now but I just don’t buy them.

I’m also not a SAHM Mum, I work a pressured job four days, my DH works away mostly during the week, I use hello fresh etc 3-4 days. But I always find time for a meal. My ready meal is something batch cooked out the freezer.

No judgment - just genuinely interested.

Love the fit food ready meals they are all high in protein and fibre and low in fat apart from that no

Never. They are so bad for you on every level.

I honestly can’t remember the last time. It must have been years. I’ve not had a microwave for nearly 2 years though so that makes things more difficult in terms of ready meals.

I am an avid user of jar sauces though.

Not RTFT… but one of the best things I’ve purchased in a long time is a proprietary oven withA meal subscription. Not technically ready made in the sense that the OP I think is after. More like a an advanced hello fresh type subscription that the food is already assembled but you may need to to do a few extra steps.

The difference between a supermarket/freezer meal and this is the ingredients and processing. It’s a godsend for busy people.

Here is a random meal I picked off their website.

fish fingers are ready meals.

and your kids wait that long? Or you don't eat with them.

First born... Organic, made from scratch -pfb. Second born, organic pre made baby food. Now... They're 17 and 18 and I'm knackered when I get home so they either have to cook for themselves or I pick up ready meals. When I worked part time I used to cook from scratch but since I've been back working full time (10+years) the ready meals have made a regular appearance. I do feel guilty about the amount I get but overall they have a pretty balanced diet - depending on what they cook!

Of course, don't believe the people that say not, but just not all the time.

No, i wouldn't call myself particularly precious about not having them, but i do tend to cook from scratch, especially as we tend to eat lots of Asian food so it's often lots of fresh veggies, rice, sauces and protein. My go to easy meal would be ramen and Gzoya, so ramen would count as processed?

My kids don't tend to like bland English food

They’re a convenience food. Not a ready meal.

It’s a bit extreme to say you don’t believe them?

I have eaten one in donkeys years. I do use convenience foods, occasionally like fish fingers. But not a meal from a plastic tray.

When I worked late and got home knackered it was usually a packet of Super Noodles. Or I'd eat a Boots sandwich in the office. Even now, cooking after work is such a chore.

Never.

I remember trying one when I was much younger, probably late teens. It was a bolognaise and it was disgusting. It really put me off the idea of them. I've never had one since.

I don’t buy ready meals of the pop in the microwave type. The good quality ones are too expensive and still not all that nice in my opinion, and that Charlie Bingham Fish pie that’s been referred too has still been sitting on a refrigerated shelf for days before you eat it, which makes it unappealing.
I’ve not read the book on UPFs but I’m intrigued by it. I’m disappointed that they’ve used the 90% stat when the real number is lower. If their argument is strong enough re cause and effect, why the need to overstate the stats?

It’s very rare. I do like the Charlie Bingham fish pie but they’re extortionately expensive, we’ve had it maybe once in the last year.

Most dinners are cooked from scratch, or mostly from scratch - I’m not making the pasta myself or anything. But pretty much all our regular weeknight meals take no more than 30 minutes, and quite a few of the favourites take about 10 (boil orzo, add peas to the water, cook prawns in a little garlic oil and add sprinkling of parsley, combine - salad on the side).

We use some convenience food too - fishfingers probably every couple of weeks (and I maintain these are fine and not an UPF), often use the cauldron falafel and shop bought hummus with flatbreads and salad for quick east dinner.

And if I really really can’t be bothered then it’s scrambled eggs or if it’s just DD and I we’ve been known to have porridge for dinner occasionally - provided she’s had a proper cooked meal at the childminders at lunchtime.

I made all DD’s food when weaning, proper PFB territory, and I really enjoyed it too, she was a good eater and I had the time. Nowadays I’m busier and less precious. She bloody loves the fruit purée pouches now, after avoiding them when she was a baby. We use them for baking as a sweetener, or in Greek yoghurt or porridge sometimes, but she lives for the times she gets to just down one straight from the pouch.

@AliasGrape

Fish fingers are processed not UPF.

This app is really useful if that’s something that concerns/interests you its OpenFoodFacts.

@AliasGrape i am the same. I think there’s a misconception that cooking equals hours of prep and that’s not the case. I like things like lasagne, fish pie, chicken pie and cottage pies but they take ages and so we don’t have them that often. Most of my meals are 20-30mins on a weeknight.

I often do a big batch of bolognese, freeze it and make lasagne with a portion of it at a later date because making a lasagne all in one go feels like a lot of effort!

Not so often, BUT I don't say that in a smug way. I'm a simple cook and will sometimes just have toast or cereal for my tea!

@JMSA there is no way not to be smug, some people are determined to view it as such 😂

"Most of my meals are 20-30mins on a weeknight."

I laugh when people think this is quick. 20 minutes is way too long to spend cooking something I'll eat in 5 minutes.

I’m coeliac. We had the M&S prawn paella the other day and a takeaway pizza from a place that sells GF pizzas last night.

We don’t have them weekly; maybe once a month/6 weeks. I cook and bake from scratch (my own recipes, not recipe boxes) all the bloody time, and I work, as does DH. We have a 4 year old also. I feel no guilt whatsoever about the occasional ready meal when I am tired.

Wow.

Mn isn’t the real world - many of us buy prepared pasta sauce, fish fingers, pizza, microwave rice, microwave bags of prepared vegetables, frozen jacket potatoes, bags of prepackaged salad, fruit and veggies etc, meals from Cook (we had Christmas dinner with all the extras from there one year). Anything to make life a little easier.

I wonder who is buying all those ready meals then?

I'm single, but obviously most MNers have families, but I'd say the average ready meal is for 1-2 people.