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.

who?

The AI chat program that has been all over the news for weeks. I notice someone else said so on previous page so it's not just me!

That long post by GwendolenAbbot or whatever the name is reeks of an AI response. Very weird.

4 or 5 times a week, can't/won't cook.

There are a lot of weird responses on this feed - posters “never had a ready meal and never will “ - they are either lying or not living in the real world!

Not these days, but when I was a student and in my 20s I ate them every day for years. I was never overweight or unhealthy.

I don’t eat them, but I do have super noodles and pot noodles occasionally, and have takeaways way too often so can’t judge those that do. We all have our vices.

😳

I think only one poster, mentioned above that was likely using it, it did stick out a mile and there was a lot of rapid postings which were sort of took over the thread

I hadn’t paid too much attention but have gone back and see what you mean.

I normally defrost overnight in the fridge then if plans change I'm safe in the knowledge that the food has stayed cold while defrosting and have the next day.

If a casserole/chilli type dish I always reheat in the microwave as I find it's better reheated that way.

When I make Lasagne I always freeze made up in those long foil dishes you can buy then I only need to defrost put a but of grated cheese on the top and oven bake.

"vs people who don't eat processed foods."

I'd like to see proof of anybody not eating ANY processed foods. UPFs maybe, but avoiding anything processed is almost impossible.

I don't know why you would think that? I think plenty of people just don't have them on their radar. I've said previously that I have UPFs, convenience foods, takeaways etc but I have genuinely never had one of the tray type ready meals.

Actually, I should amend that to I've never bought one... I've had plane food and hospital food so I'm not under any illusions that there is a dedicated plane chef whipping up fresh meals for everyone 😆

Yes, agreed - those responses are 100% ChatGPT or Bard. It’s exactly how they write.

It’s actually really interesting how incredibly obvious it is on a thread like this!

I thought the exact same!

I'm a delivery driver for a supermarket and I can assure you people consume massive amounts of them. Singles, family's, the elderly. Loads. I thought I was wierd for a long time as I don't eat them.

“See proof”

what like a poo analysis?

We have a couple in the freezer for lazy nights, but mostly we batch cook and freeze. My parents only ever ate ready-made, so I did want to eat better myself. My kids eat more ready meals though, particularly my youngest who is possibly ASD and we struggle to get her to eat much of anything

I think this does illustrate how no one can do everything. You cook from scratch for your family and work a high pressured job four days a week, which is great, but you don’t recognise the name of a programme that’s regularly been front page news for the last 4-6 months because of concerns that programmes like it will decimate the labour market.

No judgment! Just saying.

I think the 'who' might have been 'which poster' rather than what is Chat GPT.
Still a strange reply because Gwendolyn's posts are so robotic I'm surprised OP didn't see that.
For what it's worth I think Gwendolyn is a real person who just spouts some pre-prepared reply instead of reacting to other posts.

😂😂

I guess my algorithm doesn’t bring it up.

Im not perfect, just close 🤩

I don't believe everyone on here... our supermarkets are made up o 50% ready meals or components of such so who's buying them? Marks and Spencer's entire business is ready meals (ok lots are oven cooked, but they are ready meals.) and also ready meals aren't always terrible. At the same time cooking isn't great either if you use ready made sauces,noodles, seasonings etc. all these things are upf. What about lunch / breakfast.... cereal is ultra processed, as is factory bread. So why demonise microwave meals especially? No worse than a ham sandwich made from cheap products.

I often pick something up from m and s on the way home if I can't be bothered cooking. I have a very healthy diet generally.

I think it probably depends how rich you are and how big your family is. I have a large family so ready meals aren’t really a help and we can eat much better and more quickly if I cook. I do buy baked beans for one of my children because they adore them and don’t eat enough protein for my liking.

I rarely cook. I live alone in a tiny flat with a tiny kitchen. I work long hours so I don’t want to spend any free time cooking or washing up. I get some well tasty ready meals.

I actually don't eat ready meals.
Never bought them for my DC either.
It's only two of us at home now but I find them expensive.

I've a range of DF's who's elderly parents live alone and either buy/eat M&S ready meals or like my FIL have them delivered from Wilshire farm foods.
Which is probably so much easier for them.

During my school days, yonks ago my DM worked in school kitchens when dinners were cooked from scratch, even a day or so of the school holidays were used to batch cook and freeze meals for home use as she'd spend every school day cooking it gave her somewhat of a break from it to grab something from.the freezer so it's what I was taught and I've always done it.

Admittedly I'll buy mini pizza's for DH for a quick weekend lunch, sausages, potato croquets, and humms as life's is to short, and tahini paste is also expensive and goes off before I use it all up...although I did buy a small bag of sesame seeds this week to have a go at making my own.

More and more people are time poor today so it's whatever suits them best. No one size fits all.