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.

Grated cheese usually uses potato starch because of this reason.

@Bellaboo01

Forgot to mention even nicer when warm, I keep one or two in the freezer and cook them for slightly longer from frozen, oh God I am now salivating.

@Grimchmas because when I was cooking at the weekend and checked the ingredient list for passata it wasn't 100% tomatoes so there was an element of processing to this product. As much as I like to think I am doing what I can to avoid processed food, I am relying on these products too.

RedRosette2023 I've just read the Ultra Processed People book. I found it horrifying and fascinating in equal measure. It has actually changed my life. I have stopped eating UPF for the last 3 weeks. I have a very long history of disordered eating but for the first time in a long time I am enjoying my food and have found that my appetite has regulated itself. What I have found really scary is the volume of UPF and actually it's very difficult to buy anything that is not UPF if you need to buy a quick lunch. Going into a corner shop recently and it made me look at things in a different light. There was literally no actual food in there - it was literally just packets of chemicals pretending to be food.
It has been challenging but I'm fortunate that I do like to cook and it has really made me view things differently.

Have you missed where I said I’m celiac and that part of me not having ready meals is because I can’t or for a long time haven’t been able to. I have never seen a family friendly GF ready meal. I’d say the free from ranges that have appeared in the supermarket have been in the last 10-15 years and it was a slow start. Brilliant ranges now, hasn’t always been the case. So does that deal with the fourth point of your list?

Yes, but it does now. It was quite common wheat starch before. I still check.

I have a ready made chilled pizza if they're counting that, usually once a week

Is there a reason for using passata and not tinned tomatoes?

Grated cheese tends to be potato starch not wheat these days. DD is gluten free, as I've mentioned before I'm a big user of convenience food. M&S have a decent gluten free ready meal selection, in fact M&S actually have become quite good at labelling things as actually gluten free. Lots of supermarket sausages are now gluten free. It has improved quite a lot in recent years.

I just wish I didn't have to order the Freee buckwheat flour online, as it costs a bomb in postage.

Wouldn't beans on toast (and I love them as well) be considered ultra processed? My understanding is that basically anything that isn't a fresh ingredient is processed.

No, never!

The only thing I can think of is occasionally I would get a tomato and basil soup to put into the microwave for lunch at work. But the ingredients were clean and minimal!

@SusannaQ it has improved a lot. I am quite rural. My co-op has a small selection, when I go to M&S I get their chicken goujons and a sausage roll! I don’t have one local so probably go 2-3x a year.

When I was first diagnosed there was nothing, just a monthly food parcel. I’d say I just didn’t eat bread or pasta as it was so disgusting. It’s much better now.

See for me this is a good example of where we all draw the line.

I’ll eat the odd ready meal (albeit usually a “posh” one .. though it likely makes no difference) and I eat pre-made pizza a lot but I’ve never once eaten pre-made roast potatoes or Yorkshire puddings. It’s just a kind of arbitrary line and for some reason in my head buying pre-made roast potatoes crosses it.. but then for you, you cook from scratch a lot but not roast potatoes.

I think a lot of the ready meal thing is snobbery really and even the people I know who go on about how they always cook from scratch really don’t - they have a freezer full of Dr Oetker like the rest of us. Just because it comes on a cardboard tray rather than plastic makes no difference.

For that matter - actually the “posh” ready meals (still ready meals!) tend to come on thick cardboard or similar trays not plastic, so they’d pass your plastic tray test when they are the same thing.

I call the foods you’re discussing ‘ping’ meals and yes we do have some alongside other meals. I tend to buy the high end ready meals like Charlie Binghams. No idea if they are as bad as your average crap in a plastic container. I guess I’m hoping not 😬

A lot of nonsense on this thread as if all ready meals are full of dreadful things. They're not. Some are of course, many aren't.

I find fault with the question a bit because once a month is 'regularly', but in no way a significant part of an overall diet, and I wonder whether the actual research phrased it this way or defined what they classed as regular.

We probably have a Charlie Bigham lasagne or similar about once every week or two. There's nothing in the ingredients that isn't what I'd put in if I make it myself, and lasagne is not something you can make well on a week night if working full time, looking after ponies and taking child to activities.

We cook more or less from scratch most nights (obvs use this like passata, stock, some ready made marinades etc.), but it's easy to get a bit bored of meals that all take less than 20-30 mins to cook, that are balanced/healthy and that we all like.

So yes we do regularly eat ready meals, but it doesn't mean we're sitting down to nuggets and potato smilies every night.

Wait, what? Why is fresh pasta a ready meal but dried pasta isn't? I've got both in and the only ingredient difference is that the fresh one has some egg in it.

I have never seen a family friendly GF ready meal.

out of interest OP where do you shop?

And may I ask what your been by family friendly? Pack size, or type of food that children will eat?

And are you happy with an ingredients list that doesn't contain gluten, or do you stick to things that are specifically branded or labelled gluten free?(with the coeliacs that I know there is quite a variation on what food they will risk or not risk)

Not sure if allowed (I don't work for them) and certainly expensive but might be an idea instead of a carry out occasionally
https://www.cookfood.net/menu/main-meals/gluten-free

Yes. All the time. My DH and I can both cook very well but we have two autistic children with food issues. Beige food for them and a few COOK meals for us.

We both work, have busy lives and I’m not being a slave to my kitchen.

I’d love if we could eat as a family but it is what it is.

I suspect that statistic is stretching the definition of ‘ready meal’ beyond the plastic tray in the microwave type. Once or twice a month I eat frozen ready battered fish and oven chips with tinned mushy peas. To me that’s a ready meal. That makes me one of the 90% although I don’t buy the plastic tray type of meal.

Is a shop bought sandwich a ready meal? Is a tin of soup a ready meal? I would say yes.

If you want a smooth sauce?

@ailsamaryc

I use them regularly. The food is nice, good portion sizes and a decent selection.

It’s not cheap but it hasn’t increased my food bill significantly.

depends where you draw the line really. I don't buy complete meals, or use bought sauces or pastes. But then last night we had some oven chips alongside home made fish tacos. I also sometimes buy filled pasta, and falafels for lunches. I make bread at the weekends, but buy during the week. And there's always bought ice cream in the freezer and crisps, chocolate, and crackers in the cupboard, although I make my own cakes. So probably Dh and I eat 80% fresh, 20% processed/ultraprocessed.

But my lifestyle lends itself well to cooking each night. I get in from work by 17.30 most nights and enjoy cooking. Plus I can visit the shops easily on my lunch break to top up with fresh stuff. Still, it undeniably takes up much more time - not just the cooking but planning, shopping more often to keep fresh, and the kitchen needs much more cleaning. As a result I have less time for other chores and live in a bit of a midden.

We almost always cook from scratch but do tend to have some yellow stickered ready meals in the freezer for times when we have had a difficult day at work or just can't be bothered. Generally only get the nicer stuff so Tesco Finest, M&S, Waitrose, Charlie Bigham's etc and usually only stuff that's relatively low in saturated fat and salt. I wouldn't eat most ready meals tbh, especially the cheaper ones with mince or flaccid chicken bits and loads of oil and salt 😬

Yes - i did and also then you backtracked and said about your husband uses 'jarred' sauces - that is a meal that is 'ready'!!

Class has absolutely nothing to do with this. I am from a council/ working class background and i am VERY proud of that. I have done very well for myself BECAUSE of this. You are sounding very much like Katie Hopkins!

I would love to hear about your alternatives as i am also a coeliac (FYI - you spelt it wrong).

I honestly would love to hear what you feed your whole family as i am clearly struggling. Obviously as a coeliac we get certain food free on prescription but, obviously i don't find this goes far as it is only on prescription for me?