Do you ever buy pre-cut up vegetables...

[Twiglett]

and if you do .... DON'T

in a fit of can't be bothered-ness I bought a bag of fresh broccoli and cauli florets and one of carrot batons (in my defence I wanted to make a quick veg curry)

anyhow .. have just cut up some carrot batons .. and had a couple of the pre-cut batons left

and I have to say .. yuk .. no contest .... totally different taste

well, i do for dd1, she likes the carrot sticks for breaktime, i just grab loads and shove them into a box for her.

either that or a who;e big carrot.

no, can't say i do.

I brought some from a supermarket and they were slimey the first and only time and never again.

i buy, and have so far been ok with what I have have bnought.

having said that tho, for quickness in curries i now alwyas use the frozen birds eye prepreped mixed veg. works better as I only have to use exactly what i need.

have bought pre cut stir fry mixes in the past (pre babies = more money ) but don't anymore. Quite like cutting things up with big knife at the end of the day to let off steam...

if they are 20p in the bargain section then yes definitely otherwise no.

I buy them sometimes. they definitely don't keep as long or have the same taste as completely fresh, unprepared veg. However sometimes it is convenient. Like tomorrow - we are going out for the and having a picnic. I wanted pre done stuff in it's own packaging so it can be thrown away straight after eating. So H have some preprepared salad and some preprepared fruit for ease.

I often buy the bags of brocolli florets from Costco, as well as the baby carrots. I find that we do eat more veg when it ready prepared (that's with the au pair doing the cooking). I buy the ready-to-roast packs too, and just add some garlic and oil to them - but only if I am cooking them the same day, as they do get slimy when left.

I wouldn't pay Sainsbury's extortionate prices though.

I was thinking the same earlier, I bought some carrot sticks from Sainsbury's for nibbling on and they were tasteless and some were even soft.

No i dont.... and wouldnt even consider doing so either!

same applies to ready to 'roast potatoes' etc!

god yes. and salad pre-bagged (don't start re carcenegenics [sp.?]). and yorkshires frozen.

i'm far too busy sitting around buffing my nails and deep-conditioning my hair to even think about chopping veg.

No. Or frozen roasties or frozen jacket spuds (WTF?) or frozen mash (WTF? squared)

I do buy the uncooked frozen Yorkshires though - just a little slab of frozen batter, stick in oven for 20 mins - they are excellent.

hula, how long does it take to chop up a few bits of fruit and put it in a bag or a plastic box???

I used to work in a veg packhouse floretting cauli and broccoli for those ready bags - a mind numbing saturday job!
I used to dream of one day affording to buy them myself. On the plus side, I can now cut veggies up so quickly that I don't have to buy the ready packs.:)

NO ! Neither do I buy pre-grated cheese, tinned chopped onions (yes, they exist!) or frozen omelettes

yept o cheese

Why? can you not be trusted with a cheese grater?

I do buy the bagged salad as if I buy whole lettuces I end up throwing half of it away. But don't do any of the others.

Sometimes if it's a mix which I wouldn't have thought of (like the M&S ones with fancy butters)or if I can't be bothered. Not usually.

JanH - I don't want to take plastic containers - want all throw away so can discard bag after a couple of hours. We are going to Gullivers so don't want bags for the rides with DD. Could have bought food bags and cut my own, but would have had to buy extra stuff in. This would have meant waste as don't need more than tomorroow's picnic worth. So have bought exactly how much I need and that is it. Normally do picnics from scratch but gone for ease this time.

gratin chees is most hated cooking job

Yes - all the time

cod - i grate loads at a time and keep it in a bowl in the fridge for a couple of days.

(please no-one come and tell me about the grated-cheese-mites like the floury ones???!)