convenience food that you've only recently discovered

[startingtolooklikemother]

I've only just discovered that you can buy frozen chopped onion, frozen mash and frozen roast potatoes. They honestly have (vaguely) changed my life! What else am I missing out on, what have you discovered.

recently in convenience foods which has (vaguely) changed your life?

'Not really what you're asking but I recently 'discovered' using my mandolin to finely julienne carrot, cabbage & other veg. '

Bit off thread, but also a new trick of mine is to use the side of a box grater as a mandolin. See picture - the slicy bit to the left. Grate (hahaha) for carrots etc.

Not sure if everyone normally does that or if it's just me that has made this sudden discovery...

Sorry about the huge pic!

I also bought Frozen sweet potato mash - it's in small cylinders and I add a few to pasta sauce to get more veggies in to the DCs. It just melts straight in.

Merchant gourmet sachets like puy lentils, great for salads or as a side. Bit pricey though.
I freeze everything, including rice and never have any issues.

You don't need to chop and then freeze chillis and ginger. Just freeze them whole and grate them from frozen. My top MN tip.

Me too CottonSock - I buy Waitrose Love Life Puy lentil sachets and Puy Lentil plus quinoa and bung some in pasta sauce as well. They are a bit cheaper than Merchant Gourmet. Also jars of grilled peppers are used in nearly everything ( yes again in the pasta sauce!).

oldlaundbooth- Ooh I'd never used my box grater for that- must try it.

Not a convenience food as such, but I popped a bit of left over cheddar cheese in my mouth the other day & picked up the marmalade jar (homemade orange & ginger )to put away- there was a chunk on the lid & I ate that at the same time as the cheese. It was heavenly.

I love squeezy pesto, it lasts way longer then a jar.

I don't have a box grater any more, but I used to use the side for grated carrots too, oldlaundbooth.

Packs of wraps from Farmfoods. Have about a 6 month expiry date.

We always have ten packs in the cupboard in case of running out of bread for packed lunches (lone parent in the week so can't do a 10pm dash to Tesco).

Frozen. Rice.

Mind. Blown.

Made my day. Also, the celery/carrot/onion freezer bags, and the side of my cheese grater. It's the little things.

The garlic paste/frozen garlic.
The frozen Italian mix veg Lydl
The rice cooker
For curries, the readymade spices and a slow cooker
Yummy

Frozen chopped garlic - no more waste at all!

I also use the garlic/chilli flavoured oils to add extra flavour.

Frozen chopped spinach - great for adding to spaghetti bolognese, casseroles etc because it just looks like herbs and you can't taste it. None of the kids ever commented on it.

Frozen portions of fish - great for emergency meals when you find the fridge is virtually bare as you can cook from frozen (wrap in a parcel with vegetables, seasoning etc and bung in the oven)

Just spotted frozen chopped onion a couple of posts below - another great lazy invention!

Fabulous thread.

On the back of this thread I'm going to Iceland tonight! We are struggling to eat healthy meals at the moment due to lack of time so this is just what I needed!

Frozen pumpkin already chopped into cubes

Ocado do a French range, imported from France. Their ready-made pastry is basically pastry as if you had made it at home. It's even ready rolled in a circle so all you have to do is stick it into the quiche dish. This is what French housewives have cheated with for years, and I was so excited when it came here.

I love Waitrose frozen whole leaf spinach (keeps its shape better then chopped, which gets EVERYWHERE). Love frozen butternut squash chunks. Love frozen herbs, garlic, ginger, chilies. I prefer the ones from Waitrose (Cooks Ingredients) to Sainsburys because the Sainsburys ones come in boxes that I find difficult to remove the herbs from once they've been thawed and re-frozen (you know it happens to all of us). The Waitrose ones come in bags and they are much easier to remove - I can get a (clean) hand in there to remove stuck-together chunks if I need to..

Haven't tried frozen onions, rice or mash - I tried freezing my own mash once and it came out watery - don't know what I did wrong.

I was really proud of myself recently because I took a Jamie Oliver recipe for chickpea curry and totally "store-cupboard-ised" it. The recipe called for fresh tomatoes, a knob of ginger, cloves of garlic, fresh spinach etc. and everything I used was either from a tin or frozen (except maybe the onions). It was gorgeous! I now make sure I always have the ingredients on hand, which isn't hard.

I think frozen ingredients are probably better than packets, as frozen ingredients don't need to be messed around with to preserve them, while if ingredients are going to be stored at room temperature and not canned you have to put all sorts of garbage into them.

A relatively new cooking cheat: For roasties and chips I microwave the sliced potatoes for 9 minutes in a glass bowl, take them out of the microwave and bash them around, then put them back in the microwave for another 5-6 minutes and bash them again before mixing with oil, seasoning and whacking them into a hot oven for 30-45 minutes, depending on size. It takes as much time as parboiling but I'm not watching a boiling pot and can get on with other prep. It's also something DCs can help with. It's also more energy efficient, isn't it?

I found out earlier this year that you can freeze roast potato. So instead of buying shop frozen toasties - I can freeze my own. I just make extra on a Sunday I do have time and then freeze for a mid week super. Much cheaper and home made.

Squeezy pesto! Need to get some of that.

Pre-peeled and sliced mushrooms are amazing. So easy to throw into a pan with a bit of butter, a beaten egg and pesto for a mushroom omelette-type thing for baby DS's lunch.

Rice was my nemesis until I found this never-fail way:

1 cup rice, 1.5 cup water
Bring to a simmer in pan with lid on for 15min
Take off heat, leaving lid on, for 15min
Fluff with fork
Eat.

Don't let your grated cheese get mouldy - freeze it immediately in the bag and use from frozen. I usually mix cheddar and mozzarella together myself in a strong bag. A few bits clump together occasionally but there is NO waste

Sainsburys basics frozen berries are nicer in my opinion than any supermarkets' full price versions (have tested waitrose, Sainsburys, tesco and aldi)