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?

Those that mentioned frozen avocado - what do you do with it? I tried defrosting a bit to eat with a salad and it was rank. What should I do with the rest of the packet?

I only use it for smoothies - bit grey and lumpy otherwise!

Marking place - love this thread.

horispondle I put it in my coconut chilli chicken or put it with my lime salmon, I also use it a lot in smoothies and my ds loves eating it mashed up.

ivykaty yy to the potatoes. We don't eat a lot of potatoes and had a lot of waste. Now I just chop and parboil the whole bag, then chuck in a freezer bag with a glug of oil and some seasoning. 20 mins in a hot oven and you've soft roasties, another ten mins and they crisp up.

I love spinach usually buy a fresh bag is the frozen ok does it go mushy?

Lonny, presumably you take them out of the freezer bag before putting them in the hot oven ?

Buy an Asian rice cooker. Not a person, but an actual machine that does it all for you. Just measure out rice after rinsing. 1:1 then switch on.

(No kids, at all. Just easily entertained.)

This photo shows typical Asian rice cooker models.

I like to live on the edge mommy. Watching to see if the ovens going to go up in flames is my idea of a wild night out.

Lazy garlic, I use the oil in cooking too.

This may have already been asked, but isn't Lazy Garlic actually dried garlic flakes rehydrated in white wine vinegar? I only ever use it to fry because if I don't fry off the vinegar it makes the food too acidic.

MrsJay, I tried frozen spinach for the first time on Tuesday. IMO, it's not good enough for a side veg, but it's fine for an ingredient in dishes.

Creme, try wholeleaf spinach rather than chopped - I use it as a side all the time and can't tell the difference to fresh wilted/steamed. I cook it in the microwave and it's much easier to drain than fresh wilted/steamed. Chopped spinach is a nightmare as a side. I can't find wholeleaf at Sainsburys but Waitrose does it.

Thanks for the time, Mommy, but unfortunately my nearest Waitrose is over 20 miles away.

Tip, not time.

Not quite convenience food but I tend to make double/triple of everything and freeze what I don't use right away in ice cube trays, which then get chucked in a freezer bag
Pesto
Home made curry paste
Tomato sauce for pasta
Sofrite
Cheese
Elderly bananas-perfect for banana cake
Stale bread whizzed to make breadcrumbs
Boiled up clementines at Xmas-for nigellas cake
Whole chillies though they seem to get waaaay hotter after being frozen??
Even frozen egg whites are perfect for meringues
Love frozen spinach and berries for smoothies as well
I'll have to try the roasties!

its not a food but a way to cook one so not cheating by posting this. It seriously changed my rice cooking life. You weigh the rice directly into it, then weigh the water into it on top of the rice. You need at least double the amount of water. So, I add 200g of rice and 430g of water. Snap the 2 lids on, microwave for 10 minutes and thats it, no stopping to stir or anything. If I make larger amounts than that I increase cooking. So, 300g of rice ( 4 servings ish) 670g of water, and cook for around 14 minutes. Heres the link - Microwave rice cooker

Love this thread - thank you everyone. My nickname is ironic and I hate cooking; I see it as a chore. (I used to like it before I had to do it to feed the family!) I recently told husband off for buying chopped onions, then used some of them! Wow...so quick. I'm going to try to source many of your recommendations. I like the following:

Microwave porridge sachets - 2 mins - no faff.
Frozen fruit eg blueberries - cool down the above so you can wolf it down quickly for speedy exit to work! ( & healthy...and porridge becomes a lovely purple colour!)
Any leftover sauces & mashes (home-made) frozen in foil containers - content & date written with a Sharpie ( Have eaten a few surprises when I forget to label!)
Dried red lentils are great for bulking out curries & stews - simmer for around 20 mins after adding.
Tinned chickpeas - great for stews/curries/quick houmous.
Frozen veggie hotdogs : 1.5 mins in microwave!

My Local - what's your recipe for fish pie, please?

Don't think I saw this on the thread, but apologies if it's been mentioned. Ocado do frozen Bramley apple slices. So, so fast and easy to make a fabulous crumble!

Yes to frozen blueberries. Brilliant for taking to work to mix with a pot of natural or flavoured yoghurt.

Going to be looking out for frozen onion, I absolutely hate the inevitable eye irritation and tears every time I chop one.