Every now and then I see why people rely on ready meals

[JoshandJamie]

I don't often buy ready meals. Very rarely in fact. But there are times like tonight when I just think, dammit, they would be a lot easier. I made roast butternut risotto - not a difficult thing to make, but you have to peel the butternut, deseed it, chop it up, roast it for a good 45 mins. Then start on the risotto, chopping up onion, garlic, then adding all the other bits and, stirring, stirring, stirring, grating cheese.

And then into bowls ....and gone in less than 5 minutes.

Or, I could have bought something, stuck it in the microwave and achieved a similar result with an extra hour plus to myself. Sigh

I see where you are coming from but it wouldn't be similar, it wouldn't taste as amazing as what you make and woudn't be as nutritionally wonderful as what you have cooked

True
I tell myself the same but can never quite bring myself to buy one.
If i can't be arsed cooking,I just do an omelette or sandwich or pasta and pesto,which,lets face it,is just as quick.

but would it have been gone in 5 mins?

I know - DH told me the same thing (while sitting on his fat butt watching TV) and I know it tastes better homemade and has no crap in it and is probably a lot cheaper and there's the warm glow of being a domestic goddess and all....but it would be nice if it lasted a bit longer.

If I cook something nice,always make sure the experience is enjoyed with some music,wine and so on.

can't you take it as an enormous compliment? i bet there are a lot of people on here who'd be thrilled it their families wolfed down a butternut squash risotto.

Exactly drunkensailor. Exactly

J&J would you possibly feel an awful lot better if it wasn;'t you who also had to wash up? I love to cook, and make a gleeful mess all over the kitchen. And then I remember that I'm a) single parent and DS too young to do the washing up and b) militant humanist who can' t really use the excuse of believing in house elves or the Washig Up Fairy.

Oh, and FWIW, make twice as much butternut squash risotto next time and freeze half. Frozen risotto, once reheated, is perfectly reasonable to eat but much less work to make.

Every now and then, I rely on them.

But I work full time, haven't slept for a full night for a year, have my house on the market (so no kitcheny-mess-ups with cooking as by the time I get home at 8pm, or later, and have bfed DS2, put DS1 to bed and sat down, it's close to 10pm) and want a Proper Dinner, not something snack-like.

I am rather enjoying the Simply Natural range from Sainsbury's atm though. Very nice.

I think the Cook! range from M&S is excellent. No gm, no additives but really gorgeous ime. They're completely right, this isn't just a ready meal, it's an M&S ready meal.

I've not tried the Cook! range - do remember you recommending them to me the other day though. Am going to M&S today - will look.

I do recommend the Simply Naturals range though - I love the Mediterranean pork and butterbeans and the jerk chicken and the beef and lentils. Marvellous!

Having ready meals once in a while is fine.

instead or ready meals as such i'm ma,king double batches and freezing half then volia home made ready meals

Haven't got time or inclination to cook much atm, plus no room in freezer. Will again one day.

I'm also a fan of the cook range at M&S, also find it great if I want to make something nice for me and dp without spending hours cooking after I've been at work all day.

hunker, did you see lisalisa's cannelloni recipe? it is the work of five minutes, i made it last night, with cottage cheese instead of feta as i loathe hot feta. but cottage cheese behaves very like ricotta (lord knows given the 'cotta' in common they are likely related.) anyway, the baby Loved it, as did dh and i.

here you go!

Hmm, how to get DH to eat spinach...

Still, I like it a lot (which is obv the main thing ) and that recipe looks fab - thank you! (Who are you, FT?)

FT is aitch I think but could be wrong

sorry, HM, it was me. if you chop the spinach up it looks less spinach-y, iykwim? and it was easy to do the rolling-up bit. lots of nutmeg and you're well away.

just read the recipe again and realised i didn't spread out the mixture before rolling up. i blobbed a bit at the end then rolled it up, and then jammed some more into the ends. it was just like when you make cannelloni with those infernal tubes.

Ready meals are so expensive, though, I'd rather go across the street for a curry instead.

J & J - well everyone really!

I feel i must share my new found lazy risotto success with you - butternut squash risotto baked in the oven instead of painstakingly and time-consumingly stirred over a hot stove. There's a good Delia recipe, on the bbc site i think or on her website. You can do it with asparagus and peas too which is even quicker.

Its deeelicious. And it might make you feel a bit bettter about the whole time taken to make versus time taken to eat thing.

Having said that i do love the odd ready meal though esp fish pie type things - why not once in a while..