Which "Ready Meals" do you recommend? (Food Police cover your eyes)

[DaphneHarvey]

Like most of you, I'm sure, I cook most meals from scratch. We don't eat "fast" food and very very rarely have takeaways (can't afford em!) but ...

every now and then I want a night off from cooking.

I have been known to buy and enjoy

Waitrose or M & S chicken kievs (the whole breast ones)

Sainsbury's lamb kofta kleftiko

Fish fingers

Good quality vegetarian pizzas

Loyd Grossman pasta sauces

But I want to add to my repetoire for my nights off cooking.

What have you bought and shamelessly enjoyed and not felt guilty about?

chocolate - freezing's great if you've got a big enough freezer. Ours only just holds the essentials (fishfingers, oven chips and ice cubes)...

lol at Dotty's "essentials"

I cook more than one portion but don't have room to freeze more than a couple of portions.

I only have a small freezer in my small flat too so although I do freeze portions of stuff, the problem is generally freezer space

I have 3 small freezers tucked in to the most unlikely crevices, none of them are in the kitchen.

My problem with ready meals is often the quality of the ingredients. I could put up with the fact that the chicken and eggs aren't usually organic or even free range but the fact that generally they're battery and not British is beyond the pale for me (particularly when they originate from countries with an appalling record as far as animals are concerned). If I'm completely pushed for time, I'd rather have a grilled chicken breast sandwich or soemthing although I understand that this isn't really an option if you work full time.

i love to cook but i love to eat as well and sometimes the two things are not compatiable particulary on a friday night when i just want to chill. so my vote would be for an m&s chinese takeaway - ready when you are and cheaper than the real thing. like their crispy prawns , fried rice and duck dishes. don't really rate their indian or italian foods although the mushroom and chicken rissotto is tasty enough. also am quiet partial to their rhubarb crumble

But isn't veal considered one of the cruellest form of meat?

Veal is delicious and not cruel if the calves are "élevés sous la mère" (raised and suckled by their mothers) and not in a crate and bottle fed.

I buy lots of veal here in France but always make sure it is "élevé sous la mère".

I love the M&S chicken balti. Also the M&S steak and ale pie or chicken pie (in the gravy). They are delicious. Their spicy lentil and tomato soup is good (as is the Italian one with beans, can't remember the name).

I almost wept when they opened a M&S food across the road from us - weeping with joy, and at the knowledge that our food bills would rocket (which they did but we've almost completely cut out takeaways and replaced them with their ready meals which are far cheaper!).

Well we, finally, after 8 years of living down this godforsaken track have a CURRY DELIVERY SERVICE and IT IS REALLY GOOD

hard pressed not to order one every blinkin Friday, I can't tell you how joyous this news is

As Anna888 says, veal, like most meat, varies enormously in the way it is produced which is why it's so important that you know where your raw materials are coming from. I only buy British rose veal. Veal crates (the source of much of veal's reputation for cruelty) were banned in Britain in 1990.

ive just put a frozen stuffed butter basted turkey joint in the oven if that counts!! yumyum! i also like asdas frozen peppercorn chicken with rice meal and i LOOOOVE the chinese takeaway!!

what have you done with the real enid???

lol at waiting for 8 years. You POOR thing.

Do they charge extra for having to drive down your muddy track (or maybe it isn't muddy anymore? did you sort it out with neighbours in the end?)

Bighams, very yummy and nice ingredients.
Waitrose do a curry box thing from a restaurant, Quinlon?, i think it's called. v. nice, just like a good takeaway.
m & s cook range.
seeds of change sauces.

marks and spencers veggie kievs with their gourmet chunky chips

Many heartfelt thanks to all who posted their recommendations. I have some lovely ideas there.

Just like Kewcumber, I seem to be immune from "food hangovers" and I've never felt "dirty" after eating a ready meal, perhaps because I studiously avoid the ones packed full of additives. I never eat chicken ready meals, for eg., because I prefer my chicken free range or organic.

I never eat veal, danish bacon, macdonalds, any kind of fast food with meat in it, infact. And neither do my dcs.

This was meant to be a thread for people who fancy a night off cooking occasionally, for whom cooking is a chore rather than a pleasure, or for whom time constraints mean cooking from scratch is an impossibility every night.

Thanks once again to those of you who had something positive to contribute.

P.S. When I have a ready meal, I always cook my own veg or make a salad to go with it. Does that make me less of a slob?

Hellllllo, coming late to this thread but consider myself mumsnet food policeish and still like:

M&S Cook range, everything I've had from there has been fantastic
Tesco Just Cook range, ditto

and neither of them have loads of preservatives, additives or any shite in them, I don't see why they'd be a problem.

(just for the record I think M&S claim that all the chicken in their ready meals is freerange. still a bit salty though [grin)

enjoy. and make sure you try sainsbos indian snack selection. Or actually its similarly packaged vegetable samosas. had them for supper. yum!

i thought it was m&s eggs, not the chickens...

Afraid ir is only the eggs and not the chickens that are free range at M&S

Has anyone tried Cook. My BiLs wife uses them for when the family visit en masse, she used to pass the pies, etc. off as homemade.... but then the children let the cat out of the bag!!

The quality is great and they deliver!

I like the Asda mexican range.

Yes it's got crap in it.

But it's yummy. In fact I love stuff with crap in it.

M&S curries. Sainsbury's aren't bad either.

Haven't read the entire thread, but you do you ALL cook everything from scratch (including bolognaise sauce)? Really????

I have to admit that before i went on mat leave, we got stuff out the freezer and chucked it in the oven. I would probably still be doing that now if i hadn't started coming on MN and feeling adequate amongst all you DomGods!!!

Sorry, pg brain.

I meant:

"I would probably still be doing that now if i hadn't started coming on MN and felt inadequate amongst all you DomGods!!!"