NOW CLOSED: Young's 'Twice a Week Challenge' feedback thread

[AnnMumsnet]

This thread is for the 25 Mumsnetters and their families that are taking part in the Young's "Twice a Week Challenge"

Here's what Young's say about the "Twice a Week Challenge":

"The UK Government's general advice is to eat two portions of fish a week, one of which should be oily, and we'd like to show folks how easy it is to meet this target. Young's has a wide range of delicious fish meals so you needn't get bored of eating the same dishes and there's something that all the family will enjoy".

"Jamie Oliver by Young's has recently launched a frozen-fish range for Young's, championing high-quality and sustainable alternatives to species such as cod and haddock. The range includes MSC-certified fish fingers, crispy fishcakes and little meals created especially with kids in mind all made from Young's responsibly sourced salmon and Pollock and packed with hidden veg and low in salt. What is more, the pollock in Jamie's range is filleted and frozen within hours of being caught, keeping it as fresh and delicious as possible and all the recipes use chunks of fish and not minced fish, so you can be confident knowing you've got a quick and healthy meal on standby whenever you need it"

Below are a few questions for you to answer but please feel free to add any other thoughts or comments you may have.

Please also state which products you tried throughout the "Twice a Week Challenge". Everyone who adds their feedback will be entered into a prize draw to win Jamie Oliver goodies worth £100 - the winner can choose between JO kitchenware to the value of £100 or a £100 voucher for one of Jamie's Italian restaurants (locations nationwide).

Please add your feedback giving overall first impressions at the start of the 2 week challenge period and then answer these questions towards the end of the fortnight. We'd also love to hear how you get on during the challenge and your recipe and meal idea tips.

Thank you and good luck with the prize draw!

Questions to be answered at the start of the challenge

~ How easy generally do you find it to introduce fish into your family's diet?
~ Do you eat frozen fish as well as fresh? If so why? If not why not?

~ What was your overall impression of the Young's range? What did you like? What didn't you like?
~ Is sustainability important when you?re choosing meals to feed your family?

Questions to be answered towards end of challenge

~ Out of the products you tried, which did you / your family like best? Why?
~ Which didn't you / your family like? Why?

~ Would you buy Young's products again? Why?
~ If you didn't eat frozen fish before, have your opinions of frozen fish changed at all? If so, why? If not, why not?
~ How easy / difficult did you find it to introduce fish into your family's diet? Why?

~ How convenient did you find the meals? Were they quicker than how you usually cook fish meals? If so, why? If not, why not?
~ Going forward, do you think you will try to include fish at least twice a week in your families' diet?
~ If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the Young's range to your friends? Why?
~ Is sustainability important when you?re choosing meals to feed your family?

Thanks, MNHQ

We had the basa fillets in tempura batter tonight and they were really good - very moist and much nicer than I expected. Will definitely buy them again.

Havnt got time to answer all the questions yet (and want to try more before I do) but we made the gastro basa fillets (cracked pepper) last night and they were DELICIOUS. DD (nearly 3) LOVED it (and she's fussy!).

Everyone try the gastra basa please!

I went to the "big" Morrisons in the next town on Monday and filled up a whole freezer draw with various fishy items .

So far we have tried the Whole Scampi (with potato rosti & salad) & the DCs have tried the battered fish fingers from the Chip Shop range. Both went down well .

Our next fishy menu will be the cod in Kingsmill breadcrumbs and we also have Jamie Oliver fishcakes (two sorts, sweetcorn & cheese ones and parsley breadcrumbs ones) to sample this week.

I still have half of my vouchers left, so will be choosing what else to get for next week shortly. I fancy trying the fish in parsley sauce (always loved that as a child) but DH is less excited about the prospect!

How easy generally do you find it to introduce fish into your family's diet?

It is fairly easy to get the family to try fish, but much more difficult to get them to eat more than a bite or two.

Do you eat frozen fish as well as fresh? If so why? If not why not?

For this trial, yes. In fact, I have only bought frozen fish for this trial. In general though, I tend to go for fresh because I have it in my mind somewhere that fresh food is always better for you than frozen. It may be an urban myth, but I'm sure someone told me at some point that freezing food takes the "goodness" out of it .

What was your overall impression of the Young's range? What did you like? What didn't you like?

Really, all I could find was cod, haddock & scampi. There are so many different species of fish it would be nice to have a wider choice. The Jamie Oliver fishcakes (and, I think, fish pie) are pollock - which we have never knowingly tried before though. If cod or haddock are what you want then the choice is good.

Is sustainability important when you're choosing meals to feed your family?

Yes, definitely. Apart from the more far reaching issues, there is no point educating my DCs to like fish now if it won't be readily available when they are adults.

I will come back and answer the other questions next week .

Thanks for letting us be part of the trial.

Mixed results tonight. Tried ds on JO Pollock Fish Pie. He had a few mouthfuls but didn't really enjoy it. Not sure why, but he's never enjoyed homemade fish pie either. Odd, considering he likes mash, carrots, peas, cheese and apparently white fish! Was hoping for miracles I suppose.

We had Young's extra large salt and vinegar battered fish fillets. We served them with a variation on Nigel Slater's stove top vegetables; fennel, jerusalem artichokes, leeks and potatoes braised in butter and vermouth. The batter was lovely, but the texture of the fish was not great, DH and I much prefer the texture of fresh fish. The flavour of the fish was ok. All in all, it was fine. And I think if I had more room in the freezer I'd keep them in as a standby meal.
On a different note, I found lots of the Young's frozen fish products in our local Sainsbury's and have stocked up on Calamari, Scampi, frozen fish pieces and prawns. If its of any use to this product test, I find it easier to find and choose fish from upright, glass door freezers than chest freezers.

Hmm fed the children the JO haddock pie tonight and I wasn't that impressed tbh. It's a lot of orange mash and only 2/3 bits of fish flakes in the sauce.

Dd1 who is 5 thought that it was just mash and was when I told her it was fish pie

Struggled with availability, even at a Superstore Supermarket. No fresh range at all, only own brand and limited frozen. Still have some vouchers so am shopping around as id like to try some of the less standard range.

How easy generally do you find it to introduce fish into your family's diet?

DD is willing to try most foods as is DH. DS, ASD and Sensory Disorder, struggles with any new food. He does eat fish fingers and battered fish products reluctantly.

Do you eat frozen fish as well as fresh? If so why? If not why not?

I keep frozen products in for convenience, usually salmon and white fish fillets and fish fingers but prefer fresh.

What was your overall impression of the Young's range? What did you like? What didn't you like?

I was disappointed at the range overall - mostly battered / breaded white fish that every store does their own version of cheaper. Fancied trying the mackeral but have not been able to source it yet. Bags of frozen chunks of fish I can see are easy but are far smaller than the bags of fillets I would usually buy for making fish pie etc but the same type of price.

Is sustainability important when you're choosing meals to feed your family?

Yes. For example we have been eating pollock and other white fish for approx 20 years and avoiding cod (as dh just said "when that cod crisis was happening and I was being all ethical")

Tried the Basa fillets in lemon last night and was very impressed. Dh and dd (and a neighbour who was dropped by) all loved it. Ds was out at after school club and had his dinner with them so hasn't tried this product yet.

Thanks for including us in the trial

We had the JO pollock fish fingers on Wednesday. They went down very well with everyone, as fish fingers always do. DH and I enjoyed them too, and we don't usually because the fish is usually mush, whereas these are fillet, and the bread crumb coating wasn't greasy. We also appreciated the lack of orange colouring (the girls noticed this in a not bothered way), and that they were not cod, and the MCS certification. Seemed like a higher fish:coating ratio than the usual.

At £1.99 for 10, they're dearer than usual for fish fingers, but I will buy them again for the MCS/sustainability/lack of colouring/fillet reasons. Impressed.

We'll try some of the less "ready-meal" options next week and perhaps the scampi and fishsticks (have no idea if any of us like these!). Glad the Co-op has so much of the range.

~ How easy generally do you find it to introduce fish into your family's diet?
Easy as long as not too much fresh fish as the children are not keen on anything too strong tasting.
~ Do you eat frozen fish as well as fresh? If so why? If not why not?
Only DH likes fresh fish so as a family we don't eat it though I will eat fresh salmon so DH and I eat that weekly.
~ What was your overall impression of the Young's range? What did you like? What didn't you like?
I thought there were lots of battered fish - like the type you would get in fish and chip shop and nothing that tempting. I went for the Jaime Oliver fish cakes and the calamari to start with as they seemed the most different recipe.
~ Is sustainability important when you?re choosing meals to feed your family?
Yes I try not to buy cod.

How easy generally do you find it to introduce fish into your family's diet?

Hmm, well, DH would eat fish every day if he could, but I'm very very fussy. I grew up in a fishing town, so all the fish we had was super fresh, and hardly smelled of fish at all. I'm totally unconvinced that the fresh fish I can buy here is actually fresh at all (and can't stand the smell of fish counters). DD2 wo't eat fish at all, DD3 quite likes fish and shellfish.

~ Do you eat frozen fish as well as fresh? If so why? If not why not?

My mum was always really sniffy about frozen fish, but it's dawned on me that a lot of the frozen fish you can get actually comes from where I grew up, and like Birds Eye peas, is probably fresher than actual fresh fish. The DDs had fishfingers when they were smaller, so obviously they've always been frozen.

~ What was your overall impression of the Young's range? What did you like? What didn't you like?

There's a lot of different products, but not all were available in my nearest supermarket, so I'll need to go elsewhere for things like the calamari which DH wants to try. It was quite hard actually finding different items, but that may be to do with how the supermarkets display products ad group them together, rather than anything Young's have control over. I had to walk up and down the frozen aisle several times to make my selection.

I was very impressed with the prices though - I spent £15 and got a whole basketful of stuff!

~ Is sustainability important when you?re choosing meals to feed your family?

Yes, although DH does choose cod from the chip van rather than other varieties . DD1 announced one time that she "didn't believe in cod" - we assume she meant eating it, rather than it's actual existence .

So far we haven't tried much - DD3 ate the JO pollock fish pie, but really didn't enjoy it - the fish smell was very strong and the fish itself was brown on the edges - presumably this was just colouring from the skin, but it put her off.

DH had one of the Chip Shop cod fillets - he liked the batter and the taste of the fish, but said it was "nothing special". It's the kind of thing we might keep in the freezer for emergencies, rather than something we might actively choose. I suspect he'll be more impressed with the Basa fillets from the Gastro range though.

Yay! I popped to Asda last night and also found the Basa fillets with lemon & herbs. I'm really looking forward to trying them too .

IShallWearMidnight - your DD hasn't accidentally confused cod with God has she? "I don't believe in cod" made me smile .

~ How easy generally do you find it to introduce fish into your family's diet?

Yes, I love fish, and am a pretty confident cook. DP likes most fish too but doesn't like cod or salmon, he is Italian so we often eat squid, octopus and all types of shellfish too. My twins are just 16 months old and are only now starting to be a bit fussy. In the past they have eaten homemade fish pie, homemade fishfingers, cobbler, sea bass, monkfish & salmon and particularly liked lobster! (it was a special occasion, we don't eat it all the time )

~ Do you eat frozen fish as well as fresh? If so why? If not why not?
I buy frozen squid, prawns and scallops. I often buy fresh fish, and pop it in the freezer if I don't eat it when planned but don't buy frozen ready meals as such.
To be honest I think DP and I are a bit snobby about convenience foods, we are both able cooks and I don't like the thousands of ingredients that seem to be listed just to make something that would have 4/5 ingredients if I did it myself.
Although now I have the twins it's pretty exhausting cooking everything from scratch, I mostly batch cook and freeze but the easy option is looking more appealing by the day

~ What was your overall impression of the Young's range? What did you like? What didn't you like?
I liked the look of the Gastro range, and also the Jamie Oliver range. I'd also really like to try the Mackeral, but couldn't find it in my local supermarkets.
Not so interested in the ready meals, the fish in pre prepared sauces or the regular fish fingers/ chip shop fish selection.

~ Is sustainability important when you?re choosing meals to feed your family?
Yes, I originally come from a seaside town and I think it is very important.

I've been on a fishfest, and havebeaten fish most days since this started.

I first tried the lemon tempura Basa fillets from the Gastro range, my Dad is staying at the moment so we had them for lunch with a big salad (lettuce, cherry tomatoes, red onion & sunflower seeds with a dressing of olive oil, white wine vinegar and garlic seeded mustard)Dad also had chips.
Loved them, really tasty, great quality, I'll definitely buy them again, so easy and a brilliant quick, fallback meal.

Another day for lunch, the twins and I had the JO Pollock fish cakes, I loved them, and thought they were really tasty. I had salad, the girls had sweet corn and peas with them. They ate them but didn't seem to like the crispy coating, ate all the middle though. Again I'd definitely buy again. I could happily eat 3 as a portion though [greedy emoticon] 1 would be good as a starter.

Haddock fish fingers tonight with breadcrumbs.

What can I say - I am delighted, the dog is disappointed as he would expect a mashed up mess under ds chair when he is served fish. Lots of new tastes and textures for my ds with ASD. He has never had haddock before and doesn't like breadcrumb usually. Put 3.5 on his plate and he demolished them . Didn't once ask for bread, his usual opt out. Fish was firm and held up well to his manhandling.

What makes this more surprising was that ds was not in a good place when he came to the table. He had been having a "moment" and had been tearful and certainly wasn't up for conforming. These factors make the introduction of a new food really problematic and had I not been doing the trial would have gone for a "safe" option.

Dd and Dh enjoyed them also - said they had a good taste and liked the crumb.

Will be buying these again and will have to try the Haddock steaks to see if I can get ds to eat these.

Today we had Young's Salmon Crumble with pasta and sweetcorn (another cop out meal - bad foot - can't spend ages standing at the oven). Cooked two cause one just didn't look as though it would be enough for ol' hollow legs DP and to share between DS and me.

DS wouldn't try it at first saying it smelt pooey [niiice] After a little persuasion he did try it and liked it Well he liked the fish and the potato but wasn't keen on the sauce at all and eventually left the potato and just um.. fished out the fish

DP thought it was the best thing we've tried so far - nice chunks of fish, smelt of fish, nice crumbly texture.

I agreed with him - all tasted, looked good (and replicated the box picture) did think the icing twirls on the top were a little too twee, and extra bonus the containers were cardboard and therefore brown (food waste) recyclable which bought the washing up pile down to a minimum

Tried the Basa fillets with sea salt and cracked black pepper tonight and found them delicious, really tasty, fish was firm and a nice portion size. Will definitely be buying these again.

Did ds JO salmon and pollock fishcakes but he wasn't keen he complained they were too fishy so offered him JO fish fingers and he enjoyed those.

Planning on having kippers tomorrow, haven't had them for years so looking forward to them.

I tried the standard cod in batter tonight with proper chips and peas. Really was very nice, moist but not greasy.

Packaging very dull though, and a lot more expensive than mostly the same thing from other/own brands.

Probably not special enough for me to pick these at the higher price.

I am really enjoying this though, have really enjoyed eating more fish and DD's are really enjoying it too.

I have been eating fish finger sandwiches all week
I prefer the JO ones compared to the cod fingers.
I am going to have the breaded/battered Haddock

Thanks for our vouchers and the chance to take part. I will answer the first group of questions and then come back with a list of what we've tried so far.

~ How easy generally do you find it to introduce fish into your family's diet?

As a family we already eat fish and my 2 children both enjoy it. However, we do not eat enough (usually only once a week).

~ Do you eat frozen fish as well as fresh? If so why? If not why not?

We don't generally eat frozen fish. I have occasionally bought a bag of frozen pollock fillets which I use to make fish pie. I don't buy ready prepared fish products eg breaded fish, fish pie, scampi etc as I worry that the quality will be poor.

~ What was your overall impression of the Young's range? What did you like? What didn't you like?

I had a look in both our local Tesco stores and morrisons.I thought the range was good and there was a good selection in all stores. I found all store stocked plenty if frozen youngs and Jo products. I found they all stocked a couple of fresh youngs products but no fresh Jo products. I found there was a good selection, although some products that weren't on special offer did seem expensive (eg fish pies both youngs and Jo). Quality looked good as did ingredients).

~ Is sustainability important when you?re choosing meals to feed your family?

Yes it is.

Can I ask a question?

On the Youngs website, it doesn't seem to list the fresh products they sell. Do you have a list of these?

I have seen Rollmops, seafood sticks and fresh Salmon instore but can't find them on the website

Also the JO fishcakes are 99p for two in my local Waitrose & Asda but £2.25 in Tesco what is the RRP? bloody Tesco rip off merchants

LaVitaBellissima Are the more expensive JO fishcakes the thicker ones? There is a two pack but it's quite a small fishcake, the dearer ones are quite substantial, ifswim?

No MissBerta same exact fishcakes, thicker ones though.

We haven't done terribly well this week; fish pie one evening, and tuna sandwiches two days in a row. It is OK from a health pint of view, but the Tuna wasn't Young's so probably doesn't count for this thread!

DS' dad is here for the weekend, and very allergic to fish, so I'll try to do better next week.

I had kippers mid morning with bread and butter, I thought they were tasty dd ran looking horrified and elder ds who was the worse for wear after a heavy night out locked himself in the bathroom because of the smell. Next time I have them it will probably be a lunchtime when everyone else is out at work and school tbh

Went and spent the last of the vouchers today. Have bought some battered fish cakes and the gastro basa lemon fillets and also bought some more JO fish cakes and the battered fish fingers. Must admit that I'm struggling I get the filming time as most of the fish is easy cook microwave and that's boring to film!