Ready meals for one person......any favourites?

[CanucksTraveller]

My mother in law (in her late 70s) tried many of the Parsley Box range and said they were pretty dire. All the veg went a funny and unappealing colour during reheating, and the portion sizes are small, (and she eats like a bird).

She really likes Oakhouse Foods, and she likes Wiltshire Farm Foods too although they aren't quite as good as Oakhouse. She prefers reheating them in the oven to brown things properly but they will all go in the ping oven if you prefer.

 

[Julia9054]

We’ve been doing Hello Fresh too. It’s not a ready meal service though. All the ingredients for a meal weighed and measured out plus a recipe card that is very easy to follow. It saves thinking and shopping time. We get 3 meals worth delivered on a Wednesday so it sorts out the end of the week. We have always shopped every couple of days rather than done a massive supermarket shop every two weeks so it suits our lifestyle. They have a very good range of meals including veggie and I haven’t had a bad one yet.
My only concern is the amount of packaging/cardboard it generates.

 

[fossyant]

The Asda ones on 'offer' are actually nice - if we've a late dash to the caravan, say on a friday night, we pop into the Fflint Asda and pick up a few. The Lamb hotpot is excellent as is the beef.

I appreciate if you've lost the taste for food, you don't want to cook it. I was on some meds for back pain, and whilst I could cook the food fine, as soon as it was ready, I couldn't be bothered to eat it. This was a couple of years ago, and it still causes that issue sometimes - I'll spend ages cooking something, then when it comes to tucking in, I only have a little.

I would recommend the 'premium' range of ready meals that supermarkets do - big difference. Have you thought about the 'meal for two' offers from the likes of M&S/Morrisons - you can then split it over two nights.

 

[Profpointy]

Sainsbury's Chicken Jalfrezi isn't bad at all

 

[Tenkaykev]

Cool, what’s their fish/veggie selection like? Although I could just be less lazy and cook
My mum is happy to cook, they probably saw a TV ad or one in the Telegraph and thought they’d try it, might have been Parsley Box?

They ( Parsley Box) regularly run adverts in the Radio Times. I looked at it as it was on the facing page off the Crossword. My first thoughts were “ that’s too cheap to be of decent quality, especially factoring in their manufacturing costs, P+P etc. They were offering a trial pack which included a small bottle of wine, all at an introductory price. That might’ve be worth a punt.

 

[Tenkaykev]

The Asda ones on 'offer' are actually nice - if we've a late dash to the caravan, say on a friday night, we pop into the Fflint Asda and pick up a few. The Lamb hotpot is excellent as is the beef.

I appreciate if you've lost the taste for food, you don't want to cook it. I was on some meds for back pain, and whilst I could cook the food fine, as soon as it was ready, I couldn't be bothered to eat it. This was a couple of years ago, and it still causes that issue sometimes - I'll spend ages cooking something, then when it comes to tucking in, I only have a little.

I would recommend the 'premium' range of ready meals that supermarkets do - big difference. Have you thought about the 'meal for two' offers from the likes of M&S/Morrisons - you can then split it over two nights.

I've mentioned this in related posts. I used to run with the son of a friend. His job was to travel to various sites / facilities to inspect the Water quality / safety ( Legionnaires disease etc )
He visited a Food manufacturing plant on the South Coast. This facility made meals for most of the Supermarket chains. He was speaking with the maintenance manager and being shown around the plant, the manager mentioned that the standard Waitrose ready meal was also sold as "Tesco's Finest" and Sainsbury's " Taste the Difference"
He was impressed with the cleanliness and hygiene, and the works canteen served up the same food as that that was being manufactured.

 

[Arrowfoot]

I have to say most of the supermarkets have stepped up quality, cuisine and range wise. Sainsbury, Waitrose, Tesco, Morrisons, Asda etc. Haven't tried others.

 

[Chris S]

Lidl vegetarian haggis, turnips and potatoes. Unfortunately they only have it towards the end of January.

 

[derrick]

It only takes a few mins to do a proper meal.

 

[HMS_Dave]

Most ready meals ive ever tried have been unmitigated salt filled slop...

However, the best ive ever had were Mister Daves ready meals. Chunky pieces of meat and tasty enough.

How about a corned beef hash though dave?

*Potatoes
*Onion
*Corned beef
*Tin of beans
*Bit of cheese.

-Boil the potatoes.
-Grate onion
-Grate cheese

-Mash the potatoes and corned beef together
-Stir in onion and beans
-Put in a oven dish, sprinkle cheese on and brown off in grill or oven.

A hearty simple meal that you can make a lot off and have the next day too...

 

[Cathryn]

My only concern is the amount of packaging/cardboard it generates.

I agree. My only comfort is that we waste much less food than usual - no spinach malingering at the back of the fridge, forgotten parsnips etc.

 

[simongt]

We've been trying Parsley Box recently only because of the 50% off intro offer. The meals are very hit & miss. Some are pretty good, but others leave a lot to be desired. Examples being the Mince & Tatties are more gravy than mince and the Beef & Mushroom Risotto, apart from being short with the two main 'ingredients' had a very jellylike texture. The Beef Lasagne is pretty good though.

 

[MontyVeda]

Aldi's specially selected cottage pie and lasagne are pretty good, but the standard ones are minging.
M&S's Indian curries were a favourite when they had the 3 for £10 offer, but pricey when not on offer.

On the subject of Corned Beef Hash... I make two versions:

one like my mother makes (probably a corned beef stew in other parts of the country)... potato, carrot, onion, oxo boiled in a pan. Stir in cubed corned beef when the stew has cooked and eat.

and one i call corned beef posh... baby potatoes (quartered), chantenay carrots (halved), shallots (chopped). Boil, drain and loosely mash. Add the cubed corned beef, stir, dry fry and eat.

 

[Blue Hills]

It only takes a few mins to do a proper meal.

quite - my general rule is that if it takes longer than 20 minutes it isn't worth eating, the time/benefit ratio is shot. Can listen to the radio at the same time.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Beans on toast is a good meal for one.