Why do I never learn?

I batch cook one day each week,sometimes its individual steak pies ,sometimes lasagne,chicken ham and leek pies mince in a variety of ways chilli being a favourite ,bolognese and moussaka,I bake scones and make pancakes 4 or 5 dozen at a time ,roast beef and pork and portion and freeze with gravy or sauce.Its very rare for a ready meal or a takeaway here .My son often drops in to do a freezer raid if he's been working late and my MIL takes a variety home with her to last a week or ten days .Soups I freeze in bags ,chickenmushroom and rice ,lentil ,minestrone and scotch broth.Soups dont take long to make so are usually fresh with just the longer cook ones frozen.I'm very mean about spending a lot on ready meals or takeaways when I know my own is always better...no false modesty here.I have two freezers and run them down for cleaning at the beginning of the summer and just before christmas so I can restock them

Just done the survey on ready meals. I think some of you would give more interesting answers then me.

Know what you mean, kitty, but have discovered the M&S gluten free lasagne is both easy and tasty, it's about the only 'instant' that we have and. Very welcome when cooking is off the menu with salad and gf garlic bread. We've a tiny freezer so our home made 'instants' are usually chilli and the base for cottage pie, keep a couple of each. Like the sound of those chickens in a tin foil container, will investigate.

I live on my own so what I would do would be to eg cook spag bol for tonight, have the same tomorrow and freeze the remainder, one or maybe two portions.

I live in London but takeaway curries are poor quality and I do not like pizzas. There is no Chinese takeaway.

I am usually disappointed by M&S ready meals with the exception of macaroni cheese which I love. About 4 times a year I nip out to the local fish and chip shop to order haddock and chips. I like cod but they never have pre-cooked haddock- it is always cooked while I wait.

I make large quantities of chilly, spaghetti bog, vegetable bog sauces, soup etc. I did it when the children were young and money very tight and its a habit that's continued. It's much easier now, listening to the radio and taking my time than it was when it was fitted in between full time work and a multitude of other commitments.
We sometimes do an M&S ready meal on Friday night, or a takeaway from the excellent Bangladeshi place down the road. I still see Friday as the start of the weekend, glass of wine, easy dinner watching something nonsense on the telly.

I also do the bulk cooking and freezing, however, I often forget to take it out of the freezer! I currently have batches of soup, chicken casserole and chilli in there

We see Friday as the start of the weekend too, Iam. We have steak and wine, usually. A habit from when the children were small and they were allowed 'choosing tea' in front of the TV while we had something 'special'. 'Choosing tea' was usually nuggets and chips

Saturday night for me is for eating something very easy, on our knees which we don't do any other evening. We have things like chicken fried rice or crispy wings but, just sometimes, I want to have no input at all!

Please stop all the M&S talk of ready meals. Our's has just closed ? And the nearest is 5 miles away.

Since losing my husband four years ago, I have tried, and failed, to deal with ready-meals. I particularly loathe the ones thickened with cornflour, and that awful uniformity of flavour, and the SMELL! I've always cooked, and will continue to do so. Lucky enough in London to have some amazing take-aways where they DO cook.

MawBroon Because you are now having main meal at lunchtime, have you considered getting a slow cooker? You could still do the prep at your preferred time, and then leave it cooking on low overnight. Perfect for lunch I find.

Maggi cooking bags are surprisingly tasty! Just add meat and veg.

I think ready meals have their place, for example, when one is pushed for time or unwilling to spend £10 on esoteric ingredients for an exotic recipe.

They are, I agree, extremely variable though M & S and Waitrose claim to have fewer or no additives and 'nasties' and some of their offerings are very nice if one rings the changes and varies them with 'real' food.

I have learned never to buy ready made pasta dishes as they are not as nice as the real thing so, instead, I batch make Bolognese sauce and lasagnes and freeze them to make my own ready meals.

However, the lamb rumps with topping that M & S and Waitrose do are really nice. One just has to be selective, choosy and adapt. One adaptation I do is to buy Tesco's chicken korma or tikka masala for two and add an extra chicken breast which makes it actually adequate for two people.

I am a bit lazy these days, though, and on Saturday evenings I like to have time to drink my fizz and chat to the OH so I either warm something I have made previously with some additional fresh vegetable all done in the same steamer - or do steak n' chips.

I cook meals for my house- bound old mum , we have tried M&S and Waitrose ready meals but she doesn't like them much apart from the fish pie and toad in the hole . I batch bake about once a week and put them in her freezer., then my brother (virtually a vegan ) cooks the fresh veg to go with them . Now my daughter who is a childminder and about to start an after school club has asked if I can do the same for her . I'm happy to give it a try but do you think I should do the food handling course ?

There you are kitty your siege mentality has paid off! Lots of free time to spend with your family. I'm partly saying this because I'm exactly the same, my children left home about twenty years ago but I'm still cooking for four.

Ready meals, all seem to profess much but deliver little.

I found instant rice noodles in both Tesco and Waitrose.

Put them in a pyrex jug add boiling water, 1 per person. Microwave 2 /3 mins , strain. In the meantime I have defrosted some frozen prawns, and peas.

Strain noodles, add salt the defrosted mix, some soy sauce, and some sweet'n'sour mix together.

Very tasty, and takes minuites

I think I must be doing something wrong when I do anything in the slow cooker because whatever it is I am cooking (except ice pudding!) always tastes much the same and I find that it sets off my reflux etc.

My freezer - a large upright - is full of fresh meat and fish and veg and some cooked frozen fruit from the garden. I also do freeze bread as otherwise a car run to get any. As there are no takeaways in our part of France when I really don't feel like cooking we go out to the local bar for something simple.

As I cannot get enough fruit from the garden in the freezer I do put some of that into Kilner type jars - have an electric water bath thing for doing that which I position outside the back door as it is easier to remove the hot jars from it when it is low and spilt water is not an issue. I bought the device in Lidl some ten or more years ago.
Before we have any visitors come to stay I do make a couple of things for the freezer to have when we have been out for the day.

Jane 10.....whatever floats your boat is fine by me. Must say I appreciate what M&S has on offer in terms of inventiveness leading to temptation but their high prices are not how I chose to spend my lucre.

Is it just me or does anyone else find ready meals too salty, especially M&S ones? I have to add that I'm not a fan of ready meals,would rather just have an egg ( hard boiled with salad, omelette,frittata using left overs similarly egg fried rice) or just plain with dippers!

Not much choice here. No M&S or Aldi. There is a very nice restaurant in the village but open erratic hours, and a bit expensive for more than a couple of times a year. They have a take away run by one of the waitresses and it is awful - tried it once and had to throw it away. The nearest other takeaway is 15 miles, by the time I had driven there and back I could have made something else! So batch cooking is the only way to go. Also having to home cook for one of our dogs at the moment as he is ill, so I seem to spend a couple of days a week cooking. My OH's idea of a bolognaise sauce is to take one large joint of beef ....

I am a cook 2 & freeze one person too. I cook everything from scratch & I do love cooking - always have.
However last week DH was away overnight & on impulse I bought M&S Prawn dish- forget what it was called. I was looking forward to it as he is allergic to seafood & I LOVE it. What a disappointment! Couldn't taste the prawns at all & it was too runny.
The only 'convenience' food I buy are the marinated chicken breasts & kebabs my local butcher makes himself. Gorgeous sauces & beautiful free range meat.
However once a month on a Saturday night ( usually after rugby on TV in afternoon) we have either a Chinese takeaway or fish & chips from our local very good Chippy just as a treat.
I have 3 Banana & Chocolate cakes in the oven at the moment as DGC coming to stay next week & I've promised a cake for local fete!! Best thing about home cooking is the lovely smell in the house!

I try to prepare most meals from scratch each day but a ready meal once a week feels like a treat - the packaging is chucked and only the plate, knife and fork need to be washed afterwards.
I was once told that to live entirely on ready meals wasn't really good for you but I found them very tempting after I lost my DH as cooking seemed a chore just for one.

We had a packet ready meal last night and what a disappointment, tasted salty and tomato laden, can't even remember what it was supposed to be. Oh well bake to my own pre made ready meals....... unfortunately I often forget to label them so we often have 'mystery dinner'...

We have small appetites now, and I have lost all interest in cooking. We are also vegetarian, and I rely on ocado for all my shopping. Easy bean curries with microwave rice are good, and some ocado meals. But the one that gets the biggest thumbs up from my husband is spinach and ricotta tortellini...ready in 2 minutes...so why make more effort? Lunch is usually part bake rolls with cheese and salad, and we have lots of fruit.

When I think back to the days when I cooked everything from scratch for a big family, it's a great contrast, but we're happy with our present regime, and I do think ready prepared food is much better than it used to be,

Like Lovebeigecardigans, I cook from scratch mostly, I do a recipe for 4 or 6 and freeze accordingly. But I do like Mr. Waitrose's 3-for-£10 range where you have something like chicken breasts in Cajun spices in a neat little tray that you just have to oven-cook for about half an hour; I can then do some appropriate veg and voila, we have something really nice that I haven't spent ages on.

Ready meals? We don't often indulge, usually only when we're on a self-catering holiday and need something quick. However, DH is going off on a boys-only canal trip soon and I'm going to stock myself up with M&S Count on Us or Waitrose equivalent, and loads of salad!

I meant waitrose ready meals...should preview!
I wish they would change them a bit more often. The vegetarian ones are nice, but think the selection has been the same for years,