Why do I never learn?

I admit I hate cooking and I'm only a mediocre cook but we only havecteady meals occasionally - they often seem very salty and garlicky (not too keen on garlick!) so I usually cook for four and we have tge same meal two das running - DH is very tolerant! If I freeze thngs I forget to use them and end up throwing them out as I cant remember how old they are. Except when expecting family when I make lasagne or similar in advance and freeze. We also often have takeaways at the weekend , or go out for a meal. These posts about well stocked freezers of home made produce make me feel very inadequate!!

when I get fed up finding something different for dinner, I have been buying the dine in for £10 meals from m&s. Get a bottle of wine too. A pretty good bargain and if you want Can add more veg

I like ready meals on a Friday and Saturday I find them rather nice esp MS and Sainsburys. Cooking for one is ok during the week but weekends I always treat myself to ready meals.

I'm with you Sheilasue. Last couple of Weds, DH has picked me up from my vol morning in charity shop and we've nipped into M&S next door for a £10 meal. Feels like a naughty mid week treat. Today it's 2 Chicken and Ham en Croutes, Oven Roasted Veg, Profiteroles and a Bottle of Malbec. I love cooking but it would take me ages to do something similar although probably I'll add bits to the roasted veg and might rustle up a sauce. If you are picky you can usually find something and quite a few supermarkets do the £10 deal towards the weekend.

I'm with Ana, Jane & Devon girl.

The last time I made 2 huge lasagnes from scratch, I surveyed the kitchen and screamed at the empty room "am I mad, it looks like we've been burgled".

My mother-in-law has Wiltshire Farm Foods delivered to her house. They look very appetising and she loves them.

Can I just ask as I have never done the eat one freeze one thing, do you defrost the frozen one before cooking or cook from frozen as you would a ready made meal?

There are 'ready meals' and 'ready meals'! They are absolutely not all the same. You get what you pay for. M&S is expensive but there is no waste and I appreciate the time saved by using their food. To me it's well worth it.

One of the best things about living alone is that you can cook or not cook. Some evenings I will have a full roast, and then maybe beans on toast the next day. If I do stews or casseroles or shepherds pie I always cook a large amount and freeze some. I do use ready meals sometimes for the days when my back or legs are protesting, and will often do fresh veg to have with them And sometimes it's just sheer laziness.... who can bother to make Lasagne for one when the frozen ones are quite nice actually?
My real favourite is a Chinese take-away, but can't afford that too often so it's a rare treat.

Lindylou57 If I am being organised I take out a home-made frozen meal in the morning and let it defrost.
However, it's not often that I am organised so I take one out and defrost it in the microwave then, if it is something like a beef stew/bourngiungon, chilli or bolognaise sauce, chicken casserole I re-heat and re-boil in a saucepan.

Lasagne - does anyone make their own lasagne? (only if we need a gf one). Now, M&S lasagne's are good!

and they DO NOT have an apostrophe!!
Where did that appear from?

Beef bourguignon

Jane10 I completely agree with everything you've said!

I fall into the same trap with McDonalds. It always smells so inviting, and I get caught up, and invariably disappointed, vowing never to eat it again.

I only go once in a blue moon, and I have NEVER been pleasantly surprised by what I am given to eat.

I never learn!

I never eat processed ready meals. 1. I don't know the full ingredients and 2. its quite expensive. I purchased £3 worth of Rubharb today and have made 20 little pots to go in the freezer which will give me 40 servings for my breakfast, deserts etc. I always buy meats to make at least 6 servings of each which I also put in the freezer. With left over eggs, cheese etc I make little quiches. Very rarely do I cook from scratch and I have quite a stock of all sorts of food. Happy days!

Think I could be accused of exaggerating if I used the words cook or meal to my credit. Fact is I snack regularly and only have a meal when eating out. I've been told little and often is god practice. Yesterday...... 2 sticks of rhubarb from the garden one tiny pot of ambrosia custard. Into the microwave for 3 minutes. Delicious! Cost 20p and that's my idea of cooking! Other delicacies include fried egg sandwich, hot pie, bacon roll. All considered totally unhealthy by some but it seems to work wonderfully for me. I shouldn't belittle myself too much in that in the winter I have a regular pot of homemade soup - no stock cubes either! - on the go. Yummy.

Cooking for one has taken a little getting used to although it does give me the opportunity to eat exactly what I fancy. I do make chilli, bolognese sauce, stock & my own soups, Only drawback at the moment is that I only have a fridge/freezer so a lack of room to freeze more home cooked meals. I use a lot of fresh veg & keep a selection of meat in the freezer.

I buy 2 chickens in foil trays & cook in bags all ready to put in the oven from Co-op (2 for £7) one to cook & one for the freezer. Once cooked I have a couple of meals off the chicken then I strip & freeze the rest & make stock from the carcase (for soups).

I do occasionally buy M&S Ready Meals or Dine in for £10 but not often, preferring to cook from scratch.

Cheese that's going slightly mouldy is trimmed, grated & frozen. Veg that is just past it's best is stir-fried. Very litle is wasted in my house

Given the fact that my mother was/is the most dire cook ever, I learnt to cook from a very young age. I cook from scratch all the time, dolmio is a swear word in my house. I don't go for ready meals, they're revolting, so my idea of a treat is getting a curry from our local takeaway. Their food is absolutely amazing.....bugger, I could quite fancy a curry now! X

Want ready meals to taste nice, but they don't! Waitrose, M&S, cheaper options. All salt and no flavour and just a bit pants. So have resort to cooking, sigh. Takeaways no better. Dominos is disgusting.

A van drove up our road yesterday and DH and I stared at in astonishment at it because it had a very large domino on top.

We must be naive because it was some time before I realised there is a pizza place called Dominos - presumably someone having a takeaway.

Welshwife try layering your fruit in the jars with sugar ,I use half the amount of sugar to fruit and cover the whole lot in booze,vodka works well if you want the fruit to be the main flavour,but brandy or rum can be fantastic.Peaches in brandy is a favourite here and cherries in brandy works well too.You can layer different fruits and then vodka is a better bet ,in my opinion,as the fruit juices combine to make a great liquer

I wish I had not sent my rum topf to the charity shop!

jalima who makes Lasagne?
I do. Why? Two reasons. Firstly, I secretly enjoy my kitchen resembling a bomb site. Secondly, my son & family are coming for the weekend, arriving after a drive down on a Friday evening after work and I enjoy pleasing him. Yes, before you say it, he probably prefers the M&S variety!

I make my own lasagne from scratch, but it really is a faff. I'm getting to the stage where I think that M&S or Waitrose would be just as good and my time could be better used elsewhere like messing about on Gransnet for example .

We live too far away for takeaways, so having a few M&S or Sainsbury/Waitrose meals in the freezer/fridge is a must for busy days.
The feeling of guilt for using them is misguided ( I know some women feel this way.)
I cook fom scratch often but not when tired out.
Lasagne is the only meal that I cook myself as don't like the ready versions.