Ready meals - any favourites?

M&S vegetable moussaka
Apparently it serves 2

This is an important subject to me. I still cook whenever I can but standing too long is becoming difficult, so I have been trying various ready meals. I quite like some of Tesco's, they do vary. I think their pasta ones are best. I decided to pay a bit more and try M&S ones. I chose Sweet and Sour chicken but it was so disappointing. Not enough chicken nor enough sauce and it just didn't have a nice tang. I will try other M&S ones though..including the one which *FannyCornforth" mentions above.
I have just sent away for that special offer from Parsley Box to see what they are like. ~Watch this space, I'll let you know.
Manwhile, I will still properly cook when my back allows.

I always have a lasagne in the freezer. The one from Iceland is good value at £1 and will easily actually feed 2 people with a side salad.
I have tried making it my self, but for some reason I can never get it to taste right and the jars of sauces are way too big for just one person and might as well buy a ready made for the price!

I so wish M&S delivered out here in the sticks! Nothing wrong with the odd ready meal on a busy day or when you simply can’t be bothered to cook from scratch.

GSM won’t Ocado deliver to you?

Not so much a ready meal, but I do keep frozen jacket potatoes in the freezer.
5 mins in the microwave, then filled up with beans and cheese.

Not really a ready made meal but I like the spaghetti carbonara packet mix. Nothing like the real thing but nice flavour.

Can you not get Ocado GSM?

The M&S lasagne is nice but all their gastro range is. Charlie Bigham's meals are nice too

MissAdventure

Not so much a ready meal, but I do keep frozen jacket potatoes in the freezer.
5 mins in the microwave, then filled up with beans and cheese.

They are my quick go to meal too!

I've had a few from Morrisons recently, all very reasonable and quite tasty.
I always keep a few in the freezer.

I tried Parsley Box but was disappointed. To me, they tasted like school dinners in the 1950s, and the portions were miniscule. Tesco pasta dishes are OK but I haven't tried M&S because our nearest store has such a small, awkward carpark.
I always like to have some 'just in case'.
DH doesn't care for 'foreign food' but I have weaned him on to lasagne.

Oh I do agree germanshepherdsmum. I wish they deliverd here. And I have checked Ocado but they do not deliver to this area yet. I'm out in the sticks, like you.

I’ve bought Tesco chicken and bacon pasta it’s really tasty if a little salty but it does as a quick meal now and then.

Another fan here of frozen jacket potatoes. I also like M&S "mini meal" of Roast Lamb in a Mint Gravy and Aldi's Chicken & Prawn Paella. I have tried Parsley Box and although they don't look very appetising, along with a couple of veg, they can be quite tasty. Their main advantage is they don't need to be kept in the fridge or freezer which is a bonus when you are on your own. I still enjoy cooking and baking but am a bit lazy when it comes to washing the pots!!

henetha

This is an important subject to me. I still cook whenever I can but standing too long is becoming difficult, so I have been trying various ready meals. I quite like some of Tesco's, they do vary. I think their pasta ones are best. I decided to pay a bit more and try M&S ones. I chose Sweet and Sour chicken but it was so disappointing. Not enough chicken nor enough sauce and it just didn't have a nice tang. I will try other M&S ones though..including the one which *FannyCornforth" mentions above.
I have just sent away for that special offer from Parsley Box to see what they are like. ~Watch this space, I'll let you know.
Manwhile, I will still properly cook when my back allows.

Could you still prepare dishes if you sit down? I cannot stand for longer than a minute so have a bar stool in my kitchen which I move around to different areas. I sit near the fridge when putting shopping away, at a worktop to chop vegetables, at the sink to wash up or next to a cupboard if I need to sort out the contents. I also have a stool in the shower and one near the bathroom sink to wash and clean my teeth.

In fact, my house is full of handy stools, I even have one in my bedroom for drying my hair.

I’m not a fan of ready meals, I’ve tried a few but find them tasteless and a bit artificial. If I want an easy meal I tend to pop something in the oven like a pie ( have with tinned mushy peas) or a piece of chicken ( with salad or oven chips). Not quick but don’t involve any preparation or pans to wash up.

A few months ago I bought M&S butter chicken on the reduced section for 50p. Oh my goodness it was delicious. A lovely mild curry. I think full price is almost £4. I ate it with some nan bread and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was impressed by the decent portion size. However, I was mortified to notice another day that it was meant to serve 2!

I have a perching stool in my kitchen. I contacted SS and they arrange delivery. It is very useful on the days my back is really bad. I have also found it to be the perfect height at dinning table when doing my jig saws!!!!

M&S meals are anything but bland or artificial tasting. They've moved on since the 60s. I don't cook and we exist very happily and healthily on M&S chilled meals. They're calorie, fat, fibre, salt, sugar, carb and vitamin counted and suit us down to the ground.

M&S lasagne is good, I prefer the ordinary one to the Gastropub one which is too rich.

M&S ready meals are fine unless they come with mashed potato which I find is gloopy, overprocessed and unpleasant.

FannyCornforth

M&S vegetable moussaka
Apparently it serves 2

2 what ? 2 anorexic mice ?

I was impressed by the decent portion size. However, I was mortified to notice another day that it was meant to serve 2!
Oh, that made me laugh, Grannynannywanny

Lucca

FannyCornforth

M&S vegetable moussaka
Apparently it serves 2

2 what ? 2 anorexic mice ?

I think portion sizes have increased in recent years or else my appetite is smaller.

Not losing weight whichever way it is!!

Sadly Fanny and Jane, don’t deliver here though I have seen their vans not far away. Perhaps they’re afraid of the folks here in rural Norfolk! Especially when it’s a full moon...?