Musclefood Ready Meals

[Tonyuk]

Hi Guys,

Just a quick heads up,

I ordered a few ready meals from the below page;

http://www.musclefood.com/meals/high-protein-ready-meals.html

I was expecting them to come in the usual plastic tray for heating but instead they actually come in pouches instead, very much like the Look what we found meals. I've been working through them over the last 2 weeks for lunches and snacks etc.. and they taste excellent compared to nearly all the other pouched meals I've had, far more "meaty" too with big chunks of chicken etc.. and not too much sauce. They also seem to work out at about 320 - 350 kcal per pouch depending on the meal, so with a side/snack that could easily be made up to 400 and above. The odd time I've put a bit of chili or garlic in to spice them up a bit but that's just ready-meals i guess.

The protein powder sold by them is also very nice compared to the others I've tried (Myprotien & bulkpowders) and worth a try if you have it often.

Example pic of the pouch they come in,

Tonyuk

 

[bopdude]

Thanks for the link, I might try them next time out

 

[Leshy]

These look good, I'm a sucker for trying out new things.
Thanks for the heads up
👍

 

[Janne]

Not so good to take when in the Nature.
Fat is important as an energy source.

 

[Tonyuk]

Not so good to take when in the Nature.
Fat is important as an energy source.

For a trip over 3 ish days or in bad conditions then yeah i agree, i wouldn't bring these if i needed a high calorie diet out in the woods but for the odd day hike or overnighter they seem ideal.

Tonyuk

 

[KenThis]

Not so good to take when in the Nature.
Fat is important as an energy source.

One could always supplement with olive oil etc...

 

[Janne]

You could, but then it is better to bring some quick cook pasta and some kind of meat can and some kind of veggie can.

The ingredients in these all-in-one cans/pouches take each flavor so every part tastes the same. By mixing your own it will taste better.

If I do a longer trip I take some freeze dried full meals, then quick cook rice, pasta, dried meat.. Hate the flavor of the full meals, but it fills the hole.
Dried fruit I eat all the time, even at home.
Love dried apples.


If somebody is serious about bush trippin', start drying your own fruit and beef.

 

[Dave]

Never found tex mex seasoning for sale in the uk yet.

I take some dried minced beef and tomato powder. Mixed in with the freeze dried stuff it greatly improves it.

 

[Tonyuk]

Never found tex mex seasoning for sale in the uk yet.

I take some dried minced beef and tomato powder. Mixed in with the freeze dried stuff it greatly improves it.

You can get it online quite easily but you would need to factor in postage,

https://spicesontheweb.co.uk/seasonings/taco-texmex-seasoning-no-salt

Other sellers are about,

Tonyuk

 

[rik_uk3]

Never found tex mex seasoning for sale in the uk yet.

I take some dried minced beef and tomato powder. Mixed in with the freeze dried stuff it greatly improves it.

Its easy enough to make, plenty of videos and recipes online.

 

[Janne]

Old El Paso make a couple of different spice mixes, close to the Tex Mex stuff.
But it is easy to make it yourself.
Mix Chilli powder, smoked Paprika, dry garlic, Black pepper, Cumin powder, Thyme, Marjoram, ground hot pepper ( cayenne for example) and salt.

 

[Dave]

Oh right, thanks chaps. Will look into it. Just ordered some.

Might try some meals as well.

 

[KenThis]

You could, but then it is better to bring some quick cook pasta and some kind of meat can and some kind of veggie can.

The ingredients in these all-in-one cans/pouches take each flavor so every part tastes the same. By mixing your own it will taste better.

If I do a longer trip I take some freeze dried full meals, then quick cook rice, pasta, dried meat.. Hate the flavor of the full meals, but it fills the hole.
Dried fruit I eat all the time, even at home.
Love dried apples.


If somebody is serious about bush trippin', start drying your own fruit and beef.

I totally agree, I never hike for long enough or far enough to prohibit me doing all my camp cooking from scratch.

 

[caorach]

This might be a lifesaver as it seems "Look What We Found" are no longer sold by Tesco (The only place round here I could get them) so I then ordered online but noticed that most of what they had available had very short shelf life. Now when I go to their online shop there are things listed but you can't actually buy anything so I suspect they are having some sort of problem and have no idea if they will start trading again.

I eat out a lot and the speed and convenience of the "boil in the pouch" foods is great for me, I would sometimes actually cook out but mostly boil in the bag suits me better, and looking back I got through 20 of the Look What We Found meals in September. I am aware of the freeze dried stuff but, generally speaking, it is much more expensive than the pouch meals and with eating out so much the cost difference would really add up for me. Usually I will boil up one of the LWWF meals along with a pouch of rice or similar. The rice is mostly designed for the microwave but works just fine in a pot of water over the stove.

So, if anyone has other suggestions for similar meals I'm listening and willing to give them a try

 

[Janne]

Caorach, you should start cooking. Ready meals are not healthy, far, far from it.
Just a friendly advice!

 

[caorach]

Just to follow up on this I ordered a small range of the musclefoods meals and have eaten about 4 or 5 of them so far.

They are as handy as the "look what we found" range in the sense that you just dump the pouch into boiling water and it isn't long before you have your dinner. As tonyuk said there is a lot of meat in them compared to other "boil in the bag" type meals that I've had and they post to the more remote areas of the UK at the same cost as for everyone else which is great. I found the food a little "bland" but I suspect this is because they are trying to keep the salt content low and so it is simply a little under seasoned, this is easy to fix. Also a lot of their meals say they are with rice but there isn't enough rice in them to make a decent meal for me. Again this is probably to do with their market as they are aimed at people who will want to keep their carb intake down. However it is easy enough to throw a bag of rice in the pot along with the meal and I would suggest that most people will need to do this.

They tend to be a little more expensive than the "look what we found" range but I'd say there is more eating in them, and a goodly amount more meat so you seem to be getting what you pay for.

So, if you are like me and eat out a lot and value something handy that will keep you going all day then these are well worth a look. Thanks to tonyuk for the tip off!

 

[Adze]

If you're only going for a night, or at a push two, then these take some beating:

http://groceries.iceland.co.uk/iceland-meal-in-a-bag-chicken-and-prawn-paella-800g/p/56765

Cheap too... £2.00 a pop for the better part of a kilo, and I reckon the nutrition stacks up pretty well, plenty of carbs and some fats with enough protein to keep meat on the bone. You're not limited to Spanish cuisine either... there's a fair range:

http://groceries.iceland.co.uk/search?text=meal+in+a+bag

They're frozen not dried so you'll need to take your own advice regarding food safety.