The pleasure that is ready meals

[British Red]

Its a horrible wet autumnal day, should be planting out onions, garlic and shallots today, but the soil is wet which means rotovating the beds is
pointless. We have lit the small wood burner for cosiness and I think I will indulge myself with ready meals this afternoon. I think convenience foods are vital in a healthy, back to nature lifestyle. Does anyone else indulge in them ?

 

[Toddy]

You mean the kind that come from making too much and bagging the for the freezer ?
Oh yes I make them.
Brilliant to burrow through the freezer and find something comfort food wise when everyone's tired and not feeling like cooking
Chilli, lasagne, pasties and pies, soups and stews, and even biscuit dough.

It's a beautiful early Autumn day here; himself's been picking brambles so I'm making jam and we'll have fruit crumble for pudding.
I've got washing hung out drying and I even got the windows washed
Right enough I've got the heavy velvet curtains ready to hang up too. It's definitely getting colder.

So, what did you find for lunch then ?

cheers,
Toddy

 

[SimonM]

Oh yes, home made ready meals fill half our freezer.

Yesterday I made a batch of lasagne, today chilli chicken and chicken curry, as stocks were running low.

Simon

 

[widu13]

Ready made if I can persuade the venison haunches to launch themselves into the oven!

 

[ReamviThantos]

A vat of curry, Bolognese, chilli etc. cooked in one go and divided and frozen is how we roll too.

 

[rik_uk3]

I make a lot of my own ready meals for the freezer. Some of the boil in the bag meals in Iceland are not to bad as a standby but not everyday fare.

http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/acatalog/Heat-and-Eat-Vegetable-Curry-p1.html are a good addition to the camping food cupboard, free delivery on orders over £35, great site for those who don't make their own (bung in meat of choice at camp).

The nearest I get to a ready meal on anything like a regular basis would be a tin of beans.

 

[British Red]

So, what did you find for lunch then ?

cheers,
Toddy

More a question of making than consuming today - 9 litres of chilli is just bubbling away on the range....used up most of the tomatoes, last of the bell peppers, half a dozen onions, two heads of garlic, loads of beans, some windfall apples and sundry other bits and bobs. Generally I preserve what we grow as individual ingredients as they are so much more flexible that way, but having some stuff ready is a guilty pleasure I confess the beef was bought which is bad but hey - its an excuse to get the "Spong" out

This lot will be canned rather than frozen. We have made an effort to can, dry and clamp more and more as we found ourselves debating a fourth freezer which is plain stupid - time to deploy the other preservation methods for things like chillis and sauces which really are better canned than frozen - much quicker to throw in a pan on the Esse that way.


I'll leave the chilli on the right (cool) side of the hob tonight so it gets the requisite 12 hours cooking - then fire the canner up in the morning. I feel a portion may find itself on potato wedges tomorrow though