Eating ready made food every day

[lynbrown]

i live alone and really enjoy all M & S prepared food. Its so easy to fix and often contains vegetables, as well as meat/pasta/potato etc. Can I do myself harm?

[lardhelmet]

Only to your purse!

[craft1948]

god I wish I could afford M&S food every day...........

[jack daniels]

could be high in salt content, so read & go for the lower ones. cook yourself a meal & enough to freeze to have another time

[NoMercy]

There's no substitute for home cooked food.

Sorry, but I cannot mitigate for prepared food... I cannot see any advantage other than time-saving.

[NoMercy]

JD is right. When I cook a roast dinner tomorrow, I will deliberately do too much veg and then I can freeze a couple of portions. Every time you cook a main meal, freeze a portion and you will soon amass a stockpile of frozen meals, veg portions, soups, etc.

[237SJ]

Probably not. Too much hype in the media about ready meals. If they come from a reputable supplier such as M&S I wouldn`t beat yourself up about it. However, fresh home prepared meals would be better for you (and better for your wallet)!

[woofgang]

why better for you? I get the wallet bit

[Canary42]

I too live alone and enjoy cooking a meal from scratch every day using fresh and natural ingredients - food from the fields, not from a laboratory.

As for the harm in prepared meals, the chemical additives MAY cause a harmful build-up in the body, but jury still very much out on this one.

[tamborine]

I defrosted venison, chopped it up to feed my stalker-owl. But it hasn't eaten it so have now shoved it in oven to casserole thru the night in stock & xmas wine (left-overs). If food-poisoning dont kill me the gas will (it smells of paint).

[society]

Hope you have Pepto-Bismol on hand, Tambo.

[woofgang]

if you read the labels on marks food (and quite a lot of others,) it contains the same stuff as you'd use to cook it yourself

[boxtops]

M&S food is fine. When my old mum was alive and I lived with her for a while, we ate a lot of it. Neither of us were keen on cooking (I'm still not) and there was never any waste with M&S ready meals. There are however cheaper options, it's probably at the pricier end of the scale - but definitely good food, well prepared, very tasty. If I could afford it, I would probably do the same!

[boxtops]

Society, where's your pci gone? - you'll all blank, not even a blobby!

[pastafreak]

I too live on my own,and have been tempted on occasion by M&S food. But every time I have purchased it, I have been disappointed. Ready-prepared food just does not have either the same taste or texture as what you will make yourself. And yes...while it may have quite similar ingredients as what you make at home, you cannot control the amount of salt for one thing, and there is none of the variation that occurs in making your own. It just tastes EXACTLY the same every time....there are no surprises. Boring!!

[LoftyLottie]

I too have always been disappointed with M&S prepared food. It's not too bad but, as Pasta says, doesn't compare to good home cooking with flavour and texture and certainly not worth the money. Some of it is also very salty.

It probably is just as good for you, but not very appetising in my opinion. And it really takes very little time to throw together a good, tasty meal. And as has been said, you can make a larger quantity and freeze several portions.

A good basic well flavoured mince can be made into many things. Freeze it and there you go!

[vulcan]

I have a friend who's a retired university lecturer. he never married and claims he has never cooked a meal in his life, this may or not be true, but I do know he eats M & S meals all the time. He is 71, hasn't an ounce of fat and has limitless energy.

[tamborine]

my casserole cooked all night with wine is really tender; added pre-boiled carrots, brocolli, corn, whole beans & new pots. The bikers are bringing in fresh crusty rolls.

Dont tell 'em, its not really venison; it's the road-kill muntjack :)

[LoftyLottie]

I must admit that people who don't cook and only eat ready prepared meals are usually slimmer. They eat less 'cos the portions are smaller and probably aren't very 'foody' as they don't taste quite as good! Often they are energetic people who would rather be dashing about than cooking.


(I am not talking about people who eat junk food, just those who buy balanced ready made meals like those from M&S.

[KingOfMercia]

Eww....fully cooked veg frozen then thawed - one word, horrible!! You carry on with your M&S love - when my good lady goes off on her travels, she always leaves me an M&S dinner and I always enjoy it too!!