Microwave Meals

[EcclesCake]

I feel I should hang my head in shame asking this but needs must!

I have ten days without a proper kitchen. I had resigned myself to a week of ready meals and as I tuck into my chicken Madras I am losing the will to live.

I had thought that the likes of a curry would be a safe bet :-(

I've seen fresh vegetables and fish meals that are presumably steamed in the microwave, has anyone tried them? Comments appreciated.

Any recommendations for a complete ready meal meal that can be nuked?

It is going to be a very long ten days at this rate :-(

[Old_Geezer]

Veg is steamed in a steamer. No need for a microwave. Nor a "proper" kitchen.

What you really need to do is resign yourself to trying a different pub each day for our main meal.

Apart from that look for the meals for one rather than the frozen meal type of thing. They are a little more fuss, but worth it. And accept your weight might just go up during the duration.

[Buenchico]

I've tried 'steam in the microwave' meals and they've all been too bland for me. (I like strong flavours).

Tesco's Italian range is rather tasty (and, at 3 for £6, not particularly expensive). Almost anything from M&S is good too. (Some of their stuff seems ridiculously over-priced but some of it is quite reasonable).

Good old spag-bol is a fairly safe bet from any supermarket. (Even the 'value' ones, at a pound or less, can be quite nice, especially if you add plenty of Parmesan but the M&S one is lovely).

Store-bought lasagne is generally best avoided if you've only got a microwave available (and the cheaper ones are often close to inedible altogether however you cook them).

Look out for paella dishes and West Indian ones, such as jambalaya, (both chilled and frozen) in Asda. They're usually rather nice.

Co-op chilled ready meals are generally much dearer than those in the big supermarkets but the quality is usually surprisingly good (often close to M&S stuff)

[humbersloop]

Eccles, I steam loads of stuff in the microwave - fish and chicken with veg come out well, just get some bags and and a steamer from a pound shop

there are some good one pot recipes here to start - though I apologise in advance for the presence of quinoa in this link

[humbersloop]

and I apologise further for the absence of said link...

http://greatist.com/health/surprising-healthy-microwave-recipes

[EcclesCake]

Many thanks for the suggestions.

I'm interested in trying the corn on the cob in the micro from Humbers link, have visions of a micro full of pop corn :-)

[ethandron]

Actually, there is one ready made micro thing I'd recommend. It's called rumbledythums or something, you get it in Sainsburys and it's a mixture of potato, swede and savoy cabbage topped with grated cheddar cheese. A couple of minutes in the micro is all it needs, very tasty and goes with anything..meat, fish, egg, a bit more cheese. Even nice just by itself with a yogurt and fruit for pud, just to balance things.

[maggiebee]

A slow cooker might be a better alternative.

[EcclesCake]

Just going back to an earlier question, do any supermarkets still have help yourself salad bars?

I'm fairly sure they've disappeared from Waitrose but I know Sainsbury's had them but I can't find anything on their website.

[humbersloop]

they did at 4.30 this afternoon

[boxtops]

Morrisons here has a good salad bar, Eccles.

When we had our new kitchen put in earlier this year, they kept the fridge and freezer plugged in and worked round it. We're never averse to a good ready meal (IMO M&S. Waitrose and Tesco Finest are extremely good for instant meals) but we also invested in a halogen oven, which sat on the table top in evenings, amid the dustsheets, and rustled up some nice meals from scratch. We couldn't live without our steamer either, and we could have plugged either of them into any room in the house during the chaos.

[sherrardk]

Our Sainsbury has a salad bar and they will also cook your pizza.

[EcclesCake]

Brilliant thank you. It seems you need to check the individual store websites to find out if they have a salad bar. I have now located my nearest and I'll be heading there tomorrow :-)

[EcclesCake]

Yet another reason for me to dislike Sainsbury's!

Having found a store with a salad bar, I get there to find out that the store has been remodelled and they have done away with the salad bar.

The customer services chap did at least make a note of the fact that they haven't updated the stores website to reflect this.

[anneasquith]

aldi steam meals are ok.