Frozen Dinners - FEH!

[appnut]

Night Hawk frozen entrees are just about as good as the food prepared in their restaurants.  Had several in Austin when I went to college in the early to latter 1970s.  Sandy, I've lived alone all my life.  The only ready-to-eat I keep around is pizza and that's not often.  I"M on a special high-fiber diet so I have no choice but to cook.  I pretty much have whole wheat pasta of some kind and throw in a can of tomatoes of some kind and some spices and wine.  Maybe alittle bit of cheese and sauteed onions.  20-25minutes I have a meal and 3 or 4 services left to put in the freezer.  I do several varieties to have variety.  I will also do some power cooking on the weekends and maybe have up to 2 to 3 weeks of individual meal portions in the freezer.  I"m like Joe, plenty of frozen veggies too.  Stir-0fry some oriental veggies and cook some rice. 

 

[frigilux]

There are times of the year when I have no time to cook during the week. My solution? Sunday is generally open for me, so I make a casserole or two, a small beef roast, maybe a chicken, potato or deli macaroni salad, and some sandwich rolls.

The casseroles get portioned in Zip-Loc containers and stacked in the freezer. Since I don't finish the casseroles in one week, they accumulate; after a few weeks I have 6 or 7 different casseroles to choose from for supper.

I use the roast beef and chicken for sandwiches, put the salad in a small container, add a pickle and maybe some applesauce or blueberries, and there's five days of lunches. All brimming with homemade goodness.

At suppertime (which can be anywhere from 8:00-10:30 p.m. during busy times) I select whichever casserole tempts me, grab a dinner roll and a small green salad or some frozen peas and I have dinner in about 5 minutes.

This puts one in control of ingredients, sodium, sugar, and seasonings. Yum!

 

[lordkenmore]

"You must have ridden dinosaurs to school like I did!

"Uphill both ways, of course."

And don't forget the three feet of snow!

 

[arbilab]

I didn't walk to school uphill both ways in snow and barefeet. Because snow hadn't been invented yet. Neither had feet.

 

[fido]

Noodles are very useful for quick meals. One of the meals I knock up in about 5 minutes is diced meatloaf or salami with lecso and noodles. Lecso comes in jars here and is basically stewed peppers and tomatoes, so can be used as a sauce for pasta, rice or whatever.

 

[tolivac]

Sort of gave up on the MC potpies and others-for the amount of time it takes to heat them(1 hr)you could COOK something elese better in less time!

 

[arbilab]

MC pot pies are a poor value. Two Banquet PPs are cheaper, more food, more chicken, cook faster. They're still questionable food values as they are disproportionally caloric vs. nutrition. Which is a little hard to figure, starting with one of the leanest meats. And there's still the sodium but I can't name a prepared food where excess sodium is NOT an issue.

 

[launderess]

"Dinner For One Girl (or Guy)"

As Sally from the Britcom "Coupling" calls them, can be handy if one does not expect much and are better than nothing else.

One only purchases frozen means when they are on sale and even then am careful to read the labels. Stouffers and Marie Calenders (pot pies only) aren't *that* bad, but as dear Mama would day "if you get hungry enough you'll eat anything".

Am sort of from the old school of cooking in that one usually cooks something that can go for more than one meal. Chicken for instance can be fried, roasted, broiled, curried, etc in quantities enough to go for a few meals. When one gets home all there is to do is microwave some veggies and perhaps sides. We are big on rice and always make a huge pot of it and keep in the fridge, so that's the starch portion of a meal done. If need be grill up a few strips of steak or sliced chicken breasts with onions and peppers, season and add perhaps add a sauce then you've got a quick and easy dinner.

The thing to do is look for what is on sale such as chikcen or beef and make something that can be divided up into portions, then frozen for fast and easy meals. Pasta dishes are also great to make up in a batch then freeze in smaller portions for later.

Those with parents who are getting on will appreciate the last bit as it saves tons on groceries and at least you can be sure they are eating well. It really is the reverse for some of us when we first moved house and our mothers would show up and or send us home with tons of "frozen dinners".

 

[mark_wpduet]

Oh

I eat these all the time, but only the Lean Cuisine ones, never those huge hungry man ones loaded with salt and fat and I rarely eat fast food....But I always will add something to it.........

However, I do drink green smoothies every day or *most* everyday which has nothing but raw fresh veggies blended into a smoothie and some good fat and I add a small amount of grape juice to be able to get it down!

 

[cyclemonitor]

P F Chang

no one has mentioned this one
may seem pricy...but portion is good and quality very good
But...we are talking about convenience

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

The one place I had worked at nearly could have closed from all the frozen dinners that got left out of coolers & freezers & never got put away--among more shrink from other perishables left to spoil...

That, and a few thefts of them... They were loss-leaders at where I'd used to work...

-- Dave