Frozen meals: yay or nay?
This past Monday I attended a fun event hosted by Stouffer's and Trish Magwood to introduce their new line of frozen food.
Some of it was good, some of it not so much.
Maybe I'm just not the write audience?
How often do you buy frozen meals?
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38 Comments:
There was a time in my life when I bought frozen meals. That time is not now.
dbcurrie at 3:15PM on 06/04/09
I buy them frequently because of my busy schedule. They make it so much easier to eat and run.
KatomRS at 3:15PM on 06/04/09
Depends on the frozen meal. Kashi has some really nice ones. I've only had a couple Healthy Choice, and neither one was something I'd care to repeat.
beth1 at 3:18PM on 06/04/09
If they are the ones I cooked and froze - yay:-). I can't recall when I bought a prepared frozen meal last time, to be honest.
brooke29 at 3:20PM on 06/04/09
About once a week, to eat at work.
Embackus at 3:21PM on 06/04/09
I used to eat them and actually like them but now that I eat and cook better, every time I've gone and bought one they have been dreadful.
arm1970 at 3:30PM on 06/04/09
They're kind of small and unsatisfying, and expensive for what you get. Add some veggies or make it a side-dish though and it's fine. Some of them (Kashi in particular) tastes pretty good though.
cycorider at 3:31PM on 06/04/09
I never buy frozen meals, though I do occasionally buy frozen side items like spring rolls or dumplings, and I'm not ashamed to buy frozen veggies.
I enjoy cooking, so buying a frozen meal takes away an opportunity to cook AND usually ends up costing about the same as cooking something fresh (if not more!). Like brooke29, though, I do freeze food that I have cooked either to save for later or for quick meals/snacks. I'm particularly fond of my home made frozen burritos.
dbrackst at 3:32PM on 06/04/09
Wait, isn't there a pretty current post already running about this? Am I just confused because it's the last day of school and I have no brain power left?
mollykate678 at 3:37PM on 06/04/09
Never.
flavacrisp at 3:42PM on 06/04/09
@mollykate678
you still have brain power :-)
http://www.seriouseats.com/talk/2009/05/favorite-frozen-entrees.html
hmw0029 at 3:51PM on 06/04/09
+1 @brooke29
nightmoon at 4:08PM on 06/04/09
Not anymore. The aftertaste and smell that comes from the plastic and cardboard creeps me out.
meglo91 at 4:38PM on 06/04/09
My daughter just lost 50 Lbs on frozen Jenny Craig and Lean Cuisines. One day I was in a hurry and grabbed a Lean Cuisine from the freezer to eat. I could not believe my taste buds. How awful. I wondered how my daughter endured them, but I don't question her weight loss. I think maybe they cleared her craving for creamy flavors and sauces and salt and she needed this food to crack her overeating of high calorie and rich foods.
janaatwg at 4:49PM on 06/04/09
Just no.
SEAtoNYC at 5:08PM on 06/04/09
Never frozen meals, but often frozen pizza. Is that the same thing, you think?
sailordave at 5:26PM on 06/04/09
Hardly ever! Only if I have nothing else to take to work and even then I'm still hungry after wards and def. not satisfied..
Hermosamorena at 5:48PM on 06/04/09
HM. Usually off-limits for me.
I choose frozen pizza or frozen mac and cheese if I forgot to prepare.
thats really the only time.
bad for you.
hungrychristel at 5:51PM on 06/04/09
When I was in my dieting 20s and teens, I lived on them. However, I think that everyone has a finite number of prepared TV dinners they can consume in their lifespan. My quota is exhausted. I know some people love Amy's but I wasn't that crazy over even hers when I began cooking more.
When I ate them, I ate things that I now can prepare from scratch, better and with fewer calories, like baked potato with veggies or Amy's hot pockets, or don't eat anymore like French bread frozen pizza.
I have to say, even when deep in the TV frozen dinner madness, I still couldn't understand how people could consume the 'beef' and even worse, the 'fish' entrees. (This is not an attack on meat, btw, but just a comment on the 'meatlike substances' in Lean Cusines I've seen).
HeartofGlass at 5:57PM on 06/04/09
Frozen meals, never. Frozen veggies, often. Frozen fish/seafood portions, occasionally. I routinely freeze my own leftovers for later use; in fact I plan for that when preparing larger batches..
czken at 6:04PM on 06/04/09
I have 4 Amys frozen mac and cheese in the freezer right now, emergency rations. I dont buy other frozen meals however I do buy frozen veggies on a reg basis.
huneybumper at 8:07PM on 06/04/09
I don't eat them too often but when I do I like Stouffer's and some of the Lean Cusines.
pjracz10 at 8:24PM on 06/04/09
Just wrong on so many levels
donnie at 8:56PM on 06/04/09
@Heart - I believe that those "meat substances" in most frozen meals are more of an offence to meat than anything you could possibly say:-)
brooke29 at 9:13PM on 06/04/09
The last "prepared" frozen food I bought (three years ago) was a half-dozen single serving pot pies. It wasn't because I wanted the pies but I wanted the little foil pie pans so I could start making my own, sweet or savory, single serving pies. Still got them; still use them...
czken at 5:35AM on 06/05/09
I always seem to have a small stock of Amy's Organic frozen meals, like Shepard's Pie or Chilli, but not much more than that. However, lately I have been really busy and with everything going on, I have begun to rely on shelf-stable meals, which I know are horrible for me, and I can't wait to be able to have a little time again to make a real meal soon.
Traveller at 11:57AM on 06/05/09
NAY - I am up for freezing certain ingredients to use later as part of a fresh meal... but just re-heat and eat, not my thing.
MadelynRodriguez at 12:02PM on 06/05/09
Yay - just not very often. We have frozen shumai, edamame and french bread pizzas in the house for "in a pinch". Ocassionally I buy a Lean Cuisine or Ethnic Gourmet for bringing for lunch (like once every couple months).
Amandarama at 12:43PM on 06/05/09
I buy them on occasion to bring to work for lunch but we never eat them for dinner. I agree that sometimes they can be good, sometimes so-so.
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 1:08PM on 06/05/09
I try to cook in mass quantity and freeze my own meals. but despite my love of cooking and my success in freezing home made meals, my life is a weird mix of hectic and laziness. so about once a week or so i'll have one for lunch at the office, though I don't stock up on them like I used to.
joyyy at 4:17PM on 06/05/09
@hmw0029 - Thanks, man. Thought I was losing my mind for a minute.
Someday I am going to be organized enough to freeze my own rations, so that I can break the turkey sandwich rut I'm in at work, which was borne out of being sick of pre-packaged frozen dinners.
Oh wait...when I'm at work? That won't be for about 11 more weeks! Thank goodness for my job in public education!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
mollykate678 at 5:18PM on 06/05/09
Whenever I do buy a Lean Cuisine and then try to eat it, I'm always pissed at myself. I'm always thinking, "WHY did I buy this tasteless block of crap?"
TheKitchenWitch at 6:37PM on 06/05/09
i like to have frozen foods (like veggies and chicken wings and such) to prepare as a backup. ive never really liked the "meals" cause they leave me unsatisfied, even if i am full -- im just not happy.
blizcheetah at 10:44PM on 06/05/09
I rarely buy frozen meals. I used to take them for lunch but found that so many left me hungry. Now I take leftovers but will pick up frozen entrees if I know I'm going to be too busy to cook.. I just make sure to bring something else to go with it.
I go to an assemble-and-freeze meal store most months and usually get 4 meals which gives me 4 to 6 servings each. That covers a good number of my lunches and dinners over the course of the month. It only takes an hour or so and I love that the store does all the prep and clean up.
CooksForOne at 12:42AM on 06/06/09
I freeze leftovers into lunch-sized portions for myself. As for frozen dinners from the supermarket - I don't buy those anymore. I tried a couple of brands and they all tasted like garbage so I gave up.
therealchiffonade at 6:23AM on 06/06/09
Just frozen veggies, Boca Burgers and fudgesicles for me.
Porgy eats frozen whole grain waffles and prepared mini meatballs.
bessfour at 8:50AM on 06/06/09
Store bought frozen meals was somewhat of a novelty for my mother and I, so we only had them at most 1-2 times per year, as she was an amazing cook and health conscious.
My fondest frozen dinner memories were the ones in aluminum, so they went in the oven. My mother could never make *that* pudding from scratch. :)
Fast forward a few years when I was in high school in the mid-1980s, I would occasionally buy Le Menu microwavable frozen dinners. I loved their platters. I mean the actual plates they came in. The food was actually fairly decent too.
I haven't bought a frozen meal since then. I'll buy frozen entrees like unagi once every few years or frozen vegetables like okra or edamame in pods. That's the extent of it. Our freezer is stuffed with frozen leftovers, herbs in containers, shiitake, coffee in containers, and frozen desserts.
Cassaendra at 8:57AM on 06/06/09
Sure. Something like once a week, or once every two weeks. Is it the food of the gods? No. I usually can make the stuff that I buy (pizza, lasagna, manicotti), but I have huge problems with portion control. Frozen meals solve that problem for me, so I can kick the craving out before I down an entire casserole dish of lasagna. I can also get pretty lazy sometimes.
I also like buying frozen gyoza, a variety of frozen vegetables, waffles, and I'm sure there's more frozen food purchases I make if I think long enough.
hungryhungryhippo at 3:44PM on 06/07/09