Do you recommend any frozen entrees that you don't feel too

[babylonsister]

guilty about buying once in awhile? I have a few; they're great
when you just don't feel like cooking.

Shells/raviolis florentine-add salad and garlic bread, and voila

Boca burgers (only for me; Mr. PITA won't touch the stuff)

DiGiorno's Thin Crispy Crust Pizza for a lite dinner (I get the meat for him, but
like it just as well w/only cheese which I then doctor w/fresh cooked spinach)

I also buy spicy chicken wings; not at all good for you, but easy, good
when watching football on a Sunday

Finally, I'll occasionally buy Stouffer's or Marie Callender's lasagna. For just
the two of us, I can't imagine making a huge tray of this stuff since I'm usually
the one munching on the leftovers.

Any suggestions of other entrees that are acceptable to your taste buds?

[TygrBright]

1. Our "guilty pleasure" is CA Pizza Kitchen frozen 'za...

...in the Thai Peanut flavor. Mostly a winter treat, though.

helpfully,
Bright

[livetohike]

11. Frozen cheese ravioli, Trader Joes' chickenless nuggets

Trader Joe's Vegetable gyoza and Morningstar Grillers are always in my freezer.

[Warpy]

2. Quorn cutlets and Boca Burgers

are staples during the summer. I confess I have a weakness for Eggo waffles doused in real maple syrup. Bags of frozen veggies are necessary for those of us who live alone and are sick of watching that enormous head of broccoli in the fridge turn to mush because we only needed that one stalk that week.

Other than that, my freezer tends to be stuffed with whole grain flours, shelled nuts, prepared minced ginger set out in teaspoonful mounds and frozen for later use, some of the herbs like epazote I can't find very often but which I put whole into foods and therefore survive freezing. In fall, these will be joined by freezer bags full of peeled and seeded tomatoes purchased from local growers at the height of the season.

[babylonsister]

16. What's a quorn cutlet? Never heard of it. nt

[Warpy]

17. Check out the frozen section in your local health food store

The ingredients list looks lousy, but they completely satisfy my twice a summer fried chicken Jones.

They even managed to get the texture close.

They do roasts and nuggets, too, but I haven't tried those.

[BeTheChange]

18. Quorn is God's gift to aspiring vegetarians that love meat...

I adore their Quorn dogs. And this is coming from someone who loves Hebrew Nationals and a good Costco special.

I also like to use the little frozen non breaded nuggets in psuedochicken pot pie with some Better than Boullion (vegetable, of course), lotsa veggies and cheddar cheese bechemel.

MMMmmm..

[Dora]

3. Oh,yes.

Ice cream.

It's an entree, isn't it?

[Stinky The Clown]

4. We always have frozen entrees on hand

While we both enjoy cooking, there are some nights when it is simply a chore, or when we both slammed with work and have no time to think, let alone cook.

Ours mostly come from the freezer section at Costco. We've never found a bad item there - except for some seafood raviolis that had what appeared to be a broken sauce. The taste was okay (Sparkly actually liked it more than I did), but they looked awful (to me more than to Sparkly). Apart from this ne misadventure, we've pretty much liked everything we've tried.

A word of caution on frozen entrees. Some are ready to go - just heat and eat. Some require some additional prep and these take as much effort as doing something (albeit, it would likely be a *different* something) from scratch.

Frozen pizzas are also a staple for us - as are phone numbers for the call-ahead/carry-out places nearby. :)

[mike_c]

5. my favorite "I don't feel like cooking" meal....

Combine in a covered cassarole:

1 frozen lasagna roll-up (Safeway brand)
6 frozen meatballs (Costco)
1 cup or so marinara sauce (any good bottled brand)
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Bake for 40 min at 350F. Grate parmesan cheese on top.

[politicat]

6. Lots. Costco is my friend.

Bocas and the chicken sausages in the deli section; ravioli and potstickers in the freezer section, their jars of pesto sauce and the goat cheese logs; marinated mozzarella salad. Sometimes Costco's frozen meatballs - they're pretty healthy and cost less than it would cost me to make them by hand.

And there are a lot of things I consider convenience foods that other people don't, like grape tomatoes, bagged salad mix and frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I use Seeds of Change salad dressings a lot, and I could make my own, but it's easier to just open a bottle.

I also have a lot of love for two jarred sauces: Tiger Tiger Punjabi Butter Chicken sauce (Cut up chicken breasts, sautee with chopped onion in butter, top with sauce and simmer 15 minutes) and Blue Parrot Marinara sauce (which is exactly what I would make at home if I had the energy to deal with the heat. I can also buy the sauce from the restaurant, and we do so on a regular basis.)Boil pasta, heat the sauce with meatballs and open a bag of salad.

[grasswire]

7. a few

California Pizza Kitchen's white pizza

Safeway's pot stickers

Butterflied breaded shrimp from Sea Pac

Marie Callender's pot pies

Oh, and Maple Leaf makes some chicken breast entrees that are an easy dinner. One is stuffed with broccoli and cheese, another an attempt at kiev, etc. They aren't gourmet food, but sure easy with a salad and some rice.

[The empressof all]

8. Trader Joes is my friend for frozen stuff

We're addicted to the Manderin Orange Chicken. Though not the healthiest choice it's delicious. Morningstar patties are a frequent purchase too.

I usually have some TJ's frozen fish or shrimp, tacitos, pierogies,frozen fruit for smoothies (pineapple/mango is the current favorite) and frozen veggies. (Mushrooms, peppers, onions are a god send!) The kid likes the enchilades and the tamales so I pick them up as well.


I pretty much always have some frozen tortellini or ravioli in the house along with Barilla sauce with the olives. Easy dinner for the SO and kid.

[Tab]

9. Yes! I started buying Thai Thai stuff

Most frozen stuff is so-so, imo, though that doesn't stop me from buying it (and I really like CPK's Margherita pizza).

But this stuff showed up on my supermarket's frozen entree shelf, and I got one.

It really tastes just like the stuff I get at a half-way decent Thai restaurant.

http://www.thaithaireadymeal.com/

All the product's I've tried so far have just been delicious.

[babylonsister]

15. This sounds interesting; do you shop at a regular grocery store?

I don't have a Costco or Trader Joe's close by.

[Tab]

20. Yes, a local chain

Up here it's Hannaford's, a moderate chain in northern New England. Used to be Shop-n-Save - I think Hannafords acquired Shop-n-Save.

I would have expected the Thai Thai to be in the natural foods section (because it is natural, as far as I can tell), or in the ethnic, but it was just packed in with the rest of the frozen entrees. It looked good, so I tried it, and it tasted great - real Thai taste.

[grasswire]

10. not frozen, but we always have Zatarain's

The yellow rice, the dirty rice, the jumbalaya mixes are always in our pantry for a quick meal with some leftover meat.

[Stinky The Clown]

13. I'd forgotten those!

They make some very nice box meals.

This and other products of this ilk shoudl also be rightly thought of as convenience foods in pretty much the same vein as frozen stuff.

[BeTheChange]

19. We do the Zatarains or Chachere's with TVP.

Its quick and easy with some green onions from the garden.

[midnight armadillo]

12. I use 'em for lunches

The cost (<$4) is way under the average restaurant lunch where I work (~$9). I was using the Trader Joe's rice bowls for a while but have switched to the Whole Foods house brand and the Moosewood Restaurant brand frozen entries. On sale they're under $3 each, tasty, not too much sodium, and involve a decent volume of veggies.

Once our littlest one (4 months yesterday!) is older we'll get back into cooking bigger and more elaborate meals, but this works for now.

[jeanarrett]

14. Costco is the place.

Marie Callender's pot pies (good) and portobello ravioli from Gordon's (so good) with just butter and parmesan cheese. I hate to say it, but my kids actually "request" hamburger helper stroganoff sometimes!

[pdxbecca]

22. I actually really like

Weight Watchers lasagne florentine. When you are wanting a single serving of vegetarian lasagne they are pretty good. Some of the other WW meals aren't too bad either.

[Blue Gardener]

21. Stouffer's Mac and Cheese

I just love that stuff.

[never_get_over_it]

23. Never knew this forum existed until just now

But when I saw this thread my FIRST thought was Stouffer's Mac and Cheese - there is absolutely no point in making mac and cheese from scratch because this stuff is SO GOOD - I had it last night.

Also love the Maple Leaf broccoli/cheese stuffed chicken breast but can't get that brand since I moved from Northern VA to Florida so I buy a different brand now - name has slipped my mind, but those are very good when you don't feel like cooking

And for those of you that mentioned Trader Joe's I LOVE THAT FREAKING STORE and there are none within hundreds of miles from me now

[NMDemDist2]

24. welcome to C&B, the friendliest corner of DU!!!

:hi:

[never_get_over_it]

25. Thanks - I'm going to like it here

and I can thank LindaCooks

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1828825#1828864

[NMDemDist2]

26. and me LOL

:evilgrin:

[RebelOne]

27. Moosewood has some really good frozen entrees.