While I do cook from scratch, I was recently on a diet which required certain types of prepackaged meals. They tend to be small, but were tasty. I liked the Lean Cuisine and Healty Choice meals. But what kind of food do you like g? (by the way, I am adopting a kitten tomorrow, I HOPE, to buddy up with my other rescue kitty Maggie)

good for you on the kitten adoption. hub and i have spent so many years sheltering the unwanted in this area that it always makes me feel good to hear of another furry friend saved from the 'pound'.
back to food:
i tend to stay with the uncomplicated meals when i look for frozen. i have tried the bags of asain dinners, ecotic stews, etc. they dont go to well here. i dont mind making the starch and veggies if i could find a good meat entree. we have had a few lasagnas that werent too bad . i also tried the ones that you dump into the crock pot. i thought that was kind of redundant: if i am going to use my crock pot i'll start from scratch.
the biggest problem for me is usually by the time it is time to start cooking supper i am too tried to even try, there fore: the frozen meals,
g

I think the Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice, and Stouffer's meals are the best. And, if you want to go old-school, go for some Hungry Man. It's VERY frozen-dinner-ish, but also usually edible. lol

Oh, and the Hormel entrees are very good. They're not frozen, they're refrigerated. I'll post the link:

Here is a link that might be useful: Hormel® Refrigerated Entrees

No, you won't get into trouble for posting a frozen entree question. I don't use them, but what other people do in their kitchens is as much their own business as what they do in any other room of their homes. LOL.

You are right, in that the quality seems to be declining in them. My mama, before we took over cooking most of her meals..depended on them when she didn't feel like cooking, and you could see where the choices seemed to be diminishing and they all pretty much began to look the same. Boring. I also noticed a trend to cheaper meats in them (try finding any with beef, Ha!) and also less of it, and more dependence on starch fillers. The last time I saw one of those frozen turkey and gravy ones, you had to hunt for the couple of slices of meat floating around in two pounds of gravy.

Notice the portion sizes and caloric values on them too. My Mama liked one certain variety and she was needing to put back on weight after a surgery and the whole meal was just slightly over 400 calories. NOT ENOUGH for even a diabetic diet for one major meal. Your typical diabetic diet is 1800 calories a day and this isn't a third of that.

I look at all the items in the market, whether I used them or not, and am seeing a lot of precooked meats, like bar-b-qued ribs, chickens, bacon, sausages you can just nuke. And I had a coupon for ready to eat fresh prepared mashed spuds, so tried that. Not bad. Also had a free coupon for a veggie medley one just nukes in the bag. Now, that one was excellent. If you get one ready to nuke meat (found in the meat case, not the frozen foods case), a bag of nuke in the bag veggies and a nuke to eat mashed spuds.....there is a very balanced, very similar to home cooked meal. All ready in minutes from your nuker. That's how I would do it if I didn't cook. Much healthier than those whole meals in one little teensy tray jobs.

DH takes frozen dinners when he goes fishing. If there aren't any homemade, he buys Lean Cuisine. I guess that could be taken as a recommendation.

Being too tired to fix dinner is in the same book as being too sleepy to fix breakfast, and I've been on that page. IMO, the cure is to pre-cook in large amounts and then freeze in serving-sized portions. There are three points to remember when freezing foods: keep the freezer below 0°F; be sure that the food is packed in such a way that there is absolutely no air touching it; and LABEL each package. Practically all cooked meats can be frozen up to six months, which is about 180 meals, lol. Casseroles can also be made in double or treble batches, with the extras frozen. I usually have at least 20 meals that are heat'n'eat.

Depending on the recipe, most of your time is spent assembling ingredients or prepping the ingredients or cooking. None of those will drastically increase if you make double or treble quantities. For roasts [pot, chicken, turkey, beef, ham] I bake the largest possible, cook, and then tightly plastic-wrap serving-size pieces and pack into bags. It actually takes very little additional time to cook large amounts and the time it takes to divide/pack is less than the time it would have taken to go to the store.

I guess the fourth point is to pack in single serving-sizes because they are quicker to thaw and heat, and permit more variety. I also pack some things in pre-measured units for specific recipes (such as 1½ cups of diced ham which goes into a quick stirfry). Homemade TV dinners are put into divided plates with a nuke-able lids (plastic wrap is pressed over the foods to keep the air out). I rarely make those specifically -- both the vegs and the meat/protein portion use leftovers from a regular meal: the dinner quite possibly would have a tablespoonful each of 5 different vegs, a spoonful of rice or potatoes, one salmon croquette and a single BBQ chicken wing. I've found that if one nukes on medium or low, almost everything can be frozen and re-heated with little detriment.

The fifth point is to have and use a large variety... I don't think anyone wants beef for every meal, or chicken or fish. But if you vary the meats so that you have at least fourteen consecutive dinners without repetition, no one will feel like they are eating the same old, same old, same old.

Count me in on the whole being-tarred-and-feathered thing for posting this: I have never understood the concept of spending all that time chopping, sauteeing, etc. -- literally slaving over a hot stove -- to produce something that will be gone in about 20 minutes once it's been served and eaten.

If it doesn't come in a box or can or a bag, it's not in my kitchen. My microwave is my best friend.

Fresh fruits are eaten au naturel. No steaming, straining, no anything-ing. I pour organic chocolate syrup over the fruit if I want to dress it up. So there. :o)

Here's another vote for Lean Cuisine. We have it usually one night a week; more if I really don't want to cook. (When I write "cook", it's nothing like what most of the GP posters do!) We used to use Healthy Choice b/c the sodium content was less, but after several years, they all seemed to taste alike. We've found that Lean Cuisine falls into a comparable range as far as sodium is concerned. And the options are varied; we eat mostly chicken entrees, but there are several non-meat ones which are tasty, particularly "Santa Fe Rice and Beans". (And no, I'm not affiliated in any way with Nestle which makes Lean Cuisine.) :>)

As others have posted, when I do cook, I make large amounts--spaghetti sauce, stew, chili, etc.--and freeze what we don't eat into portions for two per meal. I usually get three additional meals from whatever I've fixed. Sometimes I can go a whole week without using the stove. TG for the microwave!

I like the Birdseye meals and side dishes.

Philistines! Where's John when I need him....

*Ducks and runs*

One note of interest: Watch for the sodium levels in those meals though. A lot of them are SUPER high!

That's a good point. Be careful, since the lean cuisine ones are so low in calories. Perhaps you can get calories through the day in other ways, (assuming you aren't on a diet) but make sure they are not empty calories. I don't see how any of you can eat them and find the serving size large enough. Maybe I am just a very large eater, but those teesny carboard trays don't make up half of what I'd consume at one sitting. I have eaten them occasionally at lunch when I was at somebody else's house. (and left hungry)

The salt, fat, preservatives, and chemicals I don't recognize contained in many frozen food containers are a major factor in the choice.

If you have never cooked and don't care to do so, the suggestions here are worthy... but there is one level up from prepackaged frozen that you may wish to try.

Almost all major supermarkets offer hot foods in some sort of deli kiosk... Their menu varies...try each one in your area and find out the days they offer what you liked - ham and beans, beef and noodles, chicken and dumplings are often available. Most supermarkets and Walmarts offer baked or rotissery chicken for a reasonable price. In the cold bins of the meat department is an assortment of vegetables and casseroles that are not frozen - (check for salt and preservatives)...and these days, pre packaged raw vegetables and meat with instructions to dump same in something and how long to cook.

A whole roasted chicken and a couple of different vegetable containers can make 4 - 6 meals for a single person, 2 - 3 for a couple. Take them home, nuke them as needed, eat your meal, and gather the leftovers up in compartmentalized plastic with sealable lids designed to go from freezer to microwave (fill to avoid air pockets); or plastic bags from which you have squeezed all the air out before you seal and double bag them.

You can add variety to the entre with pick up pastas and sauces, carry out fried chicken, pre-washed and sorted bags of greens for salads, local events like grilled pork chops at fund raisers, BBQ and smoked meat establishments.

Always, always take your leftovers when you eat out... most restaurants put too much on a plate, and you've paid for it. Ask for a box - that's lunch the next day.

Oh he&&,Johns probably hiding in a closet eating Peeps.

I always keep a frozen something on hand for an emergency. Last winter I had a horrible attack of sciatica and could barely move for three weeks. I live alone and lived on Marie Calendar dinners once a day for the entire three weeks. The only one not truly great was the meatloaf.The chicken pot pie is outstanding.

tisha - i have tried healthy choice, wasnt too happy with them but i never had the lean cuisine. stouffers and hungry man are okay tho. thanks for the link to hormel. i will have to give those a shot.
susy - i dont know how you do it. you are the busiest person i know and still have time to look so good! it is plain not fair! LOL, i have tried those "just meats" your talking about and that is exactly what i got, too. 4 slices of turkey and tons of greasy, yuky gravy. have you tried the prepared meats in the meat section? now they arent too bad. i got a rolled pork honey mustard roast already that was pretty tasty. that was an easy meal. just shove it in the oven with some potatoes and a pot of corn. i made it so much we sort of got sick of it...
i do cook larger roasts and than freeze some for another meal, meldy. trouble is that doesnt happen to often in this house. i like making stews and pot pies in the winter, but i am not a fan of left overs. hub likes them, so nothing goes to waste but like you said, who wants to eat stew all week?
mj, i bet you are like me in that you could make a meal out of raw veggies and fruit? when hub works late i just love it. i dont have to cook ( even frozen meals) and i can make a meal out of a piece of cheese, some crackers and a bowl of blueberries.
there is certainly a lot of votes for lean cuisine. i must try some. we arent talking diet meals here now are we? because i surely am not on one nor do i worry too much about my salt intake ( maybe i should?) so the meals dont have to be 'special diet" meals. i agree tho, that the portions arent big enough for me in any meal that is in the frozen section. i have to laugh at those 'family' size meals that say serves 4 or so. ha! that just about feeds hub!
the deli chicken at wally world is tops and we get one of those about 2 a month. it is lovely with rice and a veggie.
marie calendar is one of our favs too, gabriell.
it sounds as tho you have the same problems i have. there are days when my back plain up and refuses to allow me to cook. those days hub has to fend for himself.
geez, dare i say i dont iron either?
g

When we have a Lean Cuisine for supper, I usually add a salad or vegetable and a roll of some sort, usually half a bagel. That ensures we don't leave the table still feeling hungry. Now, that's not to say both DH and I couldn't eat more, but since we're prone to *eat more* than we need, anyway, we allow ourselves to feel virtuous!

We love the store's deli chickens, too, and have one about once a month. There's usually over half of the chicken left, so I freeze it for *quick and easy* chicken casseroles or for chicken salad sandwiches. I've used the bones to make stock and chicken soup, too. That way, nothing is wasted.

lately our grocery has had meat in the freezer section and cooler section that are cheaper than the plain stuff. I couldn't pass up hormel meatballs with bbq sauce in a little bag. You cooked the meatballs in the sauce, or not as you wished. Pretty tasty. Then there was in a vacuum bag thick boneless porkchps by Farmland, I think. I picked a southwest seasoned one. Very tender, little fat, better meat and on sale, cheaper than the plain porkchops. I like to cook, but sometimes am too pooped or don't have time.

DH, who you know is a great cook, also has a sick love of frozen TV dinners. Nothing as "healthy" as Lean Cuisine, but he prefers those really nasty Banquet TV dinners - the turkey one being his favorite. He says they remind him of lunches in high school.

I have a real fondness for Marie Callender pot pies. I know they're loaded with fat, but then the ones we make from scratch are too & Marie's are a whole lot quicker to my plate.

that's another problem with the frozen dinners, andi, the good ones all tend to be loaded with fat. that is one concern i do have. i try to stay away from excessive fat. i dont mind a little, but 50% and over, well that's just too much for a meal. i am sure i had over that yesterday since we ate out after church.,so the rest of the week i will try to stay within the 30% guidelines.
one of my fav meals, which is easy, is to just fry porkchops ( no fat in the pan) until they brown well. then just put 2 or 3 big dollups of apricot or peach jam on top of them, turn the heat down and put a lid on them. i let them cook till i finish feeding the animals and by then the 'pan drippings have made a pretty nice 'gravy' and the jam has sweetened the pork. throw some potatoes in the mic and we have a meal. i do that with chicken too, but that seems to be the extent of my creativity. not surprisingly, we have fried porkchops at least once a week.
hub likes those marie callendar pot pies. i always have some of them in the freezer in case i have a bad day.
g

Another great thing to put on top of pan-cooked pork chops is enough salsa to cover them. Cover and let simmer; they are great served with sweet potatoes. The combination of the spicy salsa with the 'taters is very nice. But I'm going to try the apricot or peach jam version, too. It sounds yummy.

Ah, salsa and pork chops. That's an old family fav my mother used to make before most Americans even knew what salsa is. I flour and season mine, fry them up with a crispy coat and drain. Pour off the excess oil in the skillet, mince up a small onion and several buttons of garlic and sautee in the drippings and add a big container (I make my own) of salsa to simmer down. When it's nearly done, add about two cups of green peas and place the chops back in the mix to warm back up. Serve them with fresh tortillas, and maybe some home fries or rice like a burrito. OMG. Now I want some.