TV dinners & such

14 years ago

Do you eat frozen entrees?

I'm a chef, but... when no one else is home and I don't want to cook, I confess to eating Stouffer's frozen lasagna. And other nasty, nasty frozen TV dinners. Tonight I had Stouffer's Salisbury steak & mac-n-cheese.

C'mon - 'fess up!

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Comments (48)

shaun
14 years ago
My husband prefers frozen Stouffers Lasagna to homemade. That either says he has no taste or I'm a horrible lasagna maker.
wizardnm
14 years ago
Hehe Pat! Sooo this is true confessions time?

OK... I'll admit that I bought a package of Frozen Toaster Strudel the other day. It was a new flavor...Apples and Cream Cheese... pretty good too!

Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches jump into my cart occasionally. But it's been awhile since I've been tempted by Stouffer's or Lean Cuisine....

I've been doing pretty good with freezing my homemade TV dinners type of thing. Right now I have Turkey dinners with all the trimmings, spaghetti with meat sauce and General Tso's Chicken.

Nancy
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pat_t
Original Author
14 years ago
Nancy - how enterprising of you! =) And thanks for the heads up on the frozen toaster strudel too. I'll keep my eyes peeled for them.
dirtgirl07
14 years ago
It's been a while but I used to get Stouffer's stewed apples and their corn pudding. The apples are still good, but the corn pudding doesn't get it anymore. And it's cheaper to make your own.
dgkritch
14 years ago
Nope. I haven't eaten a prepared TV dinner in years.
I do freeze my own leftovers and sometimes will reheat those. Usually they go for lunches though.

I don't know why, just not tempted by them. Maybe they've changed since I had them, but I don't feel like I'm missing anything and I can cook cheaper (mostly), healthier and combinations that we want to eat.

My EX was a "diner type cook", not a chef by any means, but still, after cooking for others all day he certainly didn't want to come home and cook. We ate TV dinners sometimes (25 years ago).

Sorry, no confessions here........
Deanna
beanthere_dunthat
14 years ago
Yep. I only get to the grocery every three weeks, so I keep a selection of frozen meals for when I'm running low on supplies or just don't feel like cooking for myself.

My favorites are Amy's Kitchen enchiladas and indian dinners, Kashi's Red Thai Curry Chicken and lemongrass chicken, Healthy Choice's lemon pepper fish, and Lean Cuisine's Chicken in Roasted Tomaotes. I sometimes have the Kashi Mayan Bake for breakfast when I get bored with oatmeal or omelets.
busylizzy
14 years ago
I admit, once in awhile I will heat up the frozen boxed stuff my teenager puts in the cart, mainly to get freezer space.
At Christmas I had to fess up for the one appetizer I took for the family gathering, it was semi homemade sweet/sour meatballs. Frozen meatballs were on sale, so I doctored up the horrid terriayki sauce packet with green bell peppers, pineapple, marischino cherries, brown sugar, pineapple juice and vinegar. They were the first appetizer to be whoffed down. My brother and I were/are chefs, so I know the guilt you feel.
nancylouise5me
14 years ago
Nope, they just don't appeal to me. I do fresh freeze my own veggies or leftovers, but to buy frozen dinners...no thanks. NancyLouise
ruthanna_gw
14 years ago
I haven't had a frozen entree since last winter. I used to keep a couple of boxes of Stouffer's chicken a la king and turkey tetrazzini (sp?) in the freezer at work for days when I didn't pack lunch and it was too icy or snowy to go out.

I do confess to buying prepared foods from our farmers' markets. I've been cooking for one the last week so bought baked lima beans, chicken cacciatore, a stuffed baked potato and ham salad. I could have made any of them myself but it was easier to buy a small quantity.
sheshebop
14 years ago
I haven't bought a frozen entree in 20 years. Wait, I just remembered that when I cooked all the meals for my in-laws for three years, I bought 3 frozen entrees in 3 years, but they were for them,. I didn't eat them. Once I really go t into cooking, I had no desire to eat frozen dinners. We have, however, probably twice in the last 6 years bought a Pepperidge Farm coconut cake..and unfortunately it was not as good as I remembered.
That's the problem. Once you become proficient at cooking, the freezer stuff just doesn't compare.
Now cherry Pop Tarts, I can occasionally be seen sneaking a box into my grocery cart (OK, to be truthful, probably only did it once or twice in the last 10 years).
I use a little boxed processed food, but not often, but am not tempted by frozen entrees.
triciae
14 years ago
Yep, I keep Lean Cuisine Rosemary Chicken with Carrots, Spinach, & Whole Wheat Pilaf in the freezer.

/t
lowspark
14 years ago
True confessions, eh? OK, I'll join in.

Occasionally I buy the 99c red package of mac & cheese. Banquet I think. It's great comfort food if I'm feeling puny. I usually add in some additional grated cheddar or romano to jazz it up.

Once in a blue moon, I get in the mood for peach cobbler and I buy a frozen one. I'm the only one who will eat it so going to a lot of trouble to make one isn't worth it, and I can heat it up, eat a bit, and stick it back in the freezer.

Hey, who remembers TV dinners back in the day before microwaves? They came in an aluminum container covered with foil and you had to put them in the oven for about an hour, IIRC.
eileenlaunonen
14 years ago
I know is nuts but I love Stouffers Mac & Cheese...other then that I dont like any of the frozen "tv dinners"
susytwo
14 years ago
The closest thing to a frozen dinner that we have is frozen pizzas. We buy the Dr. Oetker ones, or a different brand from Costco. The one from Costco is just a cheese pizza, and we put on our own fresh toppings before putting in a hot oven.

I try to keep individual portions of things like lasagna rolls or chili in the freezer, for the days we don't feel like cooking.
chase_gw
14 years ago
When Clive was still working and traveling I would keep a few frozen entrees in the freezer for nights it was just me.

The ones I bought were a specialty brand sold at a local market. The mac and cheese and lasagna were excellent but quite pricey.
lisazone6_ma
14 years ago
I buy them all the time. Mainly Lean Cuisine's and WW dinners. A handful of them aren't all that bad for frozen, diet dinners. I'm short and have a small frame and considering I have the appetite of a small rhino, I continually have to watch my weight. So I keep a box of bran cereal at work and I bring frozen dinners in along with some fruit and that's what I have for breakfast and lunch 5 days a week. Some days I get a salad instead or if I do have leftovers, sometimes I bring them in. I just got sick of sandwiches and the dinners are easy. We have two full kitchens with full sized fridges, microwaves, toaster ovens, etc. where I work so I can bring anything I want and prepare it, but I simply don't seem to ever have the time. Hubby has hypoglycemia too and on the weekends if I'm busy with something and he's having one of his, "I need to eat right NOW" moments, I can pop one in the microwave and get some food in him quick.

Lisa
pkramer60
14 years ago
Nope, haven't touched them in years and don't plan to either. Too much junk in there.

Like Deanna, I plan leftovers and freeze my own for nights like tonight. We are in the midst of a snowstorm, so I know my commute home will be long. Dinner is pork roast, potato dumplings, gravy and red cabbage. Nuke and serve. No msg, no high sodium, no chemistry degree needed.
pat_t
Original Author
14 years ago
What a total relief! I just knew there had to be a reason that Super Wally has THREE aisles of the stuff. What I fail to understand is why I see people with carts completely FULL of the stuff. Especially when they have small children. Don't they know it's WAY cheaper to cook it yourself? I only keep them on hand for when no one else is home and I don't want to cook.

And yes, May, I remember them in the aluminum trays with foil. And I'm only 48!
janet_ks
14 years ago
I, too, like Stouffer's lasagna, but I do add extra cheese...you can never have too much cheese!! I also love those Toaster Strudels, but try to avoid them because I could easily eat half a box in a single evening. For something a little different, I'll buy the Red Baron breakfast pizzas. If I'm going to buy something that resembles the traditional TV dinners (and yes, I remember the pre-microwave ones), I'll go with Marie Callender's -- I just can't stomach the Swanson and Banquet ones anymore. Pop Tarts...wow, there's a blast from the past...haven't had any in probably 20 years and now I'm craving them!!
dlynn2
14 years ago
Marie Calendar's chicken pot pies. My dh likes them as much as homemade. They are also good for sending to school with the kids to nuke at school. They have a wonderful crust.

I also use the frozen meatballs from Sam's a lot -- I mean a lot! They are great to have around for very quick meals with some sort of pasta. We can whip up a great meal with those in about 15-20 minutes.

The only other frozen thing I regularly buy is eggrolls. I send those to school with my kids too. We always turn our leftover rice into fried rice, and then I add an eggroll or two for their school lunch. (Our school does not have a cafeteria, so my kids have to bring their lunch everyday).
angelaid
14 years ago
Stouffers Mac and Cheese
Stouffers Salisbury Steak
Marie Calendar's pot pies
And once every couple of years or so, one of those nasty, nasty Mexican TV dinners in the aluminum tray with an enchilada, tamale, beans and rice.
susytwo
14 years ago
I just turned 40, but I totally remember the old style tv dinners in the foil dishes. Weren't they branded "Hungry Man" or something like that? Haha! The had four or five sections with your meat and gravy, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, and a little square of some kind of dessert.

I loved them as a kid, back before I realized what a fabulous cook my mom was. :)
annie1992
14 years ago
May, I remember the aluminum trays with the horrible nasty watery instant potatoes. I didn't like them then either, or the Banquet pot pies, you used to be able to get those 4 or 5 for a buck. Hated them too.

The Princess and Bruvver love the frozen chicken nuggets, so I buy those occasionally for them, and for some reason unknown to me they like Lunchables. Now that's just ham, cheese, crackers and candy, but somehow it's better as a Lunchable, go figure.

I don't like any of the frozen pre-made stuff, not the burritos, not the pizzas, not the chicken, not the frozen dinners. Ugh. Elery won't eat them either, although he will take a can of Progresso Soup for his lunch occasionally and Ashley loves Velveeta Shells and Cheese or Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup straight out of the can. I'm not eating any of that either, it all just tastes like salt to me.

My frozen foods are limited to the homegrown stuff in my freezer and frozen vegetables. If I'm in a hurry or a pinch for something for dinner I'll eat Raisin Bran way before I'll eat any of the boxed stuff.

It's just too easy to pour a bowl of cereal or cook an egg or make grilled cheese...

Annie
lowspark
14 years ago
And once every couple of years or so, one of those nasty, nasty Mexican TV dinners in the aluminum tray with an enchilada, tamale, beans and rice.

Oh yeah!! I used to eat those back in the day! They are pretty nasty but somehow they fill a particular void. Well, anyway I haven't had one in years. I kinda forgot about them once I stopped perusing that partiuclar aisle. LOL
lindac
14 years ago
When I was a kid....and that was a looooong time ago...TV dinners had just come out....and I begged!...Finally my mother broke down and we ate on TV trays in front of the TV...just like Ozzie And Harriet!...It was awful....slimy chicken, overdone green beans, a blob of pasty potatoes and cherry cobbler or something....awful!
My kids did the samething years later....
But I do confess to keeping a stack of frozen pot pies when the kids were into all sorts of activities....and now when the grand kids are here I get a stack of frozen pizzas for them to have foir lunch or breakfast.
Don't believe I have bought a prepared anything but pizza in 30 yers. If I don't know what to cook for myself, the default is either an egg....a hadnful of frozen shrimp,thawed,or cheese and rye crisp.
Nasty stuff....and very expensive.
And...I don't buy those ready to cook stews or premarinated chicken breasts nor ready made ham salad, nor BBQ! beef ready to heat, nor kebobe already on skewers and marinated, nor minute rice, nor those frozen bags of veggies with "sauce"!
Linda C
Lars
14 years ago
I've never bought any of those. My mother used to buy them, and I hated them as a child and never thought of buying any as an adult. I've noticed that the frozen aisle where I shop has very little traffic, whereas the fresh produce section is always crowded. It might be a regional thing. I bought frozen gyoza at the Japanese market once, but always made my own after that, and I've also bought frozen ravioli but not recently. I will buy trays of sushi, however, but that's not frozen. I keep frozen vegetables on hand, but that's all that's in my freezer other than chicken and crab.

Lars
Marigene
14 years ago
Nope, they do nothing for me. Although, years ago, and I mean years ago, 35-40, there used to be tuna pot pies that were really good. I don't even know who made them, maybe Swanson's?
goldgirl
14 years ago
Stouffer's Mac & Cheese - it's a childhood thing, but also very good.

I think Trader Joe's has some great frozen foods, most with "good" ingredients.
claire_de_luna
14 years ago
I confess...

I never buy them. It's the one aisle in the grocery I'm not familiar with, although I know the ice cream aisle well!
dlynn2
14 years ago
Sadly, those nasty dinners in the aluminum trays were better than most of the things my mother "attempted" to cook. So, I ate lots of those as a kid. Never buy them now. I did buy them once for my kids to try and they hated them.
bunnyman
14 years ago
Not much. Sometimes I don't feel like making lunch so I'll stop at the grocery store and get a Marie Callendars Pot Pie... mushroom chicken if they got one. They taste way better if you let them thaw all day and then eat them after work (and several beers). Zartrain's (sp?) blackened chicken is another I find acceptable. Burned out of frozen pizza... none of them taste good no matter how I doctor them.

I do lots of frozen salmon which is just three microwave minutes from freezer to plate.

Running late and I have to buy tractor gas ahead of tonight's snowstorm. Might be a frozen glop day... hopefully they have spagetti at the deli.

: )
lyra
foodonastump
14 years ago
My wife would buy them when I was on the road, Stoeffers meals in particular. I like their Mac n Cheese but beyond that I just don't get why prepared food has to have so much salt in it. I'm awake every two hours chugging water after I eat that kind of stuff.

Beyond that though, I find it takes at least two of their meals - generally more like three - to begin to fill me up. I'm guessing that it would take a half dozen WW's or LC's to do the same, but I've never tried!
centralcacyclist
14 years ago
I do buy a few at Trader Joe's now and then but they often get forgotten and when I do freezer purge they end up in a bag headed for the ex's apartment. He's less fussy.
dgkritch
14 years ago
I remember the old "baked" ones too, but they were the kind my mom made.
Dad farmed. You don't just stop for dinner at 6pm during certain working seasons. Mom would save him some dinner in a tin pie plate with foil over it and it would sit in the oven (sometimes for hours). Blech! But....he had something to eat when he came in.
No micro back then either so she couldn't refrigerate, then nuke it.

Ahhhhhhhhhh.....the good OLD days...........yeah, like the 70s! LOLOLOLOL!

Deanna
robin_DC
14 years ago
I buy frozen pizzas and add extra toppings/cheese; I save them for nights when DH and I both play tennis (when i get home at 9 and DH gets home at 10:30 so we eat dinner super late and are starving!). Sometimes DH requests a doctored up frozen pizza for a weekend lunch.

Trader joe's has good frozen foods; I sometimes take their thai rice bowls to work for lunch, and their orange chicken is a nice substitute for greasy chinese when that craving hits.

I used to buy lean cuisines, etc. when I was on weight watchers, but I get a lot more food for the calories when I cook myself. So now I just save those for emergency lunches. I'm not a fan of sandwiches, so if I don't have time to cook something for lunch, frozen or takeout are my only choices M-F.
loagiehoagie
14 years ago
My wife buys them quite a bit. I don't see the attraction but she is a 'heat 'n eat' kinda gal and I'm a simmer and fuss all day kinda cook. Stouffers lasagna isn't all bad. Sometimes I will eat a Totino's pizza (99 cents) or egg rolls. Another good one I like every now and again is Smart One's Sante fe style rice and beans. It's really good as a dip with nacho chips. When I worked in an office I would get those cheap shells and cheese (with jalapeno's)...can't remember the brand..but they are cheap (like 69 cents on sale) and not bad. Just shells and velveeta but for a quick meal at work not that bad.

Yes, and the old original t.v. dinners were Banquet brand I believe and pretty nasty. I don't know if they have improved them...but I'm not about to find out!

Duane
BeverlyAL
14 years ago
I can't do it! As convenient as it would be sometimes, especially since I don't like sandwiches, I can't even stand the smell, much less the taste of those frozen dinners. I have never been able to eat those Banquet or Swanson's products. I do buy a few frozen veggies and three or four other types of frozen foods, like store brand beef tips, meatballs, potato skins, etc on rare ocassions. I don't like them, but I can eat them. I think it must be the preservatives in the dinners that smell and taste so bad. I can even do Stouffers or Lean Cusine anymore.

Back in the day that some of you mentioned, when I was growing up I liked some of those Mexican Dinners that came in the foil tray and was cooked in the regular oven. I can't even find any of those that are decent anymore.

I don't have any aversion to Kraft in the blue box or Velveeta cheese though.
compumom
14 years ago
I grew up with Swanson's TV Dinners on Saturday nights when Mom & Dad had their dinner plans out of the house. I bought some frozen foods when the kids were home, certainly pizzas and bagel bites were popular. Now that we're empty nesters, I buy Stouffer's Spinach Souffle and their cheddar baked potato casserole for DH. He also loves when I doctor their Welsh Rarebit. Again, it's the two of us and i'm not going to eat it, so it's a lot easier for me. Frozen main dishes? DH isn't a fan.
cooksnsews
14 years ago
Blecchhh! don't like frozen entrees much at all. I think I have become extremely sensitive to the sodium content of prepared foods. Also many so-called frozen convenience foods aren't all that convenient...

However, the rest of my family seems to like them. It never occurs to me to buy them, but when DH shops, he usually brings them home. He likes frozen pizza, although I would prefer to make from scratch.

The only frozen thing I get occasionally are Costco's huge sized lasagnas. They are much cheaper than I can make myself, and are a pretty good choice when feeding a crowd on short notice.
jimster
14 years ago
Stouffer's lasagne for me too! It's amazing how many of us there are. We should start a club. Occasionally I will get a frozen pizza, Freschetta brand. Both are frequently on sale at a very good price.

There are times I just can't face preparing a meal, even though I know it will be better and cheaper than eating out. Usually I head for my favorite restaurant, but sometimes I am too cheap to do that.

Jim
blueiris24
14 years ago
If only they really looked like those marvelous photos on the box! My kids love tv dinners and I will let them get one on a rare occasion if I have plans.... I do like boxed mac and cheese.....
beanthere_dunthat
14 years ago
I'm not that old, and I remember the TV dinners in the aluminum trays. Actually, they were better than 99% of what my mother cooked, so while I never really liked them, at least I wasn't afraid of them landing me in the hospital. (She really was a horrid cook.)

Funny so many people like the Stouffers lasagne. I never did. I do like their creamed chipped beef, but I'm sure that's a childhood attachment b/c it's one of the few things my dad would cook for us. Part of the reason I stick to the Amy's Kitchen and Kashi is because they don't have a lot of "stuff" in them. For example, the Mayan Bake is plantains, kale, sweet potatoes, chiles, quinoa, etc. Not stuff I'm likely to have around the house. And making Thai Red Curry or somosas for one doesn't make much sense.
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
14 years ago
I am absolutely not making this up.

There is a restaurant chain called TadÂs Steak in NYC. They serve steak dinners for a very reasonable price. I have not been there for a long long time. I am not sure what are they doing now.

I ate there many times when I was a student. Only place I could afford to eat steak. A good piece of steak, large baked potato with sour cream, and a good size piece of garlic bread, all for $1.99 (may be $8.00 todayÂs money). The chain was successful.

Then TadÂs Steak came up with this insane scheme. They started a few restaurants with this unusual idea.

The dinning area had many large glass fronted freezers like in a supermarket. The customers would pick out a variety of frozen meals and return to their tables. Each table sat four customers, and there were two microwave ovens on each table. The customers would operate the microwave ovens to heat up their own meals.

I donÂt think the restaurants lasted more than a few months. I wonder why this TadÂs expensive venture failed so miserably.

dcarch
mustangs81
14 years ago
Ellen, I also buy Stoffers Welsh Rarebit to make rarebit burgers. I'm sure homemade rarebit sauce would be better but it's an old favorite in my house.
woodie
14 years ago
Stouffers creamed chipped beef on English muffins is a Sunday breakfast in this house occasionally. And I like Stouffers spinach souffle - used to eat it as a meal (back when I was divorced and pre-Ken) but now its occasionally a side dish. And if you defrost it and spoon it into mushroom caps and bake, its a pretty tasty and spiffy appetizer!
colleenoz
14 years ago
Nope, I never buy frozen meals. I freeze extras so there's always something to POOF if needed. When DD was young I did used to buy frozen breaded fish fillets because that was the only fish she would eat.
rob333 (zone 7b)
14 years ago
Stouffer's apples. I just haven't stopped long enough to get the spices right when I make them ;)

I'll tell you whose salisbury steak/mac-n-cheese is really good, amazingly, Lean Cuisine. So is their meatloaf with potatoes. Those were my two favorites when I was on that diet when I lost 35 pounds. All prepackaged stuff, right sizes and the right times. You can't do it with just any frozen meal, it's the ones with less calories, less starch, and more veggies. It's was so much easier to grab it, nuke it and go than to do it myself. That takes planning ahead of time. And cooking it ahead of time. Not that I don't, it's that I can get a month's worth of "cooking" done in a few minutes. You may have seen me with a cartfull when I was on that diet!
christie_sw_mo
14 years ago
Ok - Here's my confession:
I was burned out from all the cooking over the holidays and checked out the frozen isle after the kids went back to school. I bought two of the Great Value Southwest Pasta with Chicken family size meals at Walmart, opened them up and put them into a 9x13 pan and they fit perfectly. : ) After it cooked for awhile I had to spread out the topping a little bit to cover up the gaps. Looked like I worked all afternoon. lol It was actually very good. Hubby said it was a "keeper". If I knew what was in it, I'd make it myself but put more chicken in it than they did. I bought a Stouffer's frozen lasagna once a few years ago and DH didn't like it. He's a picky eater. It was a shock that he liked a generic frozen meal.

Those little frozen entrees are great when you're only cooking for yourself. I buy Lean Gourmet when they're on sale. They're less than a dollar apiece and very good. Just not much in them.

TV dinners & such

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