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Growing up, I'm sure we all had our fair share of sodium-rich dishes made up of ingredients of dubious origin from the frozen aisle of our local supermarkets. Brands like, Stouffers, Banquet, Marie Callender's, etc! As a kid, your parents would be too tired to cook and you were a dumbass lovely kid who didn't know what real food tasted like, so those frozen lasagnas (this one has 6 cheeses!!!) were the perfect solution. Of course now as a grown up, those things taste horrible. I tried a Stouffers chicken pot pie recently for the first time in a decade and afterwards I felt exactly like you'd expect if you had just downed ~1500 mg of sodium littered with reconstituted meat from like 5 chickens at once and a piddling amount of baby carrots thrown in there to be, you know, healthy or something. Hey, vegetables! This thread isn't about those crappy brands. This thread is about those select few items from the frozen food aisle that actually almost maybe halfway kinda sorta measure up to a home cooked meal. Okay, that's unfair. I'm going to be crucified but I actually keep my fridge stocked with a few of my favorites (I promise I'm not a fat whale) for the nights where I've had a particular busy day at work and I don't want to cook and I want to put something tasty in my mouth that won't give me 50 different forms of heart disease. So, post your lazy Monday night standbys! I'm partial to the "sous vide" (who knows if they actually are made that way) lamb shanks from the generically-named Cuisine Solutions. Solutions to... cuisine. Anyway you can get them at Costco -- YMMV of course due to regional differences in supply -- and each pack carries 2 shanks. The meat is super tender to the point where it falls right off the bone and the sauce used to marinade the lamb is very flavorful. Here's what one looks like cooked (make fun of my plate and the fact I'm eating dinner at my PC, I understand):  I also really like Costco's chicken pot pie that you can get from their area where they sell their ready-to-prepare meals. I dunno if it counts because it's not frozen -- it's just already made and then you stick it in your oven at home. It has an awesome crust and is better than any pot pie I could make (I've tried). But it's gigantic, to the point where one pie will feed a single person for a good week or so. That and the fact that it's only sold in the Winter/Fall months means I really only buy it for the big annual holidays. anyway post stuff that makes you fat
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Apr 26, 2015 00:58
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 05:08 |
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Costco has some pretty good frozen stuff. I don't usually get frozen meals but their frozen black bean burgers are pretty good. And they have solid deals on frozen chicken/fish. When it comes to ready-to-eat meals, I find trader joe's frozen stuff pretty hard to beat. Relatively economical and good quality too.
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Apr 26, 2015 01:11
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I really like the big rear end bags of frozen tortellini and spinach ravioli they have at costco. Delicious, inexpensive, and I'll be god damned if I'm making my own anyway.
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Apr 27, 2015 00:32
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My mother was vegetarian growing up so now Morning Star vegi-corn dogs have become a guilty pleasure. Coupled with baked waffle fries and lawrys, its a real throw back to cooking for myself during high school. I don't think either are too terrible, though.
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Apr 29, 2015 19:53
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Trader Joe's gyoza potstickers. Brown them quick in a pan, then stick them in a bowl of your favorite chicken broth (my own homemade out of the freezer) with chopped greens. I used brussel sprout leaves. Drizzle with sesame and chili oil. Or just eat 'em straight up outta the toaster. Actually, just all Trader Joes frozen stuff. Never had a bad one.
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Apr 30, 2015 00:07
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I have to get on that TJ's train to Lazy Monday Town. Any of their frozen indian entrees I'll take for an I-don't-want-to-cook meal, or even one of their heartier salads.
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Apr 30, 2015 01:00
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Suspect Bucket posted:Trader Joe's gyoza potstickers. Brown them quick in a pan, then stick them in a bowl of your favorite chicken broth (my own homemade out of the freezer) with chopped greens. I used brussel sprout leaves. Drizzle with sesame and chili oil. I had a TJs pot pie that was just completely devoid of any taste. Everything else I've had there is great. I actually really like their frozen mac and cheese and their orange chicken is just insanely good. Your potsticker soup idea sounds awesome and I have no idea why it had never occurred to me to try that.
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Apr 30, 2015 01:41
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I make pretty much all of my own meals unless I'm eating out, but I'm a sucker for Morningstar Farms Buffalo Nuggets and I'm not even vegetarian. Dip in McDonald's hot mustard, get a weeks worth of sodium. Also, there are not 3.5 servings in that box I don't care who you are, there are 2.
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Apr 30, 2015 16:04
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Cysco french fries. Fry, salt liberally, pack in face with maybe a little ketchup. Fresh squeezed lemonade is the only accceptqble drink to accompany.
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Apr 30, 2015 16:37
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Suspect Bucket posted:Trader Joe's gyoza potstickers. Brown them quick in a pan, then stick them in a bowl of your favorite chicken broth (my own homemade out of the freezer) with chopped greens. I used brussel sprout leaves. Drizzle with sesame and chili oil. Was going to mention TJ's pork gyoza. So good. I like to steam them and have them with a bit of soy. Also OP, one time I bought a Costco chicken pot pie thinking it would be my lunch for the week and I was so disappointed, it tasted alternately like poo poo or of nothing at all. Really the only time I've ever been disappointed in something Costco offers. I actually considered returning the uneaten portion for a refund (poo poo was like $15) but figure'd that'd be kind of lovely, although I know they'd take it back no questions asked. My fiancee buys a lot of Amy's frozen prepared meals, and I'm loath to admit it but some of them are actually pretty good.
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Apr 30, 2015 17:52
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The frozen tamales from TJ are good, I like the green chili ones a lot.
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Apr 30, 2015 19:51
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I go through a ton of frozen fruit, although not literally anymore thanks to getting out of the bakery. As far as pre-made stuff goes, I have a terrible guilty pleasure in $2.50 Red Baron frozen pizzas. They're so bad, but so comforting.
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May 1, 2015 01:11
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Amy's are pretty much the only frozen "meals" I get anymore, those things are surprisingly tasty for being frozen poo poo. I'm particular to their palak and mattar paneer, makes me think I ought to try it fresh considering I'd never had it before those.
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May 1, 2015 03:22
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Liquid Communism posted:As far as pre-made stuff goes, I have a terrible guilty pleasure in $2.50 Red Baron frozen pizzas. They're so bad, but so comforting. Totinos has always been my favorite frozen pizza. They're just the right size, they taste good and they're a loving dollar. I haven't seen them in a while but Safeway used to sell a surprisingly good cha siu bao under their Safeway Select brand. They seem to come and go every couple months.
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May 1, 2015 04:24
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N'thing Costco frozen stuff. I once bought like a six pack of their yakisoba when we visited the in-laws and subsisted on that for a week (because everything else in the house was real poo poo). Drizzled a bit of shoyu and sesame oil on and it was near perfection. Far from legit Japanese festival fare, but satisfying.
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May 1, 2015 04:38
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Amy's frozen meals are the most overrated thing on earth. Totino's frozen pizzas though...99 cents of guilty pleasure
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May 1, 2015 14:45
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TJ's frozen Indian meals are tasty as gently caress, too. I recommend them. Sadly, I don't have a TJ in walking distance anymore 
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May 2, 2015 01:57
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I haven't seen them in a while but in grad school I lived off the TJ boiling Indian meals. So good. There was a chickpea one that was perfect with just a little hot sauce. The palak paneer wasn't so great on that one but the rest were excellent.
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May 2, 2015 07:04
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 05:08 |
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Shbobdb posted:I haven't seen them in a while but in grad school I lived off the TJ boiling Indian meals. So good. There was a chickpea one that was perfect with just a little hot sauce. The palak paneer wasn't so great on that one but the rest were excellent. Tasty Bite makes these too, and they're acceptable. Not on the same level as fresh cooked, but a quick boil or microwave and you end up with a palatable entrée with leftovers. The Punjabi eggplant (meant to be baingan bhurta, I believe) is my favorite of them, with some hot chutney and garam masala.
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May 2, 2015 23:36
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