I'm struggling to get back into a household routine since returning to work. I used to be quite organised with meal planning, batch cooking etc and we'd all have meal times together. Sadly with me often finishing work at 8pm, I occasionally miss mealtimes. My husband works in Bristol so he also comes home quite late. Between cooking, cleaning, ironing, washing, school runs, homework and working, life is busy.
Annabel Karmel recently asked us to review her new range of tasty Frozen Toddler Meals which are available in Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, Ocado and Iceland. There are 6 different meals to choose from and they are suitable for ages 1-4. The RRP is £1.75.
I'll be the first to admit that i've never given my girls Frozen ready meals, i'm not sure why but I didn't like the idea of it. When I thought about it I realised I was being silly as I have batch cooked meals, then frozen them and then given them to the girls. Buying Frozen meals from someone I trust is no different. I've used Annabel Karmel's recipes for nearly 5 years. Both Eva and Ophelia loved her weaning recipes which made the weaning process much less stressful.
Annabel's new meals go through the natural freezing process and are inspired by the recipes in her books. They are high quality and nutritionally balanced. Each meal is low in salt and contains 1 of your 5 a day. They are free from artificial additives and preservatives.
The range includes:
- Mummy's Fish Pie
- Hidden Veggie Bolognese
- Yummy Beef Lasagne
- Chicken Tikka Masala
- Chicken, Tomato and Mascarpone Pasta
- Tasty Cottage Pie
- Scrummy Macaroni Cheese with Broccoli
All of these meals are literally my girls favourite home cooked meals. Lasagne and Spaghetti Bolognese are always a winner in our house and both of my girls adore Curry. I thought they would notice that they didn't taste the same and that they weren't cooked by me but they were fooled. The only one they realised didn't taste as good as mine was the Lasagne. They thought the Fish Pie was much nicer than when my husband or I have cooked it.
The meals can either be cooked in the microwave or in the oven. The portion sizes are ideal for a toddler. Ophelia has pretty much eaten all of hers when we've given them to her. Eva has also been eating them but she is 5.5 and often asks for garlic bread or vegetables with hers.
I've had a sneaky taste of all of the meals and I am very impressed with the flavours. The Curry is really tasty and the Chicken, Tomato and Mascarpone Pasta tastes just like how my husband makes his sauce. I was also impressed with the fact that none of the meals were watery. Quite often with ready meals I find they have a watery consistency but these didn't.
Overall, Ophelia has been really enjoying these meals. They've been so helpful when life has just gotten in the way. Also when we've had family babysitters over we've gotten them to give these to the girls for food and they have found that easier than cooking meals.
We have now bought a stash of these for our freezer. I won't be giving these to the girls everyday but I will definitely be using them when life is crazy. I'll also be pulling them out and using them when they don't like my cooking (which does happen a few times).
Have you tried these or any of the Annabel Karmel range?
*This is a sponsored post with Annabel Karmel. All words and opinions are however my own and are truthful.
These are the perfect things to have in the house for those days when you just don't have the time x
ReplyDeleteThey sure are x
DeleteThese look great, it's good that they actually taste like the real deal. I remember weaning food smelling amazing but tasting awful haha!
ReplyDeleteThese are great! I actually think these will be very handy to have in the freezer when I go back to work! xxx
ReplyDelete