Cooks and their employment.

[Michael Lawrence]

I've been out of contact for sometime so forgive me lads if this question has been answered.

Are cooks now redundant. In the local 3 supermarkets the other day the W.R. say's to me 'You don't need to cook 3 course meals any idiot can open a carton and stick it in the the microwave or oven and sling one of these cardboard items and follow directions' I looked but refrained from opening my mouth and thereby dropping myself in it.
SO WHILE THE W.R. was looking thru the clothes sections of said shops I scouted out checking contents and means of cooking required articles. Some of these dishes looked very tasty and I was not to supprised at the number of blokes walking these frozen food areas. Suddenly I recognised the scent drifting past my early warning system and managed to act nonchanly as the Angels voice said' what have you been up to', 'Oh just looking at all these old fellows and what they're buying. So Madam barrels in to see what one chap had in his basket, looked at me and said, 'You can have the same if you think your missing anything' Oh NO my Love I'm more than happy what produce. (Another close call). But a lot of those self cooking foods looked bloody good. But i had to put up with a half leg of lamb (very small one) So lads I would like to know what your opinion is , but please contact when the W.R. is at the church hall village bingo.

[Captain Kong]

All those ready made meals are unhealthy, they contain a lot of Salt, as a flavour enhancer,
We have NO Salt in our house at all.
SALT IS A KILLER.
Cheers
Brian

[Tony Taylor]

I've been out of contact for sometime so forgive me lads if this question has been answered.

. But i had to put up with a half leg of lamb (very small one) So lads I would like to know what your opinion is , but please contact when the W.R. is at the church hall village bingo.

Many of these pre prepared meals are made in Holland from ingredients from other countries e.g. chicken- predominantly supplied by Thailand.
The outer sleeve which actually tells you what it is, is usually applied in the UK so that the seller can LEGALLY label it "Produced in UK" .
There are some actually manufactured here but you need to examine the labels carefully, our labelling system can be quite misleading.

[Keith Tindell]

all those ready meals, 90% are chicken, the most abused creature on this earth, we only eat free range chicken from a local farm, so i know that they have lead a decent life. All this type of food is known as ping grub, just the microwave needs. At least they are teaching cooking skills in the colleges now, we go to our local tech college every coup[le of months, where for not a lot of money, the students cook a 3 course meal and wait on table, and very good meals they are to, kt

[Doc Vernon]

Although I can agree to an extent as to what has been said on Packet Meals, there are the good points as well,its not mainly Chicken that is used there are many many other Varieties of Foods in these packs.
As for the salt content yes again I will to a point agree but again if you look and shop carefully you will find many packs that are very healthy and nutritious.
Salt I will agree is a no no but again,how long have people been eating salt,and the percentage of related deaths against not eating salt is not that great a devide.
A little salt (Mind you I don't eat Salt either ) will not harm ,and some of the Packs bought have low salt content ,with others that contain Zero salt,
So just my opinion as the old saying goes a little of everything wont kill.
As Michael says there are some really good looking dishes to chose from (No Lads not those dishes LOL) so indulge as you wish just don't overdo things and all will be well.
Cheers

[Tony Taylor]

Although I can agree to an extent as to what has been said on Packet Meals, there are the good points as well,its not mainly Chicken that is used there are many many other Varieties of Foods in these packs.

So just my opinion as the old saying goes a little of everything wont kill.
As Michael says there are some really good looking dishes to chose from (No Lads not those dishes LOL) so indulge as you wish just don't overdo things and all will be well.
Cheers

Doc, everything in moderation and you cant go far wrong, it is when we do something to excess that has consequences.
It is good to know where your grub comes from, some countries pump there livestock full of anti biotics whether they need it or not.

[Doc Vernon]

Hi Michael
Wonder if this Thread of yours will get anywhere near the Virtual Ship that you started many Years back ,and still getting hits!
Well done ,think you are Top of the list in Thread Started and so many replies !
Cheers

[Captain Kong]

When SHE is an excellent cook there is No Need to buy ready made meals.
Cheers
Brian

[Doc Vernon]

When SHE (as in my Indoors) is not an excellent Cook LOL, as I have done all the Coking since well over 22 Years now , I still cook nowdays and try and make as best I can,however I must admit I have slowed down a lot of late ,and we don't get as much home cooked as we should.
So at this point it is normally perhaps 2 to three home cooked Meals a Week,and the rest well either the Packet Meals (But try and stick to the better Types) or I must admit we order in quite a lot of Pizza as well lately.
Always make my own up though when ordering from Domino,s ,they are quite good and with the new Tracking it is amazing as you can watch from actually getting the Pizza ingredients made up,then the Cooking Process, to the In Store Ready stage,then the Delivery stage where you then can track the Driver,so you know exactly where he is and when he will arrive! Great
But as said before not too much of that either LOL
Must be careful though as one can get addicted to them for sure!

Cheers

[Des Taff Jenkins]

We have never had a microwave, and I only ever tasted a bought packet dinner once we threw it out, my wife is an excellent cook. We are lucky that we have a shop that sells local content like eggs and veges, the butcher sells meat killed at the local abattoir, he also has locally raised chickens no drugs to make them bigger. but unlike Brian I eat a lot of salt, when I told the Dr who would like to ban salt and sugar, he said well it doesn't seem to have affected you so far, at 87 I'm still waiting LOL.
Des
PS, I eat very little sugar.