At Menus4Mums, the weekly family mealtime planners, we’re long-time fans of frozen food. It is good quality, lasts for ages, and saves on waste.

However, if we’re honest, we have tended to use it more for everyday meals in the past and haven’t automatically thought “frozen” when having people over to dinner.  Big mistake!  When we were having a hunt around our local supermarkets recently, we realised that a lot of gourmet frozen products are now on sale to make our lives easier when cooking something special.

Whilst we loving cooking for people, it can get a bit stressful juggling all the shopping for fresh ingredients, the cooking, and being a busy parent.  That’s where frozen really comes into its own, as you can buy quality ingredients ahead of time and keep them in the freezer.  And there’s no shame, if time is short, in cooking just some parts of the meal from scratch and buying in others ready-made. With a little creativity, nobody will spot the difference!

For instance, we found some delicious-looking scallops in the freezer aisle of our nearest supermarket.  They would make a great starter cooked in a little garlic, butter, white wine and parsley.  Or why not make a New England-style clam chowder with frozen clams?  Alternatively, you could go “old school” with a 1970s-style Prawn Cocktail made from some of the many types of frozen prawns on offer.

Onto the main course, we were impressed to find frozen beef fillet steak in one of the discount supermarkets.  However, it is in the fish selection that frozen really comes into its own.  Tuna steaks, sea bass fillets, and lobster tails were all available at the big supermarkets, along with more traditional favourites such as lemon sole – perfect with a butter sauce, new potatoes and wilted greens.

Finishing with dessert, there were lots of ready-made favourites available, such as cheesecakes and various gateaux.  In addition, we found that the range of desserts had now gone upmarket.  The supermarkets had their own “Finest” versions of French classics such as Tarte au Citron and Tarte Tartin, and celebrity chefs had also got in on the act.  In Waitrose, we found Heston Blumental’s Black Forest Buche, and Sainsbury’s stocked Raymond Blanc’s Cherry Clafoutis and Chocolat Delice – all of which looked supremely scrummy!  Now you could be honest and admit you’ve bought the dessert.  However, we reckon that you could make an easy raspberry sauce (with frozen berries, naturally!) and swirl it round a slice of one of the above desserts, and nobody would be any the wiser that you hadn’t spent most of the day in the kitchen……

Menus4Mums helps busy parents ditch the takeaways and ready meals and serve up tasty, healthy food for their families, saving them time and money in the kitchen.  Find out more at www.menus4mums.co.uk and download a FREE one week  sample meal plan.