I run Menus4Mums, an online family meal planning service for busy parents. Each week, our members get a new meal plan of family dinners, often based on supermarket bargains, and I can tell you that frozen food always features! Not only is it great value and quality, it’s just so convenient to have in your freezer. You’ll always have something to cook in case of last-minute extra mouths to feed and nothing is wasted if people’s plans change. It’s brilliant!

Let’s take a few examples. A Menus4Mums meal plan always features a fish-based dish. Whether it is Haddock Fish Fingers, Fabulous Fish Pie, or Salmon Pesto Spaghetti, we always find that frozen fish offers the best combination of quality and value. A lot of the fish is sustainably sourced, plus it’s frozen out on ship rather than the “fresh” fish which will have had a 100 mile journey inland to reach us here in Buckinghamshire. Two other major plus-points for us busy parents is that you can cook a lot of the fish straight from frozen (yes, really, it does work!) and it is usually skinned, thus relieving us of one of our most hated jobs in the kitchen.

Other items which are always on our Menus4Mums shopping list are fresh herbs. You can of course now buy a variety of fresh herbs in packets at the supermarket, and you could always freeze what you don’t use. The problem is that a lot of us forget and leave them to wilt at the bottom of the salad drawer. However, you can now buy a lot of herbs already frozen so you don’t have to worry about wastage. It also means you can keep a variety of herbs close to hand – we are never without some frozen parsley, coriander or mint in our freezer.

Frozen vegetables are another must-have for us. Not only are they great quality having been picked at their prime, but they are often much better value than even the fresh variety when in season. Frozen peas are a case in point, and are our all-time favourite frozen vegetable. A recent discovery of ours is frozen butternut squash. It was brilliant in a warming casserole and so much easier and quicker than peeling and chopping a whole squash ourselves.

So next time you’re food shopping, head off down the frozen food aisle for a nosey. Pick out some new items and give them a try. You won’t be disappointed!

Alison Pinto, Mum of two and founder of Menus4mums