Review: Annabel Karmel toddler meals

Little B can eat until the cows come home.

Or until the Other Half comes home. And then we all flop on the sofa exhausted. And then she is STILL hungry!

Although we do like to cook family meals from scratch, the reality is that with five family members all in different places at different times of the day, and only two of them responsible for the other three, tiredness does sometimes creep in and steal all the stirring spoons.

And while I have been known to dip into the freezer bag of convenience on the odd occasion, I generally prefer to give the kids something a bit more nutritious for their dinner. Usually, they are in agreement – as long as it is something tasty.

That’s where the Annabel Karmel toddler meals have ended up being a bit of a lifesaver. Rather than creating the recipes myself – peeling and chopping and grating and stirring – I just have to stab the top a couple of times and bung the little pot in the microwave (or the oven, if the kids are being particularly patient…which happens just about NEVER).

The resulting meal comes out smelling just like mine. And presented probably a bit better than mine. And, as it turns out from my rigorous testing, tasting just like mine too. In fact, much to my shame, the kids are sometimes a lot more keen on scoffing it down than they are when I present them with my own culinary creations (I’m not really that ashamed. I’m too busy passing out on the sofa…).

There are lots of different options to choose from – favourites like fish pie, staples like lasagna and some more interesting options in the form of tomato and mascarpone pasta with hidden vegetables or chicken, tomato and veggie risotto. One of my favourite things about them is that each box has a picture of the main ingredient on the side – so if you have them all stacked up wedged into various shelves, you can easily grab something meaty, fishy or just full of vegetables without ending up with half the contents of the fridge around your ankles.

-Watching Little B tucking in, it’s clear that she is very happy with the odd toddler meal from a box too. She’s not so keen on the risotto (although she’ll still eat it) but the Yummy Bolognese Pasta Bake gets the full on bouncing-hands-waving-in-the-air-squealy-squealy treatment.

So while I wouldn’t use them all the time, for a couple of quid I’m quite happy to let Annabel Karmel do all the hard work every now and then, while I sit back and enjoy the sounds of happy munching.

And if there DO happen to be any leftovers?* Well, I’m quite happy to eat those too!

 

*not much chance of that. It’s only happened once – and I think that might have been an accident…

 

 

 

 Huge thanks to Annabel Karmel for sending us some toddler meals to try. We weren’t required to write nice stuff about them, all opinions are my own. Sadly we’ve now run out, happily there is a Sainsburys just around the corner with a big shelf full of them 😀