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March 12, 2013

Giveaway #8 – COOK

Giveaways, More 228 Replies

The lovely folks at COOK sent me a box of their frozen ready meals to try. Unlucky for them that they arrived on my doorstep as the horse meat scandal first came to light, putting a whole new slant on ready meals. However these are not the stuff of equine hell… rather these are meals made by chefs, frozen and then delivered to your door. I chose to try out the kids meals as I’ve had a bit of a rubbish time recently and thought I could really do with a break from cooking now and again. My husband gets home pretty late so the boys often eat together earlier. Meaning two lots of cooking, or at least one lot and then some reheating.

I should set the scene that my sons have never had a ready meal (well maybe in some cafes/restaurants but not knowingly) so they were very suspicious seeing plastic containers going into microwaves and the oven switched on and used without the clatters of knives and chopping boards. My first rookie error was to serve the food in the containers. I was in a minimum effort mood and wanted to save on washing up. Big mistake. Huge. They were deeply unimpressed and refused to eat their fish pie or salmony pesto pasta. So I ate them instead, in the interests of reviewing the food and also as I hate waste. They were delicious. And despite not being laden with salt were not bland.

The next day, having learnt from my mistakes the boys tucked into chicken goujons and lasagne with home steamed carrots and baked potatoes. Big hit. Clean plates. And the goujons were lovely – very crispy, which for a crispy food addict like youngest son, is a must when it comes to anything breaded.

Price wise they’re very reasonable, £2.50 for the salmony pesto pasta, £4.99 for 4 servings of the goujons. What did I like most? The packaging was excellent – you could have this delivered to your house and left outside all day and I very much doubt it would defrost due to the super frozen wrapped packaging. I loved the fact each ready meal had the name of the chef on the box. It made the cheating feel less grubby. I also liked how quick the meals were to cook despite being frozen, oh and I liked that each meal has at least one portion of veg in. Sometimes obvious, sometimes hidden. In short, I would use them again and I don’t think the boys would mind at all.

They also make very posh dinner party food, diet food, Sunday roast food and everyday week night food. On my budget I would not be able to afford to eat from COOK regularly but I’d happily order a few meals to have in the freezer as a treat rather than popping to M & S for a meal deal. When I had a proper job that involved wearing a suit and enjoying a hefty pay packet I would have killed for these COOK meals. Back in my 15 hours of work a day world meals were either takeaway or kind of simple.

I have a weeks worth of kids suppers worth £38 to giveaway – that’s based on you having 2 kids – so altogether 14 meals. (If you chose the goujons they count as 2…) So if you fancy a break from cooking read on but please check COOK deliver to you before you enter.

There are lots of ways to enter – see the Rafflecopter form below. The first way is just to leave a comment on this post. Easy peasy. Closing date 14th June 2013.

How to enter:

  • Complete the Rafflecopter form below to confirm your entries made via blog comments, Twitter, Facebook etc.
  • This giveaway will close on 14th June 2013.
  • Please read the rules below.
  • Winners are announced on the Rafflecopter form after the prize has been claimed by the winner.
  • First timers: Please watch how Rafflecopter works (video)! It is 46 seconds long. It explains everything.
  • If no form is showing, hit refresh and it should appear.
  • Complete the form – or your beloved entries will not go into the draw. And that would be such a waste of time.
  • Mandatory entries need to be completed first – so leave a blog comment before you try and complete any of the other methods of entry.
  • Want more chances to win? Come back daily after tweeting about the giveaway and fill the form in again.
  • If you are viewing this by email you will need to click through to enter.

Rules and things:

  • Only open to people who live in the UK mainland, over the age of 18. Sorry to those who are younger or who live further afield.
  • There’s one prize of 14 kids meals to giveaway worth £38 – please check COOK deliver to you before you enter! There’s no cash alternative to the prize and the prize is not transferable. No part or parts of the prize may be substituted for other benefits, items or additions.
  • Instructions form part of the terms and conditions. Entries using any software or automated process to make bulk entries will obviously be disqualified. The winner will be picked at random using software and then contacted by email. If you win and then don’t respond to this email within 7 days then another winner will be picked so check your emails and your spam! The goodies will be delivered to the winner as soon as possible after you have sent me your delivery address.
  • I am running this giveaway on behalf of COOK who will be responsible for sending the prize to you should you win. Their decision is final and binding and no correspondence will be entered into. So there.
  • This is where I get all stern – please don’t say you have liked the post and followed me on Twitter and Tweeted away like a Tweety thing if you haven’t as guess what? If you win I will check you did do the things you said you did. It’s only fair after all. And I do like fairness.

Good luck everyone!

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228 comments

  3. bostin idea as my daughter never wants to eat what we eat she always has to be different so this prize would save a lot of time x

  14. Always wanted to try COOK out, ever since they opened, so this would be great!

  18. The thought of a week off menu planning is bliss ! Thanks for the lovely giveaway :-)

  20. i find ready meals handy on days when im really busy, like tues for instance my boys have footie training and i cant always be bothered to cook ,tidy up and wash up at 8 oclock at night, then bath then kids while trying to get them sorted for bed early so their not tired for school,

  66. I’m not the world’s greatest cook so this would be fab for my little one :D

  75. I love COOK. ONe opened on our high street and after a busy day at work it is a life saver – but only as a treat!

  83. I really enjoy cooking with my grandchildren, but I need to extend my repertoire of kids dishes beyone cakes. would love to win, thanks

  108. Great idea. I have real trouble deciding what to cook for tea each day, especially since my eldest has school dinners and never really wants to eat much.

  131. Have checked and they deliver to my area. The meals look fab, it certainly would be a welcome break from cooking.

  137. never eat ready made meals spend hours cooking from scratch so this would be a novelty

  142. would love to see if these impress my super fussy daughter who hates to try anything new

  194. That sounds great – I’m so uninspired some nights. Thanks for another fab giveaway

  197. There’s a Cook in Henley which is quite near me and I love going in and looking at all the meals :o)

  202. I think these are great if you are catering for someone who is gluten free as they are marked which would be suitable.

  212. Sorry to be cynical but “made my chefs” makes me laugh. Is the guy making the 400kg batch of sauce called a “chef”? Seriously there are good and bad ready meals anywhere but buying them direct or buying them from a supermarket doesn’t make it good or bad. I work in the food industry and have worked in loads of ready meal factories, most are ethical and try to make the best food they can to the budget they’re given and there is some decent stuff out there. We do have to remember though that the budget end; the 80p ready meal has a cost. That cost should never be that the meal inside isn’t as described (which is illegal) but you can only push cost so far until someone decides to try and illegally make a buck out of it all.

    My two cents… sorry!

  221. These look super handy for those days when my daughter has after school activities. I don’t drive so walking to/from swimming etc means tea is often something from the slow cooker. These would be ideal for warmer days and a bit of variety :)

  227. I’ve seen Cook but have never bought anything. It always looks great though, would love to try it!

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Holly Bell
I’m a mum of 3 boys, a cookbook writer and also a finalist on the 2011 Great British Bake Off. I’ve decided to record the recipes I use, partly to save them somewhere and partly in case someone else might like to use them... [Read more]

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