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Ambient Meals Supplier.

Brambling

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Been on the look-out for some ambient store meals to take camping and apart from some truly awful things from various supermarkets the only ones half decent are some from M&S for £2.50. There are only 4 flavours though, and they are a bit small for a full meal (brilliant to take to work for lunch if you have access to a microwave though)
Anyhow, a couple of weeks ago, while at work one of the residents had a box of stuff delivered from this company. I asked what they were like and the couple said they were very nice, handy to have when they didn't feel like cooking.


So I had a look and I contacted the company to ask if the meals could be used for camping purposes and had a very nice reply


Good morning,

I came accross your website whilst searching for ambient store food to take camping. I would like to know if the soup and stew type meals can be decanted from their containers and heated in a saucepan. Your meals would solve a lot challenges whilst camping if this is the case. I look forward to your reply.

Many thanks in advance,

Ann
ie

Response.


Dear Annie,

Thank you for your question and for getting in touch with us, happy to see you came across ourselves.

From a business perspective we only advise heating them in an oven/microwave as these are the 'tried and tested' method's we've worked with when producing them.

However saying that, all of what we send you is cooked and edible cold if you wanted to. So on this basis we have a lot of customer's that do this to heat the meals when they're away camping etc and they don't have any problems.

The reason being is they're already cooked when you receive them, so actually all you're doing is heating them up for improved flavor.

Hope this helps.

Kind Regards,

Andy at Parsley Box
Customer Support



So I've gone ahead and ordered a few things. Will report back when I've tried them. The thing that I did see is they do a large size in some of the meals for you lads with a healthy appetite.
 
Great find Annie, and what a menu! Really cheap too, I bought some 'Wayfarer' meals at £3.75 and thought I was doing well. I'm not a Woodland Chef at all, usually Ration Pack, Wayfarer or similar does me. I'd be interested to know about shelf life and weight of these meals. Looking forward to your info and verdict on these, If they keep a decent time I'll order a supply..:thumbsup:
 
Ah, but this doesn't need refridgeration or freezing. Stores in the cupboard. That was the bit that interested me, with no refridgeration camping and all. I don't always want a dehydrated meal.

A good point Annie, I hadn't considered that bit. :oopsy: Looking forward to the reviews.
 
On to a review then.
I ordered enough to qualify for free next day delivery (£19.00)
Chunky Veg Soup
Minestrone Soup
Ham and Pea Hotpot
Keralan Chicken Curry with Rice
Irish Stew
Chicken Stew with Dumplings
Lamb Hotpot
Pork Bacon and Bean Casserole

The parcel arrived next day ad was well packaged.
Looking at the ingredients for all the meals there is no Guar Gum or other such filler.
The use by dates vary between Oct and Nov 2020. In the blurb it says normally 6 months or so.
I had the Minestrone Soup for lunch at work and I have to say it was delicious.
Last night we had 2 of the dinners. The normal dinners are 270g.
The all important taste test.
The boy had Keralan Cjicken Curry with a mini Naan (see photo below) and gave it a thumbs up. He said it was a punchy Thai-like curry.
I had Ham and Pea Hotpot (see 2nd photo below) It was really nice with plenty of chunks of Ham.
From the two meals we've had I would say they are well above the quality of the usual supermarket refridgerated ready meal fare but not quite as good as home cooked.
They probably wouldn't be much good as 'expedition' type meals because they are not calorie dense. But as a nice meal to either keep in the cupboard for a lazy day or to take camping, I vote them a hit. I will definitely be ordering more.

The Curry

IMG_20200221_175235.jpg


The Hotpot

IMG_20200221_175207.jpg


Two of the other meals

IMG_20200222_120348.jpg


Any Q's ask away!
 
Spoke to my neighbour who has a regular supply from Parsley Box. She is very pleased with them and showed me some she has in her cupboard. My thoughts were that they are well packaged and have good ingredients. Size wise they appear small but I am sure there's enough to satisfy a normal healthy appetite. Her favourite is the sweet and sour chicken. Interesting choice for an 85 year old!
 
Spoke to my neighbour who has a regular supply from Parsley Box. She is very pleased with them and showed me some she has in her cupboard. My thoughts were that they are well packaged and have good ingredients. Size wise they appear small but I am sure there's enough to satisfy a normal healthy appetite. Her favourite is the sweet and sour chicken. Interesting choice for an 85 year old!

Ha, my 86 year old mum now lives off ready meals and her favourite is.... sweet and sour chicken. ;)
 
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