Ready-to-cook meals on the rise for time-poor families Gay Varley buys some pre-cooked pasta from Enzo's, watched by manager Alex Fazzari. THEY'RE not restaurant meals but quality cook-at-home dinners when you actually don't feel like cooking, are tired of takeaway or shy away from mass-produced packaged meals. The "ready to cook" category is on the rise and its not all diet food and frozen TV dinners either, as new offerings include expertly cut and chopped stir-fry vegetables with sauce, marinated roasts in foil trays, oven-ready spiced spuds and pumpkin or whole dinners just like you would have prepared, had you the time. Woolworths reports 30 per cent growth in ready-to-cook products for time-poor people over the last year. Its "Ready to" range offers Asian and Italian salads with dressings to suit, pre-cut ready-to-roast raw vegetables to accompany marinated beef or pork ribs or butterflied and de-boned marinated lamb. There is also free "fish, bag and bake" with a choice of fresh fillets and marinade flavours including herb and garlic, teriyaki ginger, Thai sweet chilli and lime and chilli. And no one needs to know it wasnt you who prepared it. "Customers love the fact the food is easy and quick to cook, meaning they have to spend more time with the family, but its all produced with fresh veggies," said Woolworths senior produce manager, Tony Klatt. It also means you can have really quality dishes at home, made with fresh ingredients, without all the chopping, tossing and time. We are increasing the range with new products including portion sizes just for one, as even people cooking for one can have a fresh, quick and tasty meal. In 2011, with both her sister and sister-in-law struggling with newborn babies, Ashleigh Martin decided the best help she could offer was to make meals at home, pack them up and take them over to the new mums. They were so popular, Ms Martin, 30, started Mashfood, a web-based home-cooked meals business, which quickly moved from her home kitchen to a church hall and now supplies 20 Adelaide families with $60-$100 weekly orders of main meals and side dishes. "I'm creating meals they would do at home, had they the time," said the 30-year-old whose most popular dishes are chicken and leak pie and lasagne which have no nasty numbers or brackets in the ingredients list. It's usually for young families, or single males but I have been getting inquiries more and more about elderly people who want to continue to be independent but don't like Meals on Wheels or other options. "Its usually a push by family members," said Ms Martin. She takes weekly orders up until Sunday night, shops on Monday, cooks on Tuesday and delivers on Wednesday. My meals must be eaten fresh, within three days, or within a month frozen. I make it all from scratch, the curry, the sauces. I don't use anything with a number in it. Sydney-based The Dinner Ladies started after friends Katherine Westwood, 46, and Sophie Gilliatt, 45, needed to offer a decent feed to time-poor friends plus their own families after finishing netball or football, or returning home late from school or work. While some may see the category as a cheat, Ms Gilliatt said it was equally important for people to eat well at the family dinner table. "Its a special moment of the day for people, and they shouldn't be eating crap," she said. They are watching Jamie Oliver, they are watching Heston Blumenthal, they are aware of exciting flavours but it doesn't mean they can be bothered cooking at the end of the day. The Dinner Ladies offer everything from salad in a bag with a separate dressing to chicken with 100 almonds made from Ms Gilliatts mothers original recipe. Melbourne's Kelly Cube offers raw seasonal ingredients and a simple recipe so you can have anything from Thai beef salad to barbecued lamb cutlets for $15 per person within 15 minutes of opening the box. Mother of two, Sarah Begg, from Lindfield in Sydney, said with lots of travel and busy work schedules, home-delivered home-cooked meals were ideal and cost less than takeaway. "I usually get the fully prepared main meals," she said but adds her own contribution. Usually I add the rice or the vegetables or the potatoes as I don't have time to cook what they provide. Dinner Ladies Thai chicken curry with ginger and Thai basil (serves 4) Free-range chicken, coconut milk, stock (chicken bones, water, carrots, celery, onions, herbs), dried chilli, lemongrass, ginger, garlic, red onion, coriander root, lime zest, shrimp paste, salt, ginger, brown sugar, fish sauce, long red chillies, lime leaves, peas, baby spinach, Thai basil. Cost = $26 taste.com.au Thai chicken curry (serves 4) Major item prices from Woolworths online Vegetable oil, brown onion, garlic cloves, piece of ginger, green curry paste, fish sauce = $2.50 (approx.) 1kg chicken breast fillets = $9.99kg Chicken stock = $3 Light coconut milk = $1 2 limes = 98c Bunch coriander leaves = $2.49 Bunch mint leaves = $2.49 Steamed jasmine rice = $1.20 Cost = $23.56