What was the first convenience food you or your parents bought?

[superspud]

Birds Instant Whip - my mum wouldn't get Angle Delight because it only made half a pint - never enough to go round 6 of us.
Camp coffee, Fray bentos corned beef, Vimto( Vomito, the entirely fruitless cordial), chicken noodle soup in packets - I still use Maggi, lots of MSG - yum.

Hmm yes I forgot about the Angels delight, pocket money day - a Beano with a pack of that stuff watered down so it went as far as I could make it!,. ended up like soup.

[superspud]

[Oldhippy]

Self raising flour!
You didn`t have to add bicarb and cream of tartar in the correct proportions. What idleness! ;D

[cambourne7]

Harriets 3 months today which means she start weaning in 4 weeks so have been stocking up. I suppose rusks, premade baby purée count as conveniance foods ;)

[Melbourne12]

I too remember the NHS Orange Juice, although I wasn't as struck on it.  Liked malt extract, which was also given to mothers with small children.  "Radio Malt" was the brand, IIRC.

When I was a lad my family certainly used Birds Custard powder (didn't everybody?) but few other convenience foods, except processed cheese like Dairylea and Primula.

But then my old dad got a job with messrs Birds Eye.  I guess there was a staff discount, especially for new products, because he came home with all sorts of frozen convenience foods, and treats including the cream sponge cakes, arctic roll, eclairs, and mousse, as mentioned by others on this thread.  

One of my favourite things was Birds Eye Chicken Rissoles.  They had a particularly savoury yummy taste, quite addictive to a growing boy.  Sadly they didn't sell them for long.  After a while I guess they must have changed chicken suppliers, because the rissoles suddenly started  to have bits of grit in them, and we realised that the magic ingredient was chicken gizzards.  Nowadays of course "salade de gesiers" is a treat to be enjoyed on trips to France, but back then we viewed such offal with revulsion.  Shame.

One of the odder frozen convenience foods was Instant Omelet, which was frozen beaten eggs in a carton.  You thawed it out, shook the carton, poured the contents into a pre-heated greased pan, added the filling, et voila! An omelet in only twice the time, trouble, and expense of using fresh eggs.

[Jeannine]

Oh Melbourne, you have brought back a memory.. Cod Liver oil and malt , I had the blend as a child and loved it, find the odd jar of malt exract  over the years in health food stores but never with the cod liver oil added. I used to have it on toast..I had to eat my Haliborange vitamins first though. I also remember getting the oil capsules before they brought out Haliborange. Football shaped and rugby ball shaped gelatine filled things, I think one was cod liver oil and the other halibut liver oil.

I also remember having vitamin drops put on my food, disgusting stuff called Abidex, try as she might Mum couldn't disguise it, I still remember the smell.. I eventually went on hunger strike and she let me off!!

I remember the omlette too, and ones made fro  dried egg. ind you I still do use dry egg.

Cambourne, baby foofd in jars is amost a must, banana went down well and chocolate pudding, prunes came in useful now and again ..watch the diapers for the last two though!!

[macmac]

Melbourne I LOVED Bird's Eye Rissoles  :)