Ready meals: Marks and Spencers

The very nature of the anti-candida diet, with its myriad of restrictions, means that the vast majority of ready meals and processed food items are not suitable for those following the diet. However, in the eighteen months or so since I've been on the diet, I've come across a few 'short cuts'.

Tonight I had Marks & Spencers 'Bombay Aloo' for my dinner - potato chunks cooked with tomatoes, ginger and fresh coriander, according to the blurb on the box. And I can quite believe it, cos very tasty it was too. In fact it contained nothing but:

• potatoes
• tomatoes
• onions
• vegetable oil
• ginger
• tomato puree
• fresh coriander
• salt
• spices
• mustard leaves; and
• curry leaves.

So, unless M&S is being economical with the truth, there's nothing in there that we need to worry about.

I had it with an undressed salad and a couple of Patak's wholewheat chapattis (previously mentioned in my 'lunches' entry a couple of days ago).

I can also recommend M&S's Vegetable Curry and Bubble and Squeak Potato Cakes (available from the prepared vegetables section). However, apart from those few items, M&S is a bit of a disappointment. I haven't been able to find anything else suitable in my local branch in Leicester (and believe me, I've scoured those shelves!). They seem addicted to putting cream and sugar in EVERYTHING! Perhaps whoever devises their recipes has an undiagnosed candida problem? ;)