Roz
I think you are totally doing the right thing. Supermarket ready meals are total con and the only thing that Sainsbury's or any of the other ones are interested in are their profit margins. Ranges like "taste the difference" are just marketing - how can a meal that was made in a factory four days earlier by a man a white coat and then shipped around the country in a plastic container to be reheated ever taste better than a home cooked meal? Unfortunately they seem to have most of the population in the palm of their hands.

I only have limited growing space at my flat but last year we successful grew salad leaves, spring onions, lots of tomatoes, herbs and chilli plants, so I am sure there is quite a lot you could manage in your garden.

Try this lasagne recipe:
Chop 1 large onion and 2 cloves of garlic - fry in oil for 5/10 mins until soft. Add 500/600g of beef mince and fry until browned then add 2 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp ground coriander. Then add 1 tbsp tomato puree and mix around then add in two tins of chopped tomatoes and 2/3 tsp dried oregano. (You could also add some red wine or a chopped red pepper at this stage if you wanted). Bubble that gently on the stove for 20/30 mins until reduced and a nice consistency.
To make a bechamel sauce melt 50g of butter and then add 50g of plain flour and whisk to make a roux. Take off the heat and add a splash of milk and mix in, continue to add a few more splashes until it starts to resemble the beginning of a sauce - then add about 1/2 -1 pint of milk and simmer gentle for about 5 mins while stirring or whisking to avoid lumps until it thickens into a nice sauce.
Then arrange your lasagne with a layer or bolognase, then lasagne sheets, then bolognase. Finish with a layer of lasagne sheets and then pour over the white sauce. Bake on about 200C for 20/30 mins. (Sometimes I replace a layer of pasta with a layer of courgettes.)

For cookbooks I would recommend Delia's Complete Cookery Course - it is quite old and has few pictures (which often puts people off) but is brilliant and goes from the basics and provides good family meals. I also often make pizza's which are so cheap to make and so much nicer than anything from the supermarket. It is easy to make once you get the hang of neading the dough - I use Jamie Oliver's recipe which I think you can get off his website.

Goodluck!