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Post by chaosisapony on Sept 28, 2014 18:41:51 GMT
I hear a lot that cooking from scratch is expensive, but I've never found it to be so. Maybe because I keep quite a few basic items just stocked in the kitchen so I don't have to go out and buy each individual ingredient in a recipe. I don't look down on people who don't cook, I really don't care. I pretty much do a hybrid myself. Some days will be items made from scratch while other days will be a frozen pizza or a hamburger made from scratch with frozen french fries. If I make a pie I will make the filling from scratch but use Pillsbury pie crust. You just have to do what works for you. I tend to do more scratch cooking because I like the taste better.
As a cost example, the alfredo recipe I posted above would break down like this in my area from the store I shop at:
Smallest container they sell of heavy whipping cream: $1.75
Butter: Stocked in kitchen $0
Bag of mixed Italian cheese or parm: $3, but often stocked in kitchen
Fettucine or angel hair pasta: $1.50 for an entire bag.
Pepper/parsely: Stocked in kitchen.
So to make it I need to purchase 3 items with a total cost of $6.25. I can easily make two recipes with the amount of ingredients purchased. Each recipe makes two servings. So four total servings for $6.25 is $1.56 per serving. Now I will put chicken and broccoli in the pasta most times so obviously the cost rises when you do things like that. But still, with a basic cost of $1.56 per serving of fresh pasta and home made sauce... I don't find that to be expensive. I have never bought jarred sauce to compare the cost with though.
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katybee
Drama Llama
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Post by katybee on Sept 28, 2014 18:44:32 GMT
Katy, your post seems very judgemental. Some people also don't have the time or space to cook everything from scratch. Plus, I happen to like some of the processed crap and honestly, while I do sometimes make my sauces from acratch,bit is not only time consuming buy way more expensive than buying the can. The point is, if someone is trying to cut the food bill, cooking frim scratch is not always cheaper.  Wasn't trying to be judgmental. Never used the word crap. Made a pukey face next to condensed soup because I personally find it gross. I was making the point that eating pre-made processed food is often WAY cheaper than making everything from scratch. (Did I just repeat myself?) I made absolutely no claims about my own diet, which is hardly free-range and organic made-from-scratch. Honestly--- mine is mostly take-out these days. |
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Post by lucyg on Sept 28, 2014 18:46:11 GMT
I do a lot of cooking from scratch. I also use packaged things pretty frequently. It would never in a million years cross my mind to make my own pasta. On the other hand, I couldn't go six days, let alone six months, without my oven. Some things you can save money on by cooking from scratch, for sure, but some things cost more. To me, the reasons to cook from scratch are quality-related ... better tasting and better for you. If you just want to save money, you're better off buying Kraft Mac & Cheese than making your own. But seriously, who would want to? The one thing I can tell you is you will take away lynlam's guns before you will get your paws on my cream of mushroom soup.  |
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katybee
Drama Llama
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Post by katybee on Sept 28, 2014 18:49:26 GMT
I hear a lot that cooking from scratch is expensive, but I've never found it to be so. Maybe because I keep quite a few basic items just stocked in the kitchen so I don't have to go out and buy each individual ingredient in a recipe. I don't look down on people who don't cook, I really don't care. I pretty much do a hybrid myself. Some days will be items made from scratch while other days will be a frozen pizza or a hamburger made from scratch with frozen french fries. If I make a pie I will make the filling from scratch but use Pillsbury pie crust. You just have to do what works for you. I tend to do more scratch cooking because I like the taste better. As a cost example, the alfredo recipe I posted above would break down like this in my area from the store I shop at: Smallest container they sell of heavy whipping cream: $1.75 Butter: Stocked in kitchen $0 Bag of mixed Italian cheese or parm: $3, but often stocked in kitchen Fettucine or angel hair pasta: $1.50 for an entire bag. Pepper/parsely: Stocked in kitchen. So to make it I need to purchase 3 items with a total cost of $6.25. I can easily make two recipes with the amount of ingredients purchased. Each recipe makes two servings. So four total servings for $6.25 is $1.56 per serving. Now I will put chicken and broccoli in the pasta most times so obviously the cost rises when you do things like that. But still, with a basic cost of $1.56 per serving of fresh pasta and home made sauce... I don't find that to be expensive. I have never bought jarred sauce to compare the cost with though. But just because you have it in stock in your kitchen already doesn't mean you didn't pay for it and that you won't have to replace it when you use it. It's not free! But truly-- I'm not arguing against making more stuff form scratch. I'm just saying it ain't cheap... |
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 19:48:15 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2014 18:52:33 GMT
I would like to cook more from scratch or even semi scratch. And periodically I do make more of an effort. Last weekend and today I made and froze a bunch of items. Taco meat (chicken and beef), Shredded BBQ pork for sandwiches, breakfast burritos, crockpot oatmeal and sloppy joe meat.
My problem is I struggle with organization and paying attention. I get easily distracted and make many mistakes. The only way not to do that is to do it very slowly, one thing at a time. No chopping while something is simmering or I will forget and burn things, dump in the wrong amount of something etc. So doing it one step at a time makes it take SO much longer. I find for me that it takes me about three times longer than a recipe says it will be. Just making scrambled eggs and toast takes me a good twenty minutes. Thus while I love the idea of cooking, I really hate doing it much of the time and often it doesn't seem worth the effort.
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Post by anxiousmom on Sept 28, 2014 18:52:41 GMT
The one thing I can tell you is you will take away lynlam's guns before you will get your paws on my cream of mushroom soup. I make this fake stroganoff thing with cream of mushroom soup. My son, it is one of his favorite meals of all time...and the base is cream of mushroom soup. The one time I tried to substitute a roux, he absolutely flipped a gasket and nuclear war was the next step. So, cream of mushroom soup it is. |
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Post by lucyg on Sept 28, 2014 18:54:28 GMT
As a cost example, the alfredo recipe I posted above would break down like this in my area from the store I shop at: Smallest container they sell of heavy whipping cream: $1.75 Butter: Stocked in kitchen $0 Bag of mixed Italian cheese or parm: $3, but often stocked in kitchen Fettucine or angel hair pasta: $1.50 for an entire bag. Pepper/parsely: Stocked in kitchen. Tina, you have to count the cost of the butter and cheese even if it's already in your kitchen. Either way, you're paying for it somewhere. I'm sure I'd prefer to eat your homemade Alfredo sauce than the kind in a jar, but I would think it probably costs more to make, too. ETA oops, katybee beat me to it.  |
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Post by freecharlie on Sept 28, 2014 18:54:50 GMT
Katy, your post seems very judgemental. Some people also don't have the time or space to cook everything from scratch. Plus, I happen to like some of the processed crap and honestly, while I do sometimes make my sauces from acratch,bit is not only time consuming buy way more expensive than buying the can. The point is, if someone is trying to cut the food bill, cooking frim scratch is not always cheaper. Wasn't trying to be judgmental. Never used the word crap. Made a pukey face next to condensed soup because I personally find it gross. I was making the point that eating pre-made processed food is often WAY cheaper than making everything from scratch. (Did I just repeat myself?) I made absolutely no claims about my own diet, which is hardly free-range and organic made-from-scratch. Honestly--- mine is mostly take-out these days. then I apologize. I thought it was a comment about how bad parents feed their kids (your students). And that the pukey face was for the food they were f=sing their kids. If not how intended, then I will take it in the spirit you are talking |
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Post by penny on Sept 28, 2014 18:56:28 GMT
To me, cooking from scratch means using ingredients that don't have their own list of ingredients... So for a cake - flour, sugar, butter, eggs vs a box mix that has a list of ingredients, eggs, oil... I've never made my own pasta, and would never expect someone else to if they said their pasta dish was made from scratch... So there are some things that are so common that I think of them almost as their own ingredient...
That said, I'm don't feel like something has to be 100% 'from scratch' for someone to say they made it from scratch... If you use a premade crust for a pie, or bottled BBQ sauce, jarred mayonnaise in your potato salad, still call it homemade... For me it's much more about the effort (not sure that's the right word), that goes into it...
I personally don't mind fully prepared foods (there's a few I love), but I try and keep them to a minimum for my budget and my weight... I suck at portion sizes - my brain thinks that one box/package regardless of the size = one portion...
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Post by cindyupnorth on Sept 28, 2014 18:58:35 GMT
Ok..I get the whole cook from scratch thing..but the theory of buying stuff in pkgs/jars, and then adding your own stuff to it..to ME, is NOT making from scratch?!! What exactly is it that people are eating then that is pre-packed? Besides the old kraft mac and cheese. I mean..you can buy anything and add something to it..THEN it's considered made from scratch?! LOL
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Post by chaosisapony on Sept 28, 2014 19:13:13 GMT
I hear a lot that cooking from scratch is expensive, but I've never found it to be so. Maybe because I keep quite a few basic items just stocked in the kitchen so I don't have to go out and buy each individual ingredient in a recipe. I don't look down on people who don't cook, I really don't care. I pretty much do a hybrid myself. Some days will be items made from scratch while other days will be a frozen pizza or a hamburger made from scratch with frozen french fries. If I make a pie I will make the filling from scratch but use Pillsbury pie crust. You just have to do what works for you. I tend to do more scratch cooking because I like the taste better. As a cost example, the alfredo recipe I posted above would break down like this in my area from the store I shop at: Smallest container they sell of heavy whipping cream: $1.75 Butter: Stocked in kitchen $0 Bag of mixed Italian cheese or parm: $3, but often stocked in kitchen Fettucine or angel hair pasta: $1.50 for an entire bag. Pepper/parsely: Stocked in kitchen. So to make it I need to purchase 3 items with a total cost of $6.25. I can easily make two recipes with the amount of ingredients purchased. Each recipe makes two servings. So four total servings for $6.25 is $1.56 per serving. Now I will put chicken and broccoli in the pasta most times so obviously the cost rises when you do things like that. But still, with a basic cost of $1.56 per serving of fresh pasta and home made sauce... I don't find that to be expensive. I have never bought jarred sauce to compare the cost with though. But just because you have it in stock in your kitchen already doesn't mean you didn't pay for it and that you won't have to replace it when you use it. It's not free! But truly-- I'm not arguing against making more stuff form scratch. I'm just saying it ain't cheap... In my mind it is free. The butter in my fridge has been there for 3 months at least. It's cost has already been absorbed into countless other recipes. It is a kitchen staple and therefore, in my mind, I do not include it's cost when I figure out the cost of a recipe because it would be stocked in my kitchen regardless. Just how my mind works. |
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Post by SabrinaM on Sept 28, 2014 19:16:02 GMT
I think there are varying degrees of cooking from scratch. I'd say I fall somewhere in the middle. If it's cheaper to buy than make from scratch I do that. I don't make my own BBQ sauce, pasta, bread, or spaghetti sauce. I can buy those items cheaper OR the store bought tastes better than I could make. I cook very simple meals. We rarely eat bread with dinner. We eat a protein (whatever is on sale) a starch (steamed rice or baked potato/sweet potato) or vegetable/salad (whatever is on sale.) I have made brownies and cake 100% from scratch but I can get mixes cheap and I like the taste better.  The girls lunches are also simple: sandwhich, chips, homemade treat. They eat fruit/vegetables at home because neither want to take their lunch time to eat an apple etc. They only get 20 mins to eat and would rather socialize during that time. Depending on sales and finances, applesauce and yogurt I buy the larger containers and pack in small plastic containers for their lunch. My biggest savings really comes from knowing the rock bottom prices of things and stocking up during that time. Baking items and spices are cheapest in the Fall/winter so I plan to stock up on those then. Summer is the best time for BBQ sauce, hot dogs, ground beef etc. September is rock bottom for jarred spaghetti sauce. |
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Post by Zee on Sept 28, 2014 19:21:49 GMT
I do a lot of cooking, at least 6 days a week. I like making things from scratch, but sometimes prepackaged stuff is cheaper and also tastes good.
I was pressed for time a couple weeks ago so I threw an ancient can of cream of onion soup on some chicken breasts and put it in the oven for 40 min while I completed my other tasks. Five minutes before it was done, I added some of those french's fried onions (also quite ancient) on top and let them crisp. I put some prepackaged rolls sprinkled with cinnamon sugarin the oven, heated up a can of green beans with some salt and pepper, and heated some uncle Ben's long grain and wild ready rice (in the pouch). IT WAS SO GOOD!! The crunchy onions with the cream of onion soup...I had seconds, and my son ate it all and he never eats anything. All of that was cheap except the convenient rice in a pouch, and it saved so much time.
While not my finest effort, or hardly a gourmet meal, I certainly wouldn't call that meal "crap" that poor people are forced to eat.
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Post by mollycoddle on Sept 28, 2014 19:22:32 GMT
Katy, your post seems very judgemental. Some people also don't have the time or space to cook everything from scratch. Plus, I happen to like some of the processed crap and honestly, while I do sometimes make my sauces from acratch,bit is not only time consuming buy way more expensive than buying the can. The point is, if someone is trying to cut the food bill, cooking frim scratch is not always cheaper. Not Katie, but I had a different take on her post. Lots of us, myself included, from time to time use convenience foods. ( My secret vice? I buy pre-cooked hard-boiled eggs.)And processed foods are cheaper, especially if you don't know much about cooking or don't have a fully stocked kitchen. There are a lot of kids who eat very processed diets, and it's not a healthy way to eat 24/7. That's how I read her post. I just read an interesting bit about the trouble with home-cooked meals. I think that it was in Vox.com. |
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Post by SabrinaM on Sept 28, 2014 19:22:49 GMT
I also think people spend more on eating out than they think. It's gotten to where I hate eating out because what I make at home tastes so much better.
I can make a huge pan of lasagna, salad and gatlic bread for $10- $12 buying ingredients on sale and have plenty of leftovers. A typical italian restaurant costs us $60 after drinks/tip.
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 19:48:16 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2014 19:26:45 GMT
Ok..I get the whole cook from scratch thing..but the theory of buying stuff in pkgs/jars, and then adding your own stuff to it..to ME, is NOT making from scratch?!! What exactly is it that people are eating then that is pre-packed? Besides the old kraft mac and cheese. I mean..you can buy anything and add something to it..THEN it's considered made from scratch?! LOL Then what is your definition? Do you kill the chicken, pluck it, and cook it? Make your own pasta? Make your own Alfredo? I'm curious where you draw the line? I personally think it's impossible to claim your entire meal is cooked from scratch. Maybe a better phrase is home cooked meal and just leave it at that! |
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Post by lucyg on Sept 28, 2014 19:34:49 GMT
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Post by bc2ca on Sept 28, 2014 19:43:46 GMT
I like to cook from scratch not because I have to but because it tastes better than the majority of pre-packaged food IMO.  For me, the cost savings in scratch cooking come from buying what is on sale. I know our local grocery stores cycle through the meats every month and will never buy meat/fish at full price. A well stocked pantry and using something like a roast chicken carcass to make your own stock also help. Stock is the easiest thing in the world to make and freezes well. Soups are a great way to stretch your groceries and save money. I also think a lot of people that grew up on prepared/processed foods are intimidated by scratch cooking and think it is a lot harder than it really is. My kids have mastered mac & cheese and frozen pizza for lunch, but we started having them cook a dinner every now & then. The only rules were that it had to be a balanced meal, so they will find a recipe (cookbook, magazine, internet) and make their shopping list (after checking the pantry) a few days before their cooking night. I have to say, it can be painful to watch them chop and prep the ingredients as they take 3 x as long as I would, but they do it and have been proud of the end results. It did make me realize that when I say scratch cooking is easy, it really can be overwhelming when you haven't been exposed to it. Like anything else, practice and experience make it easier. |
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calgal08
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,519
Jun 27, 2014 15:43:46 GMT
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Post by calgal08 on Sept 28, 2014 19:48:08 GMT
Like others I also make 2x-4x the recipe. This morning I cooked up 6.5lbs of beef/turkey meatballs, yesterday I made 4 dozen cookies, 2 loaves of pumpkin/chocolate bread and about 60 waffles and pancakes. All from scratch. Overall it maybe took me about 3-4 hours, but we have multiple meals, lots of lunchbox snacks and a few weeks of breakfasts. Not to mention healthier than store bought and probably cheaper than buying boxed mixes too.
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Post by anxiousmom on Sept 28, 2014 19:57:56 GMT
Thank you for the link. It is definitely something to think about. I have never felt like I was in any way an elitist, I grew up poor like you wouldn't believe, like a single pair of shoes poor. But my mom always cooked. She worked and went to school at the same time, but during those years her sister lived with us and shared in taking care of us kids. They both volunteered at the food co-op so we had access to vegetables. It has never occurred to me that how I *think* about cooking is part of a larger problem. |
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~Susan~
Pearl Clutcher
You need to check your boobs, mine tried to kill me!!!
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Jul 6, 2014 17:25:32 GMT
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Post by ~Susan~ on Sept 28, 2014 19:59:46 GMT
But just because you have it in stock in your kitchen already doesn't mean you didn't pay for it and that you won't have to replace it when you use it. It's not free! But truly-- I'm not arguing against making more stuff form scratch. I'm just saying it ain't cheap... In my mind it is free. The butter in my fridge has been there for 3 months at least. It's cost has already been absorbed into countless other recipes. It is a kitchen staple and therefore, in my mind, I do not include it's cost when I figure out the cost of a recipe because it would be stocked in my kitchen regardless. Just how my mind works. My mind works the same way. If I already have it on hand and do not have to buy it special for a dish then I don't count it. I always stay stocked up with lots of things that are staples at MY house. ETA: I also want to say that I am not judging anyone here for how they eat, cook, etc. This is just what works for my family and we all enjoy it. |
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Post by eebud on Sept 28, 2014 20:02:10 GMT
Ok..I get the whole cook from scratch thing..but the theory of buying stuff in pkgs/jars, and then adding your own stuff to it..to ME, is NOT making from scratch?!! What exactly is it that people are eating then that is pre-packed? Besides the old kraft mac and cheese. I mean..you can buy anything and add something to it..THEN it's considered made from scratch?! LOL I can't speak for anyone else but speaking only for myself and my post. My point in my post is that I have more of a hybrid in what we cook. We do use some processed stuff like some jarred pasta sauce but that is a small ingredient in an otherwise large pot of soup/stew. That is the only thing in the pot that is processed. The rest if chicken, broccoli, onions, whatever fresh or sometimes frozen veggies we have that sound good. So, it is not 100% from scratch but it is not all processed either. I doubt I will ever make my own pasta. Heck, from what I have been told, not many Italian restaurants make their own pasta. LOL |
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Post by cindyupnorth on Sept 28, 2014 20:18:11 GMT
"I personally think it's impossible to claim your entire meal is cooked from scratch. Maybe a better phrase is home cooked meal and just leave it at that"
-------------------------------------------------
exactly!! And no I wasn't saying that doing everything made it from scratch. I just think some people that are claiming they made it all from scratch..reallllly aren't quite doing it all the way some of us think.
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Post by Linda on Sept 28, 2014 20:34:21 GMT
I cook from scratch. Tonight's dinner is roast chicken, loaded cauliflower and carrots (oh and stovetop stuffing but that's a concession to DH who grew up eating the stuff - oftentimes AS dinner - I prefer homemade myself).
roast chicken is easy-peasy - I melt a little butter and add some herbs and brush it on the top before roasting but you can have a perfectly fine chicken without adding anything at all.
The loaded cauliflower is easy too - I started with a whole cauliflower but it's fine with frozen florets as well. The most complicated part is cooking the bacon, honestly. It's really just a case of mixing cauliflower florets with mushrooms, bacon crumbles, shredded cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise and chopped green onions. I had to buy the cauliflower, bacon, sour cream and green onions - everything else was on hand. And because I was crumbling the bacon, I was fine with the cheap irregular sliced bacon. I have leftover green onions for later this week.
I bought frozen carrots but it's not much more difficult to peel and cut fresh ones (they just happened to be more expensive this time around - sometimes they are cheaper).
I've taught my older two how to bake and cook. The oldest cans and bakes bread also - the middle one doesn't enjoy kitchen work but is competent. The little one is starting to learn. I think it's important to know how to cook - not just how to follow a recipe but how to adapt when you don't have all the ingredients and how to make a white sauce/cheese sauce/gravy and how to make a meal from what you have on hand.
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Post by Linda on Sept 28, 2014 20:43:02 GMT
I'll add that when we were poor (AFDC and food stamps and WIC poor) - I still cooked from scratch - and when we were working poor and actually had LESS grocery money than we did with food stamps, a LOT less - I still cooked from scratch. It's just that we ate mostly beans and rice; beans; lentils; and rice and beans supplemented by pancakes, bread, oatmeal and potatoes. Not very healthy - not nearly enough fruit and veg although I did serve tinned fruit (bought in the [HASH]10 can) and carrot sticks with every lunch and dinner - but still healthier than a steady diet of Kraft dinner, bologne sandwiches and Banquet pot pies, I think (which is pretty much how DH grew up). I learnt to cook bread because I wanted something better than cheap white sandwich bread from the discount bread store. I learnt to cook beans and rice in a hundred different ways because I HATE beans and rice and I was determined to find a handful of recipes that I would enjoy - I still don't like beans or rice but I still cook them once a week (from that handful of recipes I finally found).
But I did always have access to refrigeration and electricity. I CAN cook on a wood fire but I would prefer not to regularly do so.
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 19:48:16 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2014 20:45:51 GMT
The one thing I can tell you is you will take away lynlam's guns before you will get your paws on my cream of mushroom soup. I make this fake stroganoff thing with cream of mushroom soup. My son, it is one of his favorite meals of all time...and the base is cream of mushroom soup. The one time I tried to substitute a roux, he absolutely flipped a gasket and nuclear war was the next step. So, cream of mushroom soup it is. I love my homemade spaghetti sauce best when there's a can of cream of mushroom soup in it. It just adds a tiny bit of creaminess and richness that enhances the other flavours. Adding roux or cream just does not work! |
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johnnysmom
Drama Llama
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Jun 25, 2014 21:16:33 GMT
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Post by johnnysmom on Sept 28, 2014 21:03:59 GMT
I hear a lot that cooking from scratch is expensive, but I've never found it to be so. Maybe because I keep quite a few basic items just stocked in the kitchen so I don't have to go out and buy each individual ingredient in a recipe. I don't look down on people who don't cook, I really don't care. I pretty much do a hybrid myself. Some days will be items made from scratch while other days will be a frozen pizza or a hamburger made from scratch with frozen french fries. If I make a pie I will make the filling from scratch but use Pillsbury pie crust. You just have to do what works for you. I tend to do more scratch cooking because I like the taste better. As a cost example, the alfredo recipe I posted above would break down like this in my area from the store I shop at: Smallest container they sell of heavy whipping cream: $1.75 Butter: Stocked in kitchen $0 Bag of mixed Italian cheese or parm: $3, but often stocked in kitchen Fettucine or angel hair pasta: $1.50 for an entire bag. Pepper/parsely: Stocked in kitchen. So to make it I need to purchase 3 items with a total cost of $6.25. I can easily make two recipes with the amount of ingredients purchased. Each recipe makes two servings. So four total servings for $6.25 is $1.56 per serving. Now I will put chicken and broccoli in the pasta most times so obviously the cost rises when you do things like that. But still, with a basic cost of $1.56 per serving of fresh pasta and home made sauce... I don't find that to be expensive. I have never bought jarred sauce to compare the cost with though. I have butter, pepper and parsley in my kitchen too but I can still serve Fettuccine Alfredo cheaper (though not better) Jarred sauce: $2 on sale 1lb pasta: $.80-$1 on sale When served with chicken and a veggie we have enough for 4 people with a little leftover. I realize that Alfredo sauce is supposed to be easy, but I'm a TERRIBLE cook and have screwed it up every time, so I gave up long ago. We don't have it very often and when we do I just do jarred. My cooking has improved over the years, I no longer make hamburger helper but still make Kraft mac & cheese on occasion. |
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Post by freecharlie on Sept 28, 2014 21:07:03 GMT
Mmmm....I love the crust and gravy from the cheap banquet pot pies. I always ate around the vegetables
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Post by Eddie-n-Harley on Sept 28, 2014 21:07:13 GMT
A roast chicken is one of the easiest and cheapest meals to make a family. Just slam it in the oven with a few herbs on top. I have a combination oven, so a large chicken only takes 40-45 mins to do from fridge to cooked, which makes it a viable mid week meal.
I have tried to roast a whole chicken exactly once. I followed a recipe from one of the magazines (Taste of Home, maybe) and it was titled something like "best ever roasted chicken" or "super easy sunday chicken" or whatever. Yeah. For $6, I'll just buy it pre-rotisseried from the deli. Thanks to whichever one of you (or ones of you) posted alfredo recipes. I don't mind jarred red sauce but I can't find a good alfredo, so I am TOTALLY using this next time. |
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Post by gar on Sept 28, 2014 21:07:29 GMT
I'm not a purist but I prefer to mainly cook from scratch. I do use tinned tomatoes, store bought pasta etc but I I don't use packet sauces, whole meals in a box or cake mix. Bluntly, when I look at the list of ingredients on a packet of cheese sauce, for example, I don't want to buy it when I can make it in a few mins with milk, flour and cheese without all the ingredients I can't even read the name of.
However I appreciate that I was brought up in a household where this was the norm and not everyone has that although anyone can learn. It does take a little time but practise makes everything easier and less time consuming and you then gradually build up a better store cupboard so you don't need to keep buying quite basic ingredients.
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