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How much do you actually cook from scratch?


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Old 11-03-2008, 11:12
RAINBOWGIRL22
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The Delia thread got me thinking about how much I cook from scratch.

I very rarely use anything prepared in a jar (Dolmio / sweet & sour sauce / chilli) etc as I prefer to make my own but I will sometimes cheat and use M&S ulitmate Mash as opposed to making my own. My latest cheat is Uncle Ben's microwave rice , it isn't the greatest but cuts down my cooking time. Provided the rest of my meal is home made I have to say I never feel as though I am missing out? And half a portion, nutrition wise, isn't too detrimental once or twice a week???

Who can truly say they cook everything from scratch?

Are there things that you would never buy premade?

How much of your average evening meal is 100% freshly prepared? If I'm honest I would say I have probably a 70/30 split of fresh / conveneince food (I'm including premade pasta and bread here for arguments sake!) in my diet - could be better of course but I'm not overweight or unhealthy.
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Old 11-03-2008, 11:43
shazzyfizz
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My only compromise to convenience is tinned products such as Tuna, tinned tomatoes, and beans such as kidney, cannellini or butter beans. We don't do desserts during the week apart from yoghurts or fresh fruit. Rice/pasta/ potatoes/couscous/noodles are always done from scratch no matter what.

However, during the summer months we grow tomatoes and I will happily blanche and skin these to add to sauces. I also try and remember to soak beans and cook from dried when I'm cooking at the weekend.

I also make extra of anything I'm cooking over the weekend and freeze for quick midweek meals. I also bake bread over the weekend and try and freeze at least some of it although we have a great farm shop which sells lovely bread so often I will buy in



My cake making skills are okay but my mothers are so much better so if I want a cake or dessert made I tend to buy the ingredients and pass them on to her - so that's quite convenient for me!

I have to admit that I enjoy cooking and don't regard it as time wasted when I could be doing something else.
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Old 11-03-2008, 11:58
RAINBOWGIRL22
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Can I ask if you work shazzyfizz? Feel free not to answer if you don't want to!!

I don't mean to be offensive but the main reason I don't cook from scratch as much as I should is because I work full time (plus I have a daily 2 hour commute ). I don't know how people find the time to cook everything from scratch, especially if they work, hence me starting the thread.

I am just interested to find how people fit cooking into their daily lives and what they will compromise on.....
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Old 11-03-2008, 12:06
shazzyfizz
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Yes I work 30 hours a week but only have a half hour commute. I'm also doing a open university module at present. One thing I must add that probably makes a lot of difference to my free time is that we have a cleaner

But having said all that I've alway done a lot of cooking even when my kids were younger and I worked full-time - not always easy juggling demands on your time but as I said in my last post I've always loved cooking and I'm most happy when I'm in the kitchen
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Old 11-03-2008, 12:08
Orangebathwater
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Can I ask if you work shazzyfizz? Feel free not to answer if you don't want to!!

I don't mean to be offensive but the main reason I don't cook from scratch as much as I should is because I work full time (plus I have a daily 2 hour commute ). I don't know how people find the time to cook everything from scratch, especially if they work, hence me starting the thread.

I am just interested to find how people fit cooking into their daily lives and what they will compromise on.....
I work the same and have an 2 hour commute also. I always scratch cook. You can make time for what is truely important imo.
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Old 11-03-2008, 12:21
RAINBOWGIRL22
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I've always loved cooking and I'm most happy when I'm in the kitchen
I'm not much of a cook to be honest - I try, can make the basics pretty well but I guess practise makes perfect!!

I do love the satisfaction of cooking and feeding other people. I live with my BF, who adores my food but if I lived alone I probably would live on soup

I work the same and have an 2 hour commute also. I always scratch cook. You can make time for what is truely important imo.
I'm normally out the door at 07:45 and not back at home until after 18:30 so I do struggle with motivation.
However my evening meals are always *at least* partly cooked from scratch - I just have a few cheats I use now and then when I am feeling a bit lazy
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Old 11-03-2008, 12:26
stud u like
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I seldom buy anything premade as it lacks taste. I prefer to buy my own ingredients and make my own tucker.

I buy tinned mangoes. My dyspraxic fingers can't cope with their preparation.

It is not difficult to make pies,cakes,pastries,stews or pasta sauces.
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Old 11-03-2008, 12:28
Orangebathwater
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I'm normally out the door at 07:45 and not back at home until after 18:30
Same as me. I still make time for the important stuff. A roast only takes an hour. Dinner on table 19.45 -20.00.

I just can not bear to put processed food in my mouth.
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Old 11-03-2008, 12:40
RAINBOWGIRL22
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Same as me. I still make time for the important stuff. A roast only takes an hour. Dinner on table 19.45 -20.00.

I just can not bear to put processed food in my mouth.

But how do you fit everything else in LOL?

I guess I'd sooner have a few evenings a week when I cheat (a little) and have time to go the gym or chill on the couch for a bit.... I hate to come in and start cooking straight away

And do you truly not eat anything processed?

Does this include making your own pasta and bread?

I'm truly interested (and beginning to feel like a bit of a faliure )
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Old 11-03-2008, 12:46
Orangebathwater
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But how do you fit everything else in LOL?

I guess I'd sooner have a few evenings a week when I cheat (a little) and have time to go the gym or chill on the couch for a bit.... I hate to come in and start cooking straight away

And do you truly not eat anything processed?

Does this include making your own pasta and bread?

I'm truly interested (and beginning to feel like a bit of a faliure )

I don't eat pasta or bread - I avoid most carbs.

Come on an hour cooking is nothing. It helps me unwind.
If I'm busy in the evening, I will have made a vat of food for two days the night before - or roast a chicken to have cold with veg.

Plenty of time to hit the couch after you have eaten. I hate the gym, I walk to work and back instead.
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Old 11-03-2008, 12:53
RAINBOWGIRL22
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I don't eat pasta or bread - I avoid most carbs.

Come on an hour cooking is nothing. It helps me unwind.
If I'm busy in the evening, I will have made a vat of food for two days the night before - or roast a chicken to have cold with veg.

Plenty of time to hit the couch after you have eaten. I hate the gym, I walk to work and back instead.
Interesting!!!! I always have a carb with my evening meal (normally wholemeal pasta) or some kind of potato (which I will make from scratch - unless its mash )...

I'd happily spend an hour cooking - however something that take most people an hour would take me two. Honestly if a recipe says 30 mins then it takes me at least double that!!! Must be my bad preparation, or my lack of practice? I am also a bit anal and tend to wash up as I go along
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Old 11-03-2008, 13:05
maimou
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I'd happily spend an hour cooking - however something that take most people an hour would take me two. Honestly if a recipe says 30 mins then it takes me at least double that!!! Must be my bad preparation, or my lack of practice? I am also a bit anal and tend to wash up as I go along
I'm not anal at all and cook loads and my preparation time always takes ages as well - I put it down to having a small kitchen (and often a big glass of wine!).

I do most of my cooking from scratch but it helps that out here there's no way near as much ready or half ready stuff available as there is in the UK. If I had a Sainsbury's (or a Waitrose ideally!) I'd probably cheat a bit more with semi ready stuff.
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Old 11-03-2008, 13:16
Carnivegan
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I don't eat pasta or bread - I avoid most carbs.

Same here but I avoid ALL carbs. How long does it take to fry a steak or a piece of fish, 10 minutes at the most. I always cook from scratch, no processed stuff, ever. I've just retired but even when I worked 18 hour days I still cooked when I got home or had cold cuts from the day before.
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Old 11-03-2008, 14:01
flowerpowa
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I did try Delia's recipe using M&S steak and kidney, it was very good, as a short cut, I was curious to see how it would turn out. Usually I make all my own sauces, never buy packets or jars, mix my own curry powder from different spices to use in curry. Always make my own pastry and cakes, at least then I know what's in them.
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Old 11-03-2008, 14:09
oscardelahoya
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Are there things that you would never buy premade?

Mashed potato! I always think it looks so gross when I see it in the shops. I don't undersand why people buy those packs of ready chopped vegetables either.
I don't buy ready meals but I will buy pizzas, burgers or oven chips and something frozen to go with them. I buy sauce in jars as well, curry or stir fry sauce or whatever. Cheaper than buying all the ingredients most of the time.
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Old 11-03-2008, 14:18
caroliansno1fan
 
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i buy bread, cakes, pasta, rice, noodles, tinned tomatoes & frozen veg. i make everything else myself.
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Old 11-03-2008, 14:26
Justabloke
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I use tinned toms and that is about it.

I make my own bread (in a machine) my veggies are delivered via the local box scheme and I shop at a local butchers once every 5 or so weeks to fill my freezer.

Cooking from scratch rarely if ever takes longer than dealing with a ready meal.
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Old 11-03-2008, 14:29
caroliansno1fan
 
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I use tinned toms and that is about it.

I make my own bread (in a machine) my veggies are delivered via the local box scheme and I shop at a local butchers once every 5 or so weeks to fill my freezer.

Cooking from scratch rarely if ever takes longer than dealing with a ready meal.


and it tastes sooooo much nicer
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Old 11-03-2008, 14:32
Midiboy
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I rarely buy ready made sauces. I tend to prepare my own sauces from scratch at the weekend and freeze them or stick them in the fridge to use during the week. I've even started using a mortar and pestle to grind my own dry roasted spices for curries...
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Old 11-03-2008, 14:35
Rhino Horn
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i cook from scratch - i have lots of cook books that you can prepare a decent meal in 30 mins or less. I actually find cooking a way to unwind post-work, post-gym. And i love tasting the results
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Old 11-03-2008, 15:03
Joni M
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We cook most of our food from scratch and ALL the dogs' food is homemade.

Tins: Tomatoes, baked beans, tuna, salmon.

Lots of jars of stuff though (pickles, mustards, jams etc).


(I'd actually forgotten about this Food forum, its' good!)
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Old 11-03-2008, 15:26
Porcupine
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I dont cook much from scratch. Last night i did, but it was simple. I had cooked a joint of pork sunday, so we had the full roast then. Last night i did bubble and squeak with cold pork.

I will always do my own mashed potato, shephards pies, liver and bacon, rice etc ...

But - if i have something sauce based like bolognaise, sweet and sour, lasagne etc .... I always open a jar.

I try and do a lot from scratch, especially cakes. But sometimes ... life is too short.
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Old 11-03-2008, 16:58
DaisyBumbleroot
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my tea last night was turkey parmo - 40% fresh, 60% premade

fresh parts - turkey breast, sliced mushroom
ready parts - pregrated cheese out of a bag, sliced jalapenos, sliced pepperami, coleslaw from a tub
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Old 11-03-2008, 17:14
workshylady
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It is quicker to heat up a jar of sauce and pour it on pasta than it is to use fresh tomatoes, chop up basil, garlic and onion etc, but it isn't as nice. If I've got the time or inclanation I'll cook from scratch but I'm not ashamed to use a jar of pasta sauce. Tonight I'm making pizza and making my own dough, but I think of it as fun rather than work. I like making pies and things and always make chilli, bolagnese etc from scratch but sometimes it's nice to let someone else do the work. Having said that I don't see the point of using a tin of steak and kideney to make a pie, why not just buy a ready made pie from the bakers or butchers?
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Old 11-03-2008, 18:00
LaurieMarlow
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Having said that I don't see the point of using a tin of steak and kideney to make a pie, why not just buy a ready made pie from the bakers or butchers?
Ha, this reminds me of my aunt who very proudly hawks her 'home made' mince pies around every christmas. Given that the mince comes out of a jar and the pastry is the justroll variety, I'm not sure why she bothers.

I am a scratch cook (well, most of the time). I would never countenance sauce out of a jar. I'm very proud of my sauces (they're what I do best) and most of the stuff you buy in the shops is loaded with very un-nutritious sounding chemicals. I consider buying pre-chopped fruit/veg, pre-grated cheese a monumental waste of money. I mean, how difficult is it to chop a few mushrooms for goodness sake? Also, the quality is dismal. Those parmesan shavings you buy in a box have all the taste and texture of sawdust

I could never bring myself to buy frozen potato products or mince out of a tin *shudder*.

I buy bread (though I occasionally make my own) and pasta. I also buy jars of chutney and jam and marmalade, but I have aspirations of embracing my inner domestic goddess and making my own when I have a bigger kitchen. The other thing I do buy ready made is pastry. I might attempt to make my own short crust, but things like puff and filo and so on, I'm happy to just roll.

It's all about priorities though. I love to cook and will always make time for it. I gave up hoovering instead. For other people, cooking is a chore and the daily grind gets them down .
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