Genuine question... Cook- in- Sauces, good or bad?

[Raggydoll]

I admit it (somewhat reluctantly) I use cook in sauces for bolognaise, curry, chilli, and well just about everything really. The thing is until recently it has only been for dh and I so the question regarding them being good or bad hadn't really crossed my mind. The question is are they appropiate for my ds (2.6) - his diet is very important to me and if I am 'poisoning' him with a jar or two of dolmio or the like then I want to know about it...

[suzywong]

i doubt very much if you are poisoning him, you may be over loading his dear little kidneys with salt but then if he has a bag of crisps then that's just as bad. Maybe lay off the other salty foodstuffs on the day you are giving him a cook in sauce, you lazy baggage.










You aren't really a baggage or lazy, it's just my manner

[Yorkiegirl]

they are very high in fat, salt and sugar generally speaking. Obviously different brands vary but they have a lot of unecessary additives in them.

[Greensleeves]

pmsl suzywong

you are in fine fettle today

[stitch]

well, it depends really
do yo smoke around him? coz if you do, then the question is moot.

[suzywong]

yes I am rather sharp this evening, and haven't had my medicinal beverage yet.

[Raggydoll]

hmmm okay, he doesn't have crisps and i don't smoke, so thats good right .

I am a lazy baggage when it comes to food, to me browning chicken and adding sauce whilst microwaving rice is both 'cooking' and incredibably stressfull. Although I do have great aspirations of providing good wholesome homescooked food EVERYDAY, hence at least 3 bookshelves of cookery books and a great interest in food threads and the like... the thing is I just find it very stressful and the end result is usually disapointing too.

[Raggydoll]

fat, salt and sugar... ok not too worried about the fat (ds is a rake) - salt bothers me though obviously. Have read the contents on the jars in my 'jar' cupboard it does seem some are better than others - hadn't read the tables with the salt on though...

doing that now.

[babyonboard]

'new coventgarden' do some good ones without additives..
or check the labels of the organic and 'free from' ranges.

[Raggydoll]

thanks babyonboard. do you know where I can get the new covent garden ones from.

any other recommendations welcome... thanks

[Enid]

at cook in sauce for bolognaise

just use a tin of tomatoes

[donnie]

I use cook in sauces too raggydoll, but I usually use half a jar then chop up some fresh tomatoes and add water so the salt and sugar etc content isn't as high.
Making sauces from scratch is a pain!

[iota]

There's no crap in \LINK{http://www.seedsofchange.co.uk/ra_where_to_buy.htm\SEEDS OF CHANGE} ORGANIC SAUCES.

[lazycow]

My Italian mother who makes the most fantastic pasta sauces from scratch uses jars occasionally and swears that they taste great and need less cooking (Good bolognaise takes a couple of hours to cook).

Dolmio not a brilliant brand though - try a genuine Italian one like sacla. Seeds of change also quite good.

[hannahsaunt]

TBH tend to think jars are unneccessary when often all that's needed is a tin of tomatoes and good seasoning with pepper, herbs, garlic etc. Cost if nothing else makes jars seem silly. I make fresh tomato sauce at least once a week in a big batch and it's so easy and so multi-purposeful (is that a word?) makes a nonsense of buying jars. As for things like cheese sauce - it's not that hard to whisk up some fresh so you always know exactly what's going into your stomach.

However, will confess to using curry paste from a jar on occasion. I'm not perfect .