To rarely cook from scratch?

If you never model cooking, are your kids going to follow in your footsteps?

Cooking from scratch is hardly difficult. You just need some go-to recipes.

You can also assess the time spent on other things that are seemingly more important to you.

Oh thank goodness - I was beginning to think I was the only person who cooked basic food! I live alone so eat frozen chicken, fish, tinned fish etc. (I don't eat much meat) and boil some potatoes and other veg., as well as use frozen peas, corn, beans, spinach, stir fry etc. None of this takes long and is easy.

As long as they have the calories, vitamins, fibre, and other nutrients needed then it's fine

Don't let perfect become the enemy of good

Yes, balance is definitely helpful as you say, but I actually did read your post. You said you had to cook convenience food when you were "in survival too", which I read as you assuming op cooks convenience food, when I didn't get that from her op at all. I was merely clarifying, but it is clearly a sore point for you and Gaspard there so i will leave you to it 👋

Hardly sneering - just clarifying, and I haven't changed my position at all if you look at my initial post.

Can you switch the priority to cooking over cleaning? Can the DC drop to 1 club?

If you read my post I’m not suggesting that anyone with a family who is also working full time can ‘cook from scratch’ as it takes longer and working parents don’t have the luxury of time.

what I am doing is suggesting some hacks to reduce processed foods, batch cook fresh from scratch when time available and use hacks to reduce ultra processed food which can also not be too time intensive. Not sure what turkey twizlers have got to do with it.

if you have any tips you would like to share to help others that would be great.

You’re not a bad mum at all @Timberss 👍🏻☺️
I also work FT, have a DH who works at sea for weeks at a time, only 1 DC but I’m also the main carer for an elderly relative. I also am unable to drive for medical reasons so have to factor in walking time to school, activities/extra curriculars, work etc. So I get it, life is busy 🫠

Batch cooking is my saviour. One morning a week (usually the day after my shopping is delivered), I spend a couple of hours cooking with DS and we make big batches of 3 main dishes - eg, bolognese, chicken curry, lentil & sweet potato curry, chilli, chicken casserole, beef stew, sausage & bean casserole etc. One will be on the go in the slow cooker and the others on the hob.

Depending on what I have in, I’ll sometimes make a pot of soup too.
I portion it all up into “adult” and “child” portions so that it’s easy to grab depending on who is eating that night and there isn’t waste if I’ve frozen a family size portion and DH isn’t here for example. Each dish will usually make 8-10 portions.

We pretty much live off of these when DH is away and I’m working. I just lift out however many portions we need the night before and defrost them. Then when I get home it’s a case of heating it through and maybe cooking some rice/pasta.
I bulk out each one loads with veggies so not only does it give more portions - but I know DS is getting plenty veg.

I try to cook fresh on my days off - tray bakes are always popular here as I can fling them in the oven for half an hour while playing with DS and I’m not having to stand over the cooker. Also useful just to use up any veg left over from the week. Or I’ll make whatever we fancy and if it’s freezable then I double up on it and freeze the rest in portions.

The next week I’ll cook a different 3 dishes so the freezer is always stocked with maybe 8/9 different dishes that we can pick from.

So in total I cook 3 times a week at most. And it means that after work/activities etc that I don’t really need to think or try and put a meal together. Also really handy for the nights where we’re home for a quick dinner then straight back out the door to clubs etc.

You were the one sneering that none of what @Wooky073 mentioned was, in your view, "cooking from scratch" apart from the potato wedges. But I'm glad to see that now you've been called out on it you're taking a different position.

I cooked “from scratch “ (hateful expression) for the family for 20 years but not saying that cause I want a medal, but just that there are short cuts

and easy meals

most of the time basic stuff like boil some salad potatoes (unpeeled) in salted water, cook some broccoli or green beans, fry up a pork chop or some chicken, tadah you have a meal.

i found having a rice cooker helped. Often do stirfry with rice. Or pasta with a simple sauce and salad.

What sort of meals do you eat OP? It does not have to be complicated recipe, just food

Hi there

I’d love to know what veg protein you prepare in your air fryer, and how you do it, if you don’t mind sharing!

Cooking from scratch is a huge time commitment. It involves careful planning, shopping, prepping, cooking and cleaning. And it’s relentless. Very hard to achieve consistently for parents who work full time and especially if you are solo parenting. But it’s a tricky one because you don’t want to feeding your kids crappy food like takeaways, ready meals, pub grub, etc. So for their sake you need to find a balance and figure out how to cook cheap and easy meals.

No, I never have! I didn't say I always cook from scratch though. I was very much team YANBU - you were the one telling op how to cook from scratch and then mentioning foods which I would not think of as cooking from scratch.

It isn't a competition - what you cook sounds totally fine. I'm sure what op cooks is fine too

Cooking from scratch can be super quick if you need it to be!

It didn't escape my attention that you've avoided my question - do you make your own creme fraiche and passata?

No you're not, and thanks for this post as I am similar and it's so good to read someone else saying they don't cook from scratch constantly, as often it feels like everyone on here does!!
It is just so expensive and time consuming though, and i only work part time! Also, i don't like alot of meat/spicy dishes such as curries, chilli etc, my husband has IBS triggered by onions,beans and eggs, and our two daughters are very picky eaters, so it can also feel tricky to find what to do, and like a waste of time if it doesn't get eaten (we have tried alot of home cooked dishes before such as risotto, beef stew, macaroni cheese, fish pie etc but they won't eat any of them)
I think the main thing is your kids are regularly eating foods from across all the main food groups.Yes ideally less processed and more raw foods, but with limited money (which i have too) and fussy eaters, that is easier said than done!

I don't have kids to work around so not quite the same, but I have found that cooking at the weekend and then just having to reheat during the week is a life saver. And we have one day a week which is a 'lazy dinner'...it might be pizza or the like. Something we can just bung in the oven.

I have found that cooking from basic ingredients does make me feel a lot better in myself, so it is something I prioritise. I even started making my own bread every weekend - freeze it sliced and it does the week. I like a biscuit with my afternoon cup of tea, but I've been baking them myself. It all happens at the weekend though. And once you have the rhythm of it, it doesn't take too long. Bread was the biggest shocker for me. It takes about 10 minutes to mix up, then it gets proofing time which is fine cause you just leave it alone to do its thing, no kneading cause it's gluten free, and an hour in the oven. It basically does itself. I had always assumed it'd be a bugger of a thing to make!

A lot of this comes down to whether you can count kitchen time as enjoyable time. I love getting the radio on and settling in to cook up a load of stuff for the week ahead, but I appreciate that the kitchen isn't everyone's idea of a fun time.
At the end of the day, there are many simple ways to cook quickly and easily during the week.

I'm also saving money cause I have coeliac disease and shop bought bread, biscuits, etc are EXPENSIVE!

No need to get defensive - I'm genuinely thinking people may be making assumptions about what not cooking from scratch means as it might not mean the same thing to you as to me. Warburton pita pockets and m&s garlic and herb stock pots wouldn't be "from scratch" to me, but they are to you for example

I've recently discovered the batch lady. Absolute godsend. Also I've decided to shop to spite my mother which means I value convenience. So frozen chopped onions, garlic and chilli, mixed work vegetables when we have a stir fry for example. Yes you can do all these things yourself but why bother?

You don't see batch cooking as cooking from scratch? Do you make your own creme fraiche and tomato puree?

Each to their own and when my kids were little and fussy I did nuggets and fishfingers like most other mums, but now I am obsessed with not eating UPFs. You might shrug now and think you're fine but eventually they will catch up withyou and your health! I've always been a cooker from scratch but the thing that helped me best when my kids were young was a book I was given called 30 minute recipes. Now, unless something is going in the oven for a longer period of time (but then you don't have to be there as it cooks) nothing I make takes longer than 30 minutes. Some meals, fish for example, can be cooked in less than 10 minutes.

How far in the past are you talking? Because I grew up in the 70s and 80s and we had a lot of tinned, frozen and/or processed foods back then. I wasn't chauffeured around anywhere either.

Not to nit-pick, but aside from the wedges, I wouldn't call that cooking from scratch?

What are people envisaging when op says not cooking from scratch? Turkey twizzlers?

Cooking from scratch can just be chopping up some veg and make a quick pasta dish though. I think everyone has time for that.

Yanbu. It is really hard to make everything from scratch, and doing it on your own sometimes due to dh work trips and also working ft. If you're anything like us, the family support just isn't there these days as grandparents all need to work as long as possible. It is also harder if you have any fussy eaters!

Don't beat yourself up. We're all doing the best we can