Food that’s not worth the effort

[BarrelOfOtters]

Crab…picked yourself
Unfilleted fish
globe artichoke all that finiking for some little bites

*Why is bechamel difficult? Am I doing it wrong?! Genuine q!

Whisk butter and flour over heat. Add milk and DO NOT STOP WHISKING, right?*

I'm with you that bechamel isn't difficult. I'm lazy though and don't whisk throughout... Melt butter, throw in same weight of flour. Combine. Allow to bubble a bit. Add milk. Low heat, occasional stir (I promise you can get away without constant whisking). Season. Once it bubbles, then whisk.

@Eyesopenwideawake - uses American 8oz cups and a 14oz size condensed milk can but I think more cream wouldn't hurt and would reduce sweetness. I have also made lemon flavor by throwing in half a jar of lemon curd and some lemon essence and swirled through some stewed blueberries.

Another vote for lasagne.

One of my favourite meals but too faffy if making a white sauce.

Exactly. But add freshly grated nutmeg.

I make a lactose-free version now, with fake cream. Looks lumpier when it goes in but fine when it comes out of the oven, & it means DH & I can eat the same thing.

I agree with oranges and pastry.

I would also add home made chips fried in a pan. Yes, they're nicer than oven chips but dangerous to cook and a causes a massive clean up operation.

I find risotto really easy and do a med veg lasagne in the slow cooker that's simple but, yes, a meat one properly cooked from scratch is a massive faff.

I recommend oven baking risotto if you want to do it low faff! I'll dig a recipe out later. I actually like the proper stirring method if I've got time because I find it soothing, but on a weeknight I have made it in the oven.

Also when I eat a big orange I don't peel it, I just cut it into eighths and eat out of the skin 🤔

Creme Brulee - made my first over the weekend - a lot of ingredients and time for just 4 ramekins. It was delicious though

Yes roast lengths of courgette and/or aubergine and use them instead of pasta, as I low-carb. You must use full fat yoghurt or it will split - the eggs & grated cheese also help.

It's not lasagne of course but it's as good as in the comfort food stakes!

Completely disagree with this one - never had a roast in a pub that's near mine or my Mum's and we're good but not great cooks!

My white sauce is nicked from Gousto these days: An egg, some plain yoghurt and grated cheese, all mixed together and poured straight on.

DHs late auntie taught me that in the mid 80s.

"made cheesecake once. Took hours, ingredients cost a fortune and it wasn’t as nice as a shop bought one."

My only ever attempt to make cheesecake was a baked recipe off the back of a Yeo Valley yoghurt label. It took a while and the end result was so disgusting I had to throw it in the bin, and I can eat almost anything sweet. Even the starving feral cats where I was living at the time wouldn't eat it. Loads of delicious Yeo Valley apricot yoghurt and other ingredients gone to waste.

I would add - potatoes dauphinoise. Only made it once, and it was ok, but you can get ready made versions that are just as good or better and it's a faff to make.

Doesn't the yogurt 'break' in the heat?
Stir in a bit of cornflour.

Try a baked version, they are good but without all the stirring!

Growing your own veg. The amount of work, effort (and money) it costs to pimp the tomatoes, manage the courgettes and keep the peas and beans tied up and free from mice and slug attacks is simply not worth it. Aldi do great, tasty fruit and veg better than my garden could offer, and much cheaper.

Lidl! Their special range dish pie (chilled not frozen) is really nice. Single portions though so would work out expensive if it's for a family .

Cost vs faff is probably a big thing with dishes that need levels of cooking/combining. There's just me and DH now so we tend to buy the special range ready made stuff - particularly as DH wants meat and I don't (eg lasagne). I make veggie cottage pies with lentils though as I don't really like the shop ones .

Worth making-

Ginger biscuits. Easy and much much nicer than shop bought.

Spaghetti bolognese sauce. The jars make it sloppy and have a manky taste that overpowers the taste of the beef.

Soda bread. I don't often make it as don't really crave it but the bought stuff is meh, spanking fresh warm soda bread is the only good soda bread and it's easy, you don't even need to bother with a tin.

Yes - I do risotto like that.

DH bought some whole sardines once - he spent forever filleting and skinning them - then as there was such a small amount left, he put them in a pasta sauce . I would have used a tin!

@Enko thank you! I too have learned something new now

@Irequireausername I don't, I've always sort of wanted one. I might have a look for a 2nd hand one-I imagine that'll be from folks buying one with good intentions and then never using it! Hope your bows turn out well :)

Not worth it in my opinion for some wet one dimensional blob of dinner.
suppose it depends what you like I’m more of a steak kind of person.

Any type of steamed pudding sweet or savoury. Such a labour intensive thing.

For a site where people like to present themselves as domestic goddesses with such high standards this thread's an eye-opener!

@JudgeJ

Just because some posters make a big thing of cooking everything from scratch doesn't mean that everyone does. Mostly we keep quiet as there's always someone jumping in and telling you how easy it all is.

For me it's more like that I love the taste and texture, and am happy to have as much of that taste and texture as I can handle in one sitting.

Steaks are nice once in a while. I find myself really fancying one and enjoying it but then feeling like I don't need to eat red meat for a good while after.

humous for me - both DD and I have tried to make it a couple of times but it is never as good as the shop bought stuff.

Pesto too -although we do buy fresh sometimes as well as having a store of jars.

Globe artichokes don’t take much work. Simply steam whole, pick off the leaves and dip in butter, until you get to the hearts which are delicious.

I agree...It's about the only thing a buy ready made by M&S