Food you prefer to make at home instead of getting ready made?

[itsraining2024]

Pasta sauce. Cannot believe how nice it tastes with a can of plum tomatoes, a clove of garlic and a few herbs.

For me, it's good that I prefer home made rather than bought because, quite frankly, if I could buy these and they tasted as good as home made, rather than having to make them, I would!

Lasagne - it's a real faff to make the way I do, so that it is delicious
Roast dinner - see above
Lyonnaise potatoes
French onion soup
Cakes - nice ones that I like
Coronation chicken
Jam
Fruit crumbles

BUT - fish and chips... Bought all the way
Curries - although I make a couple of curries I think are delicious - I really do like them from the takeaway
Crisps
Bread
Ice cream
Etc. Etc.

should i delete my post @LillyPJ

No, of course not!

Granola (mine has chocolate covered salted almonds in....you dont get that in shop bought!).

Yes, please! 😁

I definitely don't understand people who buy baked camembert in pub for 15 odd quid when you can do it at home for about 4 including the garlic, rosemary etc.

Mayonnaise. Dead quick, easy and cheap, and it knocks the socks off the stuff in the jar.

Pesto, but it’s more expensive and time consuming.

Pizza
dough is dead simple; I don't roll it out, instead I use my fingers to press it into an oiled rectangular baking sheet.
pesto (not too much or pizza will be oily and won't bake), tinned crab (squeeze water out using kitchen towel), sun dried tomatoes, feta, rocket and whatever cheese I have on hand.

dough: 1c water at 40c + 1 tbsp yeast and 1tsp sugar. Let sit til foamy (5-15mins)
Add to 2c plain flour sifted with 1tsp garlic powder (optional) and 1tsp salt (or to taste).
I just mix with a fork.
transfer to a large oiled bowl and turn dough so oil covers it then cover with a kitchen towel. Let sit until doubled in a warm area. In winter I put it on my bed and turn on the electric blanket.

I bake it about 20 min in a 425f oven.

Home made. It's only the last few years I've switched but gone are the ready made chilli con carne, spag bol powder/sauces. My spice rack is full of all sorts. I love it.

What meat would you buy to do a roast first 4, under £20?

i am vegetarian (for 35 years) but friends complain at the cost of it. One friend usually buys a cheap chicken then complains it's not very nice 🥹 but just week bought a leg of lamb for £40.

Which might this week should I come over??

I always make my own and reduce it down in a saucepan. One tin of tomatoes is about a quarter of the price of a bought tub of ready-made. Sometimes I add chilli powder or fry some chopped red peppers, mushrooms etc.

Well i though of chicken 🤣

But pork loin and lamb shoulder are both cheap and nice. Not sure you could get beef.

I cook most stuff. I'm really rubbish at rice, but I don't really like it enough to order out.

I think one thing I've never had success with is ramen.

But everything else is good at home.

Lasagne, muesli, cakes, scones, coleslaw, potato salad

Definitely coleslaw! Ready-made has far too much mayonnaise.

There is nothing I would rather make than buy ready made.

I HATE cooking😩but I do it as ready made isn't as healthy and is far more expensive...

Rice: measure an amount by volume.
Rinse it three times using a sieve and then soak in plenty of water for about 30 mins.
Drain thoroughly.
Put in a pan with a tight-fitting lid with the same volume of water as you had of dry rice. Add salt if you like it.
Bring to the boil, turn off and leave ten mins.
Fluff with fork and serve.

I used to be crap at making rice...it was because I wasn't washing it. It's a game changer....soak in lots of cold water and use your hand to kind of massage it in the water....so much starch comes out. I do this step several times.

Thinking about it, almost everything! Pizza, pasta dishes, coleslaw, flat beads, curries, soup, cake, cookies.
Sauces - most store bought sauces I’ve had in the past were horribly, sickly sweet. The sugar/salt content is wild.

I do like a good croissant, I wouldn’t even know where to start with making one, so I’ll stick to my local cafe.

Would buy a £10 chicken, plus potatoes, veg, gravy. Stuffing if you like or yorkshires. Could buy chicken legs or thighs rather than a whole bird - they are even cheaper. Could probably get a pork shoulder for a tenner too. Plus a fruit crumble as well. Yes, I reckon I could do that from Sainsbury, Tesco, M&S or Waitrose.

Pasta sauce
Cheese sauce
Cake
Roast dinner

Cake is the most obvious one. Cafe/shop cake is generally pretty awful compared to my homemade cakes!

Chips, we make our own. Much nicer than the chip shop ones.

I can't think of any food at all that isn't better home made. Only a few restaurants would get that accolade either!

We’ve taken to making hummus at home and I just can’t bring myself to like it, tell my partner (who is full of enthusiasm for whipping up a batch in the moment) I don’t like it, or bring home some shop bought. It’s nearly impossible to replicate the tanginess and texture at home.

I want my supermarket hummus back.