M & S (or equivalent) or from scratch....

[SamanthaHD]

'What is wrong with spending a little extra time, cooking from scratch?' these were my DH's exact words. Aside from the fact that is very rarely 'a little extra time' I hate cooking, and were DH not around I would feed myself and the kids on bulked out (with veg, pasta, potatoes etc) ready meals, preferably nutritionally sound ones.

DH thinks this is very wrong.

Who, in your estimable opinion, is right?

Most others seems to - I was really surprised.

I'm just laughing at someone describing cooking as one of the fun chores. Not for me it aint!

I hate cooking too, OP and feel a sinking in my heart around tea time.

I think the issue with many ready meals is that they are high in sugar and salt, however, if you have pots of money and buy some of the fresh but prepared stuff from Waitrose and M & S (e.g. bags of preprepared veggies) plus a nice preprepared salmon steak and some bread then I cannot see you are going to do much better yourself.

I don't have the money for this, so I do about half cooking from scratch and half chips/fishfingers type meals, depending on the guilt factor.

I also think some people are a bit in denial about how healthy their 'from scratch' meals are or how much they are really from scratch, lots of people use things like preprepared onions, garlic and a cheese and tomato sauce from a bottle and then call their lasagne 'from scratch'- ummm, not really, and not much difference than a high end low salt ready one. Combining semi-ready things doesn't make it 'from scratch'.

If your husband feels strongly about it, the onus is on him to do something about it- cook several meals a week himself from scratch, shop differently etc, not to nag at you.

Having no choice who does the cooking (lone parent) I can see both sides of the argument. There are days when I'll happily fuss over a big pot of something complicated, days when I can only summon up the enthusiasm for an omelette and days when I have time to do neither. Ready-meals, however, are packed with salt and outside my budget so I make full use of the freezer, cook extra portions and reheat them when I can't be bothered.

If the DH likes cooking at the weekends maybe get him to fill the freezer while he's at it?

Sorry, another vote for your DH here.
If cooking from scratch, you know what is going in - and what isn't!
Compromise and have one night your way perhaps?

There must be some massive freezers out there, mine has room for a couple of pre-cooked lasagnas on top of the frozen veggies, chips, spare loaf, quorn crap, and ice-cream (essential). I think cooking must be easier with a chest freezer in the utility room. And a ginormous open plan kitchen to cook while watching what the toddler is getting up to. I work part-time and plan for "better" meals on the days I don't work. When at home on ML meals where generally better, if at work full-time I imagine it's very hard to be arsed at all at the end of a day out of the home. (I'm busy at home but have pockets of time to go into the kitchen and, say, defrost something or prepare a vegetable. Not so easy from work).

That's very true - when we replaced our fridgefreezer with a double-width chest freezer it completely changed how I plan and cook.

It means we always have bread and cheese, because they freeze and defrost so easily. No more nipping to the corner shop for a loaf of bread and coming back with bread, crisps and a magazine.

I'm with you OP - I just don't like cooking, never get it when people say they enjoy it. Have been lucky to have partners who liked cooking (I actually like cleaning) so haven't had to do it that much (though I can cook, I should make that clear!) I do a lot of salads and bread - greek salad, etc. and things like salmon fillets with salad or veg. When I had a lot more disposable income tbh I did live on ready meals - M&S ones are pretty good; not sure why people think they are always less nutritious - what about the "just cook" kind which are basically meat dishes for roasting? Served with salad, new potatoes & veg no less nutritious than making your own, it's just the preparation that's been done for you. Also agree with those above who point out that much "from scratch" cooking uses processed, frozen or tinned ingredients. Many meals people make supposedly from scratch are high in salt (from stock and added salt), carbs and fat as well. My sister lives on pasta cooked "from scratch" with fried onions, sweetcorn, cream sauce and cheap supermarket chicken pieces (the non-free range full of hormones stuff)! It's just carbs with salt and fat basically.

I also used to take the opportunity to buy nice ready meals which I'd never make myself - moussaka, lamb shank, etc. There are some great ones out there which are not processed if you don't mind paying a bit more - I lived off Pegotty Hedge ones with veg and salad for weeks when I'd just had a baby. Admittedly I can't afford to do that now my income has dropped post-baby, but actually cooking from scratch with good ingredients, especially good free-range or properly reared meats, is often even more expensive. I eat a lot of veg and it's a great deal more expensive than the ready meals to put with it.

I even once managed to lose a lot of weight on my patented "M&S ready meal diet" - one if their "count on us" low-calorie ready meals am evening with a big helping of steamed veg was the easiest diet I've ever been on - six of them a week when they had a three for 5 pounds offer and job done. Mind you those diet ones do taste shit and need a ton of kale or broccoli just to improve the experience :p

NB my job regularly involved/involves 70-hr weeks so though I realise my post above sounds to some like I was rolling in it with the cash, I actually wasn't - but working that amount of time means you don't really go out or do anything much at the weekends so you can spend more on food - also didn't own a car, go on holiday much but nice ready meals made my life a lot more bearable after a 10-12hr working day. Do the people who like to cook to relax still want to do it after a long day at work though? I'm sure I'd just have lived on toast and marmite if I didn't have the option of decent ready meals, if you get back at 9pm from work and then start cooking from scratch you'd never sleep!

I don't like cooking either - so go down the quick, with cheats, from scratch route - like most folks.....

Ready made fresh pasta and frozen broccoli in pot of boiling water for 5 min, salmon fillets in microwave, with a little frozen garlic and black pepper - nuke for 2 min -add some cream, stir - serve - takes 10 min tops - including getting the stuff out of the fridge... much nicer tasting than a ready meal, but no chopping due to frozen veg and pasta.. (though new potatoes go well - wash and cut in half before boiling)

I think it's a bit ridiculous the way that food has become almost a moral issue: you know, with people reverently avowing that oh no they would never use ready meals. Just do what suits you, I reckon. I do tend to cook from scratch but that's only because I don't like the taste of most ready meals I've tried and also I can't afford them - if I liked them and had the money, I would definitely buy them and I don't think I'm somehow a better person just because I spend time chopping etc. Do what suits you, OP, and if your other half doesn't like it then he's free to do the cooking himself instead, isn't he? It's all just bloody food anyway - you eat it because you're hungry and you need to.

DH is right that cooking from scratch is best (far healthier) but there's no reason it should be you that does it. Depending on work and other chores could DH do the cooking if you really hate it? I cook most evenings when get home from work because it's a chore I don't mind as much, DW a SAHM and does most of the other chores.

I think that the main issue with M & S food (or equivalent) is that they tend to be high in salt. I expect that a good quality meal that is low in salt is probably as good as many "from scratch" meals though, particularly as people often use stock in their "from scratch" meals which is high in salt anyway.

I don't mind cooking but I don't have much time so often just cook chicken or salmon in the oven and eat it with potatoes/veg. Although it's not very exciting, it's no more effort than a pre prepared meal and it's nutritious.

I love cooking but it can become a chore doing the week, especially now I'm 28 weeks pregnant and it's all I can do to get through a day at work without napping let alone come home and be full of energy. DH can cook but he's not brilliant although he is willing however I am a control freak I would rather do it myself.

My solutions are trying new recipes and cooking things I really really enjoy eating so that greed overtakes my tiredness and lack of motivation. I also find pre chopped garlic, onions etc to be a huge timesaver and always have lots in the freezer.

Pre-prepared mashed potato? How much time can it really save? It doesn't take much time or effort to rinse some potatoes, boil them, drain them, mash them. If you're just cooking for two people I can just about understand it, but if you're feeding three or four then you have to mess about with different packets and the microwave, and spend about £4 on a bit of sodding mashed potato.

Anyway, it's not just the health aspect of eating ready meals that would bother me. It's just that most of them aren't very nice. I like the Charlie Bighams ones - the Moussaka and the Fish Pie - but I would still get bored if I ate them all the time.

The thing is, if you're cooking for a family, then doing lots of different stuff in the microwave is a pain. And readymeals that need to go into the oven take just as bloody long as simple fresh meals that need to go in the oven. I can see that they are less effort, but I can't see that they're brilliant timesavers.

I timed myself making mash once. It took ten cunting minutes to peel and chop the potatoes, let alone bring them to the boil, drain them, mash them, and wash the pan, colander and masher. Or five minutes to drag a pot of made mash from the freezer (from an occasion where it was marked down to 9p in the supermarket) and stick it in the microwave, with zero resulting washing up.

Some cheats don't save time, but mash genuinely does.

I think it does! Peeling them with startchy potato juice flying all over tje laptop (I cant be the only one who mns while I cook). Then boiling tjem. Draining them. Mashing them. Cleaning out the mash covered pan - thT stuff is like glue. Cleaning colander. Wiping up startchy splatters.

You don't actually need to peel potatoes before you mash them. The peel is hardly noticeable in the final product and it adds a bit of nice texture plus lots of fibre and vitamins. If you really must peel it takes seconds with a potato peeler instead of a knife. But if you prefer to buy frozen then I don't think that's bad, just so long as you aren't using some horror like dried smash!

Don't peel them. It's a waste of time and the skin adds fibre and flavour!

I bung all my cooking stuff straight in the dishwasher. If you don't have a dishwasher I can see the appeal of packaged food more. Though I enjoy cooking/doing prep anyway. It relaxes me after work, and by the time my food is in the oven or ready to eat then I am definitely in home mode and not work mode.

I'm not a huge fan of cooking. I have learned to be a better cook since having the kids and becoming a SAHM but it's just another chore for me to do! I'm not very inventive and I don't have a good palate for knowing whether changing things in a recipe will make it better or worse. I try to batch cook as much as possible, especially now that it's getting colder and we're more in the mood for lasagne, stew, etc.

As others have said cooking "from scratch" is a matter of degree. If I can make something myself, like pasta sauce, then I won't pay for it out of a jar. I'm not, on the other hand, going to spend every evening making my own pasta!

It might have been said already...but it's not a matter of right and wrong but coming to a mutually agreeable arrangement regarding cooking.

You don't seem to it like it, no amount of courses or whatever is going to awaken a love for cooking, you either do or don't or at best you get to see it as an unavoidable chore like cleaning the toilet.

If it's becoming an issue for your DH then it's up to him to step it up. Can he cook at weekends and perhaps a couple of nights in the week?
I'm sure other posts have said but utilise frozen veg, pre-prepared veg, herbs, meats like those chicken portions in herbs from M&S etc, really anything in the arsenal that takes the chore out of cooking for you

I do my own mash in the microwave, so the potatoes are cooked in a pyrex which I then mash them in. I drain by just tilting the lid slightly - so no collander and the pyrex is much easier to wash than a saucepan.

But while I would never buy ready made mash, I don't think there is anything wrong with the better quality ready meals (things have certainly come a long way since the days of the the Vesta curry) expecially the chilled ones that have a fairly short shelf life. They can be made more nutritious with the addition of extra vegetable, either fresh or frozen. The only real downside is that they are so expensive but OP has not said that money is a problem. While I wouldn't like to use ready meals all the time, there are some that are very good and are more complex than things I would do myself.

In the old days when people cooked just about everything from scratch, meals were very plain. I get the feeling that OP's DH probably would still want a variety of cuisine, rather than the meat and two veg of old.

I don't think it's right to only eat ready meals and I also agree with your DH. However, with a full time job and two teenage children and a DH who doesn't like shopping and cooking I think there is a balance to be sought.

On Friday we had a tray of chicken thighs, drums and quarters - sprinkles with lemon juice, paprika, salt and garlic and bunged in the oven for 50 mins whilst I made a salad with olives and feta and shoved some good bread in the oven. Not exactly labour intensive and meant there was chicken for lunches and snacks on Saturday.

On Saturday we had macaroni cheese and a lovely salad. Took about 20 minutes, especially with ready grated cheese.

Today we will have an anti-pasti platter with lovely cold meats, roast artichokes, olives, good rockety salad, some diced spud with a splash of olive oil (in the oven for 30 minutes, etc.)

Monday - good quality beefburgers, salad and jackety chips.

Tuesday - Breaded chicken fillets, chips and peas

Wednesday - Carbonara (ready cubed pancetta, cream, cheese and mushrooms)

Thursday - a whole chicken, new potatoes, coleslaw and salad.

whispers

Ds would reject them if there was skin in fhe mash :)
And I do use a peeler but it still takes ages. Dishwasher cant cope with mashed potato coated dishes - needs washj g first