To think that while cooking from scratch is better for you, it can be a massive PITA

[TwentyOneGuns]

I've just spent the afternoon making lunches and batch cooking for the week ahead. I'm sure the results will be lovely but it's all so bloody fiddly, messy and time-consuming.

While I was wrestling with a butternut squash (to make soup which incidentally will be nice but neither buttery or nutty so it's badly named as well as a bastard to cut up and de-seed) I couldn't help thinking how much quicker it would be to open a bloody tin. I know homemade is better but honestly I lost the will to live with that thing.

Anyone got any tips or gadget suggestions for making it all a bit quicker?

mewlingquim agree ive tried it when desperate to have a day off trom cooking and it does lack flavour and after a while youvrealise its same base sauce with thefishes in a lot of brands. Ive grown up on home cooked so maybe im spoilt if its not from scratch im not satifisfied.

But agree op it is a pia especia when ur tired already. I do think batch cooking kore stress though. Why not cook for 2 days maybe rather thsn the entire week you may find it less hassle?

im reluctant to buy frozen products. I read an article recently it said when foods are frozen a chemical is produced and long term consumption of this is responsible for the rise in cancers in the west. i was thinking of stocking frozen veg for convenience when cooking but its scared me off....

I use a food processor for chopping and dicing best investment i made. I chop a lot of onions no more tears ir sliced fingers im clumsy....

I peel the bastarding butternut squash with an Y peeler as mentioned above and chop it up after.
I like to roast it with tons of spices before it goes into the soup.

Also, some crumbled feta or someone any butter in the bowl just before you serve it is brilliant.

Peanut butter that is.

Frozen BNS. For fucks sake, why am I only learning about this now?

I love BNS soup, either curried with coconut milk, or with chorizo.

But I hate the bloody faff.

I cook most things from scratch, although I do use pastes for curry, and recently I found a chilli paste for the slow cooker which was nice. And I am trying out tesco's jambalaya paste this week. Is that still considered "from scratch"?

I go through phases where I enjoy it, and then there could be a few weeks that we eat chips and frozen crap for a few nights because I just cannot be arsed.

Katarzyna I heard that years ago and it was said that even if there is an effect it wouldn't be present in non protein containing foods. So berries and veg frozen on picking etc are actually higher in useful nutrients than fresh produce that has been slowly deteriorating since picking.

I buy 'soup mix' from tesco/asda which is essentially pre chopped peeled and washed veg with herbs. There are also bags of peeled and washed potatoes good for making mash or cubed potatoes.

@katarzyna - no

www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=energy%20efficiency%20slow%20cooker

so hilda im not poisoning my mother in law with frozen fruit in her porridge? Thats good to know :)

Irrelevant but i dontike butterbut squash prefer pumpkins. Ive noticee pupkins srent as readily available in tescos as thet usef to be, a lot of my products arent .fed up with them. Pumpkin is one of my favourites!!

Isn't ready chopped veg much more expensive? That's why I don't buy it fresh, but love frozen veg.

herecomes i read one link from the search results thank you.Ok so energy not so bad but can curries be done in the pot since its my main staple? I read the onions, and powders need to be cooked off first then meat popped in? If thats the case id stink of cooking anyway need shower straight away so not worthwhile for me?? I was thinking it could make life easier if i wanted one lazy day or if im ill?

I did have my eyes on the hotpot on amazon its an electric pressure cooker with msny other functions but i wasnt sure....

I think ready chopped is less nutritious and it will be treated with an antifungal, antibacterial agent to increase shelf life, don't they rinse most bagged lettuce in a chlorine solution.

Glastokitty, what is your cheapo Thermomix? I'm a gadget ho and have been pining up for a Thermomix, but can't stump up the cash for one. Would love to check out a more affordable option!

Frying spices intensifies their flavour and a slow cooker couldn't do that.

I think the main benefit of slow cooking is inthrowing it all together and it being ready hours later.

I imagine it would work well with the tougher meats used in curries like mutton. I think slow cooked chicken becomes too dry.

I'd suspect that marinating meat in the spice overnight before slow cooking it could produce lovely results.

I de seed then microwave a bns ,then it's easy to use in soups or whatever, I love them!

There's from scratch and there's from scratch - where do you draw the line? Did you make your pizza dough, did you stick things on a pre bought base, did you bung a frozen pizza in the oven? Did you make your own pasta, did you buy the sauce, did you chop the veg to go with it?

I like cooking but there are days when I'm tired, fed up or there's no time and then I feel no guilt at opening a jar of pasta sauce and boiling some dried pasta, and cooking some topped and tailed beans and broccoli spears to go with it. It's just as valid a meal.

Where you draw the line is entirely your choice. I draw the line at pre packaged ready meals but wonder how long for. My MIL and mother are both discovering the joys of ready meals in their 80's, despite (or maybe because of) being competent cooks for years.

BNS btw - pre chopped is vile and slimy IME. If you don't roast it there's no flavour. Cut it in half, score it diagonally, leave the seeds in and roast for 45-55 mins on a high heat, you can then scoop out seeds (discard) and flesh easily. Soup then takes a few minutes, I mix mine with fried onions, garlic coriander and cumin and veg stock.

herecome yes thank you for ur input i was thinking as much with regards to cooking the spices.

i can eat most cuisines my kids are more fussy. I guess ill look up what kind of recipes can be done in a slowcooker before investing in one.

Y

Butternut squash seems to act like an acid peel on my hands. Like eating it though.

I bloody love kitchen gadgets, but a pressure cooker is one I don't have. Despite having many gadgets, I never seem to make life easier for myself and have been known to make my own croissants, which are most definitely what supermarkets and bakers were invented for to avoid exactly that sort of caper..

I always cooked from scratch but the pressure cooker was a huge time saver, we did a lot of soup and stew in winter.
I had friends who batch cooked monthly I never could really understand it. I just made a meal like lasagna, cottage pie or stew twice the size and had it later in the week for a second meal.
Quite often when in a hurry I'd do something like pork chops or chicken breasts in the oven, either one dipped in breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese and baked along with potatoes and just had to cook carrots or other veg along with it. That way I spent more time with the kids while it all cooked.

I always have frozen veg, it seems fresher to me as it hasn't hung round the shop and wholesalers waiting to be sold.

So how does something like frozen onion work then if you want to soften or caramelise it? Does it taste the same? Does it take so much longer that you might as well have chopped a fresh one up?

I've recently started using jarred crushed garlic and ginger which saves a bit of time. It's pricey though.

I'm a chef and run a food business. Yes it's still a faff for me. How good a feeling is it though to go to your freezer and take dinner out on a busy day?
I make simple meals at home. One pot wonders, everything on one tray and bung in the oven, stir frys.....and many noodle soups. The alternative doesn't bear thinking about

I think that the original post raised the issue that is it always worth the 'hassle' to cook everything from scratch ?

I would never buy a ready made meat pie for instance but often use ready made pastry ( who makes their own filo fgs ?)

I love soup but all that chopping and cooking and blending ...when there are really good ready made ones available .

the issues are :

1. is making from scratch so fundamentally better for me than the ready made equivalent ( in most cases yes but not always)
2. Is buying the ready made version so much more expensive that I really cannot justify it ?
3. Do I have the time to make it from scratch ?

with the butternut squash soup ...it doesn't fulfill criteria number one, frankly by the time you have peeled, de-seeded and cooked it and then cooked the othe rbits needed to create a soup and added a bit of cream or creme fraiche or whatever then it is touch and go whether it fulfills number 2 , even if you buy expensive luxury type fresh soups, and 3 well that is an individual thing.

We make most of our meals from scratch. As soon as I can find a recipe to rival Chicken Tonight's honey & mustard I think we'll be from-scratch except for occasional meals like fish fingers. We don't do epic batch cooking though, just have a rotating meal plan where we cook double quantities on days when we've got time & eat homemade "freezer meals" on busy days.

moog me neither im scared of pressure cookers i will only consider an ekwctric one appears to be safer..... I reckon it eould be good for cooking mutton beef in half the time. my sil uses it for everything i.e lentils but i think.lentils cook fast anyway so i need a harder sell lol

u have any indian supermarkets near you tinky will be cheaper there. My sis uses frozen ginger garlic cubes. Its not as fragrant but if ur not fussy like me it saves time i guess? Some tesco stores in ethnic populated areas sell them.too

I use a lot of garlic ginger so i just blend enough for the week optional.mix with bit of oil to preserve and leave in tupaware in fridge saves time, my sis thinks its not fast enough hence she prefers frozen.