To wonder who these wonder women are who 'cook from scratch' every day

[MGFM]

Following on from all the threads about supermarket shopping and how to make it cheaper etc, I just can't get me head around all of the families 'cooking from scratch' everyday.

Is it just me that thinks that cooking from scratch everyday is an absolute nightmare? Are people confused about what cooking from scratch actually means? Are all these people who do this SAHM/SAHDs? Are they getting up at 5 am to put the meal together to heat up in the evening. I just dont get it.

I am currently on Mat Leave but when I was working full time and getting home around 1645/1700 every night, the last thing I wanted to start doing was cooking from scratch.

And what does cooking from scratch even mean? I enjoy sausage, mash, peas and gravy. The mash is from scratch...does that count?

I tend to cook from scratch at the weekend....a big pan of chilli which can cook for a few hours, or spag bol and then will freeze the left overs but I dont start cooking this on a thursday night for example.

Anyway, If I am being unreasonable and it is actually pretty easy to be super mum/dad and cook from scratch, can I please have your recipes?

Thanks! -

"And I'll be honest it's made me hate cooking. Cooking used to be a passion of mine. Now it just feels like work and I don't enjoy my meals anymore"
Yes, I am with you there Nerdymum.

In my case resentment of cooking has arisen due to Dd not liking mushrooms /any fish / any meat on the bone and Ds not liking potatoes apart from in chip form (no - not baked, not mashed, not boiled...who the feck doesn't like potato?), rice, asparagus, anything cooked in a sauce, pasta, etc etc

We are left with the lowest common denominator. I simply cannot get excited about making Bolognese, home made chicken nuggets or roast dinner for the gazillionth time. I expect to rediscover a love for cooking when its just me and the old fella left at home and I can cook interesting flavours again

As far as I'm aware the crunchy mums will cook and make it last more than one meal, but they'll get their prep done either weekly for stocks, every other day for veggies and meats.
Yes this is cooking from scratch, but you get the bonus of leftovers for lunch or tea the next day.
I wouldn't vilify anyone for not cooking from scratch. It's your life to do as you please.

I use my slow cooker quite a lot for cooking from scratch! Things like stew, spag bowl, shepherd pie mix, joints of meat such as gammon or beef, I put it on in the morning and leave it on low all day (while I'm at work or just wanting to sit and do nothing all day!!) I do however also enjoy sausage and mash, and always have a bag of chicken nuggets and alphabet shapes or mcain smiles in my freezer for my toddler on the evenings I feel just like you!

I've only recently been able to do this however and my baby is 18months.

This was not the case while I was on mat leave.... I didn't do anything for myself when my baby was born, all my effort went into her and her needs. Sod my dinner, the big bar of chocolate I had for lunch filled me right up!!

Basically what I'm saying is YANBU, I think quite a lot of people would have you believe they do things like this for 'image' but really they're just the same as you and me! Lol x

Have you tried something like Gousto? It's slightly pricey but I find because I'm not popping to the shop every day I actually end up spending less, plus I cut out snacks and other spontaneous purchases.

They're good to do for a couple of weeks to get you in the habit of cooking, but because they provide you with perfectly weighed ingredients it takes the faff out. Whenever I lose my momentum with home cooking (after a few days of eating out our takeaways) it sort of reignites my passion!

Plus lots of offers about that give you £25 off the first box (got mine from tastecard I think) so it's not pricey to try. I love them!

Ok - did someone up thread accuse me of having obese children and being fat?

Pretty nasty if that was directed at me. I go to the gym, go running, have an exercise spinning bike in my house and am pretty fit - my toddler is slim and in no way fat.

Anyway - moving on. I think there is some confusion between posters about what 'cooking from scratch' consists of. Also, maybe we all have different opinions on how to cook food?

First, I cant make bolognese in 30 mins - it would taste like crap. I had dinner at a friends house and her husband had made spag bol - it tasted like he had cooked it for 20 mins. That sort of meal needs a few hours on the hob. In fact anything mince based needs quite a while to cook. So i am not going to whip that up midweek. I do do, mince at the weekend and freeze the left overs.

I also dont count fajitas as cooking from scratch. For me cooking from scratch is not meat and two veg - it is creating a dish from ingredients. It isnt bacon, egg, chips and beans - even if they are potatoes you have cut up and put int the oven.

To be honest - seeing what other people count as cooking from scratch I would say we dont actually do that badly in our house.

Oh and the knocking up a tom sauce in 10 mins is the same guidelines as how i cook mince. a tom sauce needs a long time to cook - to get any real flavour. Passata and some herbs does not a tomato sauce make.

Some good hints and tips from some of you and I have been given some good ideas and recipe ideas - which I am going to try out.

I think I gave the wrong impression in my OP that we live off pizza and packets. Not the case.

I actually enjoy baking and at the weed made two batches of homemade banana bread - that is what I call cooking from scratch.

I'm not reading the whole thread, it's too much and I don't have time as I'm cooking dinner from scratch 😂 lol.

I do cook most meals from absolute scratch, following slimming world though. Lost 3.5 stone and almost halfway to target so that's where I get my motivation from.

Don't spend more than an hour cooking though plus we have a comfy seat and computer in kitchen so DH and DS can keep me company whilst I cook so still family time.

I don't massively enjoy cooking and I often feel like a take away but I'm never going back to how I was and I want my son to grow up healthy so I'm sticking to it and take away once a month for a treat.

weekend

Agree emphatically MGFM - any Bolognese not allowed to slow slimmer would be flavourless

Also agree that there are some fairly fluid definitions of cooking from scratch on this thread

Can't be bothered to read the whole thread but eager to learn the secrets! Could someone kindly summarise? It's all down to planning? I'm alone with ds at evenings and weekends and struggle to find time and energy to do a big shop and batch cook.

Are you having a go at folk on your own thread?disputing their recipe & times

passata and some herbs a tomato sauce does not not make?err it kind of does actually
If you wish to cook bolognese for hours,that's your preference.folk aren't wrong saying it can be done in 20,that's their preference
Then you go on to differentiate that fajita isn't cooking from scratch, well many folk consider it cooked from scratch

I cook from scratch mostly but only because I've done slimming world and meals like chilli and spag Bol are ingrained in me now . If we have burgers in buns I buy the fresh ones , i don't make my own fish fingers for the kids . If I do a roast I buy one of those joints that's pre-stuffed or basted .
I don't really use jars . I will add though . I'm at SAHM until next year . When I do go back to work I'm sure il be grabbing at the jars in the supermarket .

I don't cook from scratch during the week much. But I do chose healthier options, not all chips and pizza.
My kids are healthy and happy and I'm the only one in the family that is at all overweight.
I love the time I get back to spend with my family after work.

Gimmee - there are over 500 responses and a lot of people have talked about the 10 min tom sauce recipe. I disagree that a tomato sauce can be made to taste good in that length of time.

And I am not having a go at anyone - if anything it has been the other way round with posters asking me how can I find it that hard, getting home at the time I do etc etc. and what tipped me into annoyed was the poster who said I would have obese children.

MGFM I do hope someone did not say such a horrible thing towards you. I leave my bolognase sauce to cook all day on the slow then cook the pasta when I get in. And you are correct it does need longer than 30mins for the flavour to come out.
Like you I made banana bread at the weekend and fresh bread..my kids love it.
I make soup from scratch and freeze it in single portion sizes.
But I have cheat days we might have pizza or god forbid tinned hotdogs with some sweet potato fries. Every mom deserves a day off. I didn't see anything offensive in your op and so I don't see any reason for anyone to be offensive or nasty back.

I hate cooking, I cook as I have to feed family. I cook from scratch everyday as I don't like ready meals, and neither do my kids.
Easiest meal I make is a roast dinner( extra large chicken). I put in oven on timer, so just have to add potatoes to oven (don't parboil, leave skins on & roast) prep some veg, make gravy (using flour, stock cubes, juices from chicken) this is actually what takes the longest. Prep time 20 mins, oven does rest! Next day I use leftover chicken, gravy, potatoes add mushrooms into chicken pie, bought puff pastry topping.
I make spaghetti Bol, cottage pie, pasta carbonara, curry, stir fry, toad in hole, risotto, and all are reasonably quick to do, and I have to cook around activities and work.

Currently trying to pluck up the courage to try my slow cooker again!!

I know from the one summer I worked as a private cook at 19 that planning ahead makes cooking way way easier. But I have trouble doing that. I was cooking from scratch about half the time, with 1 then two then three kids, working or not. It felt a chore a lot of the time. But in the last year I started using a service called gousto and it really helps. You pick your meals for the week (I use them four nights per week) and they send you a big box with all the ingredients, pre measured but not prepared, and the recipes. My repitoire has expanded greatly, I've tried tons of new things, and it's way less of a chore now. I also shop much less. It's a bit expensive but not wildly so: Each meal is 15£ and for four people but portions are use so they easily feed five, usually with leftovers. You also usually supply milk and some oils if the recipes calls for, but mostly they give you everything. You can also get meals for two people for less, which I think would work for three people in most cases. A lot of the recipes are a bit exotic for kids, but those are the ones that appeal to me the most.

Fair enough,for me.from scratch Is i used fresh ingredients,knocked out a dinner
It's rough if someone had a go at your kids,that's sure to irk
Tomato sauce to me is fresh toms,onion,garlic,fresh basil.wahey 15mins

I make a lot of chicken recipes that can go in the oven with a homemade marinade, also chop some potatoes and add a little oil to make oven chips. You chuck it all in and then you can do what you want for a bit.

Also make curries a lot, totally from scratch, chop onion, chuck in pre chopped and frozen garlic and ginger, then tinned tomatoes, spices and chicken, again you can then leave it to cook for 30 mins or so. Boil brown rice that will last a couple of days in fridge too.

The recipes we make on weekdays are basically things you can prep and leave to cook.

I'm currently on mat leave with No 3 and id say i Cook 75% from scratch.

I use an Hr (from 5-6pm ) while Hubby watches the children , and i quite enjoy having My hour to get on with it.
I Also Agree with the post saying it's the meal planning which is more Time Consuming. However now i have each week organised by what we need/want to eat e.g i know at least Two Times a week we Should eat fish , then roast dinner on sunday , cheat night on friday i.e fast food , One night is soup night etc so it's then Easy to plan. i must add that it is not set in Stone and we chop and change to suit us , and of Course it is quite repetitive with the usual favourites - but i try to use weekends to test New recipe ideas.
Pre children i would have hated this! I was all spontaneous and wouldnt be controlled by facist meal plans.
But it's great and i actually enjoy it..

I think i need to get out more !

Do what you can to keep your little people Alive .

I work full time and have always cooked from scratch. I batch cook once a month, healthier, cheaper. I plan meals on a Thursday night, shop Friday or Saturday then prep for an hour on a Sunday while the Roast is cooking.

I think perhaps the differing definition of cooking from scratch is the only issue here. I think most respondents would consider any meal cooked avoiding processed sauces, packets and ready meals, as cooking from scratch. This is why you are wondering how many others report to do it daily.
I suspect the subset of MNers who are daily making their own pasta, pastry and bread, along with a culinary feast, as you describe, are not necessarily the majority. The drive to cook from scratch is about knowing what is in your food, avoiding hidden salt, sugar and additives like aspartame etc. Simple, basic meals Like pan fried Chicken, new potatoes , carrots and green veg, are cooked from scratch, even if not particularly fancy food. The equivalent additive-riddled, salty ready meal, is what most of us are trying to avoid. So the wonder women who cook to your definition probably are exactly that, OP.

It gets easier the more you do it. Get a cook book that does easy family meals and once you've done them a few times you can shop for them and make them without much thought.
If you've just had a baby though I would do whatever's easiest -- I didn't do much cooking until mine were bigger. Although I did quite enjoy baking while the little ones were sleeping.

Try Hello Fresh delivery. Genius.

I have 4 kids I finds it so much easier to cook one meal from scratch. I usually do a big one and then make something else out of leftovers the next day ( e.g. I'll do a roast on Sunday then Monday will be a pie , soup or bubble and squeak with sausages- or tues a big lasagne and then turn the sauce into a chilli for the freezer ect ) . X definitely easier x

Just read the whole thread and thinking is there a one size fits all definition? I must say each to their own. If you hate cooking don't do it! But, I think, a good rule of thumb is salad dressing. When my DC were students living in (noxious) shared houses they were amused at the reaction of their house mates to their salad dressing. "Where do you buy it?" "What is it?" : Good olive oil, vinegar, seasoning and mustard. If it would never occur to you to buy salad dressing or sauces in a jar you "cook from scratch".