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! -

I cook from scratch every day.

I don't work but I am disabled.

It really doesn't take that much longer than using packets/sauces in a jar I've found when I tried it out. I batch cook sometimes if I know I'm not going to have time (hospital appointments etc.) or binging all in the slow cooker in the morning.

I used to take quite a while to prep veg but have gotten much faster as I get used to it.

Lunches are usually soup (I couldn't live without my soup maker) or a sandwich.

I don't think I know anyone who cooks from scratch every night. Most of us do a mixture don't we?

Op, if you are looking for quick and easy meals to cook after work then why not try filtering a recipe website by searching for quickly prepared meals. Or buy Nigel Slater's excellent book Real Fast Food.

Cook everything from scratch, I even go as far as to do our own bread, stock, jams, pizza dough and any cake it has been requested that week. For me it's both relaxation and homeliness; Chill FM, my kid doing a bit of homework, comfy clothes and one of my fancy pinnies, and off I go. I have a very demanding work so it's bliss to switch off. I don't do overly complicated stuff and I have everything I need around me and well planned. I also learnt how to chop fast and to work in a professional kitchen manner. If I see it'd be a tough week at work, I do a slow cooker stew and it lasts 2 days or have planned some Jamie's 15 mins meals.
Saturdays are eating out days or takeaway days and I only go in the kitchen to make coffee.
DH is the table cleaner and dishwasher filler. Once I eat, I'm out of the kitchen.

I do, predominantly because I have too. However, I work mainly from home so I'll prep bits and pieces whilst I'm making a cup of tea etc.

I also have two days at the beginning of each month where I batch cook an awful lot of meals in one go. So I have cooked from scratch but for three weeks the main part of dinner comes from the freezer.

But as lots of pps have said, I enjoy cooking. BUT also, I can't always be assed with it so I try to make life as simple as possible for myself.

The more you do it, the quicker it gets. I rarely spend more than about 10 minutes preparing a meal in the evening. A regular standby is something like a baked chop or chicken pieces, bung in a baked potato and some salad et voila!

I am also queen of the one pot, slow cooked meal .

I cook from scratch every night. The trick is to keep the 30-45 minute recipes for the weekdays and save the lengthier stuff for weekends.

I do a pretty nifty Greek lamb which is 30 mins, Yakiudon takes about the same, a Pepper Beef Chinese recipe which, again, is really quick (yes, I make the sauce/dressings myself. It's measuring stuff out of bottles and spice jars.) Homemade Macaroni and Cheese with leeks and pancetta is one of our less angelic ones, served with salad. I can make Lahmacun quite quickly. Tesco has a chicken paprikash recipe which is also around the 30 min mark, and the Sainsbury's website has a reasonable Lamb Biryani using a jarred paste. There's a Jamie Oliver chicken/porcini mushroom dish I do, and a sausagemeat-and-pappardelle recipe with loads of thyme that is also quite fast, apart from prepping the thyme. Tonight I'm doing a chicken casserole with a mustard, tarragon and cream sauce.

Off the top of my head, my other midweek stuff includes a paprika and chorizo roasted cod one-tray bake, a baked ziti pasta dish from a blogger, good old shepherds' pie, Paella using a spice mix from Tesco (I can spice it myself but this mix is really good, albeit so spicy it isn't really very Spanish), soba noodles with chicken, corn and mushrooms, pork tacos with coconut and lime, lamb kofta meatballs, Cajun Chicken pasta from blog howsweeteats (this is amazing), and I can also make moussaka.

I guess my tips would be:

1. Gather your recipes. Midweek stuff try and keep to around 30 mins.

1. Try and meal plan at the weekend. Pick 5 recipes and see if you can share ingredients so you don't end up with leftover/rotten veg lying about.

1. Tesco magazine has some pretty good stuff. Pinterest used to but a lot has been crowded out by poor-quallity food-blogger recipes. It can take some time to filter them out and really build up a good selection.

1. BBC has a decent recipe bank, the normal stuff a bit mixed in with the faff. Sainsbury's used to have a good selection until they started adding coffee grounds to stuff, the big weirdos.

1. Once it's no longer intimidating, it doesn't seem strange at all.

As PPs have said, I think it depends what you eat. Chopping veg and stir frying it takes less than 15 minutes. Making a pie takes ages because of all the pastry resting etc. I doubt there are many people who cook solidly for 2-3 hours every single night. I would guess that most people's 'from scratch' meals on a week night take between 20 and 40 minutes.

I cook everything from scratch, including bread, pastry, biscuits and cakes, jam, marmalade, pickles etc...

But I only work 2 days a week, and we don't have children!

I agree with others that cooking from scratch is often chopping some veg in 5 mins and putting it in the slow cooker or an omlette.

I cook from scratch every day. It's not that difficult, it's just what you are used to I guess.

All it means is: no ready meals and no processed food. But it can be relatively quick, like a chicken stir fry. Quickest of all is fish: 2 or 3 times a week we have salmon or sea bass fillets, wrapped in foil and baked in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Super easy and healthy.

We cook from scratch each day as in don't rely on jars/pre made meals

Some nights are just simple & take no time at all, ham/egg/home made chips. Jacket potatoes with tuna/beans. Fajitas. Stir fry

Other days I put something like beef joint, chilli, Curry in the slow cooker.

Some days I do sausage/mash or Lentil stew

I am a stay at home Mum but I wouldn't say I've got bundles of time to cook in.
Even before dd me and dh always cooked fresh each night and I fully intend to when I return to work on the 1st Feb

Do you have a dp/dh and does he do his share of cooking?
Invest in a slow cooker?

I'd count your meal as cooking from scratch, OP. If it involves peeling spuds, it's from scratch chez the boffins.

'Scratch' means different things to different people though. Making your own bread, jam etc is one thing, chopping a bit of broccoli on a night another but you can only do so much.

As long as we're fed and don't have scurvy I consider myself a success.

I cook from scratch and use nothing from jars and packets, mostly.
Although, I don't make own bread and pasta.
i work pt now, but have always cooked like this as can't be doing with the salt and sugar in pre prepared food.
Kids have always had meals cooked from scratch as it's far healthier for them.
I spend lots of time shopping for offers and bargains and am currently feeding family of 3/4 for about £50 per week.
I get meat from butcher, veg as I need it from market etc.

I have a slow cooker and the two times i used it , it was not a pretty sight!

maybe my lack of imagination is to blame. i am a pretty good cook when i make something and i have all the staple foods and spices.

the slimming world recipe for chilli is the one i use - think it is very popular

But with something like chilli that needs a slow cook you need to make it the day before, so on the night you eat it you just warm it through.

"For example, last night we had chicken curry and rice. I cooked extra rice for today's dinner."
Do you reheat the rice?

i prefer to make my own sauces, but that doesn't mean that I don't have a couple of jars in the cupboard for lazy days or when I'm ill, make a big batch of sauce wether it be Bolognese, chilli or curry and either freeze some of it or put it in the fridge I find they keep well for at least a week. I do mine at the weekends, same for veg just spend some time chopping all your veg and freeze a majority of it then it's ready to go for when it's needed. I am not a sahm either both me and my dp work

I was going to say OP that I'm on slimming world so I can't eat ready meals etc.

A lot of the time 'Scratch' is only slightly harder and much better / cheaper than a jar.

I. E. Pataks curry paste, coconut milk and passata = tasty curry, made from what I consider scratch.

Pataks jarred sauce = bland nonsense.

I don't work for Pataks, btw.

I don't understand what cooking from scratch has to do with being a super parent. I agree with all the posts above. Using a slow cooker, a steamer, a pressure cooker doesn't make you a fancy chef . I am not good in a kitchen AT ALL, but it takes no time to pop some chicken filets or some fish and veg in the oven whilst I give the bath. Pop a few tomatoes, hide some vegs and herbs in it, and let that simmer is pretty effortless too. Fried rice is another one of my lazy meals. Always make a bigger batch than you need when you cook, and put half in the freezer. It's easier when you are not a SAHP because you only need to make one meal a day. It takes me longer to make a fruit salad than it takes me to make most diners during the week.

I don't make my own bread or pasta or sausages, but I don't buy ready meals, jars or packet because I don't want to. I think my family has an awful diet (my fault) so I am trying to compensate by giving non-processed food.

I do wish I had time to bake cakes and biscuits instead of buying them ready made, but we don't eat that much of those.

It also depends on why you want to cook from scratch. If it is to avoid high salt, sugar etc then you can still buy pre cut veg.

If it is about the cost then you can't.

I have 2 jobs and cook every night as well as cook hot lunches to take in and reheat. It doesn't take long, I'm not chained to the hob, and I enjoy it.

I grew up with everything cooked from scratch because we were dirt poor and it was the cheapest way to eat.

At the weekend I can cook things that take several hours, but in week it's all quick. Seriously, grilled pork chop + veg = 15 minutes.

I mostly cook from scratch.
Most meals take between 30-60 minutes to make, including putting the potatoes on and doing something eles while they cook.
Some meals I make earlier in the day and stick in the oven. I work from home. But I could also put the oven on timer.
We eat at 6 and one of us is usually at home after school.
things like:
spaghetti bolognese
shepherds pie
stir fry
tacos
chicken casserole
pasta and sauce (home made only takes a few minutes, but I often use a jar of sauce)
sausage and mash
chicken curry

my DH isnt a bad cook but he takes ages to cook even jackets with beans and cheese and has a habit of letting one thing go cold while he cooks something else - annoys me as i like my food hot. he gets its from his parents who in the 8 years i have known them have never served me a hot cup of tea