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AIBU?

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Original poster

If you don't "cook from scratch", what do you eat?

202 replies

Notcontent · 30/01/2017 15:00

Sorry, this is prompted by another thread, but I am really curious.

I am not a super-woman but I do (mostly) "Cook from scratch" despite being a lone parent who works long hours four days a week. I guess I do this because I am not British (but live in the UK now) and have always cooked. I don't really have time to cook when I get home from work so I batch cook on the weekend or sometimes in the evening. Or I make things that are very quick, like egg dishes, etc.

If you don't really cook, then what do you eat? I guess if you are single you can get away with eating out but that's not an option if you have kids...

OP posts:
trappedinsuburbia · 30/01/2017 16:29

Im definitely a mixture.
I would love to cook from scratch all the time but don't have the energy so I do cheat.
I batch cook things like mince, bolognese and casserole type things and just add fresh pot/veg etc to the meal so I feel its easier as the main part just needs pinged!
On the other days its usually freezer food eg fish fingers, chicken dippers, battered fish. I dont feel so bad as I always add fresh veg/salad/potatoes. And Saturday is always pizza night !!
I don't think many people have the time to cook all the time!

Oblomov17 · 30/01/2017 16:34

Some people clearly find it easy. Others not.

Lasagne takes me ages to make.
As does mash.

Sometimes I cook from scratch, other times I cook partly from scratch. Sometimes I send ds1 to ride down on his bike for a bucket of chicken and chips! Other times I shove fish fingers and chips in the oven.
I don't care!!

Sunday999 · 30/01/2017 16:36

I used to feel guilty about buying the Waitrose 'easy cook' range, but then I realised I'm one of thousands of shoppers who buys these items!

trappedinsuburbia · 30/01/2017 16:39

Oblomov17 - same here, I need the afternoon to put together a lasagna!! I made a fish pie from scratch and it took me about 2 hours to put together, they are things that are not made very often in my house!

P1nkP0ppy · 30/01/2017 16:41

I pick and mix, sometimes all from fresh other times a combination of fresh and frozen/bottled/packet etc. It all depends on how enthusiastic I feel about getting a meal and I bet many others are the same 😋

itsmine · 30/01/2017 16:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

wigglesrock · 30/01/2017 16:46

Chicken with fresh noddles and precut stirfy veg and sometimes a packet sauce
Tacos/enchiladas/fajitas -usually El Paso kits
Frozen fish with salad or veg
Fresh hamburgers (supermarket bought)
Spaghetti (bought sauce and pasta)
Meatballs (supermarket bought)
Chicken with a variety of different premade sauces
Shop bought pizza with shop bought bread
Shop bought pittas with ready prepared pulled pork
Chilli with shop bought sauce
Various meat with pre prepared mash
Baked potatoes with tinned tuna/beans
Omelettes

and we would usually have a variety of shop bought frozen ready meals for shifts.

LunaLoveg00d · 30/01/2017 16:46

I do probably 80% cooking from scratch but have nights where we are very busy or I just can't be bothered. If you searched my freezer and cupboards you'd find things like :

Quiche lorraine - i'd make baked potatoes and salad/veg to go with it
Curry sauce jars
Frozen pizzas
Jars of pesto
marinated chicken breasts from M&S
"finest" fishcakes (reduced to clear bargain!!)

I am not a fan of ready meals for family meals, with 2 adults and 3 kids it's an expensive way to feed everyone too. I'm not losing any sleep over using a jar of Patak's curry sauce to chuck in with some chicken and rice though. One thing I don't like is pasta sauce jars, they always taste either vinegary or sugary and not nice at all.

esk1mo · 30/01/2017 16:51

superveggie i was diagnosed w/coeliac 3 years ago and theres hundreds of GF meals i can cook from scratch.

Asda has GF frozen ready meals tho eg steak pies, toad in hole, pizzas, nuggets, fish goujons, yorkshire puddings, pastries, as does M&S (not frozen). tesco does GF pizzas and fish fingers.

PickAChew · 30/01/2017 16:51

I tend to do a mixture, depending on how much time and energy I have, all complicated by the boys having SN related food aversions and some extra intolerances.

So, Friday, I made cod florentine for me and DH. The boys can't eat cheese, so had simple baked cod - one with pasta in (jarred) tomato sauce, the other with oven chips.

Out all day saturday - M&S chinese for me and DH, the last piece of cod for DS1 and chicken nuggets and oven chips for DS1.

Sunday - gastropub lasagne for me and DH. I've vowed never to sweat over a lasagne ever again, because I cannot make it anywhere near as nice. Burgers for the boys.

Today - the rest of the chinese for me and DH. Meatballs for the boys, with pasta/chips as required.

Tomorrow, I'm making a spag bog, DS2 will probably have the remainder of the meatballs or something easy out of the freezer.

I'm cooking 2 or 3 different meals, some days, so there's often some convenience element to it, even if it's just a pouch of rice or jar of pasta sauce. I always cook fresh veg or peas, or serve up some salad with a meal, for the three of us who will eat it!

EveOnline2016 · 30/01/2017 16:53

Depends on my Heath that day.

I have arthritis is both knees and after a day at work I use jars and packets, if my knees are ok then I will cook using fresh ingredients and spend hours cooking.

One cheat for me is ready made pastry as I can't make it to save my life.

LunaLoveg00d · 30/01/2017 16:57

One cheat for me is ready made pastry as I can't make it to save my life.

Always have blocks of puff and shortcrust in the freezer. I don't think anyone makes pastry from scratch every time - not even the sainted Mary Berry who happily recommends shop bought for her recipes!

Last night we havd steak pie - I cooked the steak and made the gravy, but the topping was courtesy of Mr Jus-Rol.

Eevee77 · 30/01/2017 16:57

Sometimes I cook "from scratch".
Sometimes I'll cook with a jar or a "kit" (I love old El Paso)
Sometimes I'll have a ready meal.
50/30/20 proportionally.

Loulouyesitsme · 30/01/2017 16:57

I do everything from scratch, sauces, bread, brioches, curry, everything...I work from home so I get started as soon as I have finished work. Ready meals are too expensive, at least with home-made food you know what you put in it.

WizardOfToss · 30/01/2017 17:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BadKnee · 30/01/2017 17:01

I guess I do this because I am not British - what a stupid thing to say. I wonder if your friends and colleagues know what you think of them. I imagine if they thought a similarly incorrect and negative stereotypical thing about you you would be calling them racist or xenophobic.

BadKnee · 30/01/2017 17:03

Oh and I cook from scratch with the occasional jar of pasta sauce for those days when there really is not time. And I grow my own vegetables and fruit as well OP

GrapesAreMyJam · 30/01/2017 17:04

This reply has been deleted

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

Pigflewpast · 30/01/2017 17:04

I "cook from scratch" but use frozen chopped onions,frozen chopped carrots, frozen soffritto, frozen garlic, frozen spinach, frozen parsley ( kill plant in seconds if try fresh), frozen shallots etc etc etc. Means I can assemble a meal in minutes to put in slow cooker, oven etc. Before I used all these "cheats" we used a lot more shop bought sauces etc

BadKnee · 30/01/2017 17:05

Pork casserole and rice this evening by the way.
And where are you from? This marvellous place where ready meals do not exist??

OneWildNightWithJBJ · 30/01/2017 17:06

I enjoy cooking but don't have time to cook completely from scratch every day. I guess I do a bit of both, homemade and shop-bought.

Bolognese, chilli and curry for example, sometimes I make the sauce, sometimes it's a jar. Roasts are always from scratch, apart from the Yorkshire puddings! I made applesauce yesterday for instance.

Cottage/shepherd's pie usually homemade. Pizzas usually pre-made, although not always. Lasagne is normally a jar (or two) but occasionally I'll make the sauces. I never buy things like mashed or roast potatoes or grated cheese because they don't take long to do yourself.

I have tried making pasta (once). No way I could do that all the time!

Autumnchill · 30/01/2017 17:06

Well tonight's tea was Haggis (left over from yesterday), Red Cabbage (microwave), Swede and Carrot Mash (microwave) and Kale topped off with Gravy

n0ne · 30/01/2017 17:06

When I lived in the UK, we'd often get the M&S meal deal where it's all pre-prepared and you just heat it up. At a tenner for 2 people including a bottle of wine (this was 6 years ago, no idea what it costs now) it was often cheaper than cooking from scratch, but much better than a ready meal

Serialweightwatcher · 30/01/2017 17:07

For the homemade lasagne I just fry onions and mince with tinned tomatoes and herbs - make a cheese sauce with butter flour and milk and grated cheese and then layer it all with dried pasta sheets - it's as quick to prepare as bolognese but obviously then takes another 30-40 mins in oven. I do admit though that I enjoy cooking and that is a big help because if you don't an it is a chore it's not worth doing

cleo81 · 30/01/2017 17:08

I mostly cook from scratch. If I don't we will have fish cakes, Kiev or sausages with veg and potatoes, pasta with pre-made sauce or casserole, with one of those dried sauces that you add water to, and very occasionally pizza or takeaway. Pizza and takeaway is only every couple of months if that.

I do cut a lot of corners though and use frozen veg a fair bit and put things in my slow cooker rAw and let them cook for a few hours and use dried garlic .