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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Does it matter if you don't cook from scratch

44 replies

brasty · 28/09/2017 18:11

I was reading about Singapore and was surprised to read that nearly every one who lives there, apart from some older people, eat only food made outside of the home. They literally never cook. In Britain I think we are pretty moralistic about this. And it did make me think if it really matters if you don't cook? If you buy healthy takeaways and ready made meals, so what?

OP posts:
araiwa · 28/09/2017 18:13

But in singapore they are eating food cooked from scratch. By someoneelse

scurryfunge · 28/09/2017 18:13

Takeaways and ready meals do not always mean healthy. Too much sugar, salt and fat. I like to know what is in my food.

Tryingtokeepfit · 28/09/2017 18:13

I rarely cook from scratch. I just don't have time and to be honest cooking doesn't interest me. I find it boring, frustrating and usually disappointing (I'm a bad cook!)

I don't buy ready meals, but I buy sauces, pastas, ready made mash, frozen mash, frozen vegetables, frozen roast potatoes etc.

I don't see these things as processed

Yamayo · 28/09/2017 18:14

Because 'healthy' ready meals and take away are full of sugar salt and saturated fats.

Original poster
brasty · 28/09/2017 18:14

So if everyone fed themselves from cafes that cooked from scratch, then that is fine? Does the process of freezing somehow make it different?

OP posts:
Original poster
brasty · 28/09/2017 18:15

You can buy healthy ready meals, including ones that only contain the kind of things that you would find in your kitchen.
And you can cook from scratch and eat very unhealthily.

OP posts:
Yamayo · 28/09/2017 18:16

Sauces and frozen prepared vegetables will have sugar salt (in the sauces) and additives etc

Original poster
brasty · 28/09/2017 18:17

Frozen veg doesnt

OP posts:
Yamayo · 28/09/2017 18:17

You can (very rarely if you check ingredients) but there's also a cost factor.

Eolian · 28/09/2017 18:18

Hmm. I think there's a big difference between living somewhere where there is easy-to access, freshly made food in cheap restaurants and street markets (probably using fresh local ingredients which are cheaper because they haven't been flown half way around the world) and living on ready meals, takeaways and fast food (however 'healthy' some of it claims to be).

I agree though that there is a lot of o.t.t. virtue signalling on this subject. The endless pictures of overnight oats and vegan noodle bowls on Instagram and FB is enough to make anyone go 'sod that' and order a pizza. Whereas in fact, just cooking normal, easy meat and veg type meals is more than healthy enough.

Yamayo · 28/09/2017 18:19

If they've been pre-cooked they usually do.

G1raffe · 28/09/2017 18:19

Tryingtokeepfit. Of course those things are processed!! That's what processed food IS.

following as I seem to have slipped into jars/ predone veg/sides too.

Original poster
brasty · 28/09/2017 18:20

Yes there is. And I do check ingredients. Also places like EAT only use ingredients you would recognise.

I actually cook mainly from scratch. But I do find the moralising around this subject hypocritical.

OP posts:
CherriesInTheSnow · 28/09/2017 18:20

I think it's just different strokes for different strokes, and you're right to say that people can cook really unhealthy food from scratch and you can also buy prepared food which is decent. In practice though, there is a lot of convenience food that is unhealthy.

We usually cook from scratch but do the odd week shop of ready meals. When baby number 2 comes along up until Xmas we will probably get a lot of semi prepared food in, doesn't mean you can't whip up something pretty nourishing and healthy from it.

If you are concerned about what you are eating at all, I can really recommend one pot meals done in a slow cooker during the working day. You can go off a basic recipe and improvise with ingredients and through in lots of things which are nutritious that often also have the added benefit of being pretty cheap (root veg, lentils, beans etc) and come home to something really yummy. :)

Mumof41987 · 28/09/2017 18:20

Singapore food will contain loads and loads of sugar so it's no different to take away a here ! I don't see the problem at all In healthy ready meals . I fact sometimes they are far healthier as are in individual portion sizes and not our own gigantic supersize portions . I love ready meals

Ifonlylifewasimple · 28/09/2017 18:20

Depends what you class as from scratch.

A jacket potato topped with tuna which I've mixed with mayo and a side salad is a meal from scratch for me :)

A spag bol with a jar of Lloyd Grossman sauce thrown in is from scratch for me coz I've had to brown off the mince, chop the onion and mushrooms and boil the spaghetti.

A turkey stir fry is from scratch coz I have to chop the turkey, throw in the ready chopped veg and the packet of sauce.

I'm either working full time or looking after my two under two, this is as close to 'from scratch' as I can manage.

Mumof41987 · 28/09/2017 18:22

Oh and I mostly cook from scratch but if I was poorly or working the. I'd have no problem feeding everyone a balanced for you ready meal from marksies . They are very healthy

tehmina23 · 28/09/2017 18:23

I rarely cook from scratch - bouts of depression mean that I need food I can prepare very quickly so I eat fresh soups a carton of Covent Garden lasts 2 meals, I keep wholemeal bread in the freezer for toast, baked beans, dried pasta & stir in sauces, cereal bars, porridge oats, frozen microwave jacket potatoes etc.

But I am also on a calorie counting diet so I check each item for saturated fat (must be below 3g) and sugars eg my cereal bars are low sugar. I've just lost 3 Stone eating like this & despite not cooking from scratch I feel much healthier & less breathless & achy.

tehmina23 · 28/09/2017 18:24

Ps I don't have children or a partner to feed though

Camomila · 28/09/2017 18:26

I don’t cook from scratch all the time but I try to as much as I can because there’s often a lot of salt and sugar in jars/packets/ready meals, more than I would use if cooking something myself.

Also...preservatives, e-numbers, ‘chemicals’....some are probably fine, some it’s debatable, some most people agree are bad for you. I don’t know off the top of my head which are okay and which aren’t, so find it easier just to avoid them as much as I can.

ILoveMillhousesDad · 28/09/2017 18:28

I buy sauces, pastas, ready made mash, frozen mash, frozen vegetables, frozen roast potatoes etc.

I don't see these things as processed

For real?

How do you think the sauces get in the jars, and the roast potatoes roasted then frozen again? And the mash in the tub?

I can't believe you really think this isn't processed.

amyxo · 28/09/2017 18:37

I lived in Singapore for 12 years and they don't have anywhere near as many pre made meals in the supermarkets as the UK. I think what they mean is that most people eat at hawker centers instead of cooking at home. Local food cooked by a hawker is very cheap and delicious and there is one within walking distance of most HDB blocks, as well as directly underneath the flats so they are super accessible. A lot of it is packed with oil, msg, sugar and salt but you can get healthy options. Kitchens are small in Singapore and a lot of HDB's and condos don't have an oven and many landlords specify no cooking and just have a hot plate. I am a chef and rarely cooked at home when I lived in Singapore as it was so much cheaper and easier to eat local food.

Dustbunny1900 · 28/09/2017 18:43

how do they afford to eat out everyday?? Especially if you even manage to find a healthy restaurant that's transparent about every ingredient that does take out. I remember being surprised when my friend told me about her place of work spraying the salads with sugar water, frying stuff in canola oil, etc
Most TV dinners and frozen stuff has a lot of preservatives, and doesn't taste good reheated (in my spoiled opinion) . Not a moral issue though. I'll eat easy stuff like yogurts, protein bars, quick sandwiches and soups , salads, etc
But if I want a real meal i find it's healthier and cheaper to just cook it up real quick. I'll also do chicken stock during the winter and make a huge batch to last the week, or cook a whole chicken and use the meat for the quick sandwiches and salads. Baked potato fries only take maybe 30 min and are super good.
I'm babbling, but I guess I'm saying it's not just slaving over a hot self-righteous stove everyday OR eating out everyday

BlackeyedSusan · 28/09/2017 18:47

depends what you do eat, not what you don't.

you can cook from scratch and use loads of cream, say, or sugar, or salt or processed meat... etc...

you can buy healthier preprepared ingredients...

littlebird77 · 28/09/2017 18:48

I lived in Spain for many many years and they go out to eat ALOT too. 4-5 a week, they are good cooks mostly but enjoy eating out because it is so sociable. I wish we were more like them. I could enjoy cooking from scratch a few nights a week and enjoy someone else's cooking from scratch on the other nights.

As it is my dh has asked me to STOP cooking from scratch, can't think why.