To think that cooking from scratch is becoming more and more unsustainable?

[AlternativePerspective]

I have always cooked from scratch, and I will be the first to admit that cooking from scratch has always been more expensive than buying e.g. jar sauces etc. However as things currently stand food prices are going up so much that cooking from scratch is becoming more and more unsustainable for many people who are struggling to make ends meet.

And in an era where we’re being told to live healthily, to cut out additives where possible, and to use the healthiest ingredients, while this has always been hard to sustain, right now for many it’s unsustainable from a financial perspective, and people are going to be forced to eat jar sauces, ready meals and various other foods with additives they didn’t want or need.

I’ve just cancelled my milkman because I can no longer justify spending the money, and it’s going to take a lot before I will ever eat ready meals or cook from a jar. But compromises are going to have to be made, and in many instances for some people, it’s not going to be possible to compromise.

not the majority no, but many are. I can't afford to use my oven, i use my slow cooker and batch cook but i will use a jar in the slow cooker to save money. i'm lucky enough i can afford enough ingredients to batch cook to be honest and was gifted a slow cooker. like i say, many people are using kettles and living off dried foods - noodles etc at the moment

I'm spending way too much time on this but isn't 40g the same as 40g? A more airy cake would just be bigger in volume and a denser cake would be smaller. So an airy cake would be a bigger slice anyway?

Beef at local butcher has gone up from 10/kg to 15/kg in 6 months. The mind boggles. Its ridiculous

But that's a ridiculously expensive bolognese @starlingdarling? It doesn't say anything other than your DH makes an expensive bolognese

@Carrotten
The recipe is from the pasta grannies cookbook. It's not some extreme Ottolenghi recipe, just a classic recipe that's been made for generations by a woman and her family in Bologna.

I don't really understand the point of your recipe because your options aren't mutti tomatoes or jar sauce. Like yes you can make a fancy bolognese which costs a lot of money, but that's not your only option for home cooking. People just keep posting expensive recipes to prove home cooking is expensive and I'm not sure if it's to show off? Even comparing to your m&s jar sauce you still need to add the mince, veg and pasta to the sauce so its a bit of a pointless comparison.

Wow. Didn't even see this bit. I don't fancy racing you to the bottom. Keep on serving your slop. I'll continue to enjoy my superior meals 🙄

@starlingdarling don't be ridiculous. It's a nice recipe but this is a thread about food poverty, and its a bit pointless to post a recipe with expensive ingredients in that isn't a reflection on what someone with little money could actually afford to cook. All it serves is to make people who can't afford to add pancetta and 2 types of meat to their bolognese feel bad. It adds neither to the home cooking or bought being cheaper It's just a random, relatively expensive recipe

It's not a thread on who is the best chef, or what is the most authentic recipe.

our bolognaise is mince, onions, chopped tomatoes and some oregano and basil. oh and some worcester sauce if i have some in. if low on money and i'm out of the seasoning and there are no basic brand tomatoes (a bit of a problem of late!) i'll bar a jar for 58p then it's mince, jar sauce.

"slop" for dinner it is

I'm actually a really good cook but needs must

If you've got the money i'd say get an air fryer/multi cooker combo instead. Most have different functions whicn mean you can sauté, pressure cook, slow cook & steam your food. I've found that if you only need single portions you can cook almost anything inside space wise. I actually have 2 and usually use one as a rice cooker while the other is cooking my meat.

yes you can do stews casseroles and soups in a slow cooker. you can do pretty much anything with them according to facebook although I can't vouch for the full spectrum!

the convection microwaves are pretty good as you're heating less space so cheaper than a big oven. but yes it's a bit limited with recipes because of space isn't it

That's not a fair comparison when
OXO cubes only make 190ml stock.
Per 100ml beef OXO - .95g salt
Aldi beef stock cubes make 450ml which contains 4.1g = .91g salt

@strivingtosucceed the lidl frozen ready meals are so so filling and I'm sure some will disagree but at £1.59 i'm sure you couldn't make them cheaper from scratch if you're cooking for one. unless you made a huge batch

@CupidStunt22

Thats bollocks.

I rarely bake but when I do I realise how much butter goes into a cake! It’s tons! Sometimes cream for the filling etc. Not to mention all the suger.

That’s where the calories lie, not preservatives.

This is a thread about food poverty! People who are really skint don't have the money or the energy to faff around buying nutmeg and bay leaves for a lasagne. But you enjoy your superior meal while the rest of us eat slop

I think Italy might disagree!
A simple tomato sauce with oil.or butter, Seasoning & garlic is heavenly.

But you enjoy your superior meal while the rest of us eat slop

I was being sarcastic in response to the PP suggesting it was some sort of brag about making what is a very normal meal. Apparently I was showing off with a bolognaise sauce.

@BrightYellowDaffodil - excellent points! DD is off to uni this year and I've introduced her to JM's recipes. Her dad has also shown her how to make pesto from left over greens in the fridge so that they don't waste and to use for a quick pasta when needed. People think of the traditional pesto with pine nuts, parmesan etc but pesto is any greens that you make a paste out of. Jazz is up as you fancy/can afford.

@blackheartsgirl made a point about people not being able to afford the fuel to cook food and so will be forced to use jars of food. Of course that will be the case for some but the cost of living crisis will hit families to varying extents and for some who can still afford fuel to cook they can eat fairly healthily cooking from scratch. For others it might be a combination - there's no one size fits all.

I do agree that we have lived in an era of relatively inexpensive convenience foods resulting in many lacking the skills you mention that might serve them very well now. However I say this recognising that some are in the unfortunate position that said skills are not likely to address their difficulties.

people are time poor now too. there are ways to save time of course but even that involves mental load. looking back and my grandma and aunties they all cooked from scratch but they were at home all day

@Sleepingb - I agree. We've got so used to ready made and jars that we don't even know what good simple food looks or tastes like.

Really? Mine yesterday had 1 onion, three cloves of garlic, mixed herbs, salt, pepper, nutmet, 2 tins of chopped tomatoes and a tablespoon of tomato puree. The tinned toms alone are 74p.

@starlingdarling so whay was the point of you saying the pancetta alone costs more than a jar of m&s sauce on a thread about food poverty? Because you know full well someone who is struggling to feed their family isn't going to he buying relatively expensive pancetta

People think of the traditional pesto with pine nuts, parmesan etc but pesto is any greens that you make a paste out of. Jazz is up as you fancy/can afford.

Exactly, but so many don't have the knowledge of how to substitute. I've made pesto with cashews instead of pine nuts (75p a bag in Aldi) and Grana Padano instead of Parmesan (£1.65 in Aldi, and you've got leftovers to use for something else, instead of £2.99 for Parmesan, or you could use the dried hard cheese you get in a tub; £1 in Sainsbury's).

As a PP said, following recipes exactly can be really expensive.

Because it seems like such an insignificant part of the meat. If you prefer I can say the beef mince alone costs more than a jar. I think I actually did later. There's still no reason to be so argumentative and rude. Your comment was very bitchy.

Of course people will have different capacity depending on their circumstances. I think it's good to have a few quick and easy things in the repertoire to reach for though and this is what I have been telling my Dd who will be off to uni soon. She will have a budget and I expect her to have time pressures.

This evening I did a courgette pasta - olive oil, garlic, onion and one grated courgette, salt, pepper, fusilli, grated cheese on top - ready in 20 mins. This is something that she could easily whip up and I expect that she would be sensible to prepare enough to last for 2-3 meals.

My DH cooked veggie chilli for our dinner tonight, made with 'cheap' ingredients often trotted out such as tinned beans, tomatoes, peppers and onions. Granted, we had feta as a topping, but I worked it out as nearly a fiver to make, excluding rice. And it's just the kind of recipe that people would say costs 'pennies' to make.

I use Grana Padano instead of Parmesan all the time and I don't think anyone has ever noticed the difference.

If I was broke it would be Cheddar and I don't think that would be horrendous either.

Same with the expensive pancetta. No-one would notice if you swapped to streaky bacon and they prob would still like the bolognese with out it at all.