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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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

631 replies

AlternativePerspective · 31/05/2022 11:14

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.

OP posts:
MyrtlethePurpleTurtle · 07/06/2022 16:34

CupidStunt22 · 05/06/2022 10:49

Then don't make 20 fucking portions! But shut up whining about how you can't cook home made as cheaply as ready made, when you actually mean you don't want to.

It's not hard. If you think, budget, and put time and effort in, you can cook healthy homemade food for less money than ready made stuff. That's a fact.

You don't have to. Nobody is making you and and no-one cares what you do. But stop claiming it's not possible just because you personally can't or won't do it.

Easy, @CupidStunt22 , easy! I’m not going apoplectic on this thread or whining (as indeed you are) - merely observing that 20 portions of the same item doesn’t work for me.

Hats off to you you can eat twenty portions of paella

BellePeppa · 07/06/2022 16:59

starlingdarling · 07/06/2022 16:24

Who here steadfastedly keeps below all of those % thresholds when making a home-made sauce?

Well I don't need to add sugar to my sauce if it's made with Mutti tomatoes (feel free to eye roll). I also don't need to add starch as I cook it down for a long time. But it will be a cold day in hell before I keep the salt to a minimum!

For anyone using cheaper more acidic tomatoes I learned a trick from an American friend. A half teaspoon of baking soda will neutralise acid more effectively than sugar.

That’s useful to know re the sugar, thanks.

Caspianberg · 07/06/2022 18:05

We use Mutti tomatoes here also. I never add sugar.
Just onions, garlic and fresh herbs. A bit of salt and pepper
( but I actually don’t salt most sauces now due to toddler eating the same, and adults can choose to salt food at the table)

lljkk · 07/06/2022 18:59

A half teaspoon of baking soda

baking soda sounds like an UPF.
Does anyone have Nova app & can look it up?

NeverDropYourMooncup · 07/06/2022 19:17

lljkk · 07/06/2022 13:21

Exactly what goes into Dolmio, in what quantities, that makes it UPF?
Allowing that the ingredients are listed by descending mass:

What's in Dolmio sauce?

Ingredients. Tomatoes (78%) Tomato Paste (10%) Onion Sugar Modified Maize Starch Salt Sunflower Oil Basil (0.3%) Garlic Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid) Parsley Herbs Spices

88% is tomatoes & tomato paste. If the Basil & later ingredients only add up to 0.4% of weight, & that onions & citric acid aren't the problem... Is pureeing itself is the problem?

I assume that the oil, salt, sugar & corn starch are the problem UPF ingredients. I'm guessing unstated relative contributions by weight, these numbers work:

Onion 3.6%
Sugar 3.4%
Starch 3.3%
Salt 0.7%
Oil .5%

So by weight, you must keep your own additions of any oil, salt, sugar or thickener in your home-made sauce below those %s (all of them?), to declare you didn't make your own gloop / UPF. max. 7.9% by weight combined.

Who here steadfastedly keeps below all of those % thresholds when making a home-made sauce?

That 500g jar of sauce contains 28g of sugar, 40g of carbohydrate in all.

500g of Mutti tomatoes would contain 14g sugar, 19.5g of carbohydrates in all.

Add in 28g of tomato puree and there is under 4g extra sugar, 4.76g carbohydrates.

The sugar content alone represents 122kcal/160kcal for the jar, 56kcal/78kcal for the sauce cooked down. Whilst 58kcal a portion (125g of sauce) doesn't sound like much, 14kcal for the homemade before you add in a small amount of oil (or just add onion and garlic powder to your herbs and salt), is still a significant reduction.

lljkk · 07/06/2022 19:39

haha, after all this talk about Dolmio Sauce, I installed the Nova App and... the sauce is merely processed not "ultra processed" !! it also scores A (best score) for nutritional content, A on Eco-Score, too.

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