To make cooking from scratch a thing of the past?

[Mumhangingon]

So I'm sat here 1 hour in to cooking a steak pie from scratch. I've totted up how much its cost me in ingredients along with the cost of the oven running for 3 hours and I'm thinking why am I bothering? I know it will be much nicer but is it worth paying 2 or 3 times the cost of a premade pie from the supermarket? Or even a butchers? Same for lasagne, cottage pie etc? I want to do my best for my family but the cost of living is making it too costly.
Is there a secret I'm missing? Or is it just cheaper to buy premade.
I'm grateful to be able to put food on the table of course, I'm just sat here thinking about ways to cut costs where we can.

3 hours seems like a really long time. How many are you making? I won't make things like the pastry from scratch but the rest is simple enough. No shop bought cottage pie or lasagne will taste nice.

I can make lasagna, cottage pie and steak pie, but I don't eat meat. My dc don't not-eat meat!! (I know...) and dh would rather eat meat.

We get home made lasagna, cottage pie and steak pie from the butcher. I spend my cooking time making veggie versions for me. Sometimes a dc tries some of mine.

Some people find it relaxing too.

Not me, I find cooking a chore but I love baking.

I make mushroom and stilton pies but bake 3 or 4 at once to freeze which brings the cooking cost right down. I do this with anything which is labour or fuel expensive and it means we have dinners banked for busy weeks

Three hours?! How??

I am following BBC good food recipe for the pie. The filling taking 2 hours in the oven then pastry added and cooked in the oven for about 40 mins (20 mins preping the filling before oven)
Yeah I mean I think we would probably notice a huge difference in quality buying premade but I dunno just feeling deflated today and thinking I could have saved time and money.
I'll probably stick to home made but today I'm angry at it 🤣

I make a lovely chicken pie, it's so easy! Chopped mushrooms, cooked chicken and condensed mushroom soup. Cover with ready made puff pastry and bung in oven. Job done!

Over the years I have fallen out of love with scratch cooking, mainly because my OH is very fussy and wont eat the same sort of foods I like but mainly because the mess, the room needed in the fridge for ingredients, the waste of ingredients if you cant use them up after only using half a packet/container of something and then the room needed in the fridge or freezer for left overs or storage.

Plus the cooking and faffing

We do buy ready meals and they are almost as good as home made although not quite as good as I would make for me, but we buy the really expensive ones like Charlie Bingham and Cook,, and frozen meals from a local company here.

We dont really eat things like pies but I agree with another poster, when we have had the odd pie there is barely any meat in them, I cant stand that.

Once you start cooking from scratch it's very hard to go back to premaid it just doesn't taste as good. I try using my slow cooker and air fryer as much as possible to cut costs. I also try batch cook. If I buy mince il do chilli, lasagne and bolognaise at the same time and freeze some. If I buy chicken il make curry, vol au vont mix and casserole.

What you get is better quality and you choose every ingredient.

I don't think I will stop cooking from scratch but will probably change some recipes or else make sure I have the oven full.

Things like slow cooking in the oven may go to a slow cooker etc.

We have a family with various allergies. We cant eat anything premade. Sometimes I stand drooling at the cut price microwave lasagnes

Well although I have fallen out of love with scratch cooking, one of the things I never buy is ready made lasagne.

It doesnt matter what brand you get, they are all utterly utterly repulsive. Dont be tempted to get one.

I would love to make one for myself, my lasagne was to die for, but OH wont eat any of it, I have no where to store a big one and would be left with half a package of lasagne sheets hanging around in the cupboards. Plus I would eat the whole bloody thing

I miss my lasagnes.

Exactly. I wouldn't buy a pie unless I knew where the meat had come from.

I agree it's not cheaper. I cook from scratch most of the time but there are things wouldn't bother with. Steak pie being one. My butcher supplies top restaurants with his meat pies, they are dearer than supermarkets but so much better.
Other things I would never make - lasagne, ravioli, fresh pasta.
My oven only goes on if I have more than one thing to go in, otherwise it's stove top, air fryer or slow cooker.

@Mumhangingon steak pie from scratch? Pie is for leftovers, leftover meat, leftover gravy, a few fresh veg.

I honestly think it boils down (pun intended) to what it is you’re actually cooking from scratch.
Steak pie for 4 people? nope - cheaper from the supermarket or butcher.
Spaghetti carbonara - easier and cheaper from scratch.

Make the pie filling the day before you want to use it and cook in a pressure cooker.
Tastes much better left overnight.

Pie filling in a slow cooker?

There are still loads of things that are better cooked from scratch, and much easier than steak pie - and cheaper. All the things you can make with cheaper ingredients on the hob, like soup, pasta sauce, risotto, stir fries.

I make a pie about once a year, same with lasagne. I do sometimes buy a decent shop made pie, but never lasagne (because any lasagne produced in a factory just cannot compare). Lasagne just becomes a rare treat here.

If my oven was going to be on for that long I would probably make sure I was cooking more than just one steak pie. Make a 2 or 3 and freeze the others. Or at least make double the filling and save that to make a pie another day. Or cook a stew at the same time and have it tomorrow/freeze it.

Also, take a look in the ingredients of the supermarket pie. That’s probably enough to put you off.

I’d make a batch of the filling and freeze. Same for cottage pie and lasagne.

Learn to cook dinners that don't require the use of the oven.

But that isn't really cooking from scratch...

I would never make a meat pie from scratch. Perhaps try quicker recipes and if you're trying to save money reduce the meat content.