To wonder how people find the time and money to cook from scratch

[Mummyof287]

We sometimes have a roast, cooked from scratch or Jacket potatoes with toppings and salad.Everything else tends to involve something from a box/packet/jar.
That's not to say every meal is total 'junk food' and the meals are always balanced (protein, carb, fibre) but usually include something processed.
Here are some examples of what we eat;

-Salmon/smoked basa, rice (microwave packet rice) veg
-Quiche (good quality boxed) new potatoes, veg
-Sausages (butchers or supermarket good quality butchers style)
-Old el Paso Fajita kit using quorn chicken

• Burgers (from butchers) in buns with salad

-Pizza with corn on cob/salad

• Breaded/battered fish portions, homemade chips/wedges and beans
• Lasagne (using jar sauces) & veg
• Tortellini (packet) and sauce (ready made in pot/packet)
• Stit fry using quorn chicken

I find cooking really stressful and am not very good at it 🙈 My DH likes cooking and used to do more recipies from scratch, but since having our two daughters time is stretched especially on the days we both work, and when he has done recipes they don't eat it as they are really picky eaters, so feels like a waste of effort, half of it goes in the bin.

I want to stop using so many processed foods as know its not ideal health wise, but time and especially money are fairly short, and most recipies seem to have so many ingredients, it all gets so expensive!

Any ideas of recipies that are very quick, cheap and easy please??

@TrashedSofa

Definitely. I know some people swear by microwave rice, but it has always seemed sooooooo expensive for what it is!

It is compared to a packet of rice. I think it stinks as well. DS gets some occasionally to take to work and will sometimes 'make' some at home - I have to open all the windows

I do this.

I found a great old El Paso spice mix online which taste pretty much exactly like the packet:

6 TSP Chili Powder
5 TSP Paprika
4 1/2 TSP Cumin
2 1/2 TSP Onion Powder
1 TSP Salt
1/2 TSP Garlic Powder
1/8 TSP Cayenne Powder

I tend to do it tablespoons rather than tea spoons and keep it in a jar to use as needed.

Theres loads of good spice mixes you can search, and then you can just chuck them in when needed. It doesn’t take too long to throw together, but then you can cook these type of meals without worrying you have to go shopping to buy the packets.

I also sometimes buy frozen chopped onions, cut peppers etc which keep in the freezer for ages for those days when I can’t be arsed to chop things up.

I think the freezer is your friend. Healthy meals that freeze save a whole evening prep time.

Even if you can do double or triple chopped onions or garlic in a food processor and freeze them in a bag to grab a handful.
I do celery, carrot and onions blitzed into small pieces in food processor and in a large bag in the freezer. Then it's easy to grab a cupful to make my pasta sauce base.

It's all the little time savers that really help cut down prep time.

Also having a slow cooker and an air fryer really helps. I use the two in combination to get meals out easily.

I'm on a mission to reduce processed foods unless it's me processing them.

I cook for 6 so it's actually cheaper to cook from scratch. Last night we had chicken biryani. Rice, onion, peas, chicken, spices, fry it off ( ten minutes? Bung in the oven for 30 minutes. 10 to prep. Costs about £1 a head.

Make a dahl. Chop a onion, fry it, add lentils, tin on tomatoes, spices, stock cube, coconut cream at the end. Costs less than 50p a head took tem minutes to prep and cook.

I can't see how boil in the bag rice works out cheaper than a sack of rice.

Each to their own but I'm sure for me it's cheaper

I cook a lot with spices. I know it seems expensive, but it's better to lay in some initial provisions rather than kits or tiny packets. They last a long time and pay for themselves. That is, if you like spice!

I can see your point time wise but cooking things like pasta sauces and using dry rice os so much cheaper than buying jars/packets. Cooking a tomato pasta sauce is very easy and quick too, fry some onion and garlic, add tin of tomatoes, add herbs, seasoning and tomato purée and simmer for a bit.

Jar sauces work out more expensive than tinned tomato, garlic, onion, herbs and seasoning if you're making them regularly.

If you make a batch of it, you can use it as a pizza base, in bolognese or with pasta and veg and/or cheese.

Pizza dough is cheaper made at home.

A bag of rice compared to equivalent portions of microwave rice will work out cheaper.

Fish doesn't have to be battered. Can put some herbs, seasoning, breadcrumbs

All this does take time unfortunately.

I got a really cheap rice cooker from Asda, their own brand ones are fine. It was about £15.

Ive seen them cheap in Wilko as well.

perfect rice for those who are not confident cooking in the pot, but taste so much better than packet stuff. (Which does have a really funky smell)

It’s much cheaper to buy a kilo of basmati than to buy the individual packets.

I have a handful of things I can cook from scratch and either I can do in about 15/20 mins or things that take longer and I can do other stuff while they are reducing/baking etc.

For example a carbonara takes no time at all, just the length of time to cook spaghetti really, and if you do the one without cream it's not bad for you either.

Or a spagbol, doesn't actually take long to fry everything off before you add the liquid then it needs to bubble away.

I batch chop a load of veg on a Monday (takes about 30min) I use it to make soup, stew, pasta bake,, curry etc hairy biker books are good I also add lentils for bulking.

We eat meat fri, sat Sun

Tray bakes and Rukmini Iyer's books are a good shout, I think. I have been meaning to buy her book. I do a lot of tray bakes. healthy and quick. DS does a chicken and veggie bake with Nandos's peri peri mix which is very fast and healthy.

I'm a fan of one pot meals, and the one thing I couldn't live without is my mini chopper (around £15 from argos). So for example if I'm making a curry I'll put an onion, garlic, spices etc in it and whizz them up with a tin of tomatoes and you've got a home made curry sauce in seconds. Once you have all the spices you need they last ages and it will work out cheaper than buying jars. Also meal planning is great as you can plan something that takes less time on the days you are busier and only buy what you need for the week.

OP - The first time you try cooking things without packets, it will take you a while, because you'll be checking the recipe, quantities, timings etc. However it doesn't take long before it becomes second nature and the whole process speeds up.

When I make a pasta sauce, I don't look at a recipe or spend time weighing anything - I know what proportions of different ingredients are needed, what substitutions I can make if I don't have all the ingredients in, and what herbs/spices are best for which dishes, and I do it by eye, without having to think about it. Once you reach that point, it really is pretty quick and easy.

Rice cooker, slow cooker.

Tomato sauce can be just a can of tomatoes, a carton of pasatta, herbs, salt pepper. I make tomato sauce with fresh tomatoes and do freeze it in the summer when tomatoes are cheap but the other is fine.

Microwaveable rice has added sunflower oil in it and is quite frankly something that should be used in an emergency only.

Cook double and freeze or have the same meal the next day. Had pasta yesterday, today having the remaining sauce with veg. Might roast potatoes or have wedges. If you're not great at cooking work on half a dozen meals until you are happy with the results and then rotate. When you're not working make a large casserole, next day when you get home just reheat. Food is often better the next day. If there's not quite enough bake some potatoes. Simple food cooked well is difficult to beat. Obviously all food needs to be hot when reheated.

Booking from scratch is cheaper when you don't use jars and packets of pre cooked rice and sauces. For lasagne a white sauce is just some flour, butter and milk. It costs pennies to make vs a jar which is usually far more expensive. Same with tomato sauce. Tin of tomatoes, garlic, herbs, carrot and maybe an onion- again, pennies. Plus you aren't eating all the preservatives and fillers they put in those sauces. I cook everything from scratch, even pizzas including home made base. If you plan, it really doesn't take much extra time or effort. I work full time so time is limited, but I couldn't afford to cook like you do OP with all the pre-made stuff. BBC Good food is your friend. Spinach and ricotta pasta takes 10 minutes - frozen spinach is cheaper but works just as well.

It's because you are at the picky eater age. For you and your DH follow the suggestions, but put in red lentils, cannillini/harricot/chick peas etc. Just Google "what pulse can I put in .... You'll get another portion and pulses/beans are great for heart and all health. It's great if you eat as a family, but not all children will.

Excuse my typos, because this is straight after a run! But we cook on Saturdays only. We cook simultaneously, herbs, instant food and slow cooker so that every single dinner is ready in the fridge right up till Saturday morning. People to work full time for one child in nursery and one child in primary school and not having to cook during the week because we’ve also ripped a huge platter of roasted veg and salad is a huge deal. The metalwork of cooking, it’s only done plenty placed a weekly grocery order which saves so much money and all the effort of cooking is relegated to one single day of

I love cooking but don't have alot of time in the week. I used to spend Sunday afternoon batch cooking for the week ahead with a glass of wine and an audio book. But that is not for everyone! Now I just double up on portions and freeze and then eat on rotation. So if I make a chicken casserole for example I will freeze enough portions for another time- and then will usually when heating up add cream or something so it is slightly different and eat it in a different way. The first time round might be with mash and the second with added cream will be a pasta sauce.

As I said, massive titles everywhere. I meant to say that both me and my husband work full time.

Oh that's a fabulous idea. I am going to make that up tonight!

Do you have a slow cooker? Great for the cheaper cuts of meat and takes very little preparation. I tend to batch cook with the slow cooker at the weekends when I've got a bit more time, then freeze in to portions for two, four etc.

We can’t afford the sort of food you describe as it’s MUCH more expensive than making things yourself.

I always cook from scratch but the compromise is that I don't clean as often as I should, I keep cooking areas spotless but when I get the hoover out my kids used to ask who was coming. I work full time. I don't find it more expensive than using the good ready made things you use. The key for me is freezer space - we have a freezer that I fill with batch cooking and yellow sticker meats. Everything I do in the kitchen doubles/trebles up in some way - last nights cheese and onion quiche resulted in pastry for 2 more meals and caramelised onions and grated cheese mix for 3 more other recipes in the freezer. Because there was a pastry board/rolling pin out, I rolled, cooked and froze a batch of wraps form dough the bread machine made.

It is time consuming but if you are organised it’s less burdensome.

Slowcooker means you could use cheaper cuts of meat because of the low slow cooking process. You can also batch cook so you’ll have a meal for the evening and a meal for the freezer.

This website is great for batch cooking -

https://thebatchlady.com/

Split into categories for your level of cooking/comfort.

Spice kits like Simply Cook are useful for trying new things without spending on herbs/spices that end up cluttering the kitchen. I will buy a kit to try a recipe and if it’s something I like and will make again I look for the similar/copy recipes so I can recreate (which also means I know by this stage I will use up and ingredients).

2/3 days as “meat free” will keep the costs down, especially if you cook seasonally.

I am rubbish at meal planning but if you can and it works for you I think it makes a huge difference to time/costs.

I have also switched to “zero waste” shopping where I can as it’s a lot cheaper. Herbs/spices from the market stall I can buy by weight - enough for two/three dishes rather than jars from the supermarket. Things like oats, flour, larder cupboard basics are a lot cheaper this way.