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 I buy M&S whole grain rice at 70p a pack partly because it's always perfect. I'm a good cook but my rice from scratch experiences have been a bit hit and miss. I use a lot of cauli rice too. As I'm only cooking for 2 the cost doesn't really worry me

@Graciebobcat I also am not a batch cooking person, I would just much rather cook something quick fresh. But it likely depends on the kind of food you like.

I also WFH a couple of days a week and sometimes do some prep at lunchtime - e.g I might prepare something to bake later.

you are doing well but really could easily up the vitamin count! make fresh rice - so easy and use wholegrain - immediately much healthier.

The one thing I make all the time is pasta sauce - use it in so many recipes - just chop up loads of veg and fry then add tomato! so easy - I blend it as my kids are fussy and then they are eating about 5 different veg

I tell you what I've found has helped me get more confident with cooking: gousto.

It is expensive but the first box is very cheap and it takes you step by step through the recipes.

I did it on and off for about 4 weeks and I've already learned so many techniques and quick recipes that are easily reproducible, and it's widened my repertoire.

My 13y old can do some of them

They take longer than they say though and there is a lot of product waste.

I think spaghetti Bol or curry are obvious good to cook in quantity. Traditional huge roast followed by leftover meat and veg meals are obviously easily cheaply and quickly achievable. Eg Roast leg of lamb, shepherds pie, Lancashire hot pot, lamb curry, pies, soups etc. just cook larger and put it away, if possible already prepped for the oven.

I use lots of passatta and tin tomatoes and frozen veg.

Yet it takes 20 mins of electricity on the hob compared to 1 min in the microwave. I doubt the dried works out much cheaper.
That said I use frozen microwavable rice, you don't need to cook the whole packet and it is more like freshly cooked rice.

Some of the replies here are proving the OP's point - pine nuts anyone 🤣

On the rice thing. Anything citrus flavour you want to use the zest not just the juice from a fresh lemon/lime. You'll need something to do that & the best thing is a microplane. Much easier to clean than a grater with a zesting bit. A fair one is on amazon for less than a tenner which would work fine. Once you start using zest (especially lime on Mexican food Omfg) you'll add it to everything lol.

For mushroom you can find Geo Watkins mushroom ketchup virtually everywhere now. It's a liquid, like Worcester sauce. Otherwise you're looking at buying dehydrated mushrooms (shiitake or similar) to get that same sort of flavour.

For rice - buy 'easy cook'. Pour it into plenty of boiling water & cook for the time stated. Do not stir. DO NOT STIR! This makes the rice start to break down. A minute before it's due take a bit of rice & check it has the tiniest amount of 'bite', it keeps cooking after you take it out of the water so just gets softer. Quality of rice does make a difference too. The own brand is fine but the 'saver' version much more likely to break down sooner.

Also. I'll say it again. Quorn is absolutely fine, nothing wrong with the ingredients at all. Quick & easy to cook, high protein & acceptable texture for kids who are funny with meat textures. Ftr I'm not veggie.

Ultimately work out how much more prep & washing up you want to add into your life & whether you want that given what you're eating is ok.

Cheap and quick is much harder than either or.

I like cooking and I prioritise fresh home cooked over other things, but I do compromise with a meal ingredients delivery service three days per week and will usually get takeaway on one night.

so although I cook from scratch 6 days, for 50% of those days the thought process has been managed by someone else. I appreciate that can add up £ though.

The only way to go cheap and quick is batch cook

Depends on the rice, I use basmati and it doesn't take anything like 20 mins.

About 8 mins and then it can cook in the steam

I cook a lot from here because
No weird ingredients and you can search by ingredient like chicken/pasta/pie
Every recipe works
A lot can be frozen
Move the slider to adjust the portions
I recommend it all the time!

https://www.dontgobaconmyheart.co.uk

Ask my husband, he does 90% of the cooking and it's all from scratch. And yes, he works full time too. Think of a thinner version of Paul Hollywood - Bake Off and Master Chef are his guilty pleasures.

I cook mostly from scratch and our daily routine provides about half an hour to do it in. It's not hard once you get used to it. I recommend just practising making tomato sauce etc over and over until you can do it without a recipe or really thinking about it, then moving on to the next thing...

A large factor in not buying processed stuff is that they're a flipping rip off and not as nice as home cooked, eg a jar of pasta sauce might have a lot of carrot in it to make it sweet, you're paying £1.50 or whatever for a fuckload of carrot puree with a few herbs and onion powder added.

The same with kits - a taco kit ends up a ton for the convenience of a jar of salsa and some tacos in a box with a bit of paprika and cumin mix chucked in, it's all overpackaged and ££££ per 100g compared to buying the bits yourself.

I do manage to fuck up boiled rice and boiled eggs quite regularly though :)

i don’t think using a jar of sauce is the end of the world.
there’s lots of great Instagrammers who do great meals and that are easy
tamingtwins
cardiffmum

I'd say the bigger issue with your menu is that there aren't enough fresh vegetables in terms of volume and variety. And that's where cooking from scratch really comes into its own. eg we had steak last night. I cooked it and sliced it up and served it on flatbreads (that I bought, not made), then topped with some fried mushrooms and a big pile of pickled slaw made with cabbage, carrots and onion and picked in lime juice/sugar/salt. I also had some chargrilled broccoli as it needed using up. So we all ate well, and even though we had steak, 400g served 4 of us and we got something like 5 different veggies in there.

Some convenience foods are also very expensive - microwave rice for one. I'd use it a lot more often if I didn't balk at the fact that a packet that feeds 2 people is roughly the same price as 500g that will feed 8.

I wouldn't buy 'easy cook' rice - it's not very nice. Buying better quality rice is a good investment and overall will be better value than the flavoured rice. You are making expensive, not particularly filling choices. Also quite high in sugar and salt. I would make a large quantity of your own tomato sauce and freeze in portions. I would also look online for quick and easy recipes - BBC food has loads. Also maybe recipes aimed at students which are cheap and easy. Start building a menu that can also feed your toddler - pasta dishes, rice dishes, dishes with mashed potato..

Also deciding what to cook everyday is a chore in itself. 😝

A slow cooker and freezable dump meals have been my saving grace when I can't be arsed cooking. Spend a couple of hours chucking all the ingredients in ziplock bags, bung them all in the freezer, pick one to defrost the night before, whack it in the slow cooker in the morning and presto. Food. Chilli, soups, stews, fajitas, curries etc. If you've got room you can freeze a month's worth of food. Especially nice in the winter.

We cook from scratch most nights these days just because we have more time and I WFH, but back when DD was smaller and we were more pressed for time, having dinners already ready to go in the freezer was a lifesaver.

If you're used to making home made wedges, in the oven, I'd recommend also looking into tray bakes. You could stick them all in together and it's no extra time. Chicken thighs work especially well (and are much cheaper) in a tray bake and can be flavoured in lots of different ways and, assuming your DC will eat them, you can add all kinds of things to the tray.

A tip I discovered from an old recipe book, is to use a lower temperature and cook them for a bit longer. the benefit is that there's less chance of overcooking them as it doesn't matter if they are in there for too long. So I stick mine in at 170/150fan for about a total of 65-70 minutes, basting them about half way. But to be honest, I usually do this when feeding a crowd so not 100% sure how it would work if you added veg to the pan. I should experiment.

And in terms of flavourings, rule of thumb - little bit of oil (chicken with the skin on is quite fatty, so don't need a lot), something acidic such as lemon/lime/vinegar/alcohol. Something sweet - eg a bit of honey.

Buying things like frozen onions or frozen chefs base have definitely changed how I cook as there’s less prep which saves a huge amount of time. It also removes any waste.

Those fajita kits etc are a waste of time as you can just buy the chicken and wraps, as long as you’ve got herbs and spices in your cupboard you can just throw them in.

Theres nothing wrong with oven food, mine eat it and I buy microwave rice because it’s quick. When my kids have got activities after school quick is more important because they just need feeding.

Ok in 30 mins you can make:

• dal
• rice
• simple vegetable curry

The rice cooks. The dal you put some onions and garlic, fry for a few minutes, add the dal, spices, a bit of tomato puree, hot water and it cooks. Chop up some veggies. Heat oil, add cumin seeds, put the veggies in, cumin powder, turmeric, salt. Cover and cook. I make this meal at least twice a week. Sometimes substituting rice for frozen parathas and making two vegetables. I bought 500 gms of Indian spices in January and I haven't run out.

I make chicken curry on the weekend and then freeze it and we can add it to this meal to add some protein.

Or a paneer curry and a veg curry with dal, I could have on the table with rice in about 30-35 minutes.

Or I marinade some salmon in yoghurt and spices before I go out. Come home. In the oven for 20 mins while the rice cooks. Serve it with a simple green bean curry.
You can do this with any fish really.

Or marinade chicken thighs in yoghurt and spices before I leave the house. Come home and put it in the oven with some potatoes and carrots and some small tomatoes left whole. Gets done in under 40 mins and needs minimal supervision.

You can make a simple tomato sauce with cheese in about 20 mins and serve it with pasta. Similarly a basic cheese sauce takes about 20 mins.

Or a homemade pesto that takes about 10 mins and serve with pasta.

I make cheesy quesadillas (grated cheese inside tortillas), and then serve with strips of chicken, and a guacamole and sour cream. Cheesy quesadillas and guacamole take 10 mins to make. And the chicken another 20-25 mins including cutting, a little marinade and frying.

Sausages with veg also takes under 30 minutes.

Make a big Thai red or green curry and serve with rice.

Tomato or butternut squash soup, with a simple salad, and a baguette.

All of this involves two things: one, practice. I don't ever really look at a recipe book. I've been cooking since I was 19/20 so I have 20 years of experience. The more you cook, the faster you get at it.
Second, it involves some meal planning. I know what the week will look like and shop accordingly.
You can use shortcuts- jar of garlic or ginger and prechopped onions will save even more time.
Plus DH and I cook ahead on Sundays- you can make a pesto, a tomato sauce, a Thai curry and a chicken curry and freeze them.
I don't cook massively exciting meals- these are things everyone including the 7 year old will eat. And both DH and I work FT and we can come home, start cooking at half 5 and have dinner on the table by 6:15 latest.

I use basmati too and it'd be burnt to the pan in 20 minutes!

With the price of gas at the moment I think a £1 sachet of rice, 2 minutes in microwave v ten minutes cooking even is good value. Even with that it's like £120/week on food between five adults for us.

And I get the brown basmati in sachets which is delicious v 30 minutes to cook the dried rice.

Can you put multiple sachets in the microwave simultaneously or would they have to go in one at a time? I don't know how it works.

The key to good rice in the pan that doesn't turn into a sticky mess is pre-soaking - I pop it in to soak as soon as I'm home from work, and then drain and cook in new water after about an hour. And don't stir it too much.