Honestly..Who does cook from scratch their lunches and dinner everyday ?

[quiveutmabonnebaguette]

And I dont include friday and saturday evening...In my case, I never buy ready meals so if at evening I feel to tired and dont feel like cooking, I'll go for the simpliest dish..pasta and cheese or something else..I'll never get a take away.

What about you ?

I chop 5 or 6 different fruits every morning with breakfast and ensure at least 3 veg go down my family every evening. All cooked from scratch, no salt. Goodness knows what nasty additives are in ready meals, probably lots of e-numbers which would cause my son bad behaviour! so yes I do honestly cook from scratch every day!!!

This thread is making me feel very inadequate. I think I'd better go and buy a good cookbook.

Any recommendations?

Nigel Slater's Fast Food is good if you need to cook things in a hurry, but you need to be a sort of "throw it all in and see how it turns out" cook.

jamie Oliver's Pizza recipe is fab, and takes no time at all.

try this one, we all got a bit excited over it

Fast food sounds good! Tea time is very manic in our house, if I'm not quick the play room is a real tip and everyone gets annoyed when I make them tidy it up.

Really Mercy!?
I know exactly the kind you mean.I have several pairs.Tell me all about it please.

Cali,I always found American cheese and bread pretty shite in all the summers I worked there.

iirc nothing in Fast Food takes longer than 30 minutes to cook including preparation time.

Although, ime, even chopping a carrot can take an awfully long time when your DS is interrupting you every 2 minutes

Look this may sound obvious, so please forgive me, but how about doing evening food prep during toddler/baby pm nap/quiet time - that's when I do it otherwise the time after school pick up is dominated by cooking.

And the best cook bok - go home to your mummy for lessons if you can!

PS I find things that you can shove in the oven like chicken breasts or salmon steaks the fastest fast food. The all you have to do is rice/tats plus greens. Admittedly I do faff with lots more complicated stuff but that is why I am chubby and happy!

Balls, thanks for your obvious suggestion, but I work days, pick up both kids at 5.45pm, cook fresh food usually in 15 mins depending what we are having, all with tired baby in high chair and 2.5yo under my feet or insisting on 'helping'. Some of us don't have childrens nap times to get things done as we are at work! But we still cook from scratch every day so I think I deserve a medal

Point taken!

I cook from scratch - so does DH - but rarely make bread. Although I am into making ravioli at the moment.

Good trick, courtesy of Nigella. Take a load of chicken breast/beef/pork steaks whatever. Place a portion size in a freezer bag with marinade ingredients - oil, vinegar, herbs, garlic etc. Freeze until needed.

In the morning, take out the required number of portions. As they defrost, the meat marinates. In the evening, simply stirfry/grill/bake.

I'd second FJ's point Balls. My DH is a SAHD but I do all the cooking. DS usually has a sandwich at lunchtime and a proper dinner, which may be something I've cooked for all of us or he may have something I've previously cooked and frozen.

Also, even if DH was a cook or if I was a SAHM it still wouldn't be possible to do much in the daytime as DS sleeps for an hour maximum during the day (he's nearly one). There's too much to do in that time as it is.

Whoops, missed out the "chop up meat if required" bit. Sometimes I freeze whole breasts, sometimes cubed.

Consider me to be hiding under my bed duly chastised. I do remember what it was like to work with 3 kids under 3 and have a punishing schedule. I am contrite but resolutely still obsessed with food.

god no. i hate cooking.

we ate at the pub this evening . very nice it was too - then got twatted at pool by my OWN SON.

i swear i think i'm middle class if i fry mince in olive oil and boil pasta - and thats like chore of the century - jamie oliver move over custy just cooked.

tomorrow dear reader i am cooking some chicken breasts - slicing them nto strips and calling them 'goujons' putting them into wraps with help your self salad ( which constitutes an iceberg, tomatos, onion. maybe cheese.

and a salsa dip ( from jar)

About half the time, otherwise it's frozen pizzas or Sinasburys ravioli/tortellini thingys, or fishfingers and happy-faces. Or reheated frozen leftovers of pasta sauce or risotto. Now and again I'll eat a readymeal myself or very occaisonally give DS a jar of Hipp Organix - he is 2.9 now so a bit big for them but I have given them occasionally when he's been unwell as they're bland and sterile.

i love cooking

I suppose that's the key - if cooking is your wind-down of choice, and you get pleasure from it, you're much more likely to expend time, even when harassed, on it. (Cooking hobbyist over here, too)

You can always pre cook in bulk, loads of bolognaise sauce or meat balls, take out of freezer in am and then tea time only takes as long as the pasta takes to cook

I mostly cook from scratch, hate ready meals but do enjoy takeaways a couple of times a week in lieu of all the eating out we used to do.

I've currently got a freezer full of apple puree made from free windfalls from a farm down the road, home made elderflower cordial, soup and chicken nuggets. There would be more but it's a small freezer.

I'm another one who had to restrict access to the bread maker, thick slices of warm oozy toast, mmmmmmmm ......

I love cooking and don't work so have plenty of time for it - loads of respect for anyone working who cooks 'from scratch' every day - yesterday for example I made bread, creme brulees, salads, chopped fresh fruit, and chicken breasts with new potatoes, not even any cakes or anything 'extra' and yet still I must have spent a good extra hour on the cleaning up afterwards.

A couple of notes on bread - I never had any success with bread till I found Hovis fast-action yeast (green foil sachets) which I find works every time. Also, I light my bottom oven on the lowest heat, then turn it OFF and put the dough in there to prove after the first kneading. I just didn't have a warm enough place before I thought of doing that. You can make pizza bases from the dough too which my fussy kids like more than frozen ones (They don't like tomato puree on pizza, go figure.)

As someone said, I don't find home made bread keeps well and my fussy DH prefers toast from a bog-standard bought sliced loaf so we're nowhere near self-sufficient in bread, it's just a nice daily treat.

And as Squonk said, while making biscuits is fun, I've yet to find any recipe which comes even close to the bliss and keep-crisp qualities of a packet gingernut or McVities digestive.