How many nights a week do you cook from scratch?

[Ceolas]

My DD (10yo) was saying yesterday that most of her friends' mums used ready made foods instead of cooking from scratch. It got me thinking about why we do it. We have probably 2-3 dinners in the month that aren't home cooked. Usually one take away night and 1-2 bought pizzas.

Mostly it's to keep the food budget manageable but it's also how my mum cooked and I suppose for health reasons too.

Don't want a judgey type thread, just interested in whether most folks do and why

[megonthemoon]

I don't cook from scratch every night, but we do have home-made food pretty much every night - at the moment we are too tired with toddler and me being 10wk pg to cook from scratch every night so we tend to plan in leftovers or heat something that we've previously made in bulk then frozen. The only 'convenience' foods we use are baked beans (often as we all love them), pre-prepared stir fry veg (occasionally), oven chips (once or twice per month) and then bought tortelloni or pasta with a bought sauce (once or twice per month) or maybe a jar of fajita sauce.

It's a taste thing for us more than anything - when I have had ready meals I have always found them lacking in flavour. Plus DH and I were both fortunate to be taught the basics of cookery by parents and then to have sort of taught and encouraged each other as we've gone along. We enjoy cooking, so it's a pleasure for us to make sure we have homecooked, plus as we both love it, when one doesn't fancy it the other is usually in the mood to cook, but I know that for many people it is a complete chore, and it probably would be for me if I had to do it every night. I don't think it's a middle class versus not thing though - I have friends even more middle class than me (I don't wear Boden, they do ) who just don't enjoy cooking so use convenience foods a lot as they're easier or more interesting than their fairly limited repertoires.

[megonthemoon]

Ah yes ivykaty - I'm a confirmed non-ironing cook, whereas have plenty of friends who own sleeve boards and lavender water spray bottles but won't be making pancakes tonight

I do think it is like any other household thing really - if you enjoy it you do it willingly, if you don't it's much harder to. I just happen to think home-cooked food is more important than ironed pillowcases and clean windows

[posieparker]

I always cook from scratch...except for freezer nights, which happens about once or twice a month.

[EllieMental]

probably 6 out of 7 - usually I grind to a halt by friday and demand that dh provides fod - and he goes to the supermarket and buys something processed
I am a housework slattern but i do love cooking.
To me it's like witchcraft - take 3 random ingredients and produces a fab meal for 4 from it, with a pinch of this and a dash of that...
and sometimes i cook specifically to cure ailments, so come to think of it, yup, one tiny step away from warts on the end of my nose. I even favour one cauldron pot meals...

[Earthstar]

We have homemade food pretty much every day.

Up until last year we had virtually no homemade meals so I have done a 180 degree turnaround.

We eat much better now (but no cheaper!!) and I spend a huge amount of time cooking even though I batch cook and use the freezer. As a working mum I am currently questioning whether cooking homemade food is really the best use of my precious time. I would find it hard to go back to my old ways because homemade tastes so much better but frankly there are lots of ways I think I could spend my time better.

[Ivykaty44]

megonthemoon - see I beleive that looking crumpled will not kill me or the dc, whereas what we eat may harm our health.

Incidently I have stopped buy as much as I can of food already made, such as ready made pesto or pour over sauces (without being compltly anul) and have lost 7 ILB and kept it off for 8 months now. Could be coincendent but I am not sure...

[Earthstar]

My dd would rather I spent more time with her and less time cooking...I think she may be right so I will think about maybe a 50/50 split....as a reformee I am quite evangelical (like former smokers who have mended their ways) so this might be hard to achieve in practice

[noddyholder]

I cook every night from scratch but eat out once and one takeaway .I hate packet ready meals mainly because they taste awful and they are never big enough I could eat a whole m and s cottage pie!

[Ivykaty44]

Oh and I don't make stock - ever

[asdx2]

We have home cooked food almost everyday. Not a fan of ready meals anyway but when there are seven of us it's too expensive. We eat out or have a takeaway maybe once a month but haven't in fact done either since before Xmas.

[posieparker]

My dss help to butcher peel vegetables and I try to prep in the dining room, not the kitchen.

[Ivykaty44]

See my dad will make a casserole on a Sunday, he doesn't follow a recipe he makes it up as it goes along, he eats it monday and then tuedays he adds some more food, it will probably start of with a base of chicken and potato parsnip swede, by wednesday he has added mushrooms and pease and more potato, pearl barley, lentils and kidney beans along with chickpeas by thursday he has put in some more chicken thighs and lots of red wine and stock as the week goes on.

The cost is cheap as he buys cuts of meat that will cook slowly, offal kidneys maybe added aswell - tbh no one tastes the offal as the days go on.

It probably costs him around £10 but he will have about 10 meals from the one pot as I will eat with him and so will my two dd's on antoher night.

i think it is a conception that you have to cook fancy food each night from a recipy.

You can live on stew in the winter and put all you want in along with beans herbs and oninons tomatoes and a little meat.

you can cook food yourself that is quicker and less washing up than any ready meal it is what your kitchen knowledge is and how you cook that creates mess and work

[coldtits]

Depends on what you mean by "from scratch"

if you mean grinding my own wheat, killing my own pigs to make into sausages and growing my own potatoes - then never.

If you mean steaming my own veg out of a bag from the fridge, taking prepacked pieces of fresh meat and baking them in the oven, and making a roux for cheese sauce (cheese, flour buttter and milk all bought from shops) - then always.

[Habbibu]

95% of the time, I'd say, with the odd pizza etc. Some of it is batch cooked and frozen, but home made from fresh ingredients. I guess it's habit; once you're used to it it's easier, and also depends on what you grew up with.

Earthstar - could your dd not help with the cooking? That would kill two birds with one stone.

[Earthstar]

Habbibu top notch idea - our kitchen is only 5ft 6" square so only room for 1 person at a time but may be able to work with that idea...

I think it is also true that my skills aren't up to much so that it takes me longer to cook and I don't make the right things as much as you ladies who learnt at your mothers' apron strings (I envy that!)

[ChristianaTheSeventh]

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[Earthstar]

Thanks Christina, by chance I actually got that book for christmas but haven't done any of the recipes yet!

This week I am trying the Ministry of Food recipes for chilli, Thai green prawn curry and chicken tikka.

I am intrigued about your faves from Ottolenghi and Moro - I have never even heard of this!! I may have a google

[plumblossom]

I cook from scratch every night because it's cheaper and nicer.

[displayuntilbestbefore]

I cook from scratch every day. Same reasons as others - more cost effective with a family, nicer to eat and I enjoy cooking.

[GrimmaTheNome]

I cook from scratch for DH and myself as he has to be careful about salt. Unfortunately DD won't eat a lot of the food we like (fish, cheese sauce, hot chilli...) so she gets non-scratch a fair bit.

[ChristianaTheSeventh]

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[Earthstar]

Oh great, I like the Good Food series and I will try out these recipes next week - thank you Christina!

[mathanxiety]

I do it 7 days a week, and I also put every last thing in the dishwasher. Every. Single. Thing.