Cooking Everything Homemade

[newmom2814]

Just curious if anyone cooks everything from scratch? Like no boxes, no frozen foods, no cans?

[dreamyxo]

No but I'd like to.  Trying to get away from processed foods.  Cooking from scratch can be expensive.

[SherylsShado]

I have started trying.  I still get canned beans & canned fruit.   I don't have much in boxes-- have been making any cakes, cookies, pancakes, Spanish Rice, Mac n Cheese, and seasoning combo's  from scratch instead of buying the mixes/dough.  The only frozen food I buy now is frozen vegetables (no added sauces in bag).  Everything tastes so much better made from scratch!

[Penwoir]

I pretty much make everything from scratch. Christmas dinner, mac and cheese, pancakes, pizza dough, spaghetti etc. I realize that it's not always cheaper to make things from scratch but I like the thought that there are no preservatives or unnecessary salt, no artificial flavors. I don't want you to think I'm a saint so I must let you know that every now and then, say once at a weekend, I like to get takeout because it's nice to sit down and have no washing up to do!

[kapeh12]

I make most of my food from scratch, but I still use things like store bought canned soups as ingredients vs making the creamed sauce by hand.

Regarding not using "frozen" or "canned" items - I started canning and freezing my own grown food or live food on sale at the store.  I made myself several "crock pot" bags of veggies/potatoes from fresh veggies from my garden or the store, and am eating my canned beans.  I count these as part of my cooking from scratch, even though they are frozen or canned to preserve them.

I've been making my own bread for about 2 years now, and make my own cereal (basically homemade granola using quick oats as the base).  I found some good homemade noodle recipes, now searching a more efficient way to get the dough cut, then I probably won't buy that at the store (which I don't buy very often anyway).

[kingozzy]

I wish I knew how to cook that well, but I am a guy and haven't been taught how to do that so I really don't know how

[bremer51]

We do a lot of "from scratch" cooking on the weekends.  During the week, we're just too busy.

[Skyisbluetoday]

I don't make to much from scratch!

[Lindaroof]

I love to cook from scratch! I get a lot of satisfaction knowing what is in what we are eating, and my family loves it!

[lvstephanie]

I like making things from scratch, although there are some things that I'll still use that aren't exactly "from scratch"... I'll sometimes buy frozen veggies (but like SherylsShado mentioned, without any sauce or flavoring added). I also tend to buy canned beans (the red / kidney kind, not green beans). I also like getting my bread from a bakery. I also use boxed pasta, canned tomato paste, and cartons of stock.

Perhaps it's just where I live (being close to farm-country), but I still don't understand why people think fresh, from scratch is more expensive than processed foods... There's this ad on the radio from an insurance company where they interview people about ways the community can aid in healthy living, and one of the comments is about this. The woman says that a pot-pie costs about a dollar whereas a pound of grapes costs about $5. Even given that her prices were correct, the problem is that she is just comparing the food costs in terms of price per quantity, but doesn't consider price per dish... Even if a pound of grapes costs $5, people don't eat a full pound of grapes in one sitting whereas they are more likely to eat a whole pot-pie in one sitting. Were you to break apart the ingredients used to make a pot-pie and make them yourself, it actually is cheaper per serving than getting a frozen one from the store. The problem is that to make a pot pie the cheapest way possible means buying a whole chicken to butcher yourself, a bag of carrots, a gallon of milk (or even a pint of cream), a bag of flour, a carton of eggs, etc. all of which is way more than is necessary to make a pot pie. So you either have to make many pies, or you have to use the excess ingredients in other dishes. For example, when I make pot pies, it is after I've already make a roasted chicken dinner where I then use the leftovers in the pot-pie. And I tend to make several of them, and freeze the ones I don't eat right away.

[ricdsm]

Cooking for me consists of boiling hot dogs.  My wife is a great cook and she sometimes cooks from scratch.

[haimsterette]

Just curious if anyone cooks everything from scratch? Like no boxes, no frozen foods, no cans?

I wish!!! I would love to be able to make several different meals from scratch instead of relying on boxed foods and microwave dinners. I have 2 cookbooks that have been sitting on my bookshelf for quite a while and haven't been able to be put to use yet.

[hicaniplay]

Sometimes. Most times not. I prefer the convenience of having more time to do other things. I like cooking, but not so much I want to do *everything* "from scratch" every night. I really like living in this century, in this country, with all these ready made foods

By the way Kapeh, noodles are super easy, but you really need a pasta maker if you want something better than flat or fat spaghetti lol Just don't get a cheap plastic one (unless you happen to find it super cheap at Goodwills or a garage sale to play with).

[marciaenglish]

I would love to cook everything from scratch!  But; who has the time?

[plennis]

Anything or time I can I love to do from scratch.  I do a lot of cooking on Saturday for the week ahead.  We always have a big garden and I freeze or can lots of the vegetables from there.  Since I do it myself, I consider it from scratch.  LOL   I make us a lot of TV dinners from left overs.  They also make great lunches, just microwave at work.  After having 4 teenagers, it is hard to cook for just two.