Do you Cook something from Scratch or Purchase Instant Seasoning?
@luckydolphin98 (168)
Australia
March 10, 2009 7:01pm CST
Hi guys,
By purchase instant food I dont mean you purchase food that you just stick in the microwave and then voila... 2 minutes later it will be ready. What I meant is.. you know there are many instant seasoning sold in supermarket or asian groceries? Like if you want to make beef curry, then do you make the curry sauce from scratch? Or do you buy the curry seasoning and then pour the sauce, put some coconut milk and the beef ?
For me, as many of the ingredients to make asian food are quite hard to find or expensive in Australia (not too mention I have no idea how to make it), I tend to buy the instant seasoning OR have my mom and grandma from overseas make it and frozen it and send it over to me through some friends... :) What about you guys?
How about when you are making cookies, bread or dessert? For this, instead of buying ready made stuff (which means only need to mix the whole thing, plus some water or milk and baked it), I usually do make this from scratch as I like it, its not too hard and its quite enjoyable for me.... so what about you?
2 people like this
11 responses
@okkidokitokki (1736)
• United States
11 Mar 09
I make cookies from scratch if I am going to make them, I never make bread, I'm not that cool, and I buy cake mixes and add to them.
As for gravys and sauces, I buy them all except for spegtti sauce which I make from scratch.
I do not know how to make any Asian food, but hoping to learn someday, until then I will go out to eat for that.
1 person likes this
@melissapalardy (213)
• United States
11 Mar 09
i really enjoy cooking from scratch, when i have the time to do it. if it is a busy day,and i do not have the time, then it will come from a box, or what ever is the fastest. sometimes there just aren't enough hours in the day
1 person likes this
@eagle_f15 (1827)
• Malaysia
11 Mar 09
It depends on what I am cooking. If I am cooking curry, then I would just use the instant curry paste. I do not know how to cook curry right from scratch the herbs and spices all involve. I can learn it if I wan to but I think I am lazy and want to cook fast. So I just get the curry meat seasoning instant pack. There are so many types available in the supermarket nowadays. But for some chinese dishes which does not have instant packs I would cook from scratch. It's only for curry. Have not made cookies or baked my own bread yet - as I don't have a bread maker and a convection oven. I only have a microwave oven which is used mostly for reheating food and steaming eggs.
@lilcee (2703)
• United States
11 Mar 09
I mostly cook everything from scratch. Once in a great while I will buy something like Hamburger Helper. When the kids were home, I made that quite a bit but my hubby doesn't care for boxed foods. So I only get it when it's on sale and then cook it when I'm in a hurry or I don't feel like cooking.
@mermaidivy (15395)
• United States
11 Mar 09
I buy some instant seasoning which I cannot make at home. And I used to buy cookies mix untill I know how to make cookies. I don't particularly like instant mix because after I have the homemade one, I don't like the instant mix anymore :-p
@jd107nette (1454)
• Philippines
11 Mar 09
I think it's a case to case basis...
hehhe
when I was working, I prefer instant kinds of foods to save some time..
but whenever I have an off, hehe.. It's always more enjoyable to spend time and effort preparing the food you really want to eat.. hehhehe...
@janisvg18 (181)
• Singapore
11 Mar 09
there are some food i cook/bake from scratch, and there are some that i have some seasonings.
for example, in cooking, i cook some food that goes with no artificial seasonings. But I cook some food that I add seasonings like beef broth cubes, etc.
for baking, if i'm in the mood i bake from scratch. but if i'm craving for easy-to-make sweets, i buy those ready-mix so i'll just add milk, sugar, egg, water, etc. :)
@sxrxnrr45601 (1171)
• United States
11 Mar 09
I cook from scratch all the time it seems to be the best food and the way to do stuff My family loves my cooking!
@lipsticknladdles (814)
• Philippines
11 Mar 09
I'll say 75% of the time, I cook from scratch. But when I go to the Oriental store, I usually get the hot & sour soup and the miso soup. I dont buy sauce mixes.
I make my own gravy too.
As for baking, it all depends on my mood. If I crave for some blueberry muffin and I want it in a flash, I have some stocks of 'just add water' muffin mix in my pantry. But on holidays, I bake fruitcakes and cookies from scratch. At times, I even make my own breadcrumbs by grinding oats and my own croutons by dicing up some left over french bread, add italian herbs & spray some olive oil and toasting them up.
Lately, I am really trying my best to do stuff from scratch so I can control the ingredients that I put into it. Most of the time, I use diabetic-friendly ingredients and those with less fat.
Happy Mylotting luckydolphin98!
@srijshm (1165)
• India
11 Mar 09
I would rather go to the market with a vegetable bag than with a can opener
dried herbs, ready made spice powders cannot capture the magic of fresh herbs & freshly pounded spices.
Cook from scratch any day.
I agree that modern lifestyles don't leave you with too much time for cooking from scratch, but whenever time permits this is the best way to go. The romance of cooking is lost when you cook from tins or plastic packets.
I don't claim that my fridge does not have any convenience food. As the name suggests these convenience foods are best used after a busy day & not daily.
@strawberrychocodahi (4818)
• Philippines
11 Mar 09
Well if i am in a hurry, i would prefer the easy way out, the ready made sauces and seasonings. But if i have the time to prepare it, then i go manually.
But most convenient for me is to use the ready made sauces and seasoning specially if i am to marinate some meat. About curry, i do like ready made curry paste in the market specially the Asian way, because in India, they like it prepared fresh and they have different varieties of Curry.
Anyway i would still be happy to choose the ready made one, cheaper or economical although the downside is not fresh. Happy Mylotting!
