Do you cook from scratch?

Sometimes I use canned tomatoes (no spices added) to make my tomato sauce. There´s a time in the year when real tomatoes are bad and expensive. But all the additions come from my hands.

I don't even know if I would know HOW to cook tomatoes to get them like from the cans, then again, I've never claimed to be a cook... There are, however, somethings I can make really good! I make a mean veggie soup, potato soup and split pea soup (sense a theme here?)

You mean there´s a soup cauldron "going"?

That´s the way to do it! I can´t make bread as I live alone and it´s not worth it. But my sister makes her own bread and when I go visit, I go up a couple of pounds. I don´t can any veggies but I freeze some for the winter. As for mushroom, they are fairly unexpensive here so I use them fresh. They have it all year around. I just made a wonderful mushroom risotto for a vegetarian friend. She ate 3 helpings of it.!

Hi Jo, When I was young, there were not as many cans nor they were as good as some of them are now. But on the other hand, I didn´t know either all the bad stuff they put into the canning. I learned to cook the old way and after a while, with a growing family, I discovered that it was far cheaper than to use cans. I read a while ago the difference in price between buying a can of cooked beans and compared to cook them yourself and it was incredible the money you could save only in that. Besides, with my "from scratch cooking" I use every single bit of food that´s hiding in the fridge.

aLOT OF MONEY IS BLOWN IN ON FAST FOODS especially if u are eating them out all the time.

it is the opposite to me. i discovered about fast food and instant food when i was young, but now i am older i am getting back to cooking from scratch. i don't cook when i was young but now i love to cook from scratch as i am more health conscious now.

that is nice that you are into healthy foods as well. i am trying to be more healthy each day. trying to learn one good healthy meal at a time. hopefully i can do them always as sometimes i will admit i still eat not so healthy from time to time when i feel like eating some non healthy foods like fast food.

I cook a kilo of dry bean (no salt added) in the pressure cooker, freeze them in helpings and take them out as needed. It´s a lot cheaper and quite healthy.

I won't eat canned tuna, but I have it sometimes. The stinky one in oil, It's for giving my cats pills. They love it and don't notice that there is a pill in it.

I have few cans at home too, and they are for emergencies. Canned tuna is a great helper for me when I have unexpected visitors. But mostly my ingredients are either fresh or home forzen.

It´s a lot more healthy, as you say, and not that difficult either. Besides, it´s cheaper.

Hi Marguicha, Oops sorry, I guess I misunderstood you. Ok so, Yes I do cook a lot of meals from scratch if that's what you mean. I don't have fresh herbs. My spagetti sauce is usually doctored up from a can, but not always. But I do make soups and casseroles using fresh veges and whatnot. I do make my own chicken stock for stew most of the time. Put it this way. I do put some time and effort into cooking my family a decent meal. I don't bake a lot but if I do, it is because I'm in a mood and I would much rather bake from scratch. I grew up with my mom and my gram baking and I loved their baking. I really can't eat the already made cakes, pies, cookies etc. Mixes are not much different. I can taste the preservatives in them, I swear. If I'm going to create a pile of dishes and heat up my kitchen then I'm going to make sure it tastes good. My food may not be 100% from scratch but I do take time and it isn't microwaved or frozen for the most part.

I don´t mean you have to plant your veggies or raise your poultry. That is next to imposible in the world we live in. But if you buy a pound of dry beans you can soak them and cook them instead of buying a can of cooked beans (at a much bigger price). Same for sauces and soups.

You are right. It takes time to cook from scratch. The freezer helps a lot though, as you can cook for several days and freeze it. I do that with soups. I buy the veggies, a whole chiken or two or some meat with bones to make a broth.I only use the chicken carcass and the rest is saved for other main dishes. The broth is easy to do. For me, a must is oregano (either fresh or dry), and an onion. You can let it boil alone, while you do other things. Usually that time is for me (TV, computing or reading) and I don´t feel guilty. Then you can use that broth fot different soups and creams. A blender will transform anything into a marvelous cream with a lot less sodium than the ones in canned soups. I do that a lot, specially in Winter, and use frozen veggies to cook and cream if I don´t have fresh ones. Frozen food is a lot healthier than canned one. Take care!

You are right. I don´t grow my own food (except for a few veggies) but I make my own recipes with raw ingredients. Take care!

haha sports isn't too often, mostly just Olympics and Figure Skating. But you come home 5:30 from work, everybody's hungry, they aren't going to get something that takes 2 hours to cook. Though occasionally I will start something the night before and then finish it the next day.

Hi dawn, I imagine you have a lot of work and you can´t prepare food everyday. Like when you were glued to the TV watching sports.

Exactly, i am though so lucky to live with my boyfriend and he loves good food :) So the days i got time for it i tend to cook a nice meal.

There are a lot of sites where you can get ideas for a good meal if you search online. But it´s so wonderful to invite someone you like to eat and make a diner with your own hands.

In my country, canned food is a lot worse and a lot more expensive than the real thing. I do use canned tomatos for sauces but I soak and cook my own legumes. That makes it very unexpensive as I use the pressure cooker and cook the whole kilo all at once (no salt added). Then I prepare what I want and freeze the rest.

It is a lot cheaper and healthier to cook at home than to eat food that has been done for lots of people. I eat a hamburger that I make even grinding the meat and it tastes so different than the ones at fast food chains that I wonder what they use instead of meat.

It tastes different because it has a lot of seasonings and preservatives that is bad for the body

It´s convinient as time goes, but I have found it´s not convenient in money as it´s a lot more expensive. It also has too many additives and it´s not as healthy. And the last thing is that many foods can be partially used in one dish and then use the other part in another. I but a big celery plant and make celery salad. But the leaves that many people throw away are turned into a mean celery sream with parsley dumplings.

I n my country, cooking from scratch is much cheaper too. And I imagine that goes for all the countries. I´m also worried about the quantity of different salts and preservatives they add to canned food. I could eat canned, I suppose, as I live alone. But canned is opposed to frugal and I save to travel for vacations once a year.

It´s not only healthier but a lot cheaper. And homemade food can taste like the food from a fancy restaurant. And can look like that, if you take your time.

You are right.For me, cooking is as fun as playing was when I was little.

I love to cook too. I´t very rewarding to do something yummy and beautiful to eat. And better if some loved one appreciates it.