Homemade Food

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Does anyone make homemade food anymore or do most people cook from a box or frozen food?

I rarely cook from a box and am exteremly picky about which delis and restaurants we eat at. All of our meals are made from scratch. A prepared meal for me is using a can of cream of mushroom soup in a recipe.
 
i would say in a given week, 6 out of seven meals are homemade. The seventh we will usually take in pizza , chinese or maybe eating at my moms ( which is also homemade)... Maybe once a month we will go out to a restaurant. Of the 6 meals that are homemade, 3 or 4 of them I make the day we will eat it. the other 2 or 3 I might prepare on a day that I have more time to cook and prepare, and it is usually something that can be refrigerated or frozen and reheated to be eaten at a later date.

On the other hand, my kids are more likely to eat frozen, or prepared foods out of the box ( mac an cheese, frozen pizza...). There are very few things that all 4 of us eat.

larry
 
The only prepared foods I use are baking mix, cornbread mix, cream soups and bread.

When I started cooking eons ago I used mixes like Hamburger helper until I realized that it was only a box of pasta and a pack of spices. When I tried making the same kind of dish from scratch, I realized it was really easy and tasted so much better that I never went back.
 
I cook 95% from scratch. I love to cook and there just are not enough of us to eat it so cooking from a box means that that is just one more meal I don't get to really cook. Having said that when I realy can't cook my family will used boxed stuff. Even on days like today when I am working mega hours I can throw something in the crock pot. Tonight my family is having a roast with fresh green beans, mushrooms, onions and potatoes with a tomatoe basil salad. And as I think about the people who live around me I would guess that most of them cook from boxes. As a matter of fact my neighbor used to order out at least every other day but now that she is in reduced circumstances I haven't seen the pizza guy in ages. Guess it all depends on how you feel about cooking and what your priorities are.
 
I also cook mainly from scratch. I am trying to learn all the various recipes I grew up with. Although some of them are bit on the heavy side, I figured it's better to eat some extra fat than all the various chemicals, coloring and additives that are found in processed foods.

The only exception is pizza. I love frozen pizza.

By the way, I've been making my own bread for the past few months and it's great. For about 3 dollars I get a loaf twice the size the 5 dollar artisan loaf from the grocery store bakery and it (usually) tastes much better. Kneading bread is something I do after getting home from work while watching TV.
 
Most if not all our meals here are made from scratch...Tastes better and, in most cases, more healthy(.....Disregard the pork fat and butter on the healthy side. :LOL:)
 
I eat at restaurants about three meals a week, a social activity with family and friends, but when eating at home I prepare most everything from scratch. I do keep frozen prepared food on hand for those few times I'm ill and don't have the strength to spend any time in the kitchen.
 
I also cook mainly from scratch. I am trying to learn all the various recipes I grew up with. Although some of them are bit on the heavy side, I figured it's better to eat some extra fat than all the various chemicals, coloring and additives that are found in processed foods.

The only exception is pizza. I love frozen pizza.

By the way, I've been making my own bread for the past few months and it's great. For about 3 dollars I get a loaf twice the size the 5 dollar artisan loaf from the grocery store bakery and it (usually) tastes much better. Kneading bread is something I do after getting home from work while watching TV.

A $3 loaf of bread? That seems awfully expensive.
 
A $3 loaf of bread? That seems awfully expensive.

That was just my best estimate, probably on the higher side. The main cost is yeast which is about a dollar per packet. The flour, I don't know, another dollar. I added the extra dollar as a buffer, to cover things like the bit of oil, milk, salt, etc... But you are right, it's likely less than that.
 
I cook about six dinners a week, mostly from scratch. I cook because I like working with food, from the planning what I need, to the shopping, to the actual cooking. We eat at a restaurant once a week because that's fun too.
 
Lubos, you need to get yourself some bulk yeast. At Sam's Club, you can buy 2 one pound packages for $6-7, and it is also available at health food/natural food stores.

Your cost per loaf will go down to less than a dollar.

I keep mine in the freezer and it lasts for at least a year.
 
I cook 95% from scratch unless I'm too sick to cook or I go out. There are very few man made products that I eat.
 
We have weeks where we eat out too much, 3-4 times. Then there are weeks where we eat at home more, usually in cooler months. For some reason even with central a/c I don't feel like cooking much in the summer.

I don't like using canned soups (have you ever seen the list of ingredients?) or other chemical filled packages. When I cook I try to keep it as real as possible. With that said, I am not successful 100% of the time LOL!
 
Recently I've made the decision to cook everything I eat from scratch. Even pizza. I've perfected a quick homemade pizza that can go from start to finish in about 30 minutes -- less time than what it takes to order. I can do exactly the toppings I want and it is so much better than some corporate preparation or a frozen pretender.
The last time I went grocery shopping was Aug. 26. I spent $146 and here it is Sept. 21, and I still have plenty of food in the freezer for way more than another week (I'm cooking for one). I may have spent another $20 supplementing fresh milk and fruit during this month.

I agree -- buy your yeast in bigger containers, even if it's just the jar at the grocery store instead of packets. Yeast can be much, much cheaper than $1 for a packet. That's almost robbery. A 5-lb. bag of flour here is $2.85 at the "pricey" store. That makes a lot of pizza crust, cookies, bread, and is about the price of a loaf of grocery store bread.

There is just something so satisfying about preparing better food for less money and enjoying the process -- not to mention avoiding the unneccessary chemicals and preservatives.
 
Does anyone make homemade food anymore or do most people cook from a box or frozen food?

I too make homemade food nearly every day, but you are asking the question here at the Discuss Cooking community. All of us are here because we like to do just that.....discuss cooking. If you asked the question of a non food related community, I'm sure your answers would be quite different.

By the way, welcome to DC, I see from your profile you are one of us. Enjoy.
 
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We don't cook from a box or frozen unless in a very tight time crunch. We eat dinner every night, no matter what time we get home from work, even if it's midnight. No matter what I cook, I freeze serving size containers to quickly reheat in the microwave. I never buy prepackaged meals - they're loaded with things I don't want to feed my family. I'll make box cakes if they're for giving away or taking to a party; not for my husband. I'll use canned cream soups as ingredients, but not for eating. I do not make my own bread - If I didn't work 70 hrs a week, I would.
 
i would say that when we cook at home (we eat out or get takeout about 3 times a week on average), 95% of it is not from a box or mix.

i would not consider frozen veggies to be part of this, btw.

in fact, i had to try hard to think of what boxed foods we use. shake-n-bake, pancake mix, bread mixes, canned tuna/clams/salmon, frozen fish sticks, store made ravioli or chicken fingers. that's about it. everything else is from discreet ingredients put together and cooked at home.

in fact, i'm making my own tomato sauce from scratch tomorrow, as well as freezing fresh basil ice cubes, and making my own chili powders.
 
I rarely cook from a box and am exteremly picky about which delis and restaurants we eat at. All of our meals are made from scratch. A prepared meal for me is using a can of cream of mushroom soup in a recipe.

I forgot, I have mixes from King Arthur Flour for: scones, pie crust, herbed bread, pumpernickle bread and pancakes...just for the heck of it and the time crunches in the future. AND I HATE making pie crust!
 
I too make homemade food nearly every day, but you are asking the question here at the Discuss Cooking community. All of us are here because we like to do just that.....discuss cooking. If you asked the question of a non food related community, I'm sure your answers would be quite different.

I agree. A friend/neighbor who has been a stay-at-home wife for over a year & just had her first child a couple weeks ago came over for lunch a couple months ago. I made a quick saute with fresh eggplant, summer squash, garlic, onion, basil, and chicken. I served it over whole wheat angel hair with parmesan. Her eyes were wide with wonder when she observed "when you said you were cooking lunch, you really meant cooking!" The whole meal took about 15 minutes, 20 maybe, since I was talking a lot along the way, and she was amazed. I've had similar responses from many people who consider cooking anything that requires heat or mixing.

Personally, it depends on the meal. For breakfast I'm about 50/50. Half the time it's cereal or yogurt w/ fruit/nuts/whatever. The other half it's eggs or french toast, with the occasional batch of from-scratch pancakes or waffles. For lunch probably 1/3 sandwiches (though I've just started making my own bread, too) 1/3 leftovers, and 1/3 quick from-scratch salads & meals like the one above. Dinner, mostly from scratch. I typically make dinner in double and refrigerate or freeze the extra for later in the week. 2 or 3 times a month I run out of time & just eat at work (I work in a restaurant) and leave DH to fend for himself and the baby. If I find a coupon/sale deal where I can get prepared foods (toaster waffles & the like) for free or close to it, occasionally we'll pick some up. In the summer I use fresh as much as possible, winter I'm fine with frozen and occasionally canned veggies. When we moved across the country in Feb all we had was an electric skillet for a few weeks. We bought several boxed meals. The few that were left when our stuff arrived are still in the pantry, except the of Kraft Mac 'n Cheese (for some reason I just don't like homemade mac 'n cheese). We just ate the 3rd and last box last week. I only work 25-30 hours a week, and DH works and goes to school full time while I take care of DD, so I feel like cooking him tasty, healthy meals is well within my power & responsibility and often helps the budget. I'm fortunate to have the time. :)
 
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