"Cooking from Scratch" - What's it mean to you?

[Zhizara]

I take a semi-homemade approach to cooking. Using a prepared seasoning packet of taco seasoning gives me what I want - the same results every time.

Even gravy mix. Making gravy is easy, but can come out differently each time, sometimes not in a good way.

I'd rather use something that will result in a predictable way than take a chance of a bad from scratch result.

I usually make different additions to these two examples to make them my own.

For taco seasoning mix, I mix it with a can of diced stewed tomatoes before adding it to my meat and onion mixture.

For gravy mix, I use homemade unsalted broth/stock/braising liquid instead of water. This results in a great tasting gravy.

No I don't cook from scratch, but I'm not ashamed of the way I cook at all.

 

[CWS4322]

I have come to the conclusion that cooking from scratch can make a person be more creative...don't have xyz, what can I use instead? Have these ingredients...what can I make using them? I was feeling very lazy a couple of weeks ago...hungry, but didn't want to make a mess of the kitchen to clean up. DH was cutting wood and also hungry. I looked in the freezer--oh frozen homemade pasta. In the fridge was a about 4-5 c of homemade kimchi. Cooked the pasta and tossed in a couple of cups of homemade kimchi. That was lunch (and it was surprisingly very good...must have been the kimchi).

 

[GotGarlic]

I have come to the conclusion that cooking from scratch can make a person be more creative...don't have xyz, what can I use instead? Have these ingredients...what can I make using them? I was feeling very lazy a couple of weeks ago...hungry, but didn't want to make a mess of the kitchen to clean up. DH was cutting wood and also hungry. I looked in the freezer--oh frozen homemade pasta. In the fridge was a about 4-5 c of homemade kimchi. Cooked the pasta and tossed in a couple of cups of homemade kimchi. That was lunch (and it was surprisingly very good...must have been the kimchi).

The same can be done with store-bought ingredients. I buy onions, garlic, potatoes, three colors of bell peppers and two or three proteins every week (except when I have them in the garden). I always have store-bought rice and pasta on hand. With those ingredients and the many store-bought seasonings, sauces and condiments I have, in addition to homegrown preserved items, I can make dozens of things.

I have a lot of homemade ingredients, too, but I consider most of my cooking scratch because I prep, combine and cook the ingredients myself. I don't have to grow them all. Even hundreds or thousands of years ago, people specialized in producing bread (the Bakers), wheat (the Millers), fruit and vegetables (the Farmers), etc. This means everyone didn't have to do everything and we could move on to creating culture.

 

[Kayelle]

I take a semi-homemade approach to cooking. Using a prepared seasoning packet of taco seasoning gives me what I want - the same results every time.

Even gravy mix. Making gravy is easy, but can come out differently each time, sometimes not in a good way.

I'd rather use something that will result in a predictable way than take a chance of a bad from scratch result.

I usually make different additions to these two examples to make them my own.

For taco seasoning mix, I mix it with a can of diced stewed tomatoes before adding it to my meat and onion mixture.

For gravy mix, I use homemade unsalted broth/stock/braising liquid instead of water. This results in a great tasting gravy.

No I don't cook from scratch, but I'm not ashamed of the way I cook at all.

Nor should you, or me either Z. Even though there are the snide undertones that not cooking from scratch all the time is somehow inferior cooking, many of us call it cooking smart.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Cooking Smart...I like that. I work 40-50 hours a week, when I find something that is as good as or better than what I can make myself, why not avail myself of the convenience? I monitor these processed foods for ingredients I do not want to consume and feel are bad for my diet. If there is no convenient sub that meets my standards, I make it from scratch.

 

[CWS4322]

PF-the inconvenience for me would be I'd have to leave the house, drive either into the village or farther afield. By the time I do that, it is easier for me to make it or make something else. I only grocery shop when I run out of some staples (or, I need something for baking). I hate shopping, including grocery shopping.

 

[Chef Munky]

I liked that "cooking smart comment" that suits just about everyone in here.

Like Princess preprocessed foods don't work well with my diet.

Convenience for me has been investing in infused olive oils.That have conveniently replaced other processed items that would have been used in a recipe.Those have really benefited my cholesterol levels.They're now where they should be for an old bag like myself age/weight.And without the use of the convient Pharmacists bill every month.

How's that for a Hobo on a ham sammich diet?

 

[GotGarlic]

PF-the inconvenience for me would be I'd have to leave the house, drive either into the village or farther afield. By the time I do that, it is easier for me to make it or make something else. I only grocery shop when I run out of some staples (or, I need something for baking). I hate shopping, including grocery shopping.

The question is "How do you define cooking from scratch?" not "Why do you or don't you grow most of your vegetables, make your own pasta and tomato paste, or live many miles away from grocery stores?"

The question of what constitutes scratch cooking is not relevant to anyone's personal circumstances.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

I take a semi-homemade approach to cooking.
... snipped

Hmmm, aren't there several cookbooks "Semi-Homemade"
by Sandra Lee and she's made a fistful,
or two or three, of money doing just that!

 

[Dawgluver]

There are bunches of things I wouldn't want to make from scratch. Zhizara mentioned gravy packets, there's also Knorr Bearnaise and Hollandaise packets (yum), Lipton onion soup mix, Campbell's cream of mushroom, Velveeta!

Love 'em all.

 

[Cheryl J]

I love Knorr's, and Lipton Onion Soup mix is always in my pantry.

 

[Katie H]

Cooking from scratch? For me it almost always means just that...scratch.

We are fortunate to be able to have a decent-sized garden in the summertime, which makes it possible for me to have enough tomatoes to make sauces, etc. I developed a tomato sauce recipe years and years ago that has replaced commercially-produced tomato sauce in the dishes I cook.

I do occasionally use a can of store-purchased soup in a recipe, such as for tonight's crock-pot roast beef. I used a can of cream of mushroom soup.

When it comes to mixes, I have nearly worn out a cookbook I bought a hundred years ago. It's called Make a Mix Cookery and is my go-to book for making my own dry soup mixes, taco mix, etc. One nice thing about having this tool is that I can control the salt that goes into our foods.

I bake all our bread products and, when it comes to dessert, those are made from scratch as well. Once in a while I'll use a boxed cake mix and heavily embellish it or turn it into cake mix cookies if I'm in a hurry.

I've never been one to have mixes or commercially-produced foods in my pantry. That's largely because, when I was growing up, they weren't too available. They just didn't exist on a large scale. When I had my own family I continued to do as I learned from my growing up household. Turns out, it's easy for me and it's what I'm comfortable doing.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Another vote for liking the "cooking smart" comment.

To me, there is a difference between "cooking from scratch", "homemade", and "SEC" (Someone Else's Cooking). That last is pretty self-explanatory.

From Scratch cooking means combining ingredients that would not be edible in their singular state. I don't grind my own wheat, but I certainly wouldn't eat a bowl-full of store-bought flour. Same thing with the ready-to-use baking powder. Anything I bake from those types of ingredients is "scratch" in my kitchen. If I use a box mix and add my own oil and egg? It's "homemade".

Because I don't have a garden, and no really good spot to put one in, I do call it from-scratch even if I'm using canned tomatoes, as long as I'm still using fresh ingredients in the rest of the recipe. But something like last night's soup, made from rotisserie chicken, packaged rice mix, boxed broth, might take as long to make as a different from-scratch recipe, but it was still considered home-made.

As long as you use reasonable decisions regarding nutrition, enjoy your meal, and stay basically healthy, it's all good, right?

 

[PrincessFiona60]

If'n I make a big pot of my signature Beef Ettoufe, it is made from scratch, even though I have used purchased bitters, Tabasco and Dawn Fresh Mushroom Steak Sauce.

 

[Andy M.]

In my mind this thread started out as an 'academic' discussion. It has turned into a personalized competition.

I try to cook with basic ingredients whenever I can. You know, from scratch. Sometimes I use a labor-saving prepared food if it tastes good and it doesn't bother me in the least that I'm not cooking from scratch.

Bottom line, none of us cooks from scratch. Just give my signature line some thought and calm down.

 

[Bigjim68]

Despite what my signature says, bakechef's statement is a good way to describe my feelings.

Somewhere between Sagan and popping a container in the micro lies the answer, and the answer is different for everybody. Myself, I try not to buy anything that comes in a box or can, but I don't smoke my own bacon for my from scratch chile.

 

[Steve Kroll]

I agree that some are taking the phrase a little too literally.

Here's what it means to me - since that was the question. Not to pick on Andy's signature, but If I make an apple pie completely from scratch, to me it means I make my own crust (versus purchasing a ready made Pet-Ritz pie shell), cut up the apples, add the seasonings, and bake it.

I also think an argument could even be made that using a Pet-Ritz shell and making the rest of the pie yourself might be considered from-scratch. After all, you still had to peel and cut up the apples, add the sugar and pie seasonings, etc.

A from-scratch pie MIGHT also include any or all of the following, although none would be prerequisites to applying the "from scratch" moniker to your baked goods:

• Growing the apple tree.
• Milling the flour from your own wheat field.
• Growing the sugar cane (assuming you have a plantation) and processing it yourself.
• Creating the universe, and waiting several billion years for it to mature enough to allow for the making of pies.

On the other hand, here are examples of a NOT-from-scratch pie:

• Purchasing a Sara Lee frozen pie and popping it in the oven.
• Buying a pie from Baker's Square or Perkins.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

People, please just STOP it!

And some of us around here wonder why we're no longer seeing some of our regulars come around...(shaking my head)

 

[Kayelle]

People, please just STOP it!

And some of us around here wonder why we're no longer seeing some of our regulars come around...(shaking my head)

Actually this would be a pretty dull place if everyone agreed with everyone else. I've found this thread thoughtfully stimulating myself, and see nothing offensive here. Those who don't like opposite opinions, pick up their marbles and leave the sand box, are free to make that choice. In the meantime, this place is called..

Discuss Cooking.

 

[Chef Munky]

People, please just STOP it!

And some of us around here wonder why we're no longer seeing some of our regulars come around...(shaking my head)

You can add me to the list.This place hasn't been it's usual self in a while now.
I'm with Addie "shut this sorry thread down."
It's getting old with it's continuous sniping in other unrelated threads.
If you want to stir the pot that's one thing.Continuing to do so just to do it is another.Not really a mature way of discussing cooking.
Just sayin'. I'm making a whole lotta friends today. NOT!