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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2011 12:53:06 GMT -5
I've found myself wanting and making more meals and snacks at home... Cookies, dinners, etc....
I just got tired of picking up packaged foods. I freeze half of what I make and eat the other half that meal.
Have you?
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whoisjohngalt
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Post by whoisjohngalt on Jan 16, 2011 13:23:12 GMT -5
It depends. There are certain foods that make no sense for me to make at home. One example is Cream of Broccoli soup. For one, I am the only one who likes it and two, it's not that healthy, so making a batch might be cheaper, not would last me forever and a half and be less healthy for me. So, whenever I crave for it, I just get it at Panera Bread
Lena
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whoisjohngalt
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Post by whoisjohngalt on Jan 16, 2011 13:41:06 GMT -5
OK, WrongSide - that' was a low blow, bc now that's all I want to eat for lunch and there is no Quizno's anywhere around!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lena
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2011 13:51:59 GMT -5
Sometimes premade looks cheaper till you compare contents. DH makes chocolate chip cookies for the church coffee hour every month or so and the costs are surprisingly high- but he uses real butter and real chocolate chips.
The food manufacturers do have the ability to negotiate low prices for raw ingredients, but they'll frequently use preservatives, coloring, thickeners and cheap substitutes (palm oil, high-fructose corn syrup, little bits of meat vacuumed off the bones) to bring down the cost.
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Frappuccino
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Post by Frappuccino on Jan 16, 2011 23:32:39 GMT -5
Everytime I watch Food Network I want to cook something from scratch. It's expensive to cook from scratch if you do it as sporadically as I do, and have to buy all of the ingredients for the recipe at once.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2011 23:35:34 GMT -5
It depends. There are certain foods that make no sense for me to make at home. One example is Cream of Broccoli soup. For one, I am the only one who likes it and two, it's not that healthy, so making a batch might be cheaper, not would last me forever and a half and be less healthy for me. So, whenever I crave for it, I just get it at Panera Bread Lena If you go to all recipes.com, it will tell you want you need to make enough for one or 2 people! Speaking of Cream of Broccoli.. I think I might make some this weekend!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2011 23:36:18 GMT -5
Everytime I watch Food Network I want to cook something from scratch. It's expensive to cook from scratch if you do it as sporadically as I do, and have to buy all of the ingredients for the recipe at once. I thought the same thing, but I had 85% of the stuff needed to make what I wanted!
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cronewitch
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Post by cronewitch on Jan 17, 2011 2:56:14 GMT -5
I don't use many packaged foods or eat out almost ever. I am so used to just cooking that I don't think of doing things from packages. I do a few things from boxes like cake mix or now pancake mix. I grew up with my dad making pancakes from scratch and learned it young and dad always laughed that people would pay for a pancake mix so I was slow to try one. Now we are only two people and making a batch from scratch means opening several things and washing a mixing bowl. So I buy a mix so I can make pancakes for one in a single bowl without having to open so many things. I would make from scratch if I was cooking for more people but just me or just us a mix works.
I canned my own tuna this year but used to use commercially canned tuna. I have taken up used canned chili now too, I like that cans of chili are small enough you can use them for one or two people. When I make my own it takes a long time and makes a huge amount. I use dried beans so making chili takes a long time.
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bimetalaupt
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Post by bimetalaupt on Jan 17, 2011 6:56:02 GMT -5
Crone Witch, Yes but at what value do you put on your time??? At say $75.00/ hr it is hard to fix food and clean up cheaper then going to a buffet at say $6.99.. Ok I like the water.
Just a thought, Bi Metal Au Pt
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2011 9:14:02 GMT -5
Yes but at what value do you put on your time??? At say $75.00/ hr it is hard to fix food and clean up cheaper then going to a buffet at say $6.99.. Ok I like the water. The thing is, most of us don't get money for working extra hours. I'm salaried. Spending an extra hour every day at work instead of doing household chores isn't going to get me more money (except maybe in the long run if I get promoted). A better question is what we'd do with the time we're cooking and if we're happy with the tradeoff. I'd also argue that a $6.99 buffet is not going to be healthy or nutritious unless you choose carefully. It's going to have a lot of cheap fats and starches. I just checked a can of cream of celery soup we have in our pantry. The first 5 ingredients are water, celery, modified food starch, wheat flour and vegetable oil. The first recipe I found on-line starts with chicken stock, includes onions and carrots as well as celery, no food starch (but does have flour) and butter instead of vegetable oil. DH and I frequently use canned soups as a convenience; I like to take mine to work and throw in a bunch of slightly-micorwaved chopped veggies from the cafeteria salad bar. I'm under no illusion, though, that you can make a valid price comparison between the canned soup and what DH makes from scratch.
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cronewitch
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Post by cronewitch on Jan 17, 2011 9:23:49 GMT -5
Crone Witch, Yes but at what value do you put on your time??? At say $75.00/ hr it is hard to fix food and clean up cheaper then going to a buffet at say $6.99.. Ok I like the water. Just a thought, Bi Metal Au Pt My time isn't that valuable if I am home. Going out isn't always faster either. If I was going to a buffet I would have to check to see if my boyfriend wanted to go and was hungry since we each eat when we want not always at the same time. Then decide where to go, drive there, fix our plates, eat and drive home. Ours are more expensive than 6.99 the soup and salad one is the only one we go to and it is 7.99 plus tax. Our area taxes restaurants to pay for ball parks so the tax is more than 9.5% so the bill will be over $20 for two, but soft drinks are free because we are seniors. At home we get exactly what we want, sometimes leftovers to heat and eat and much cheaper and faster. I have thawed chicken breast for tonight that were 79lb. I will toss them on the grill and eat when I am hungry. Time from frig to grill say 2 minutes. Time on the grill I go do something else. I could put on a pot of rice and a vegetable in another minute or two and in 20 minutes have a hot meal with food I selected for much less than $5. I could eat when it is done without waiting for him and when he gets home he can microwave leftovers. If he got home first he probably already ate something so we have more leftovers. Meals aren't scheduled so we eat randomly. Yesterday he watched football eating fried chicken gizzards as a snack and didn't want any food. I had cheese and crackers then later wanted some real food so made an omelete. Clean up is easy I have a dishwasher. Going out would have taken time away from watching food ball, posting on message boards and playing farmville. So wasting 10-15 minutes of my day cooking wasn't worth much to me.
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bimetalaupt
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Post by bimetalaupt on Jan 17, 2011 9:45:30 GMT -5
Crone Witch, Yes but at what value do you put on your time??? At say $75.00/ hr it is hard to fix food and clean up cheaper then going to a buffet at say $6.99.. Ok I like the water. Just a thought, Bi Metal Au Pt My time isn't that valuable if I am home. Going out isn't always faster either. If I was going to a buffet I would have to check to see if my boyfriend wanted to go and was hungry since we each eat when we want not always at the same time. Then decide where to go, drive there, fix our plates, eat and drive home. Ours are more expensive than 6.99 the soup and salad one is the only one we go to and it is 7.99 plus tax. Our area taxes restaurants to pay for ball parks so the tax is more than 9.5% so the bill will be over $20 for two, but soft drinks are free because we are seniors. At home we get exactly what we want, sometimes leftovers to heat and eat and much cheaper and faster. I have thawed chicken breast for tonight that were 79lb. I will toss them on the grill and eat when I am hungry. Time from frig to grill say 2 minutes. Time on the grill I go do something else. I could put on a pot of rice and a vegetable in another minute or two and in 20 minutes have a hot meal with food I selected for much less than $5. I could eat when it is done without waiting for him and when he gets home he can microwave leftovers. If he got home first he probably already ate something so we have more leftovers. Meals aren't scheduled so we eat randomly. Yesterday he watched football eating fried chicken gizzards as a snack and didn't want any food. I had cheese and crackers then later wanted some real food so made an omelete. Clean up is easy I have a dishwasher. Going out would have taken time away from watching food ball, posting on message boards and playing farmville. So wasting 10-15 minutes of my day cooking wasn't worth much to me. Crone ... What a recall of details.. Me too are a SS.. Get the discount and eat a good meal with real fresh vegies, backed fish, Nuts. esp Almonds.. good for you and good helping of spinach salad with low cal, tomatoes beets,olives and a little HBE , Very blood red beef and ice tea.. I do watch the eggs and cheese still as I did at the old R&D study for heart study at Clayton in Austin. Now I know why we have more saving and less spending.. We are becoming a nation of $avers do to high cost of everything and retiring. Most of my friend also like to visit so it is simple to meet at the GC or coffee bar... Also single due to my wife early death. Just a thought, Bi Metal Au Pt Attachments:
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cronewitch
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Post by cronewitch on Jan 17, 2011 9:54:36 GMT -5
Our buffet we like only has soup and salad and pasta and breads. The only other I know where is is Chinese food and not worth going to. My mom used to go to one that had more variety but she moved. The one at the casino she goes to has one that is very expensive so I have only gone when she wants to use points to take us. She has lots of points used some this weekend at the gift shop to get ear rings.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Jan 17, 2011 10:32:30 GMT -5
A lot of this depends upon what you have access to.
For instance, I can buy a large, premade rotisserie chicken from Sam's for $5. Unless I catch chicken on sale, this is always a good deal.
Several years ago, our department had a bake sale and I made a cheesecake. Despite me having a lot of the ingredients on hand to make it, there were some that I still needed to buy. When all was said and done, I had about $15 in ingredients in that cheesecake. The pieces were priced at about 0.50 each and there was no way that they were going to get 30 pieces out of that cheesecake. I could have given them $10 and been ahead of the game.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Jan 17, 2011 11:33:38 GMT -5
It depends, I think it is a trade-off. When I was pregnant buying a few pre-made dinners kept me from reaching for the phone which wasn't good for my stomach or DH's waistline. When I was bloated and sick the last thing I wanted to do was cook from scratch, especially since my food aversions would sometimes change from the time I started dinner to the time I finished!
I didn't want to put in all that time and exhaust myself only to find that I wanted to puke looking at it.
I don't cook because it is cheaper, especially with the price of groceries going up the way they are. I cook because I can control the quality of the ingredients and what is in my food. It's better for our health and DH's waistline for me to cook from scratch.
It also depends on WHAT you are cooking. Some recipes have what I call "one time" ingredients that can be translated into other meals I make on a regular basis. When you only use 1/8 teaspoon seasme oil it doesn't make a lot of sense to purchase it at $4.99 a bottle if it isn't something you are going to use up before it spoils (which is hard to do, at least for me).
I could spend large amounts of time finding recipes that call for seasme oil so I could use it all up, but I don't want to waste that much time justifying one ingredient in my pantry. I'll just pass on the recipe and go out for Asian meals.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2011 11:44:24 GMT -5
I used to not really care about what was in something, I would just count calories. Now I'm a little more concerned with eating "root ingredients". So fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, meats, etc. So that's pretty much what I eat during the day. Night time we stick with a pretty basic meal as well...only on the weekends do we eat more of the packaged stuff.
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Jan 17, 2011 12:40:44 GMT -5
We do a mixture of both
On the cheesecake example, it is cheaper to buy pre-made, but if you are making for your self with "real" ingredients, it has way less processed ingredients. I hesitate to say it is better for you, because it is cheesecake, but if I am going to eat for myself, I would rather have home made. For the bake sale, pre-made is probably a better option. Cookies are about the same, can be cheaper bought, but more natural ingredients if home made.
You really can't beat the $5 chickens at Sams. It would cost more to buy chicken, get seasonings, use electricity for your oven and it probably wouldn't taste as good.
We try to avoid pre-packaged meals, and try to cook with basic ingredients. Have several recipes for dinner that we use over and over again (maybe too much)
Things we make at home: pancakes (not from mix), spaghetti sauce (using canned tomatoes), clam chowder (from canned clams, but better than canned soup), bean soups, chicken broth (usually from bones from whole chicken breasts). We find most of these better tasting and cheaper, but they can take some time.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Jan 17, 2011 12:52:19 GMT -5
I do a mixture of both.
I will make spaghetti sauce and chicken stock, but always have some stashed in my pantry for those times where I just don't have the time to make it. I normally take leftovers for lunch from meals that I've made - but will frequently keep some frozen meals in the freezer for something to throw in my lunch to avoid spending $6-8 downstairs for lunch. I make soups, but will keep a couple cans in the pantry for times when I get home from work and am tired and not real hungry.
IMO, it's realizing that life gets in your way and having to make choices as to what's a better way of going. Right now, doing any amount of cooking is incredibly debilitating since I'm on crutches. I did cook last night and have 4 servings of leftovers, but I also have half a take out pizza in the fridge from the night before when I hurt too bad to cook.
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whoisjohngalt
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Post by whoisjohngalt on Jan 17, 2011 13:00:42 GMT -5
Another thing - there are things that I just can't duplicate (may be I haven't tried hard enough bc I am too lazy, I don't know), but I've never tasted a home-made pizza that I like yet.
Lena
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Post by Savoir Faire-Demogague in NJ on Jan 17, 2011 13:04:32 GMT -5
Another thing - there are things that I just can't duplicate (may be I haven't tried hard enough bc I am too lazy, I don't know), but I've never tasted a home-made pizza that I like yet.
Do you make your own pizza dough? I have made my own pizza dough many times, not lately though. You will need a good rich tomato sauce.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2011 13:08:13 GMT -5
We make pizza at home that we love. We use trader joes dough.
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telephus44
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Post by telephus44 on Jan 17, 2011 13:20:57 GMT -5
I use a lot of packaged foods. I shop at Trader Joes and check the labels to make sure they aren't full of trans fats or crammed full of preservatives.
A lot of times, it's for convenience. I can make breaded chicken strips that are great, but it takes me almost half and hour to bread them (I have several different mixes that they get dipped into) and I can microwave a few chicken nuggets in 2 minutes. I can throw in a frozen lasagna in 30 seconds, even if it still takes an hour to cook.
Sometimes, it's things I can't replicate myself. I can't make a decent Alfredo sauce (though I can make a decent homemade macaroni and cheese). And I've tried a few pizza recipes that don't taste quite right. I don't have a rice cooker or some of the exotic ingredients.
Somedays I beat myself up for not being Martha Stewart, but most of the time I get over it.
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cael
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Post by cael on Jan 17, 2011 14:52:07 GMT -5
I've been moving away from buying pre-made and packaged stuff lately, for money-saving and health reasons. Buying a lot of fresh fruit & veggies to eat and making meals from scratch way more. One huge thing is I started making my own bread a few months ago - and no, I do not have a bread machine! My recipe, which I found online & tweaked to my liking, makes 2 loaves, and with just two of us that lasts about two weeks (we use one and I freeze the second one until we need it). Stocking up on flour & yeast might cost me $10-$12, the flour lasts a long time, and the yeast is pretty cheap. It's yummy, saves us money, better for us, the house smells delicious while it's baking, and nothing beats a warm slice of buttered bread If anyone's interested I could post the recipe in the recipes forum? It's super easy and really good!
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Jan 17, 2011 14:57:03 GMT -5
I'd be interested, I can never find a recipe that doesn't call for a breadmaker. Just tell me which recipe board.
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cael
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Post by cael on Jan 17, 2011 15:24:39 GMT -5
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cronewitch
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Post by cronewitch on Jan 17, 2011 17:03:19 GMT -5
I have a bread maker and don't use it. I use my old betty crocker cookbook recipe.
I made alfredo once and it was good, I used powered chicken soup base from bulk food, butter and other good things I forget but it was good and not hard.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2011 17:17:01 GMT -5
I added another bread recipe, no bread machine needed. It's got the world's simplest list of ingredients (water, flour, yeast and salt) and takes maybe half an hour to get it into a loaf shape, 2-4 hours to rise, and another 10 minutes of work before putting it in the oven and enjoying the smell of fresh-baked bread.
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Frugal Nurse
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Post by Frugal Nurse on Jan 17, 2011 17:35:01 GMT -5
I HATE precooked stuff. It just tastes...gross. Even back when I still ate meat I wouldn't touch canned soup, frozen dinners, etc. I would rather take an hour to make a good tasting, healthy meal than jam crap down my throat because it was easy. If I want an "easy" meal, I will just make a big dinner salad (spring lettuce, carrots, broccoli, snow peas, peppers, chickpeas, croutons, a little Parmesan, and some Italian dressing. yum!). There are lots of great tasting meals you can make yourself in the same amount of time it would take to wait on the pizza guy (and not just the stuff Rachel Ray makes)
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8 Bit WWBG
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Post by 8 Bit WWBG on Jan 17, 2011 18:22:46 GMT -5
...:::"...little bits of meat vacuumed off the bones...":::...
athena 53, What kind of chocolate chip cookies are these?!?!?
...:::"I made alfredo once and it was good, I used powered chicken soup base from bulk food, butter and other good things I forget but it was good and not hard.":::...
I just melt shredded parmegianno and romano into cream, and add some spices.
Has someone already said that pre-sliced deli meats are often double per pound what the same exact stuff being sliced at the deli counter is?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2011 18:26:24 GMT -5
...:::"...little bits of meat vacuumed off the bones...":::... athena 53, What kind of chocolate chip cookies are these?!?!? OK, the meat isn't used in cookies, but they do use vacuum-type devices to get every bit of meat off animal carcasses and put them in the cheaper varieties of hamburger meat and other processed foods. DH likes to buy ground beef and, while he's packaging it up in servings to freeze, spread a little on crackers and eat it. I shudder. But then again, I eat raw oysters and DH thinks that's pretty disgusting. I HATE precooked stuff. It just tastes...gross. I know what you mean. I'm less discriminating but it's very easy for me to pass up a lot of packaged baked goods, because I know they'll taste greasy or have a chemical aftertaste. If I'm going to eat something high-calorie and/or high-fat, it's also going to be high-quality.
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