Cooking from scratch
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sussexbythesea
Posts: 1,335 Member
Just wondering how many UK people do this- I rarely used any ready meals (the odd Pizza express pizza) and I always cook extra to freeze. Have on been on here 2 weeks but so far not found many people who do, though there is a group called Foodies Unite which appears to be US based I am planning to upload my recipes to share (have already started)and wonder whether any of you have as I am not sure where to look on the site as it is a bit overwhelming!!
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I cook all our meals from scratch, BBC Good Food is a favourite site for me so most of the food in my diary is from there. Feel free to add me as a friend is you want
Judging by your username I don't live very far from you, I'm in West Sussex. 0 -
thanks very much I will maybe we can share recipes?0
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Every evening meal from scratch - feel free to add me anyone who cooks,0
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Most of my evening meals are for scratch until the veggies get a bit bendy before I do my fortnightly shop!0
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I generally cook from scratch. Feel free to add me if you want. I don't have recipes as such though - I just sort of make it up as I go along! :-) and I often cook extra too, but not to freeze - I just eat put it in the fridge and eat it for the next couple of days. I'm happy to have the same meal all week, and then a different one the following week.0
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Since losing weight, I make a real effort to cook from scratch and scrap most of those artificial flavourings, colours, etc - and have control over what I actually eat. There's still the odd lapse but I'm generally quite good when it comes to cooking from scratch (note: I'm not saying I'm great at cooking -> I'm not). I usually cook a double portion in the evening to have as dinner freshly made and lunch in the office the next day. 0
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I'm not of the opinion that all ready meals etc are bad as some of them (M&S range in particular) are pretty okay salt/sugar/fat/chemical wise and have their place in certain situations.
In saying that, I make 99.9% of my meals from scratch, the exceptions tend to be "pizza express" pizzas which my hubbie likes as I can't get them as crispy in my oven when I home make them.
I love baking and cooking (the bakings the thing that makes me put weight on!).0 -
What is the definition of 'cooking from scratch'/ Where is the line drawn?0
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I cook all evening meals from scratch. My OH frequently microwaves lunches (yuk!).0
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Thanks everyone - I define 'cooking from scratch as using raw ingredients proteins, veggie and carbs for instance not using oven chips,pizza bases,pies or frozen roasties chilled mash etc. I do use meat products like sausages though. As has been suggested I don't always follow recipes I also 'make things up' .0
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I cook everything from scratch. Weekends and holidays we bake bread too (I'm on JUDDD and weekends are normal eating).
The only bought in things are certain pastes that are used when time is a bit tight, Patak's pastes, not sauces, usually as they are tasty and far less kcals than the sauces.
I'm happy to share recipes as I find the American non food foodthings quite scary - I mean what is yocheese and fluff? And the shiritake / miracle noodles seems to be a recipe for a certain type of discomfort and disaster.
I have quite a few normal meals that have been decaloried and would love to find more.
And I bake like a demon, again for my Up Days or, if I can't eat them I take cakes into the office.
OH got the Haory Biker's low fat cookery book this week and we were a bit dismayed, we already do much of the calorie lowering suggestions they have. But they had some nice ideas and with a bt of twiddling I can get a lot of them down a bit further so I can eat them on my Down Days (beow 300kcals per portion). So I might give some of them an outing over rhe next few weeks.
Sorry, I blathered on a bit 0 -
I guess I cook everything from scratch then, except for sauces.
Funny but I microwave stuff for lunch too, the chicken for my salad or the extra stir fry I made.0 -
Please can you tell me what JUDDD is? Yikes those American things sound VERY weird I totally agree.
Shame about the Hairy Bikers book but then you have been on here more than a year and are well used to adjusting! I have been dong that too (dry fried mince for years for example) Thats one of the reasons why my weight gain has been a bit surprising but lets hope that will change now.
I don't often do chinese things but I do use some of their sauces- black bean for instance is so hard to get smooth and cans of blackbeans seriously salty- only tried it once. I tend to use half what they say and it helps!0 -
I cook most things from scratch, following your basic principles, surreyhills. I bake my own pizzas when I'm at home in France, but when we're home in the UK I buy pizza express ones as my kitchen there is tiny. I try not to use processed meats but when I buy sausages, for example, I go for the Taste the Difference 97% pork ones. I also make my own stock from chicken carcasses etc and am proud to say I have never, in my whole life, bought Bisto gravy granules!
Anyway, yes, let's all share recipes!
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Please can you tell me what JUDDD is? Yikes those American things sound VERY weird I totally agree.
JUDDD is Johnson Up Day Down Day Diet
http://www.johnsonupdaydowndaydiet.com/html/how-to-do-the-diet.html
You restrict your calories quite a lot on alternate days, eating much more on the in-between days. It's one of the recently popular "fasting" diets. On some you only eat in a "window" of time each day, on others you fast (eat nothing) or eat very little (typically 400-600 calories) on some days.
I agree about the Americans' non-food foods! Some people's diaries are full of unrecognisable (to us, anyway) stuff. Scary!0 -
I could have swron I included a sentence about the Hairy Biker's book that said
'...but it would be great for someone who hasn't spent years working out how to reduce the fat content of all meals'. I do like the book (I like their love of food and share much of it). and don't consider the money spent on it a waste as I shall modify the recipes a little further to suit my eating pattern.
JUDDD is very American.... but the Horizon porgramme Eat, Fast, Live Longer had that nice Michale Mosely try out a version of Intermittent Fasting and look at all the science behind the health benefits, and weight loss
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2012/aug/06/eat-fast-and-live-longer
I have 2 proper Down Days a week, Mon and Weds, I eat 350 - 500kcals depending, Friday I restrict until tea t ime, OH works away so I keep Friday evening to Sunday evening as normal eating. Tuesday and Thursday I eat about 15-1800kcals, but don't necessarily count them.
All meals are cooked from scratch, my resricted days are just smaller portions bulked out with veg, so it is no great hardship or big effort!0 -
Yep me too, i cook from scratch eveery night, i bake every couple of weeks and make enough for leftovers for work. I tend to live on the BBC good food website 0
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I go to lots of Asian supermarkets and markets for bulk basics. I think freezing leftovers is a good habit to get into as it can make for tasty lunches, and discourages you from eating too large a portion for the sake of it.
I'd be interested to see people's recipes. Especially any veggie ones. Or easily modified ones.
Thanks everyone!0 -
I cook everything from scratch and anything extra I freeze. I get most recipes online and have recently got a slow cooker which I love. I like to make curries and can easily make creamy curries using fat free natural yogurt, just as tasty but much healthier. I like the good food website but I use many more. Love cooking and realised that cooking from scratch is definitely better, you know exactly what you are eating and I have got used to weighing and scanning all ingredients, actually find it really interesting. I have realised that my daily allowance is usually pretty spot on 9minus bad weekend days!) I would love to see some recipes for more inspiration.0
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Our dinners are mostly from scratch. We too find lots of recipes on the BBC good food website and cook books0
