Made from Scratch or Quick and Easy

I definitely prefer made from scratch, since I think it has better taste. For about two or three summers I would live on prepared frozen meals during my summer job, and I have come to hate them. I find most of them to be bland, and the ones I do like I would eat often enough to come to hate them. Now I've just switched to making more food for dinner and bringing in leftovers for lunch.

However I think there are quick and easy healthy things to eat too- I heat up frozen corn and peas all the time as a snack or meal replacement. I cut up vegetables and store them in the fridge for quick, easy access. Bananas and apples are also quick and easy foods for me.

But what I really like to do is to make large meals and freeze them in batches- so I get the made from scratch taste (and control over what I eat) while having quick and easy food. I do this with stuffed shells (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/stuffed-shells-i/) and soup wontons (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/wonton-soup/). The way I make them they come out to 93 and 55 calories apiece respectively, which allows me to reheat the the amount that will fit under my calorie limits.

I am sure there are other things that would freeze very well but I do not have enough freezer space.

I like quick and easy and made from scratch, lol. So we often have frozen veggies and a protein. I don't make pasta, bread, tomato sauce, salsa, tortillas etc though.

Which do you prefer and why?

If you prefer quick and easy - why oh why do you not like it when people make things from scratch?

Life can be so busy but I still think it is better to make my own recipes than buy prepared foods with a bunch of who-knows-what in it. I really don't think it saves that much time or money and it certainly doesn't taste better.

It boggles my mind that people still see this as a positive motivational statement - This meme is a prime example of both slut shaming and classism, all rolled into one harmful little bundle.

1. There’s nothing wrong with being fast. Sprinters are fast, race car drivers are fast, cheetahs are fast. And all of these things are awesome. By turning this into a thinly veiled criticism of how long people wait before choosing to consensually have sex with each other, you are slut shaming and passing judgments that you have absolutely no right to make. What goes on behind another person’s closed doors is none of your business.

2. There’s nothing wrong with being cheap. Not all of us can afford to spend vast sums of money on food or personal belongings. Many people live below the poverty line and they survive as best they can. And again: By making the implication that a person is a “cheap” date and has sex with someone before lots of money has been spent on them, you’re slut shaming. This is a highly misogynistic view, especially considering how the media often negatively frames women as gold diggers. If we aren’t cheap, we’re apparently greedy. It’s a catch-22 that we can’t escape from.

3. There’s nothing wrong with being easy. Life is not better just because you feel that you’re working harder than everyone else. Sometimes we are experiencing so many hardships that a little bit of easiness is going to be a blessing. Whether this is a frozen prepared meal that we can microwave or whether this is a booty call from someone that we know and trust: Don’t knock the easy things that you can enjoy.

4. There’s nothing wrong with being fake, especially if it is for your own self-preservation. You are under no obligation to always reveal your innermost thoughts, feelings and expectations with the world. If you have to hide elements of yourself in order to feel comfortable? Do it. If you have to put on a brave face and play pretend so that you can get through the day? Do it. Because no matter what, you are always representing yourself in the manner that you want to be.

If someone doesn’t have enough time to prepare a full meal, then there is nothing wrong with them grabbing food that can be consumed quickly. If someone can’t afford high grocery prices, there is nothing wrong with eating within their budget. If someone doesn’t have the time, patience or sheer arrogance to make meals difficult simply for the sake of giving themselves more trouble, then they deserve an easy meal. And if someone has no interest in eating what you consider to be “real” food, then they have the right to define what’s “real” enough for them to consume.

Butt out of other people’s diets and butt out of their lives. This meme isn’t funny and it never was.

http://the-exercist.tumblr.com/

I agree with the both crowd. I love food prepared from scratch, and I generally make enough that I can bring it for lunch/have for dinner on subsequent days, so it is both from scratch and quick and easy.

And there are some prepared foods (like Amy's Organic) that are quick and easy and not full of "who knows what" that I keep around for days when I really don't have time to cook, or have run out of leftovers.

My wife and I do, however, make probably 75% - 80% of our food from scratch.

When patience serves, it's made from scratch.
Otherwise, grabbing what's available is also enjoyable.

Made from scratch...always the best!

Preferably both! I am focused on using real/natural ingredients when I cook, as much as possible. At the same time, I'm not up for cooking a dinner that would take me hours to complete. I think it's possible to strike a nice balance of the two!

Which do you prefer and why?

If you prefer quick and easy - why oh why do you not like it when people make things from scratch?

oh, i thought you were asking, but it looks like you're more interested in judging.

carry on then

why oh why do you not like it when people make things from scratch?

I don't think someone who doesn't cook their own food from scratch dislikes foods prepared in this manner, they just don't do it themselves for various reasons...

If someone else makes it, then it's "quick and easy" to me, even if it took three days to prepare.

Edit: Now I am picturing someone sitting over a plate grumbling "Stupid jerk... spent 12 hours preparing this perfectly smoked brisket with homemade coleslaw, cornbread, and collard greens and then has the audacity to serve it to ME? When they KNOW I only cook Swanson's for dinner! The NERVE of some people!"

I prefer scratch, because just mixing and baking takes all the fun out!

My 'quick and easy' is nearly always something I 'made from scratch' another day when I had more time.

And, 'made from scratch' is consistently cheaper than fast food too ... as well as being tastier (at least cooked to MY taste) and with no hidden nasties (to the best of my knowledge - we can never know for sure, of course!) ...

Plus, making from scratch is the best way I know to unwind and forget about work at the moment ... most of the other alternatives are highly calorific ...