Pre made vs Homemade

FrancineDesign
FrancineDesign Posts: 67 Member
edited November 28 in Food and Nutrition
Today I went to the supermarket to get ingredients to make chicken pot pie. Items such as carrots, onions, chicken and spices etc. Half way through shopping I found a small container of pre made chicken pot pie. I scanned the barcode and it fit within my calories for the day. I decided to get it in instead as at the moment I'm struggling with money. The pre made 350gram chicken pot pie was $5 and the chicken I had in my basket was $8 for 240grams. I also checked the ingredients and no ingredients that shocked me. The brand prides itself on using natural Ingredients.

Anyway what are your opinions? Would you pay make it yourself or buy pre made?

Replies

  • allaboutthefood
    allaboutthefood Posts: 781 Member
    I cook for a family of 5, so I would buy all the ingredients and make it from scratch, that way it would be large enough for two dinners and I would have left over ingredients to make something else. If you are buying just for yourself than hey why not.
  • Annie_01
    Annie_01 Posts: 3,096 Member
    I would make it myself due to the sodium content in the premade version. If I didn't have HBP however I would have taken the easy way out.

    I see nothing wrong with buying things already prepared if it is more convenient and you like the taste of it.
  • inskydiamonds
    inskydiamonds Posts: 2,519 Member
    The big difference you'll find between premade and homemade, like Annie_01 mentioned, is the sodium content. I can only suspect that the premade filling is really high in sodium. However, that's not necessarily an awful thing either if it's the one high sodium thing you eat in the day and offset it with making sure you're drinking water.
  • dewd2
    dewd2 Posts: 2,445 Member
    Sometimes you have to make a choice based on other important things. Saving money when you have none seems pretty important to me (trust me, I've been there and done that).

    If you plan ahead you can usually make home made meals cheaper than prepackaged. But you really have to plan. Buy ingredients that will be used in more than one meal. And make enough to eat as leftovers. As I get older I am making almost everything at home. I've even stopped buying packaged pasta (thanks to my new pasta maker I got for Christmas).
  • Lucknawi
    Lucknawi Posts: 21 Member
    Personally I prefer home made because it goes a lot farther than packaged. Even if you're just cooking for you it is worth it in the end to get as much as you can out of those dollars you spend by doing all your meals home made. Just prepare in advance.

    As a side note, I know what it's like to eat on a strict budget... I have definitely been there. And when I cooked at home it really help, one thing that helped me even more was using flyers from all the local stores to determine where I get my groceries... I walked to each one and pick up what I needed at the lowest price. And additionally I also made meal plans that were based on the cheapest but most nutrient dense foods I could get so that I could get the most out of my bucks.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    I would never make a pot pie myself, no.
  • netgeekette
    netgeekette Posts: 2 Member
    Do what works for you. If you meet your nutritional goals it doesn't matter how you get there. If you're cooking for multiple people it often works out cheaper to do from crash, but when it is just one person it is often not worth it. You would likely have way too much left overs to be worth it and you can only eat chicken pot pie so many times
  • mlinci
    mlinci Posts: 402 Member
    It's whatever works for you. The advantage of cooking from scratch is that you tend to cook way more than one portion of something - e.g I'm cooking a beef chilli today, and that will be dinner today plus lunches throughout next week. But cooking a single portion of something can be rather expensive.
    PS 8 dollars for 240g of chicken sounds extortionate!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Well $8 for 240g of chicken is outrageous, lol.

    But I've bought premade things (like soup) because sometimes it's just too much work to make it myself (plus fresh veggies are very expensive right now). So for me time factor should definitely be considered in the price. But yeah I've bought already made guacamole because it was cheaper than buying 1 avocado.

    But usually I make things from scratch. With reasonable prices for the chicken (I rarely pay over $2.69 a pound for chicken breast, and other cuts are cheaper), it would be cheaper to make it yourself too, and you'd have enough for several meals. And homemade tastes better!
  • ValerieMartini2Olives
    ValerieMartini2Olives Posts: 3,024 Member
    I try to make as much homemade as I can, especially things like a Birdseye frozen pasta meal. Those things are like 8 bucks for a bag that's supposed to feed a family of 4. (yeah right). Odds are, I already have pasta and mixed veggies at home. I can easily make a sauce and only need to buy the chicken/shrimp/etc and feed a lot more than 6 for a lot less money.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    I eat homemade for most meals. I costs less - i have a family of five so that would have been 25$. Never mind that, I am in Canada so it probably would have been $40.

    Plus we ave food intolerances in the house that make most per packaged foods a health risk.
  • maasha81
    maasha81 Posts: 733 Member
    I prefer homemade for certain items so I can cook in bulk and freeze.

    Desserts I usually buy premade though.
  • wandererlust
    wandererlust Posts: 64 Member
    As far as nutrition, you can better trust anything you make at home because you can control exactly what goes into it. Sometimes it's not just calories but other added ingredients too. But if money was an issue for you in that moment and you took the time to read the nutrition and ingredients I suppose you could let it slide.
  • cookielover_96
    cookielover_96 Posts: 177 Member
    The difference would be the price for making vs buying it. Otherwise I'd have no guilt because the ingredients are natural.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    Generally the ingredients add up to getting more than one meal out of them or many servings where a pre-made item is just one meal/serving. I'd probably figure out the cost vs servings of both and compare. Usually homemade item wins.
    Homemade food usually tastes better so I'd probably consider that.
    Sometimes I want food I don't have to prepare or I don't have the skill/time to make it from scratch. Pre-made item wins in that case.

    Something like a pot pie I would probably make to use up leftover meat and vegetables. When I was meal planning I might have had a whole chicken planned one day and then planned to use the leftovers in various dishes like this.
  • sheermomentum
    sheermomentum Posts: 827 Member
    I would make it myself so that I could add more chicken and less salt, and I'm pretty sure I'd have left over ingredients to use for something else. Unless I just bought it on impulse cuz it was on sale and I wanted it. Then I'd just eat it up and enjoy it.
  • quiltlovinlisa
    quiltlovinlisa Posts: 1,710 Member
    With five kids and a husband to feed, from scratch is the only way I can keep in budget. However, if it fits in your goals then there's no reason not to.
  • scyian
    scyian Posts: 243 Member
    The majority of the time I'd cook from scratch. I know what's exactly going into my meal and I find it's much cheaper than pre-made. I'll meal plan too and make the food I buy go further, e.g buy a whole chicken for a roast dinner then use the remaining meat on other nights for a pie or in a curry etc. then use the bones for stock/broth. I'll make things in bulk too and freeze and eat it another night.
  • FrancineDesign
    FrancineDesign Posts: 67 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Well $8 for 240g of chicken is outrageous, lol.

    But I've bought premade things (like soup) because sometimes it's just too much work to make it myself (plus fresh veggies are very expensive right now). So for me time factor should definitely be considered in the price. But yeah I've bought already made guacamole because it was cheaper than buying 1 avocado.

    But usually I make things from scratch. With reasonable prices for the chicken (I rarely pay over $2.69 a pound for chicken breast, and other cuts are cheaper), it would be cheaper to make it yourself too, and you'd have enough for several meals. And homemade tastes better!

    Yeah we live near the 2nd most expensive supermarket in our country. The 1st is the second closest. We don't have a car either so its a pain but we have to shop there.
  • FrancineDesign
    FrancineDesign Posts: 67 Member
    Thanks for everyone's opinions. I think if I did have more money I would make it myself maybe once I get a job I will :) some more background on my situation is I'm a recent graduate and I've been living off my savings desperately looking for a job. My boyfriend also lives with me and also unemployed at the moment and he is not so supportive with my weight loss so he has pizza and stuff haha and I have to come with him to McDonald's and stuff.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    francinejones7 wrote: »
    Today I went to the supermarket to get ingredients to make chicken pot pie. Items such as carrots, onions, chicken and spices etc. Half way through shopping I found a small container of pre made chicken pot pie. I scanned the barcode and it fit within my calories for the day. I decided to get it in instead as at the moment I'm struggling with money. The pre made 350gram chicken pot pie was $5 and the chicken I had in my basket was $8 for 240grams. I also checked the ingredients and no ingredients that shocked me. The brand prides itself on using natural Ingredients.

    Anyway what are your opinions? Would you pay make it yourself or buy pre made?

    First, I would look for cheaper chicken. I cannot imagine there are no other options: local butcher, frozen?
    Second, in the 350 grams of pie, there would be far less than 240 grams of chicken, I would expect most of the weight to come from crust and filling other than chicken. So, 240 grams of chicken would probably end up making double or triple, if not more of pie. In other words, it would be cheaper per portion to make it from scratch.
    I would buy a chicken, bake it with potatoes or rice or use it to make soup, then use the leftovers for the pie. If you plan for the whole week, making things from scratch is usually much cheaper.
  • 88meli88
    88meli88 Posts: 238 Member
    I do not trust what kind of meat they put into pre-prepared foods w meat. Probably, the cheapest cuttings of the chicken and that is why so cheap. It's just like sausage that way.
  • FrancineDesign
    FrancineDesign Posts: 67 Member
    aggelikik wrote: »
    francinejones7 wrote: »
    Today I went to the supermarket to get ingredients to make chicken pot pie. Items such as carrots, onions, chicken and spices etc. Half way through shopping I found a small container of pre made chicken pot pie. I scanned the barcode and it fit within my calories for the day. I decided to get it in instead as at the moment I'm struggling with money. The pre made 350gram chicken pot pie was $5 and the chicken I had in my basket was $8 for 240grams. I also checked the ingredients and no ingredients that shocked me. The brand prides itself on using natural Ingredients.

    Anyway what are your opinions? Would you pay make it yourself or buy pre made?

    First, I would look for cheaper chicken. I cannot imagine there are no other options: local butcher, frozen?
    Second, in the 350 grams of pie, there would be far less than 240 grams of chicken, I would expect most of the weight to come from crust and filling other than chicken. So, 240 grams of chicken would probably end up making double or triple, if not more of pie. In other words, it would be cheaper per portion to make it from scratch.
    I would buy a chicken, bake it with potatoes or rice or use it to make soup, then use the leftovers for the pie. If you plan for the whole week, making things from scratch is usually much cheaper.

    Hi, sorry I should of mentioned the pre made was just the inside filling I didn't use crust I has mashed sweet potatoes on top.
  • shaumom
    shaumom Posts: 1,003 Member
    In my experience, homemade anything is frequently healthier, looked at overall. Fat content, sodium content, lacking weird ingredients (like, for example, sometimes ground silica (rock, basically) added to some ingredients so they flow more freely on factory machines), that sort of thing.

    However, cost-wise, if you are going to make something from scratch, it's almost always more expensive, especially if you follow a recipe exactly that you just looked up. Because recipes aren't taking into account what is in season (and therefore cheaper) or what is on sale (and therefore cheaper) or what is very expensive (like certain herbs).

    One thing that we've done the last few years is to, well, basically plan a LOT more than we used to. If we like meat a lot, we look for it on sale and buy it then, but not when it's not. If we like fresh herbs, we've been growing them (SO much cheaper than from the store, even if grown in pots, it's unreal). If we want a certain dish with lots of a certain type of veggie, we make it when that veggie is in season, or buy extra then and freeze it for later use.

    And we also rarely make recipes as-is anymore. We substitute in season veggies for more expensive out of season ones, or different cuts of meat, or different spices. We started doing this due to allergy reasons, but then noticed the difference it can make in the pocket book and now I'd do it even if the allergies went away. It's very helpful. :-)
  • Strawblackcat
    Strawblackcat Posts: 944 Member
    I pretty much always go with homemade. I can't have dairy or gluten, so a lot of convienence foods are ruled out for me automatically. Plus, I'm really discriminatory as to where the meat I eat comes from, and not many companies that make frozen dinners source their meat from places that I approve of. If I want a meal that satisfies my dietary needs, as well as my ethical morals, I usually always have to end up making it. But I like to cook, and I'm rather good at it, so having to make it doesn't really bother me.

    My parents are just as happy to buy it pre-made, but I'll oftentimes end up making them pot pies and stuff so that they aren't eating all the partially hydrogenated oils and preservatives and other crap that are in industrial pot pies.
  • Osiris275
    Osiris275 Posts: 228 Member
    I lie alone, everything I eat is either pre-made, frozen or from a packet/tin. I hate cooking, and don't really enjoy eating fresh things. I wish I did but I've tried and I just don't!

    It's not done me any harm though, as long as it's weighed I still lose weight. I've lost 70lbs, with not one meal cooked from scratch! I'm hoping as I lose weight I will be more willing and confident to try new foods/meals/cooking.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    I cook for myself because it'll taste better than 90% of what's in the shops.

    It has no impact on weightloss/body comp - that's down to calories, macros and training - but if I want to eat something that has all the personality of cardboard I'll have something shop bought.
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