What's the most overpriced food product that you could make yourself?

Hawthorn

We use more whole chickens for the family, but I do get chicken breast occasionally on offer - I like to make curries and things with it. I prefer dishes like sweet and sour/curry etc, made with raw chicken, rather than reheating cooked.
And I'm useless at boning chicken
Whole chickens will do a roast dinner, for six, and a soup for six (quite often with leftovers)
My sis does lates like that too, on occasion. She uses the slowcooker a lot for joints of meat.

sb44

You could always put a whole chicken in the slow cooker before you go to work.

Plug it into a timer so that it is on for about 7 hours, you can then just pull the breast off it, they will just pull away easily enough.

I do this sometimes without adding anything else if I just want to have some breast meat for my daughters's sarnies for school.

If you cook it and leave the breast meat in the fridge it is really easy to cut very thinly the day after.

mrsmortenharket

went to cinema today. Small bucket of popcorn £3.40 :eek:

didn't buy it, never do!

Lisa

clutterydrawer

Re: chicken debate, my mum always roasts it on a sunday when she's off work, then harvests the remains on weeknights to make pies etc.

Trow

I had a friend along for tea one night. I prefer chicken thigh (more succulent with the added bonus of being cheaper), and had made chicken and mushroom pasta, using the deboned thigh. My friend complimented the chicken, and asked how I had cooked it - I explained the difference. She was astounded, saying the same as been stated here, she only ever bought breast as she didn't like thigh - but is now a convert and rarely buys breast meat now.

The 'greasy' way to have thigh is with the bone in and skin on - remove that and its much less oily.

FZwanab

What about a bag of chips compared to a bag of potatoes??

MrsE_2

sb44 wrote: »

You could always put a whole chicken in the slow cooker before you go to work.

Plug it into a timer so that it is on for about 7 hours, you can then just pull the breast off it, they will just pull away easily enough.

I do this sometimes without adding anything else if I just want to have some breast meat for my daughters's sarnies for school.

If you cook it and leave the breast meat in the fridge it is really easy to cut very thinly the day after.

I like to throw uncooked chicken into the pan to do my curries (& other chicken dishes), I wouldn't want to make them with reheated chicken.

Its NOT a waste me buying breasts, they are the part I like & I'm prepared to pay for the meat I like. I also buy them from Waitrose as I like my breasts happy:rotfl:

But the rest of the chicken isn't wasted, its sold to others who want other bits. Its OK for someone to splash out a little on something that they like & I like to buy "happy" chicken breasts & I get my mince from M&S:D

lindadykes

Would I be right in guessing you don't work or don't work full-time?
Because I wouldn't think many people cook a whole chicken in the evening after work mid week.

I work full time and have sometimes cooked a whole chicken after work, the 1.5 hours can be a bonus in that if the chicken is put in the oven as soon as you come in the door, you then have a good 45 minutes to relax and have a cuppa before prepping and cooking the veg.

On nights I am more pushed for time I often still prefer to buy a whole chicken as opposed to portions if it works out more cost effective. (I too will only buy "happy" chicken and sometimes the only way I find chicken affordable is to buy packs of just thighs) I will then remove the breasts from the whole chicken and use for that nights meal, then after the meal I will portion up the thighs, drumsticks and wings separately and then freeze these along with the carcase for future use.

If your family won't eat the legs etc, though I can see the reasoning in buying just the breasts otherwise you are paying for meat that you won't eat. Also as you rightly point out, this way you are not wasting meat, it is being sold to someone else (like myself) who actually likes the other cuts) - each to what suits them best.

MrsE_2

lindadykes wrote: »

I work full time and have sometimes cooked a whole chicken after work, the 1.5 hours can be a bonus in that if the chicken is put in the oven as soon as you come in the door, you then have a good 45 minutes to relax and have a cuppa before prepping and cooking the veg.

On nights I am more pushed for time I often still prefer to buy a whole chicken as opposed to portions if it works out more cost effective. I will then remove the breasts from the whole chicken and use for that nights meal, then after the meal I will portion up the thighs, drumsticks and wings separately and then freeze these along with the carcase for future use.

If your family won't eat the legs etc, though I can see the reasoning in buying just the breasts otherwise you are paying for meat that you won't eat - each to what suits them best.

My husband gets up at 4.30, its not really practical for me to be dishing up dinner at 8.30:eek:
Plus I don't like the dark meat.

mandragora_2

to go back to the op - another one's just occured to me - dried pastry in packets. Why? I understand ready rolled pastry, and frozen pastry, as its actually the adding water and, to an extent, rolling that's the fag with homemade pastry, but if you buy it in a state where you still have to add the liquid, then you've still got the trickiest two bits of the operation ahead of you!!

Same with any ready, dried packet foods, come to think of it - cake mixes; yorkshire puds - going to all the hard work and risk of the mixing/baking, but replacing fresh ingredients with chemically processed ones... Mad!