Hilarious Cake mix from M&S

zippychick

Silaqui wrote: »

The thing about the white sauce reminds me of when I first started uni, and I was going to make a lasagne for my housemates. I popped to the shop with my mate to get the stuff and she headed immediately to the jars and sauces aisle up until that point I had NO IDEA that they sold white sauce in jars - what a sheltered life I had led :rotfl:
I had always made it from scratch as it's so simple, obviously I knew you could buy readymeals but for some reason it hadn't crossed my mind that you could get in in jars!
x

i was the reverse - i didn't know people made it from scratch!:rotfl:

lilac-straw

mrcow wrote: »

It's like packets of pancake/batter mix that say "just add eggs and water" - ie. they contain flour and powdered milk. Seriously - why would anyone go out and by that?

I buy them all the time. They cost 8p and saves using up all the fresh milk in the house. I am quite a good baker (even if I do say so myself:D) and I see no shame in using the odd mix or two if its time and cost effective.

[Deleted User]

I remember the first time i went for Sunday Lunch at my now-MILs and she went on and on about not having a cheese suace packet in the house for the cauliflower. I asked if she has milk, marg and flour - and a bit of cheese - and whipped her one up. I was absolutely gobsmacked that you could buy a packet of chees sauce mix and she was gobsmacked you can make it from scratch. Needless to say I think thats the only time i've had a sunday lunch at her house and i always offer to do the cooking now!

mrcow

lilac-straw wrote: »

I buy them all the time. They cost 8p and saves using up all the fresh milk in the house. I am quite a good baker (even if I do say so myself:D) and I see no shame in using the odd mix or two if its time and cost effective.

I don't think anyone is talking about shame! I just don't get it. A bag of flour costs about 40p and you'd need only 1/2 pint of milk or so. If it had no need for eggs, then fair enough, but aren't you just buying a sachet of cheap flour and powdered milk and paying twice as much as you need to for it?

gizmo111

I think the packets and jars are a great way of gettng young people actually into cooking, it doesn't seem so difficult for them and then the confidence builds and they can experiment with a little more. I have had packet mixes of batter so my girls can make it and it turns out perfect, then becauuse it was nice they wanted to make it the proper way. Same with cakes and stuff. They have also made things like chicken casserole/chasseur from packets, but it has given them the confidence to experiment from scratch. They also know they prefer home cooking from scratch. A lot of people have no idea what goes with what or how to even start with a meal, or what to put in their cupboard and I think the packets and jars are a good help to start with.

Incidentally on the ches sauce them, my freinds daughter aged 22 recently got married and moved away= she rang mum on hoe to make a cheese sause for pasta, got instructions and made a lovely chese and bacon sauce, but mum didn't tell her she needed to drain pasta

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so sauce went straight into pan with pasta and water - result a very horribly runny sauce -with pasta floatin in it. :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

lilac-straw

mrcow wrote: »

I don't think anyone is talking about shame! I just don't get it. A bag of flour costs about 40p and you'd need only 1/2 pint of milk or so. If it had no need for eggs, then fair enough, but aren't you just buying a sachet of cheap flour and powdered milk and paying twice as much as you need to for it?

Half a pint of milk costs more than 8p though and as I said it saves the fresh milk which can be used for something else.

mrcow

lilac-straw wrote: »

Half a pint of milk costs more than 8p though and as I said it saves the fresh milk which can be used for something else.

You could always use powdered milk - which is what they are using in their batter which is why it's 8p.

lilac-straw

mrcow wrote: »

You could always use powdered milk - which is what they are using in their batter which is why it's 8p.

Yes I could but I wouldn't use powdered milk for anything else, so I find it easier to buy batter mixes.

Reverbe

mrcow wrote: »

Do you never use flour for anything ever? A packet of flour will cost pennies (possibly even less than a packet batter mix) and will last for an age.

What do you do when you want to make pies, cakes or biscuits? Puddings, dumplings or sauces? Pizza? Yorkshire puds?

What do you eat?

No I dont use flour for anything. I dont bake as I dont have a sweet tooth. I dont make puddings for same reason. I dont make dumplings as I dont make stews as there is only me here who isnt veggy and if I did make stews I probably wouldlnt make dumplings as they are fat and stodge and I am trying to lose weight and wouldnt know how to make dumplings anyway.I dont eat sauces . I dont eat pIzza anymore due to cost and when I did I bought them for a rare treat of once of twice a year. I dont like Yorkshire puddings, never have never will.

I eat a wide variety of stuff but nothing that involves cooking with or using flour. I eat as healthy a diet as I can which rules out stodge and unnecessary sweet stuff which I dont like anyway.

k2tog

I really like packet pepper sauce and packet onion sauce and so have never bothered trying to make them properly. Am quite happy making roux sauces rather than buying jars etc.