Have you got OS friends?

kippers

Yesterday i had my DD's 3 friends for tea. I have to be careful to buy things in for them as they are mostly all fussy....except with my cakes. I bought some cakes from Asda for them last night as i'd felt very tired and a bit off during the day before....the moans and groans i got as they weren't homemade!....i think i'm the only mum they know that makes homemade cakes...and they love them...they are so much cheaper to make as well and so easy to 'posh' up with sprinkles/silver balls etc. Lol

My dd's lunch boxes are always commented on by their friends: today they have h/m courgette bread with cheese, homegrown tomatoes and cucumber, lavender cakes with apple juice that i pressed and frozen in bottles from my apple tree (my DD2 has h/m bread with homemade plum jam).

Saying all this though, i must stress i do not work so i have more time to make, freeze etc. I spend 3 or 4 hours on my allotment everyday so this is possible. If i worked full time i know i wouldn't have the energy to do all this!...I feel very lucky to be able to live like this (money is tight but we all get by...and i think we live better for it)

Luciferswench

Im 28 with 3 lo's and i cook from scratch 99% of the time i do have back ups in the freezer incase someone else is caring for the children very few mind generally consists of chicken nuggets or fish fingers no full ready meals. I dont know how anyone can eat them they just taste like salt
Lots of my friends also cook and bake from scratch and we swap recipes frequently. Although the kids have had a few friends over who have gone home crying that Auntie Mem and made them eat brocoli and they liked it. Yeah i am that evil that i inflict tasting to see if you like it although my neighbours girl was in floods of tears over the fact i had put sweetcorn on her plate :O

andygb

The two great things about cooking from scratch are:
Cost, far cheaper than takeaways, ready meals or eating out.
Taste. Once you have perfected a recipe, they are far tastier, and more healthy, because you know exactly what has gone into the food.
A busy lifestyle lends itself to slow cooking, and there is a wonderful thread on here.
I find that many pubs and cheaper restaurants sell bland food, so we never go there, and the only time we eat out are on special occasions.

Vaila

im 18 and cook everything from scratch for myself, but the men of the house do like their frozen meals (cant believe my dad prefers aunt bessies roast potatos to hm ones!!) anyway i think because i was brought up with my mums batch cooking , home baking etc it became innate fo m to do so too. also the vegan ready made ingredients and meals are just not that great. i guess buying frozen veg is my only cheat

toontron

I too am the only one of my friends that cooks everything from scratch. I buy takeaway containers and have a mass cooking day when I make lasagnes, fish pies, chilli, pies etc and put them in the freezer. I also make biscuits or cake every other day or so for the Toonies to have when they come in from school, saying that though, I am the only one of my friends that doesn't work so have more time on my hands.

Maggie_Bob

I'm very much of the half and half 'can cook, don't always have the energy to do so' camp. So, most nights it is home cooked food (meat & 2 veg, pastas with various sauces, home made soup etc), using little conveniences here and there (pre-made seasoning grinders and tinned tomatoes are my godsend store cupboard saviours).

However, in my freezer lurks the goodies for the nights that come at the end of a horrible day at work, where we would be tempted to slump on the sofa and order a takeaway; so things like pizza (which we at least serve with a big salad as a consession to health), chicken kievs, and a couple of curries for the hubby and fish pies for me. I know both of the curries and the fish pies I could make myself in advance and freeze, but we use them so rarely (maybe once/twice a month) that it's not worth it - plus I've not really got the hang of curry making!

Justamum

JulieGeorgiana wrote: »

It's the parents to blame!

Did anyone see Jamie's American Revolution? I feel so sorry for all those children who are given pizza for breakfast and chicken nuggets for lunch at school - then they eat the same when they get home. Then everyone is getting at Jamie Oliver for trying to get them to feed their children healthy food! At least he might be able to help the one family he went to see - even the little girl who is about the same age as my youngest was enormous!

Justamum

kippers wrote: »

Yesterday i had my DD's 3 friends for tea. I have to be careful to buy things in for them as they are mostly all fussy....except with my cakes. I bought some cakes from Asda for them last night as i'd felt very tired and a bit off during the day before....the moans and groans i got as they weren't homemade!....i think i'm the only mum they know that makes homemade cakes...and they love them...they are so much cheaper to make as well and so easy to 'posh' up with sprinkles/silver balls etc. Lol

My children tell me that all their friends rave about my cakes - I use the easiest eggless cake recipe which takes a couple of minutes to get ready and put in the oven! I gave the recipe to the mum of one of my son's friends as he kept going on about them apparently! He also loves my homemade tomato soup (which I don't have a set recipe for, but I always put in carrot, celery and red pepper too)

kippers wrote: »

today they have h/m courgette bread

How do you make that? Do you just add some grated courgette to a normal bread recipe? I always make my own bread and add ground up seeds (to hide them from DD2 who can spot a tiny speck of seed a mile off :rotfl:) but this sounds really nice (and a good way to get extra veg into them too)

Justamum

arran_m wrote: »

i guess buying frozen veg is my only cheat

I always have frozen peas, sweetcorn and spinach (£1 a kilo from Iceland can't be beaten!) - and often buy frozen chopped mixed peppers. Other veg get a 'bouncy' texture to them after freezing though so I don't bother with them.

I chop up an onion, carrot, stick of celery and sometimes a pepper if I can find them cheaply, and put them in a freezer bag as a base for making meals. I try and do at least half a dozen of these at a time. They do save time if you are in a hurry to cook something. I think it was a tip from Thriftlady. I do put the bags inside a click lock tub though otherwise the onion can be very overpowering.

kirstyreanne

penelopedee wrote: »

We've never cracked a good curry either and have to rely on the paste. I just add a lot of tomatoes, peppers and mushrooms to liven it up.

If you google a website called curry frenzy you can buy spices ready mixed for your favourite curry. They come with full instructions & the 3 I've had - korma, pathia & madras have all been scrummy.

HTH