Home cooking - Is it cheaper?

lemontart

for the most it is cheaper but if you are going to buy items needed and use once before they go out of date it can be more expensive not to mention a waste of food stuffs - I do not buy nans etc as to me they are a luxury and not exactly an essential (though do get one to share when having a takeaway which is a treat now and again) but I do get bags of far far from asian supermarkets at around 99p last ages and add a splash of colour and more to a curry - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_far - and can be used as a snack food too with a dip

katieowl_2

Yes I think it's when you start from scratch with your store cupboard that it all mounts up.

I was a bit shocked recently. I gave a friend a recipe for a lush Xmas veggie dish from the Sarah Raven Xmas book, which she scaled up from four servings to 12, and she told me it was lovely but it cost her £60!!! :eek: I was a bit horrified and I went and got my book out again, and realised that ALL the cost was in the store cupboard ingredients, there was sesame oil, puy lentils, nuts and spices - all of which I had, when I looked at the recipe all I would have needed to buy were red peppers, butternut squash and a few red onions...(I even usually have feta cheese in the fridge) My friend has recently come back from a long stint abroad, so was starting from scratch with this. (Yes she's forgiven me and apparently it was stunning :rotfl:)

I think from week to week, as you buy the odd extra thing, you will find that you always have a stock of the basics, and that HM food is nearly always cheaper...not always but simple family foods should be better quality, and possibly leave leftovers which you probably don't get with ready meals.

Kate

aliama

Without knowing what your favourite dish is and its ingredients it's hard to comment or make suggestions as to how it could be made more cheaply.

Generally, yes -- it is cheaper to make things homemade, but it may not seem that way at first.

It may seem more expensive if you have to buy all the individual spices for a specific recipe, but what this doesn't take into account is that you can then make the curry again for very little, (or something similar) whereas if you buy a takeaway or a curry sauce, once you eat it you've got nothing.

Knowing when to substitute ingredients also helps, e.g. using cheaper vegetables instead of pricy baby veg, and where you buy the veg can often make a huge difference. I personally don't like buying ground spices in bulk, but for whole spices and ingredients like fish sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil it's usually far FAR cheaper to go to a Chinese supermarket or similar, and they're usually sold in larger quantities than the supermarket so will last longer. Well worth the trip.

Hermia

As others have said it is expensive until you build up your stock cupboard. As a single person who has a tiny freezer and very little storage space I do find it's not always cheaper for me to cook from scratch. For example, if I get the urge for a roast I tend to just pop along to the local golf club which has a lovely carvery for under £5. There is no way I could buy meat, trimmings and veg for £5 where I live and I don't particularly like eating leftovers for days on end.

It's worth investing in a couple of budget cookery books. I really like the Good Food 101 series which is incredibly cheap and there are some budget cookery titles in that range.

winniepooh

ive only been cooking from scratch for about 3 months maybe 4. when i first started buying the herbs and spices cost a bloody fortune but once you have them they will last you quite a while. the most expensive items on my shopping list now is the meat. and im currently on a mission to reduce this.

Supermarkets will always have meals cheaper. But you cant live off budget meals, god knows what they have in them.

Also (you might have read a thread by me "worst cook ever" if you havent its about when i started cooking it wasnt nice and a bit bland. However the lovely members on here said it was because I was used to using processed food. processed foods are heavily seasoned which is alot different to home cooked food. but you'll get used to it.

sorry for rambling on

Meadows

Simo429 wrote: »

Is homemade food really cheaper.

Not always but you can be sure of the quality and exactly what has gone into it.

Also initially you will have to stock up on herbs, spices etc. and that will up the cost but once you have them a little goes a long way.
You can also make your own tomato sauce from cheap tomatoes and freeze as a base for sauces, stock and stews.

Make your own soups from odds and ends of vegetables and /or a little left over meat.

Boil down a chicken carcass to make stock.

All this is freezable and on hand when you need it.

Make a big dish / double quantity / batch cook the same thing and freeze what you don't need for that meal. Not only does this make the dish cheaper but cuts down the cooking times and electricity/gas used to make the dish each time.

Add lentils to a dish not only will this add flavour but bulk up the dish so you can add less meat.

By picking up the offers or reduced items you can bring down the price of a dish.

Buy whole chickens and cut into portions, diced, mince and then freeze (far cheaper than buying it ready done and you have the carcass for stock).
Buy cheap joints of Lamb, Beef or Pork and dice/mince (takes a little time but again workout cheaper than ready done).

Buy bigger joint when on offer and cut into 2 or three and freeze.

Simo429

thanks for the advice, most of the time we eat homemade food we have a range of meals which you would typically say are more english such as cottage pie, toad in the hole that are completely made from scratch but generally when we have a different cuisine such as Italian or Indian its a stir in sauce and unfortunately I don't see that changing for at least a little while.

Some good advice, perhaps a aim will to be to make 1 meal a week homemade

HappyMJ

Simo429 wrote: »

thanks for the advice, most of the time we eat homemade food we have a range of meals which you would typically say are more english such as cottage pie, toad in the hole that are completely made from scratch but generally when we have a different cuisine such as Italian or Indian its a stir in sauce and unfortunately I don't see that changing for at least a little while.

Some good advice, perhaps a aim will to be to make 1 meal a week homemade

1 meal?....I'd be aiming for at least 6 meals to be home made. I suppose 1 is a start..Good luck.

Simo429

HappyMJ wrote: »

1 meal?....I'd be aiming for at least 6 meals to be home made. I suppose 1 is a start..Good luck.

well as I said the majority of what we eat that I would call English food is completely homemade with the odd portion of oven chips or baked beans in there but its things from other cuisines that should be home made rather than using a jar of dolmio.

dramarama

I've been cooking at home for a few years now and have learnt a few things along the way.

Mr T's sell some cheap stock cubes, add these to soups and there's no need for added salt. When I make soup it's out of whatever is lurking in the veg tray in the fridge or random veg from the freezer, normally add garlic and chilli and voila, hot food.

With chilli & garlic I tend to buy tubes of pureed stuff as it is about 60p a tube and keeps for a while. I have also noticed spices and herbs are so much cheaper in the world food aisle or local indian supermarket. Less mark up than the piddly glass jars you can buy. I have a massive tub of mixed herbs from COSTCO still half full and nearly a year old, gets chucked in pretty much everything.

We too suffer with a small freezer, we pack stuff into it like a game of tetris!

I find that my stomach can't cope with takeaway food and much prefer home cooked stuff.

My tips would be to avoid specialist products unless you'll use them everyday and go for basic options on things like baked beans, tinned toms etc to keep costs down.

I find myself cooking more frozen fish and veggie options at the moment as meat is very expensive in my opinion!