Are there things that you DON'T cook from scratch as its cheaper not to?

WantToBeSE

I am just wondering, what don't you cook from scratch because its more expensive to?


I am trying out fish fingers (HM) this evening but using 'value' white fish fillets as other fish is too expensive for me.


It would be cheaper (and probably quicker) to get some frozen fish fingers, but I like that I know what's in it and that its 100% fish. I guess that's the reason most other people cook from scratch too.


Just being nosey

SpikyHedgehog

Chips. Now, DS1 & I would be quite happy with home made wedges, but DS2 doesn't like them. Or home made oven chips. So home made chips would call for lots of oil, & at least a chip basket, if not an actual chip pan. Or a deep fat fryer.

Mrs_Boo_Boo

Oven chips although do potato wedges from scratch
Puff pastry
Filo pastry
Faggots

[Deleted User]

probably puff pastry, filo or choux as its such a faff to do.

Ilona

Bread, because I buy it when it's reduced (10 or 20p) and put it in the freezer.
Ilona

NewShadow

Life's to short to make pasta or puff pastry unless it's someones birthday

Diced onions about 50p for 3 onions worth - freeze them and it saves so much time and irritated eyes - fresh tend to be cheaper and better on offer than bags of pre-frozen

Instant coffee... easier than grinding but not as nice I admit, and saves some freezer space

Powdered hot chocolate rather than making it from scratch

Powdered custard if its not for something special - vanilla pods are too expensive day to day

Most of my jams, pickles and chutneys - but they are made by a lady at works mother.

I buy cheese and yogurt when I've not the inclination to make my own or if I want a harder/older cheese

I've been known to buy diced ginger and garlic for the freezer

Sausages and mince

Dehydrated veg for in couscous - though I really want a dehumidifier (when i have a house...)

hmmm... sure there's more stuff.

hoglet121

Puff and filo pastry are the only things I really don't make from scratch - not due to the cost but the utter faff involved.

I made puff pastry once, to prove I could do it, and have never felt the need to do it again.

I buy fancy bread if it's reduced, but more often than not, I feel I could make better for less

lilbert

Puff pastry. Tortilla wraps when reduced, the odd value garlic baguette, not cheaper but saves time and effort as a quick, cheap side to a meal. Gravy granules if I haven't got any real meat juices, occasional stock cubes when no HM chicken stock, instant custard when feeling lazy, soft cheese I buy to save the faff, onion rings as its so much easier to chuck them in the oven then heat up a pan of oil.

Fruball

Puff and filo pastry are shop bought as are lasagne as we found a cheap one we love, and moussaka (mostly because only I eat it and it is expensive to make).

Gravy granules and sometimes a roasted chicken :eek:

JIL

For me its pasta sauce. I buy the Lloyd Grossman ones at 99p per jar. Its cheaper and quicker than tinned tomatoes and basil and reducing time.
I make lots of soup but I use ham stock cubes, vege stock pots, chicken stock cubes. Stock cubes work out cheaper than boiling up bones and veg if they are not used for a meal.
I also use jarred curry sauce. I have recently discovered the holy cow range and stocked up when on offer.
Better and cheaper than a takeaway and I have tried over the years to get the spices right. I can do Dahl and keema and a vegi curry but I can't master the more complex curry and they work out cheaper than buying lots of different herbs and spices.
I also buy puff pastry. And its ready rolled. It would take too long to make although I would perhaps make mine with all butter making it more expensive than the 99p I currently pay.
That's my confession.

lobbyludd

cheese, pasta, bread, fishfingers, sausages (although I have the technology to make my own), tomato ketchup, (most) pickles, (most) jams, (most) chutneys, noodles, yoghurt, sour cream, any cream, olive oil, soy sauce, croissants, butter, malteasers, crisps, etc, etc......

I do think in terms of time-cost as well as monetary cost - making pasta is a faff, and I'm no great fan of filo pastry so would neither buy nor make it. I think a lot of people who go on about cooking from scratch actually use a lot of convenience foods but just don't recognise them as such.